The Dark Kingdom Anthology

by Krissy V

  “Here take this. It’s freezing tonight. Put it on before you catch cold,” Mary encourages.

  The girl smiles at Mary, but then on seeing me she stills, and her eyes widen in fright—she must recognize me. I take the jacket from Mary and wrap it around the girl’s shoulders.

  “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” she gasps. “Thank you for being so kind, but I’m fine. Please, let me give it back to you.” The girl is clearly terrified.

  “No, please take it. You can keep it. My gift.” Mary smiles kindly at her.

  The girl looks from Mary to me as if seeking my approval, checking whether it’s ok to accept.

  “Yes, keep it,” I reassure her.

  “Thank you.”

  “When was the last time you ate?” Mary asks.

  “I’m not sure,” the girl replies. “After I finished school today, I went straight to work in the kitchen of a restaurant near here. I’m going to my second job now.”

  “Where’s that?”

  “In the local factory. I do a two-hour shift cleaning and finish around midnight. Then I’ll go home and get some supper if there’s anything left after my brothers have eaten.” She sighs. “After that, I’ll get a few hour’s sleep and repeat the day again.”

  “What do your brothers do?”

  “My brothers are both employed in the factory as well. They work fifteen hour days and return home starving. They’re growing lads and need food. My mom cooks what she can, but she can’t afford to provide enough with the residence tax on the property we live in. We’ve tried to move away from the city, but it’s not been possible. Our landlord has given us poor references.”

  My wife looks at me. We both know the only factory owner and landlord around here is her uncle. Mary reaches into the pocket of the trousers she’s wearing and pulls out some cash.

  “Take this, and get something on the way to the factory.” Mary hands her the money.

  I can see it’s roughly fifty pounds, a lot more than the girl needs to purchase a decent meal.

  “I can’t take this.” The girl looks at me again for my agreement.

  Mary moves closer to me.

  “Please,” she whispers into my ear.

  “Take it.” I nod at the girl in encouragement.

  My wife and I both help the girl to her feet.

  I can see we’re starting to draw a crowd of people around us. Worried for my wife’s safety, I grab Mary’s hand and pull her back toward the car. Helping her into the passenger seat, I slam the door shut before getting into the driver’s side and driving us away from there as quickly as possible.

  Eventually, we come to a stop in a deserted area of the woods. I get out of the car and start to pace. I watch as Mary slides from the passenger seat and walks over to me.

  “Is that what you took me there to see? What was the purpose?” I question.

  “I wanted you to see for yourself what was really happening in the city. I knew if we stood there long enough we’d see evidence of the suffering my uncle has caused. That young girl and her family are just one example of so many in Nottingham. Her brothers are employed in one of the factories my uncle owns, and as you already know, he flaunts the employment laws without any consequences. The taxes my uncle imposes, and that you enforce, are crippling. These people are being kept in poverty with no hope of escape, because if they try to leave he gives them poor references.”

  “The taxes are needed to fund the expansion of the city. In the long run, it’ll be the best thing for the people living here.” I feel uncomfortable at the accusation in Mary’s words.

  Mary shakes her head.

  “You’ve seen plans but no actual building work. The expansion proposals aren’t even listed for approval on the government website. The money is being used to line my uncle’s pockets and make him richer. Look deeper, please. I know he means the world to you, but try to understand what’s happening. He wants control and power. That’s all. The people of Nottingham mean nothing to him, and they are suffering.”

  “You’re lying.”

  “I was brought up to never lie.”

  “Yet you dress up as a boy and go gallivanting with outlaws,” I snap at my wife.

  “I’ve only ever done it those two times.”

  “And I’m supposed to trust you when you say that?”

  “No more than I’m supposed to trust you. Do you know what Finch said to me just before you arrived that first day?”

  “I’m sure it wasn’t complimentary.”

  “Far from it. He told me never to trust you. That you were a monster of my uncle’s making. But you know what? I saw the truth on our wedding night. You’re not a monster. You’ve been misguided by a man who deserves none of your loyalty.”

  “You know nothing of business, Mary.”

  “I helped my father run his for years until my uncle took over. I know more than you imagine.”

  “Stop.” I don’t want to hear any more. My mind is in utter confusion.

  I reach inside the car and pull out my phone. I’ll prove her wrong by showing her that the plans for her uncle’s new Nottingham are in the process of being approved and therefore all this suffering is temporary. I search the government website, but nothing comes up. I try again. Mary stands there quietly. She removes her phone from her trouser pocket and hands it to me.

  “Check out my uncle’s bank account listed here as ‘Nottingham’.”

  A bank account I’ve never seen before appears on the screen. I’m heavily involved in the finance of the business, but this account is new to me. I look at the account number. It's the one I’ve been transferring the money into for the building works.

  “How do you have access to this?” I question.

  “It’s my father’s old account. My uncle never changed the passwords even after it was transferred into his name.”

  “His name?”

  “I’m guessing you didn’t find any city expansion plans either? He’s been lying to you and to everyone else. His only plan is to destroy Nottingham and then leave with the money.”

  “It can’t be.”

