“Are you not supposed to be at the party humping the king’s cousin?”
“What are y—”
“Look back at Percy, Dr. Slater.” She smirked and took another sip of the spicy beer.
Keith frowned and looked at the table where his mate was sitting and found no one there.
“How did you do that?!” Laura exclaimed. “We are supposed to resist your likes’ compulsion.”
“Too bad.” Riley drank another sip and turned to go sit at another table.
Keith followed her, the beer getting to his head.
“Riley, wait!” He slipped in next to her. “How did you create the illusion? Is that blood?”
Riley frowned and touched her eye. A bit of blood dripped from the corner.
“It’s nothing.” She wiped it away and turned around.
“Why are you always so upset with me?” Keith winked at a phoenix passing by them to exit the kitchen. She was wearing a short dress in the cold weather.
“Because you’re an arse.”
“I’m not! I’m just—”
“You knew Mathew had a thing for the princess, and yet you kept making your move,” Riley whispered to him angrily.
“You don’t know what I’ve been through to get the princess to talk to me. I am going to win her back even if I had to chop my head off for it.”
“Please do.” Riley did not look at him but kept drinking nonchalantly.
“Riley, Mathew is still in love with his dead fiancée. Can you try to be in my shoes for a second? Princess Océane and I have been through a lot of shit, and I cannot throw that away for someone who still has feelings for somebody else.”
At some level, he had a point, but it still pained her to see Mathew attached to a past that would never return.
“Fine. But I still don’t like you.”
“I still don’t like you.” Keith clicked his glass with hers.
Riley felt a bit of warmth swim through her. If she was to stay another second inside the castle, she would lose her mind. Being here, among those who shared the same vision as her, made her feel almost like… home.
“Hey, shake my hand.” Keith suddenly suggested.
Riley hesitated at first. “Is that a trick or something?”
“No, I promise. C’mon, do it.”
They finally shook hands. Keith didn’t have enough of that for he held her hand tight and pressed his thumb tight against her knuckle.
“What the hell was that?” she asked when she released her hand from Keith’s grip.
“And this, my friend, is how you can tell if the person is a phoenix. Now can we all sing the hymn of the Phoenix?!” Keith yelled in the middle of the kitchen.
Everybody cheered and some pulled their guitars from their rights and began to play. The others were tapping on the tables.
Their voices were coming in unison for a single melody that turned them into one entity.
We come in the night
When the system’s not right
When the laws are wrong
Hear the Phoenix song
We crawl underground
Where the serpents are found
Bring them out to the light
We come in the night
No threat there’s no gun
No pain to make us run
We won’t be silenced long
Hear the Phoenix song
The death and the blood
Will close the system shut
The king shall fear our might
We’ll come for you at night
Lord Walter entered the kitchen and sat beside Keith and Riley. He started singing with them and laughing at Keith who was as excited as a child and had a surprisingly beautiful voice. Gabriel sat at the far left of the room watching Riley.
“Riley?” He came to her and rested his hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him and stood up immediately.
“My prince.” She bowed, but when he raised an eyebrow she smiled.
“That was too courteous.”
“I know. Don’t take yourself too seriously.”
Gabriel laughed and beckoned to the door. They walked through a hidden door in the conference room and entered a small round room. All around them were pictures of phoenixes who had died, Riley assumed. The dates underneath each picture specified the date of their birth, the one when they became phoenixes, and the one they died in. She could spot the picture of the woman who ‘prophesized’ the king’s death.
“Where’s Charbel’s picture?” she asked Gabriel.
“I told you. Charbel was never a phoenix. He was killed because he was defending a friend and thought to be a follower.” Gabriel’s voice was broken and lost its usual valour. “Riley, I heard of what happened with you a while ago.”
“You mean the prison thing?”
“Yes.”
“Have you seen what they’ve done to North Caligo? They killed Charbel, Gabriel. Charbel! Our friend!”
“This is bound to happen in revolutions.”
“Are you not moved at all?”
“I cried myself to sleep, but I woke up in the morning and pulled myself together because we cannot win this war if we lament each death. People are going to die, Riley. Allies and enemies.”
Riley remained silent for a minute. He was right.
“If the king wasn’t so in love with you, he would not have turned the blind eye.”
“If the king was in love with me, he would have kept Mathew here. He’s sending him to the borders.”
“It is because of his complete selfishness and possessiveness over you that he did that. You have to stay strong and patient.”
“I can’t take any more of this patience. I am so fired up with anger that I can’t but want to kill the enemy. Every time I see the East falling because of the West, every time I watch a brother or a sister of mine die in this bloody circus of a world, all I think of is revenge. Nothing can stop me from murdering anyone who stands in the way of avenging my parents’ death.”
“This is my land too, Riley. The king is my brother, but my principles defeat my loyalty for a family that only sought to destroy my righteousness and lead me by the hand into a drama where I’m an actor, my people are the spectators, and the West is the writer, where my lines are none but my own admission of surrender, where my only job is to pretend that I am another person. There is a fine line between seeking justice and achieving vengeance.”
