Red Circus

by Michelle Al Bitar

  Several minutes later, Gabriel walked inside the laboratory and breathed out when he saw Riley.

  “You’re awake.” He rushed to her side and pressed her hard to his chest.

  Riley buried her face there and all the rush of emotions came to her. She was sobbing like she had never done before.

  Gabriel brushed her hair with his fingers. He beckoned to Lord Walter and Keith to stay outside the room.

  Riley eventually wiped her tears with the back of her hands and moved away.

  “Marcus is dead. Rufus is dead. Mathew will probably be dead soon. I can’t do this. I’m not strong enough to handle that many deaths, Gabriel. I can’t. I can’t,” she said in a feeble voice between her snuffles.

  “I know it’s difficult. I can’t say otherwise. It’s never easy. Riley, please channel this into anger again. We are so close to winning.”

  Riley looked up at him. His eyes were red as well.

  “The queen is dead, isn’t she?”

  Gabriel nodded. “No more delay. They’ve announced war.”

  “I want to destroy them. I want to destroy them all.” She gritted her teeth and wiped her wet cheeks again.

  “We will, Riley. We will.”

  They hugged each other tightly. It was so tight that they felt if they let go, the world would collapse and crush them.

  “I have a surprise for you,” Gabriel whispered in her ear soothingly.

  Riley doubted he would be able to do anything that would cheer her up at that moment. When Gabriel moved away for her to see the door, Riley gasped and covered her mouth.

  Mathew walked inside with a big smile.

  Chapter 34

  There was always light at the end of the dark tunnel. At least that was what her mother had always told her. Seeing Mathew was that light. She hugged him so firmly he almost lost his breath. He laughed instead, his eyes tearing up.

  “How are you here?! Didn’t the king send you to the borders?” she grabbed his face and asked him with short breaths.

  “The Phoenixes sent someone that looks a lot like me. They’ll make him disappear after the plane lands. I’m in on everything, Riles.” He put a lock of hair behind her ear. “I know about Marcus too.”

  Mathew looked at her with anguish. Marcus was his friend and losing him to the enemy made his blood boil.

  “They killed him, Matt. It was not suicide. Charlotte is still in the castle, and the other girls are locked in their rooms.”

  “I know.”

  “Arnold tried to threaten me. I just know he is very well aware of my allegiances, especially after the break down I had when I knew about North Caligo’s attack.”

  “Riley, I don’t want you to worry about anything.” Gabriel finally stepped in. “There are spies all over the kingdom.”

  “Gabriel, man,” Mathew shook the prince’s hand, “I can’t thank you enough for filling me in, for saving me from going back to war.”

  “I don’t believe you have escaped war. It is near and we need every person we could gather to help us.”

  “I am more than ready to wipe them clean for doing this to my family… westerners and easterners.” It was going to be worth something even if it meant his own life.

  “They killed Marcus because they were afraid he was going to tell Charlotte what was happening in the Assembly. He must have known something that he shouldn’t have,” Riley said.

  “Uh, Gabe…” Keith entered the wing.

  “Yeah?”

  “The search party is getting closer.”

  The sour expression on Gabriel’s face made Riley’s heart clench. He looked worried and nervous for the first time. He did not say anything to grieve the loss of his mother or to show any sign of anger. He only relieved her with his presence and promised her and Mathew vengeance for their families.

  “I see,” he said in a low voice. “Mother died to protect us. I won’t let that go to waste. Is everybody in their position?” Gabriel asked Keith who nodded curtly.

  “Some are panicking, so you need to speak to them. They won’t listen to any of the Juniors.”

  “I’ll be right down. Keith, prepare Riley well before she leaves,” Gabriel said and nodded at both Riley and Mathew before disappearing down the halls.

  Guards were swarming in every direction. Banners of the Freedians hung from every wall of the castle. The wardens on the gate led a definitive identification of Riley before she came in. Any intruder inside the castle would be eliminated.

  If there was any dangerous time to conduct a plan against the king, it would be now. He was searching for his brother for he knew he was not safe. Riley kept walking inside until she reached the heart of the main hall.

  Seeing that she was without Lord Walter by her side, William immediately stood as her shadow. She turned to him and extended her hand.

  “It’s good to see you again, William.”

  William looked at her hand confused then at her. She had never shaken his hand before, but he complied either way. The moment Riley pressed her thumb and her nail on his knuckle, William widened his eyes. He pressed his lips together and bowed with respect.

  “It’s good to have you back, my lady.”

  Riley smiled. “Take me to Ariel’s office.”

  “I’d like to speak to my king, if he’s available of course,” Riley told Ariel, who sat behind her desk authoritatively scrutinizing her.

  “In fact, he requested to see you,” the consultant replied.

  “Very well. Where shall I meet him?”

  “In his chamber.” Ariel rolled her eyes and went back to reading the files on her aircomputer.

  “Thank you.”

  “You are dismissed.” She waved her outside the door.

  Riley felt she wanted to grab her by that annoying bun, cut it out with a knife, and feed it to her. Instead, she nodded and walked out of the dim office.