  “Do as much research as you need, but it’s true.”

  Mary pulls her phone from my hand and returns to the car. She doesn’t get inside.

  “You have a choice to make, Osbourne—stay loyal to my uncle or help me create a new world with the child I’m carrying. I just hope you make the right one.”

  Chapter Six

  Mary

  “My god, I’m so fat,” I moan as I try to roll myself out of the car. I’m approaching the end of my pregnancy, and I waddle everywhere.

  Osbourne chose me and our child that day in the woods, and we’ve been working together ever since to improve the lives of the people of Nottingham. We are spurred on with the news I’m having a boy. We’d have been happy to wait and let nature take its course, but my uncle insisted we find out the sex of out child. What he wants, he gets at this point in time, but not for much longer. As soon as the baby is born, my husband is planning to oust my uncle from power.

  I've been surprised by how much Osbourne has changed. He still can be the devil when needed, but underneath, he’s an angel in disguise. He enjoys bringing a little darkness into the bedroom, but I’m not complaining. I can’t get enough of him. Our marriage is happy, and it joys me to see him working alongside Finch. Everything is falling into place, and I couldn’t be happier.

  “You’re not fat. You’re protecting our son until he’s born.”

  “Fat.”

  “Cuddly.”

  “Fat.”

  “Fucking sexy.” Osbourne helps me out of the car, and then pushing me up against it, I can feel his growing erection against my leg.

  We’ve been out all day helping the local people who need it. We both know it will be the last time for a while. I’ve been experiencing Braxton-Hicks throughout the day. The baby is imminent, and we want to spend some time together before our family grows.

  “You can show me ju
st how sexy when you get me into the bedroom.

  “You’re insatiable, Mrs. Osbourne.”

  “Who can help it when my husband looks like you and has a big dick he can work magic with.”

  He thrusts his hips toward me, reminding me of the size of his dick, and we disappear into the house, the erection in my husband’s tented trousers very obvious.

  When we get to our suite of rooms in my uncle’s mansion, I drop to me knees in front of him.

  “Let me take the edge off first. If you put that inside me now, I’ll get no satisfaction. You’ll come like a schoolboy.”

  “You could be right.” My husband pulls his dick from his trousers, and I take it in my mouth. It hardens to full length, and I start to lick it up and down, circling my mouth around his girth. He’s salty and sweet all at the same time, a spicy mix of pure man, and one I can’t get enough of.

  “Mmmmm.” I hum around his cock as he pushes it in farther toward the back of my throat. I let him set the pace from now on, allowing him to fuck my mouth. He hits the back of my throat, and I gag. Saliva covers my chin as he pushes in again, and his dick slips down my throat. It cuts off my breathing, but I savor it. This is the devil in him I spoke about. The man with the pure black eyes, taking his pleasure from me. I’m wet between my thighs, soaking in fact. I want him, but first I’m going to swallow everything he has to give me.

  “I’m going to come,” he warns me a few seconds before the first hot spurt of cum lines my throat. More follows, and I swallow every last drop. He pulls his dick out, and as it softens, he rests it against my lips, painting them with the remainder of his essence.

  “I might have to lay down for a bit after that. It was intense.” He winks at me.

  “You better not,” I tease back, flicking the end of his cock with my tongue.

  Next thing I know, my husband’s eyes go wide, and he slumps onto the floor, unconscious.

  “At least he’ll die a happy man.” My uncle laughs as he appears in my vision. A guard now stands over Osbourne with a mallet in his hand.

  “What have you done?” I struggle to my feet.

  “Nothing that concerns you. It’s time to go.” My uncle grabs me by the wrist and pulls me across the floor toward the door.

  “Go where?”

  “You’ll see,” he replies. “It’s such a shame Finch broke into the castle—the dangerous outlaw that he is. He murdered Osbourne as he was trying to protect you and the baby. Alas, the shock sent you into early labor. The baby was born safely, but sadly there’s nothing that could be done for you. You died shortly after your husband, leaving the infant in the care of your devastated but loving uncle.”

  My uncle finally reveals his plan for my child. I try to struggle, but an overwhelming pain shoots through my stomach. My water breaks, and my uncle smirks.

  “I was going to cut the baby from you, but now it looks like I won’t have to.”

  “No,” I scream when another guard grabs hold of me. I’m in too much pain to fight back.

  I’m pulled from the room, and the last thing I see, as the door shuts behind me, is a man raising a sword and preparing to thrust it into the body of my unconscious husband.

  Chapter Seven

  Osbourne

  Mary’s screams bring me back to consciousness just as I see the sword being thrust toward me. I roll to the side while retrieving the gun I always keep hidden in my jeans—they’re still lowered from the blow job Mary gave me. My dick’s out in the world for all to see, but my first thought at the moment is to stay alive. I shoot the man wielding the sword through the head, but as he falls to the floor, more guards enter the room, and I’m backed up against the wall with nowhere to go.

  Mary screams again, and I’m desperate to get to her, but I know I’m beaten—my wife and child are surely lost to me. I hold the gun up in the air in surrender. But as I do, the room explodes into chaos when Finch and his men descend from all angles, attacking the guards and killing them.