“I’ve tried to make my reasons justify my actions. But I cannot be the virtuous person you are because whenever I am faced with a chance to destroy the people who made my parents suffer, I am filled with this anger that I cannot shake off.”
“Anger is a motive to stop slacking, but do not allow it to dominate your better judgment. Be wise and fair. Make your actions affect what is bigger than you, not to satisfy your ego. That is when you win. You will keep losing until your actions are selfless.”
“You know something? You really do deserve to be a king.”
Gabriel smiled painfully.
“You deserve to be a queen, Riley.”
“This emotional mess?” She pointed at herself and shrugged. “You must be out of your mind.”
“I have never seen such devotion to a cause for our nation. You have a long road ahead of you to learn the discipline of a queen, but we are in a time of revolution now. We need anything but discipline.”
Riley smiled and nodded. “I will try my best not to disappoint you.”
“I’m sure you won’t.”
As they were walking back to the kitchen, Riley remembered something.
“By the way, Jonathan said something in the party that baffled me.”
“What?”
“He said my father is dead and so will my mother be.”
The line between Gabriel’s brows deepened as he stared at the ground.
“He knows where she is. It can’t be.”
“Gabriel, this means she’s alive. She’s missing but alive, and we hav
e to find her now.”
Everything was so colourful. Everything was so beautiful. The kingdom. The castle. The people. The music. The show. The food. The clothes. The skies.
Charlotte watched the fireworks with awe and wonder. She had never felt that serene in her life.
Marcus was roaming the castle and could not find his wife. He needed her. He needed to tell her what was happening behind the closed door of the Assembly of hell.
“Charlotte!” he called, but there was no trace of her. “Fay, did you see Charlotte anywhere?”
Fay nodded smiling and pointed to the gardens from the balcony.
Marcus started running until he found his wife amidst a group of people watching the five-minute show of fireworks.
“Charlotte, thank God I found you.” He held her hand but she did not look at him. “Charlotte.”
Finally, she turned to him with a look of disarray.
“What’s wrong, baby?”
“Charlotte, please wake up. Nothing of what is going on in your mind is true. It’s not going to be okay. Come with me.”
He pulled her against her will to the back where no one could hear them.
“Charlotte, listen to me.”
“What is the matter with you?! I want to see the fireworks!”
“Focus!” he yelled at her frustrated and grabbed her face to fix her eyes on his. “The Assembly are evil. They’ve done terrible things and we need to flee this place. They’ve murdered the queen. They said so right before the pilot episode was aired, and I’ve been trying to reach you ever since. They’re on my tail and we need to escape before they can put me under their surveillance again.”
“What? This can’t be. The Assembly cares about us.”
“This is what they want you to think. That’s why they made us watch the episode so they’d be able to control us with their mind tricks.”
“I don’t understand.”
“You don’t have to now, love. Please, just trust me and let’s go.”
Marcus grabbed his wife’s hand and turned around to run, but he was not blocked by flowery walls, but by royal guards.
“I really thought by letting you join the Assembly, you’d be conscious enough of our power and able to make the right decisions, not to mention obey.” Charles Arnold beckoned for his guards to attack.
“No… No, please. Charles, I beg of you,” Marcus pleaded with watery eyes.
He despised them. He did not want to be an Elite if it required him to assist in covering a murder. He only wanted to father a child with his wife and live a modest life away from royalty. Now, it was too late for regrets.
The guards had already taken hold of him, and the last thing he saw was a look of fright on Charlotte’s face, but heard nothing for one punch on his ears turned everything white then complete darkness.
Chapter 33
White light.
Terrible screeching.
Loud thud.
Piercing pain.
Hot temperature.
Blinding red light.
Explosion.
Riley woke up sweating. Her chest was moving as fast as her heartbeats. It had been a while since she had a nightmare. The room was burning hot with the high temperature from the heater. Decreasing the degrees, she longed for a shower. Somehow, she managed to finish in fifteen minutes and get dressed.
Her television turned on with sound waves and a voice calling out for the members of Cirque Et Feu to go to the conference room.
Pulling her hair into a ponytail, Riley took one deep breath and left her chamber.
In the conference room, Fay, Marilyn, and Flore sat in their assigned seats. Only the woman with the killer hair bun, whom she met once, faced them with a sour expression on.
“Sorry for being late. Where’s the rest of the crew?” she whispered and sat beside Flore.
“I don’t know,” Fay replied and the four girls waited for the woman to speak.
“Hello, everyone,” the woman said. “I am Ariel, the king’s new consultant.”
“I’ve seen you before. You weren’t a consultant then,” Fay rudely remarked and laid her back on the chair.
“I appreciate your sharp sense of noticing details, Miss Fay. However, it would be better if you saved your sense of humour until after I deliver the wretched news.” Ariel gave her a sinister smile.
