My Kingdom, My Wife, and the Darkness

Part 1

 He was sitting alone at a table hungrily biting into the chicken on his plate. It disgusted me to watch him gnaw at the bones and rip at the meat. I couldn't help but notice specks of spittle and chicken flying off his teeth. Perhaps he believed he needed to make up for lost time.

As I walked, several people glanced at me and looked away. The cape probably attracted the most attention; long and pitch black like the encircling river. My hair was the same dark color. The color of pure night. The color of my realm, or what once had been anyway. The sun's rays could not reach there, but I kind of liked it that way. Odd things like that set me apart from most others. It's not that I dislike bright light, but the darkness has a kind of calmness and reassurance that I like to cover me as well. This is probably what my brother thought when he assigned my kingdom to me. No light, no color. But I do like color. I like the bright hues of my wife's garden, the most vivid I had ever encountered.... Now lost beneath the earth. Once I had almost never left my kingdom's grounds, but that was a long time ago. I don't know how long as I cannot well keep track of the years, but I knew it had been long.

As I sat beside the old man my cape swept out behind me. Somewhat dramatic, but the swoosh sound it made served its purpose.

"Eh, who's there?" he asked, looking up. His blank eyes bored into me and past me.

"A friend" I answered evenly.

"No friend of mine. I have none." he replied. He had located me by my voice and was looking at me through unseeing eyes.

"An acquaintance then." I answered. He said nothing, but bit into his chicken again, slobbering onto his plate, but missing it very often. Slowly, I reached forward and plucked it from his slimy hand.

"Hey!" he protested. Ignoring the drool pooling on my hand, I lifted it away from him.

"You curdled little feather flapper." he growled. I smiled blandly although he could not see.

"I dislike the way you eat." I said. He waved his arms toward me, but I moved my chair just out of reach.

"Someone get me a chicken leg, or even better get rid of this pest." he called out. No one replied, probably because they were scared to mess with me. I was tall, taller than most and dressed in darker black than most of them had ever seen. Few people were brave enough in this day and age.

"I'm going to ask you three questions and you are going to answer them." I told him. He froze his flailing at my tone and words. I could see him hesitate, wondering if there was a mistake and whether he should play the ignorant.

"What makes you think I'll See anything for you?" he asked. Was the fool hoping to make a deal for himself? I leaned forward.

"I don't need you to "See" anything for me. My first question is this: Who am I?" I said. He looked confused.

"I'll describe myself for you." I suggested. He made an angry growling sound.

"Are you mocking me?" he asked. I gave a quick bark of a laugh. He looked taken aback and confused.

"I keep company with Night. I enjoy the presence of Darkness. I know neither Age nor Death, and yet I am most familiar with the latter. I stay very far from the Sky yet am very close. I am one-" I began. The man paled and began to tremble. His left eye rolled back into his head and his other seemed to twitch.

"Stop!" he cried, "I know who you are." I smiled and set the chicken back down onto his plate. He heard me drop it, but he didn't touch it any more.

"My second question: Where is the Entrance?" I said.

"My lord, I swear to you it wasn't my fault! Of course if I had know your benevolence was coming back I never would have left-"

"Answer my question." His eyes refocused on me and he paused for a moment.

"The Entrance is on the river-bank. Navarro. At the source." he said. I didn't let my excitement at this news show. He couldn't see, but he would still know if my mood had changed.

"Thirdly: What happened?" I asked. He was quiet, fidgeting in his seat.

"I'm sure you know more than I know sir...." he said.

"Surprise me."

The man poked the chicken with a finger and made a click sound with his tongue.

"I'm waiting," I said.

"I don't know much sir, it all happened before-." I leaned forward in my seat until I was inches from his blank eyes.

"Don't lie to me." I said. He fell silent and sat still. Finally he said,

"It's all in chaos. The Doors were opened wide and many of us ran out. The Field Posts were abandoned as well. After your disappearance something made your servants stop their jobs. I don't know how or what."

He was telling the truth. Whatever had happened was not caused by the Prisoners. They escaped when they could, but something else had been behind the chaos. I didn't blame them, under their conditions I would have hightailed it as well after my mysterious disappearance. I wondered what my wife had done after I was gone. I wondered what I had done after I was gone. It is a truly mysterious disappearance indeed when the one in question has no clue why or where they disappeared to.

"I have little time for you now. If I find you again I will bring you back. You may leave." I gave a short bark of a laugh as I watched him stumble blindly over himself to get out.