  I watch dumbfounded as it all unfolds.

  Eventually everything falls silent, and Finch approaches me. He looks down at my groin, and I realize my dick is still out.

  “Women, they always choose the bigger ones. It’s like some kind of competition. Now do you think you could put it away before Will gets jealous?”

  “Fuck you,” Will shouts out from the corner of the room where he’s withdrawing his sword from the chest of one of the dying guards.

  “Thank you, Finch.” I tuck myself back into my jeans and then hold my hand out to him.

  “No need to thank me. Where’s Mary?”

  “Her uncle took her? How did you know what he was planning?”

  “I’ve been spying on him for years. He’s intelligent but also a fool. He had a gynecologist from the hospital brought here today, along with loads of medical equipment including a bunch of surgical knives and baby stuff. I knew something was about to happen, so I came straight here with my men. Where will they have taken Mary?”

  “They’ll have taken her up to the tower. It’s the safest place. He’s got a secure room up there in case we’re ever attacked. It’s impossible to get in without the right fingerprints. I know because I was responsible for setting it up.”

  “Please tell me you have the correct fingerprints.”

  “I did, but who knows anymore?”

  “Let’s go get your wife and my godson.” Finch runs past me, but I grab him.”

  “Your godson?”

  He just smirks and continues his journey.

  I can’t help but think that my life is going to change in more ways than one after today.

  Racing up the stairs, we take care of the guards standing directly in our way. While Finch’s men try to persuade the remainder it would be beneficial to change sides now or die. A few refuse to surrender and receive a bullet between the eyes, but several simply step aside for us to pass. It doesn’t take us long to reach the room where Mary is being held. I can hear her inside, screaming loudly in pain.

  “We have to get in there,” Finch shouts across.

  “Please, dear god, let me still have access,” I mutter under my breath as I place my fingertips on the control panel, but nothing happens.

  “Fuck, shit, fuck.” I try again but again nothing. “He’s blocked my access.” I pull the panel from the wires and smash it on the floor in frustration.

  “Think, Osbourne, you helped him install the security in here. There must be a way in.”

  “Get the fuck away from me.” Mary’s voice comes from inside the room.

  “Think quickly.”

  “The back-up.” I race to the other side of the corridor. “I put in a back-up panel. He doesn’t know about it. I wanted to make sure that I’d always have access.”

  “A distrusting man after my own heart.” Finch claps me on the back as I rip the covering from the panel and reveal a keypad. Typing quickly, I enter my personal code, and we both turn toward the door. Thankfully, we’re not standing in front of it, because as it opens a bullet is fired straight through the gap. It misses us but takes out a guard racing to help Mary’s uncle. The man falls dead as Finch and I cautiously make our way toward the now open door.

  “Get Mary out, Finch,” I tell him. “The sheriff is mine.”

  Finch opens his mouth to protest but then thinks better of it and nods his head in agreement.

  We peer into the room just as another shot whistles past our ears.

  “It’s over,” I call in. “Your guards are defecting, and you’re trapped in there. Put the gun down and let me have my wife back.”

  “It will never be over while the baby is alive.”

  Mary screams again, and I kiss the top of my gun, praying it’s going to find the right target. I need to save my wife and child, and I’ll only have one chance at this. I know from my brief peek into the room where Mary’s uncle is standing. A third bullet he shoots sailing past us confirms he hasn’t moved. I step out into the doorway and fire my weap
on. The bullet hits the barrel of his gun, sending it flying through the air and out of his reach. I pull my trigger again, and this time, the shot finds it’s intended mark, going straight into the middle of his forehead. Adrenaline has him stumble forward trying to get to Mary, but he doesn’t reach her before he falls to the floor, dead.

  I look over to my wife and see the doctor standing beside her with a pair of forceps in his hand while Finch is pointing a gun at him.

  “The terms of whatever contract you signed with the sheriff have now changed. You’ll deliver the baby safely and make sure both the baby and mother survive,” Finch informs the doctor. “Either dies, and I’ll remove your hands. Understood?”

  “Yes.” The doctor nervously places the forceps down on the table as I take a few tentative steps toward my wife. For the first time ever, I’m feeling nervous. I’m about to become a father.

  “I have to push,” Mary cries.

  She’s in so much pain, and I want to take it away from her. Finch stands over the doctor but continues to keep an eye on the door, so I put my gun away. I climb onto the table with Mary, and lying on my side next to her, I wrap my stressed wife in my arms. Her head rests on my shoulder as she bears down and pushes our baby from her body.

  Time seems to stand still.

  The room is silent.

  Until I hear the cry of a newborn.

  My son.

  The doctor delivers the baby and places him straight into Mary’s arms. I help her hold him there. He’s beautiful. A mixture of his mother and me. A tear falls from my eye, and Mary looks up.

  “Our son,” she whispers.

  “Our son. Richard Finch Osbourne.”

  “The heir to the Nottingham Mafia. With our love and guidance, one day our son will show the mafia world how it truly should be ruled. After all, his father will be his mentor, and he’s the greatest man I’ve ever known.”

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