“What news?” Riley frowned, suddenly recalling her dream.
“I’m afraid this circus had not lost one precious soul, but two. My deepest condolences for the Wells family. Marcus was a very dear member of the Assembly. He was a very well-respected gentleman.”
Gasps filled the room. The little girls wailed, hot tears streaming down their cheeks. Fay was shaking her head afraid to accept whatever she had heard. Riley immediately dashed to the girls and hugged them close to her heart.
“Shhh, it’s alright. It’s alright,” she kept repeating as she pressed them closer. The words were more of a consolation to herself.
“I am deeply sorry,” Ariel said with a straight face and was about to leave the room, until Riley called after her.
“Where is Charlotte?” she asked.
“She’s in the hospital wing, under medication. Should we not have sent her there, she would have suffered from a seizure.”
“Where is Mathew Covington?”
“He was sent early this morning to complete his duty as a good soldier.” Ariel smiled politely and left the room before Riley tore hair out of her skull.
The girls were still crying. Fay looked at Riley, her eyes finally brimming with tears.
“It will be alright. I promise you,” Riley told her, even though she did not believe this herself.
“I can’t…” Fay said and rushed outside the conference room.
“I’m sorry for your loss, Miss Red.” Charles Arnold walked inside with a blank face.
The least you could do is act that you are, Riley thought. With all the force she could gather, she drew on a smile and nodded.
“This is life, isn’t it?” She stood up. Marilyn and Flore looked at her about to scream. “Girls, follow Fay and make sure you all stay together. We need to prepare for the funeral.”
“That is a mighty strength you possess,” Arnold noted when the girls left the room.
“A strength I’ve gained the moment I entered the castle.” She looked down.
Charles frowned and lifted her head up to make sure she was aware of what was happening.
“How are you so calm?”
“I need to stay in control for my fellow circus members. I cannot go mad when the rest are.”
“Do you like being in the castle, Red?”
“More than you can imagine.”
“Then don’t do anything rash that might get you out of here.”
“I would not dream of it, sir. This is the life I have always wanted, and the king granted it to me. I would do everything I could to serve him and would forever remain in debt,” she lied. Her heart was aching, and she could not feel her arms.
“Good. I’m glad you’re smarter than the others.” He tapped her shoulder. “I will leave you to plan the funeral the way you desire.” He added with a fake apologetic tenor.
“May I ask how Marcus passed away?”
“I’d rather not say it, dear. For I fear it is rather morbid.”
“I want to know,” she insisted.
“We found him at the far end of the gardens hanging from a tree. He turned out to be working for the rebels in North Caligo, and when he learned of their drastic end, he decided to end his life.” He sighed.
You fucking liar.
“May I get out of the castle to get some fresh air, please?” she asked although she doubted he would agree.
“I’ll call for Lord Walter. Of course, you may.”
“Thank you for your kindness, Mr. Arnold.”
“You are very welcome.” He turned around and left before Riley could say another word.
Lord Walter had an iden
tical car wander through the streets, influenced by his tricksters. His vehicle headed straight to the campus. Along the road, Lord Walter tried to speak with her. He struggled to get a word out of her. Riley remained silent. She had a blank look on her face and cold hands that kept shaking. Minutes passed and he did not dare say a word.
When they reached the cabin of the Founder Crayg Fletcher, Riley stood in the middle of the round elevator. At the sound of the ting! Her legs finally gave up, and she collapsed in Lord Walter’s arms.
“Keith! Keith hurry!” Lord Walter screamed as he held Riley up and ran to the Laboratory.
Keith walked out of one of the rooms. His eyes rounded at the sight.
“What the bloody hell?”
“She was in shock. She collapsed in my arms right now in the elevator before we got here.”
Keith took her and immediately laid her over his exam table on her back. He checked her pulse. Out of heartbreak, she had lost the power to stay awake. Grabbing her legs, he lifted them to the heart level.
“Loosen her shirt,” he ordered and Lord Walter did so.
Riley moved her head a bit and weakly opened her eyes.
“What the hell are you doing?” she mumbled.
“Shush, this is not how I imagined the situation would be with you in this position, but I need to keep doing it to let the blood flow back to the brain. Walter, get her water and sugar.”
“Alright.” Lord Walter went to the cabin behind Keith and prepared a cup as he asked.
After drinking half of the cup and refusing to finish the other, Riley closed her eyes unable to keep the room from spinning around her.
Keith pressed his BPHR monitor to her wrist, and it immediately registered that it was slowly increasing.
“That’s a good sign,” he breathed out.
“Is she alright now?” Lord Walter asked.
“She will be. It was all too much to handle. That’s why she fainted.”
“Leave. I need a moment,” Riley mumbled.
She had already opened her eyes to be blinded by the blue lights on the ceiling.
“Are you sure? I can be a ghost. You won’t even feel me.” Keith smiled but she groaned. “Okay, okay. I’ll leave.”
Red Circus Page 27