Inheritance

Chapter 24: Kori and the King

"What?" The king furrowed his eyebrows furiously as Kori explained the current situation. She was eating fine cheese and drinking fine wine in the currently vacant public eating room of the Great Hall.

Kori sighed. "Please understand, Your Majesty... Eory is very young and innocent, he doesn't realize that Pollyanna is irredeemable, but I promise you that she does whatever he says and he has told her that she will do no harm to you or any of the nobles at the ball! Please, don't harm him!"

King Laurence, who sat across from Kori, drummed his fingers on the long table which spread from one end of the dining hall to the other. "I have little choice in the matter, do I? You have already invited them to my front door! I doubt that I could simply turn them away with no mishap! I can't believe she killed all those soldiers who were accompanying you from the tower..."

Silence filled the moment as Kori and the king both looked down at their hands and mourned the loss of the many good and reliable soldiers.

Kori took a deep breath as she sipped her wine. She understood the king's reticence about Pollyanna, but was determined to keep Eory safe. "Please just give them a chance—I beg of you! Eory, at least, deserves one chance!"

The king slumped back in his chair thoughtfully and with a frustrated look on his face. "I could easily kill the fairy, it's Pollyanna who could uproot the entire kingdom if she so chose. If I kill the boy, she will just make us pay for it. Kori, I am very disappointed in you."

Kori gulped and avoided the king's derisive eyes. She moved her small, blue hand over his pink human hand and blinked her red waif eyes. "Laurence, please, I did my best... I couldn't have anticipated this."

Laurence frowned deeply, and slowly, his angry face melted into a more compassionate one. "I'm sorry, my dear, I know you are on my side and I know you care for the boy as if he were your own child... You are the Redeemer, after all, and I have complete faith in your ability to redeem criminals—even one with such a long and evil family history."

The king lifted her hand to his lips and kissed her fingers. Kori smiled and was glad that Laurence seemed accommodating, but wondered why he was.

He had every right to unleash an army upon Eory and Pollyanna. "Laurence, may I ask why you have come around to Eory? I thought you would never want to release him..."

Laurence stared ahead blankly, and then answered, "you just seemed so sure... And... And I missed your company. Suddenly, you didn't want to be anywhere near me anymore and I knew it was because I refused to free him. My reasons for wanting to free him weren't altogether unselfish. I thought if I gave him one chance at the ball that he would show his true colors and then I could kill two birds with one stone. I could have him imprisoned for life when he would undoubtedly make a mistake, and I could have you back in my life."

Kori pressed a blue palm to her forehead and sighed. "You must promise me, Laurence, that you will give him a true chance, even with Pollyanna accompanying him."

King Laurence was silent for a long moment.Kori shivered from the cold and Laurence jumped at his chance to wrap his cloak about her shoulders. "The fact that he brought her means that he has bad intentions..."

"Can't you see, Laurence? He could have just run away with her and gone into hiding if he so wished. He is so desperate to prove to you that he has no evil intentions that he plans to risk the ball, anyway. I can't blame him for wanting to bring Pollyanna for his own safety."

Laurence took a deep breath and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I will give him a chance. I have no choice in the matter since he is bringing that she-demon. I expect him to keep her under control."