["PLAY THE KING" IS ACT TWO OF THE "PLAY" SERIES. PLEASE READ "PLAY THE QUEEN" FIRST.]
It's been four months since Priam Torres, the once unpopular president of the Elysian University Student Council, assumed office. Thanks to his chief-of-staff Cas...
A/N: "CampuSite" has been changed into "SchoolBuzz"
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REYNARD
YOU KNOW what? I kinda missed the USC beat. Don't get me wrong. I was enjoying my stint as the LEXECOM beat reporter, especially now that Castiel became the presiding officer while Alaric was the majority leader. But man, the chance to roast their public information officer was always such a delight! I wanted to push Rowan Oronce to his limits and see how far he could go with his mental gymnastics and narrative spinning. I kinda envied Rie for being in that media room. Yup, I'm calling Ambrielle 'Rie' from now on.
After two weeks of break, the second semester in Elysian University had officially begun. Good news for students who wanted to learn more and for campus journalists who wanted to get back to work, right? Unfortunately, the LEXECOM sessions wouldn't start until next week. For the next few days, I would be a discarded wood in the sea, floating aimlessly until someone would pick me up and use me as a firewood.
In the meantime, I would find myself a distraction. The very first USC press briefing for this semester happened to be broadcasting on the television mounted on the wall of our editorial office. I paused from playing Minesweeper and listened to what Rowan gotta say.
". . . For those who are curious about Priam's health condition, we have received permission from his family to share with you that he's been in a comatose state since last week."
I wheeled my chair, reclined against the back rest as I crossed my arms. Poor Priam. He was just strolling around campus to ensure that the event was going without a hitch when he got stabbed multiple times. Unfortunately, I wasn't there when the unfortunate incident happened. Nasa auditorium ako noon para abangan ang opening ng Romeo and Juliet. I was already in the queue when I received a notif from our Herald group chat. My editor asked me to rush to the CBA area because a commotion was happening there. When I arrived at the scene, a pool of blood greeted me as well as a stunned crowd who couldn't believe what had transpired just a couple of minutes ago. Na-witness ko pa nga kung paano binuhat sa stretcher at ipinasok sa naka-standby na ambulance sa quadrangle si Priam. Castiel was also with him. The way he stared blankly at nothing and the way his mouth hung loosely open showed me how devastated it was for him.
I might not be a fan of Priam—particularly since he greenlit the deceptive Oplan First Lady that dragged Fabienne into their mess—but he didn't deserve to be hurt that badly. Based on the medical report shared by the USC right after the incident, most of his stab wounds were shallow. Only two were deep enough to pose a threat on his life.
Because that was such an unexpected tragedy on the first day of the campus fair, I fished out my phone back then and typed a couple of paragraphs to send to my editor. Other students had already posted photos and videos of the incident on SchoolBuzz. Siyempre, 'di puwedeng magpahuli ang Herald. We also couldn't let the college publications to post the story before us, so my thumbs danced across my screen.
