Juliet of Dundee

Tallies

Juliet of Dundee Chpt. 20

Pater

A single drop. Two drops. A downpour. So does the fall of tropical rain go. Within minutes of its beginning the sky releases everything it's been holding back all at once. I welcomed the sting of each droplet as they pelted against my face. I deserved it. I let Juliet down. My inability to lie to her would now cost me my sanity and perhaps even my life.

To think that moments before I'd been alone in the presence of that demon. Once more my mind forced me back to what had occurred.

My heartbeat had pounded deafeningly loud in my ears. My jaw had tensed along with every other muscle in my body. That had been my hell. It still is my hell.

I wasn't much of a religious or superstitious guy, by this thought had crossed my mind as I'd been escorted into the king's cabin and stood before his desk; what had I done in my past life to deserve this?

"Welcome," the beast said as he turned about in his spinning leather chair to face me. I did not dare make eye contact with him, at least I didn't for a moment. But something in me had dared me to try. I looked into the beast's eyes for but a moment and was sucked into an eternal nothingness of hatred and darkness.

He truly was a monster. How could someone such as himself create someone such as Juliet?

I looked away as quickly as I could and glanced downward towards his neck. The vial. There it sat, glowing in all its magnificence.

"You wonder why it glows," the king said matter-of-factly. I looked down at his desk and grit my teeth. He could read every gesture, every glance; but how? "Juliet is near enough to still make it glow. Currently she is below this room, where you both have stayed for some time."

I sniffed and looked to my left as if I wasn't interested. Obviously I was, however. Anything that had to do with Juliet was of the upmost importance to me.

"Don't you fret, Son of the Serpent."

That's odd. He used to call me Son of Bernard. But I guess since father... I guess he is better to call me by the ship? Or perhaps it was a direct jab at my father's death.

The king held up two fingers. "Two days before us till we reach our precious destination." A grin danced across his lips and I visioned the look of a haunting glee flicker in his eyes.

I shivered.

"Take a seat." The king said in a stern and demanding voice. I obeyed. I sat still in the chair, and failed to hide this. I knew this mainly because the king called me out on it. "Relax, Bernard."

Guess he'll still be calling me by my last name.

The 'Son of the Serpent' thing had definitely been a jab at my father's passing.

"So I'm assuming you're wondering why you're here."

I didn't answer.

"Fool. Use your tongue or I'll cut it out."

"A-aye." The strange calmness in his voice frightened me.

The king rolled his eyes.

"I've brought you here to make a deal with you."

This caught me completely off guard. A deal? What sort of deal?

I cast my concerns to the king in a single glance. He understood, as expected.

"It has been made clear to me that yourself and my daughter are lovers." The king stood from his seat and began to pace the room. "You should have done better to keep this from me." He stopped, his hands clasped behind his back, his head turned back over his shoulder to shoot a knowing and sinister glance at me.