  The kitchen lounge was filled with phoenixes. They were all silent. One man was speaking on one of the tables in the middle and owned every ear in the room. Mathew stood next to Keith, listening carefully to what Gabriel was shouting.

  “People in history have been of greater use to us than recent spokesmen of freedom. Three hundred and four hundred years ago, there were strategies adopted by the angry peasants against the colonizers. All the strategies we see in books and classrooms are those of the authorities, and how they drug us into loving to be controlled.

  “You think this myth called colonization has ended? We are under the control of the Eastern kingdom. And this kingdom is under the control of the West. We take no more of this nonsense. The Amazon has gained our respect because of its attachment to the past and in this context, this is not a bad thing.”

  Gabriel calmed down, lowering his voice. The crowd was intently listening. Some were disoriented and scared, but most were so taken by everything said that they nodded after each statement.

  “Revolution is built on violence… true. But it is also built on our collective sense of patriotism. We are true Easterners. We all have a history tainted by the monstrosities of the West. Do you want this history to repeat itself or be a corner stone for writing a new future where the outcasts, the ruled, the crushed finally rise again?

  “Pompeii turned into a city of ash, and slowly Civilus is turning into one as well. Will we be a historical city studied and forgotten when the lecture ends? No. The East shall rise, a phoenix that shall soar the Eastern and Western skies, mighty and feared. We do not seek to rule the world. We seek to rule ourselves.”

  A roar of applause filled the room. Mathew found himself applauding as well, his hands turning red.

  “This man is incredible,” he told Keith.

  “Can’t you see him as a king?”

  “Definitely.”

  “Everyone in this room worships him. He saved us from so many shits. Had a very good recruiting technique.”

  “And you’ve been planning for this war all along now?”

  “Yes. Come with
me.”

  They exited the kitchen and passed through the hall towards the wardrobe change to their right.

  “You see each group is wearing something different. This is because our army is divided into several groups. The Elders are the queen and Gabriel. The Seniors are the princes and Lords of different countries in the East and the West.”

  “The West?”

  “Not all western people fuck us up. We sometimes fuck together, just like you, Westie.” Keith tapped Mathew on the shoulder.

  The latter raised an eyebrow.

  “Oh… I didn’t mean we all fuck together as in an org—You know I meant as in fuck the kingdom together.”

  “Can we please move on from this fucking subject?”

  Keith nodded smiling. “Note taken. So as I was saying, after the Seniors, there are the juniors who have roots in the Phoenix movement, such as myself. My great grandfather is a founding member. Karson Slater.”

  “Karson?! He worked for the Ministry of Medical Services, no?”

  “Indeed. I followed in his footsteps because there was too much history in the medical field, allies and connections that were too important to keep a shallow relationship with.”

  “What did he do?”

  “He was a double agent and was never caught, which was bloody impressive back at the time. He was one of the few who died because of natural causes, and that gave me a good reputation in the kingdom.”

  “I’m impressed,” Mathew said and watched the phoenixes get into their costumes.

  Keith smiled with pride as if Mathew’s words fuelled him with the confidence he was losing while the fight approached.

  “Then there are the Spiders. They have super flexible bodies and a scary amount of strength. They usually take care of attacking from difficult angles, such as the roof, windows, underground…” Keith pointed at a cluster of young adults wearing one black suit that hugged their bodies. On their backs, a humongous flying orange phoenix was drawn. “The Breechers are specialized in hacking the system inside the castle. They take care of our devices and shit.”

  “The IT of the team?”

  “Something like that.”

  “Where are they?”

  “They don’t operate directly. They have their own laboratory and rarely work out of it. It’s too dangerous to be discovered and too risky to leave their computers while operating.”

  “You’ve thought about everything, haven’t you?” Mathew said in wonder.

  “We have to. Then you have the Whisperers who work outside this ground and all over the world. They are like linking spies between us and our external allies. The Anons are the ones you see over there.” Keith pointed at a group of people who seemed more like shadows. They had black cloaks on and grey masks that covered every part of their faces. “They are our deadly fighting team. They refuse to reveal their identity and are among the strongest in the fighting pit.”

  “Who are the rest? The ones wearing the orange and black suits. Not the Spiders, those over there.” Mathew pointed at the scattered part of the fighting team. They were getting dressed and preparing their weapons.

  “The rest of us who fight on the field and are sent on missions. The Fightlings. They consist of every other member of the Phoenix.”

  “I see. And I’m a Fightling now?”

  “You are a Whisperer, because you are a double agent. The king must think you’re fighting at the borders now.”

  Mathew nodded. “I want to be of best help to you and Gabriel.”

  “Then you have to listen to Gabriel instructing you very carefully.”

  The night was perilous and awfully quiet. The wind struggled to break inside the castle through the windows like a raging thief. The darkness of the nocturnal silence was only illuminated by the moon’s shadow behind the stiff clouds.

  Jonathan stood in his satin robe behind the tainted glass window watching the trees rock with the roaring wind. He was besieged by questions… He surmised ideas that rendered his disquietude intolerable. His heart jostled against his rib cage, and he felt it rise up to his throat. He could not forgive betrayal.

