Bow To The King

Betrayal

We left early in the morning when Nathanial was still asleep. During the whole ride, no words were exchanged between the driver and me. Everything was quite peaceful. It had just rained last night, so the weather was still chilly and cold. But that didn't bother me. It was one of my favorite weather types. I looked outside the window and we were finally in the city. I looked around and tall buildings adorned the city in a beautiful way. Everything about that morning was delightful. The driver stopped the car as we reached our destination.

"You'll be waiting outside?" I asked him because that's what Mr. Benedict had told me earlier. He didn't turn around but I could hear him snicker "Yes sir, just do what you are supposed to do and you will be rewarded." I nodded and stepped outside the car. The cold wind hit me like a brick and I stumbled a little. Okay, you can do this.

The guard at the entrance opened the door for me. From inside, the building looked the same as any other you'd see in the city. There was nothing special about it. People were formally dressed and focused entirely on their work. I walked cautiously towards what appeared to be the reception.

"How may I help you?" The lady behind the desk asked cheerfully.

"I'm here to see the chairman." Her smile faded a little but she quickly regained her composure. "Oh okay. Do you have any prior appointments with him?" She asked as she began typing on her computer swiftly, probably to find some records on me. "Mr. Benedict sent me." Suddenly her typing stopped and she froze completely. Just when I had thought she would never speak again, she spoke up. "Why don't you wait here sir and I'll ask someone to escort you." I nodded and she hit the intercom button.

In a few minutes, I was swarmed by stern-looking men in black. Everyone who was previously busy with their own work was interested in me now.

"Come with us, we'll escort you." One of them said and started walking towards an elevator. Everyone looked toward me expecting me to follow him and I did. All the others trailed behind me. Once inside, the man who apparently was leading them pressed the button, and with a ping, the elevator started moving upwards.

In my head, I went over all the instructions that were given to me. I was told to enter the CEO's office and, once there, shoot him in the head precisely just to make sure he was dead. Mr. Benedict specifically told me that the man I was about to kill was just an ordinary businessman. He wasn't a cop or someone who was rotten, so it would be fairly easy to kill him. That's what I was told.

I nervously looked around me to make sure what I was seeing was actually real and not something my mind made up. Surely, the tough-looking guys were real and very attentive. All of them behind me were burning holes in the back of my head. I could feel their stares.

I gulped in fear but still somehow managed to keep myself together.

The doors opened and the leading man left first, everyone else waited for me to leave, and then once I did, closely followed me behind. It was an elongated corridor. Beautifully designed black marbled walls surrounded me as I walked the distance. At the end of the hallway, there was a big wooden door but before that, a lady with a small desk located right beside the door sat comfortably in her chair. She looked bored and uninterested in whatever we had to say.

"Does he know?" She asked the man beside me. "Yes, he does." He answered emotionlessly. This whole conversation seemed unnatural and even inhuman. "Why bring him here? Just dispose of him somewhere. You already know he has many important tasks to take care of." DISPOSE OF WHAT? ME? WAIT.

"We do know but the boss is the one who asked for him. At first, we weren't even gonna notify him as it was just a minor inconvenience, but you know him, he knew even before us. Now let us through." The lady looked over at me and sighed. "Okay, go in."

The man nodded and opened the door for me. At first, I was hesitant, especially after the conversation these two had had, but still, I was there and there was no coming back. I closed my eyes tightly, and the only person I saw was my mum. And just like that, I opened them again, straightened my shoulders, and went inside.

Compared to the outside, the sleek white floors matched the white-marbled walls. The massive windows revealed a sweeping view of the city. It was unlike anything I had ever seen, more beautiful than anything I could've ever imagined. And that's when I first saw her. She sat elegantly in her nightgown and sipped tea from a cup. She didn't even look up from the newspaper she was reading although she was fully aware of our presence in the room. It's funny now, but at that time I didn't even know her name.

