The Red Throne | TUQ Book Two

11 | punishment

      "Would you like some wine, Your Grace ?" our maidservant, Kelly, asked while carrying around a flask of red wine. I shook my head, smiling thinly.

     "No need for that, Kelly," I told her nonchalantly. She nodded as she moved on to Cecily, and proceeded to pour the wine into Cecily's silver goblet. The dark red liquid filled the goblet fast, and it began to overflow, dripping down onto the white tablecloth.

    "That is enough, Kelly," I reprimanded, but she did not stop. She continued to pour, and out of the flask fell long, fleshy intestines, pale pink and shiny, splashing into the goblet. The wine had turned into clotted blood, falling down in huge chunks, the awful stench of it filling the entire hall.

      "What a wonderful scent!" my uncle the general remarked, holding his own goblet under his nose.

     "Yes, milord. We McCarthy's take great pride in our winery, and someday our little Bartholomew would continue the family business!" the Baron replied proudly, gesturing at his hyperactive son, who was running around in circles. 

     "I want wine!" he screeched like a demon that escaped from hell, pouncing on anyone he saw, attempting to yank the goblets out of their hands. When he saw Cecily's goblet, overflowing with chunks of blood and stringy intestines, his eyes lit up as if he had seen the light of heaven, and he quickly rushed over, snatching it away before she could barely blink.

       "Don't drink that!" I wanted to shout, but for some reason my lips were locked, and I could only watch in horror as little Bartholomew opened his mouth wide and poured the goblet's contents down his throat. His teeth gnashed through the chunks of blood, and he slurped the intestines as if they were noodles.

       " It is so delicious, Duchess !" he said cheerfully, clasping his hands together like an innocent child. "Give me yours too!"

I frowned in confusion and glanced at my goblet of water, and a scream abruptly escaped my lips. The contents had transformed into chunks of congealed, black blood and bits of chewed up food, all swimming inside a pool of bile. I quickly threw the goblet onto the floor, and it fell with a resounding clang, the contents splattering all over the white marble. 

      "Thank you, Duchess!" the boy giggled as he bent down like an animal, and began to lick the splattered blood on the floor and picked the bits of food with his fingers. He was unable to finish it however, as not a moment later, he fell down, uncontrollably vomiting up blood. It was red and liquidy at first, but it gradually became more and more solid, and it eventually formed a black, slimy serpent that crawled out of little Bartholomew's mouth. 

The serpent was about as thick as my arm, and it began to encircle the little boy's neck, cutting off all circulation, and his face changed from white to purple. 

      "Duchess.. It hurts.." he murmured painfully, his brown eyes staring straight into mine, tears slowly beginning to form. "Why didn't you stop me? You knew it was poisoned!"

His voice, which initially sounded like that of a little boy, became demonic as he repeatedly chanted, "You knew, you knew, you knew, YOU KNEW!"

        "You knew and you let me die!"

        "You knew and you let me die!"

        "You knew and you let me die!"

I shook my head incessantly, sobbing uncontrollably. "I did not know that you were going to drink it!"

His face, now as red as hellfire, glared at me with immeasureable fury. "Liar! You simply let me take it because you wanted to see me dead! Dead like Leanne!"