  The soft bells chimed at his door.

  Once he scanned his hand against the flat grey screen, the door slid open.

  “Good evening, my king.”

  Her hair dropped down in straight locks, pulled behind her ears. Were they that red when he first met her? And her cheeks, ruddy with the warmth swirling inside the castle walls. Damn it, her eyes. Her eyes green and larger than usual without her Undead Red make-up on.

  “Good evening, Riley,” he replied in a low voice.

  When she entered the chamber and let the door close behind her, they both knew they were not there to talk. Riley closed her eyes to the pain seizing on her chest.

  “I’ve terribly missed you,” she politely said without any sexual insinuation.

  “Have you lost weight?” he asked her, looking up and down her body. He had noticed her hips getting less curvy and her collarbones becoming clearer.

  “Unfortunately, yes, my king. I rarely have time to eat while filming and time is tight.” Riley kept standing tall in front of him. Her legs could barely hold her.

  “Your health is more important than the show.”

  “I beg to differ.” She shrugged and looked away at the window.

  “Riley…”

  “What?” she answered softly and looked him straight in the eyes.

  Jonathan stooped towards her. His mind was racing, his fist clenching, but he could not ignore the urge to hold her in his arms even if it was for the last time.

  Riley shut everything out. Anger, disgust, love, passion, disappointment, arousal, panic... all of them were shut behind the prison she had built in her mind, and she let her body fall into his arms.

  Heated she felt as his full lips embraced hers. The smell of his perfume, an aura around her, stuck to her clothes. His chest pressed her against the wall, their hearts beating the same rhythm.

  Jonathan breathed heavily against her neck, his hands sliding her shirt up then dropping it on the floor.

  Riley was lowering her hands to touch his face, her eyes lighting up with a desire to lead the kiss and put him under her mercy, to feel every inch of him under her wings. Jonathan gripped her wrists tightly, fixing them to the wall and lowering his lips to her breasts.

  Riley gasped loudly, head rolling back.

  Her heavy breathing was hypnotizing enough that he almost lost all memory of his anger.

  She was a siren that seduced his soul into falling to the depth of her web of lies. He heard her voice, her song of deceits. He saw the beauty of her mask when underneath there was a little devil plotting against everything he stood for. Was he foolish enough to be the centre of derision? Was he blinded by her love enough to fall into the obvious trap she was setting for him? Or did he only hear the songs she was singing to ignore all the warnings?

  She deigned to destroy him, and what he was going to do was even worse.

  “Jonathan!” Riley moaned loudly unable to stop herself when he had pulled down her jeans and his lips had touched her core. “Please! Let me please you…”

  She begged him to rise and love her as she looked into his eyes, but he would not concede. Loving him was a painful journey that she had grown to adore. Masochists… people who loved pain were called. As much as she wanted to deny that in her, she was drunk on the pain.

  Jonathan slowly rose up, his lips tracing her bare stomach, her bare chest, and her bare shoulders, until he smothered her lips with his. His hand emitted louder moans from her until he shut her up with more of his kisses.

  Riley arched her back, her nails buried inside his shoulders. As she was about to explode with want and need then relief, Jonathan suddenly stopped.

  Riley almost whimpered. Her body was boiling and her legs shaking. She frowned and that was when she met his eyes.

  They were no longer the eyes of her falling lover. They were the eyes of the king.

&n
bsp; “W…Why did you—”

  “Sweet, Red.” He passed his hand over her cheek, down to her collarbone.

  “My king…” She was staggered with confusion.

  “How beautiful you look after I touch you.”

  “But…” She wanted to beg him to go on before her body would shut down, but she could not find the right words to say.

  “The feeling you get when you are about to reach your orgasm”—he brushed his nose against hers— “is one of the best feelings in the world. And you know what? The feeling after you reach it is temporary, and it fades away after a few minutes.”

  He took a step back, creating a distance between them.

  “What are you speaking of?” Riley’s voice suddenly became croakier.

  “You were a temporary pleasure at first, Riley. You were going to be my mistress for some time. At one point I really thought you would be something more. But bloody hell!” he screamed and laughed.

  Riley pulled her clothes from the floor and covered her body, now stained with unveiled sins.

  “Bloody hell you were just a temporary pleasure after an orgasm, Riley. I was wrong about you.”

  “What are these accusations?”

  “Don’t you play me for a fool! I know everything you are plotting, you dirty little whore.”

  Riley remained silent.

  “You think I don’t know what you’ve been doing all along? Go right ahead. It won’t be your head that’s hanging outside the castle doors. It will be your accomplices’. And you shall wake up every day, reminded that they are dead because of you.”

  “You have had too much to drink, my king. I think you should rest.”

  “Stop fucking acting! I know everything!” Jonathan’s eyes were turning red.

  Riley was about to burst into tears at the sight of the king about to cry as well, but she knew he was screaming his heart out instead.

  “I thought you were different too.” She approached him, starting to boil up. “I thought you were going to be different from your father, from your ancestors. You were going to be a great king. That’s what I was hoping for. But no… you had to be a tyrant. You had to kill everyone who thought differently than what the West had imposed on us.”