"They call you Aiden. Am I right?" A voice came from the corner of the room and jolted me back to reality. The voice wasn't smooth, but it wasn't coarse or rough either. I looked toward the source of the voice and there he stood, the man I was assigned to kill. He looked at me with no emotion, but his eyes did observe me silently. The man radiated power and authority. As soon as he came into our sight, all the men beside me bowed in respect. I looked at them with confusion and disbelief. There was certainly something else about this man that everyone else besides me knew about.

"Don't look at them, look at me and answer my question." He ordered sternly as he took a step towards me. I decided I wouldn't answer any questions and just do what I was here to do. I moved my hand inside my coat in search of a gun that had been given to me in order to carry out the deed.

"Looking for the gun inside your coat?" he asked casually with a smirk, his eyes glistening with amusement.

How does he know I have a gun? I wasn't even searched- "I just know."

He stopped my train of thoughts midway as he slowly took a sip from the wine glass he was holding, his eyes still not leaving mine.

Wait did he just hear- "Yes."

HOLD UP! HE CAN HEAR ME THINKING- "Yes I can hear you thinking, so stop thinking and do as I say. Give me your gun."

I didn't even say anything or protest. As soon as I got hold of the gun, I passed it to him through one of his men.

He smiled at how, instead of me walking toward him, I gave it to one of his guys, but he didn't say anything about it. He took the gun and checked the barrel, which was empty.

"It's empty. You were gonna kill me with this?" He mocked me as he showed me the empty barrel.

"No it can't be, they can't do this..." I was lost for words. I knew I meant nothing to them, but still, I thought, after all these years of living together under the same roof, some intimacy must've been formed between us.

"I-"

"Shhh" He cut me off before I could say anything.

"Azair take his watch and throw it away, somewhere no one ever finds it." Azair walked toward me menacingly. I felt too weak and defeated so I just gave him my arm without any objection. Meanwhile, the man who was still nameless watched the whole interaction with a serious face. Azair bowed to him and left the room.

"Now we can talk. Your watch had a small hidden camera that apparently even you were unaware of, just like you were about that empty barrel." I looked down with shame. I couldn't even look him in the eye. He continued nonetheless.

"The people who sent you here obviously weren't exactly planning on receiving you alive. Do you even know who I am?" The more questions he asked, the more embarrassed I felt. How could I tell him what freedom meant for me? It had made me blind and brainless.

"I'm Gelid, the Chairman of this fort." Gelid?

"You are named after a god? That too after an evil one?" I should've stayed quiet but this was the only thing I was really passionate about, my comfort story, the story of Gelid.

Gelid looked at me with glee. Apparently, my comment made him very happy. He took long but slow strides towards me like a lion stalking his prey and in a second he was right in front of me, closer than before. His men took a step back instinctively, but I stood my ground, not because I wasn't afraid, but because everything happened so fast that I couldn't even comprehend what was happening.

"So you know the story of Gelid?" He tilted his head slightly towards the left as he asked me the question with curiosity.

"Something my mother used to tell me when I was a child, just a bedtime story, nothing more."

"Hmmm, interesting. " Gelid remarked as he continued to observe me. He was almost a foot taller than me and towered over me like the tall buildings outside, leaving no space for me to even breathe. Suddenly, he backed away and was soon back where he previously stood.

"Aiden, I'll give you two options." Gelid looked at me and stopped, and then a few seconds later started talking again." Either join me or just tell me now what is your most preferred way of dying, because Aiden, my boy... you are not making out of here alive otherwise."

His words were sharp and precise. He made it clear that I had no other options. I wasn't privileged enough to speak up, I was no one.

This just meant one thing; I was going from one prison to the other. In hopes of getting rid of the chains I was previously in, I was bound to another.

I sighed. "I'll do what you say, just don't kill-"

"Baris take him to the headquarters, show him around, and give him what he needs. Ask the general to look after this one, he's new." Gelid ordered one of the men behind me. "Go with him. He'll answer all your questions." He told me impassively and turned around without wasting another second on me.

"Come on, let's go. He'll get mad if we stay here a minute longer." Baris whispered, and took his leave. I followed him shortly afterward, but not before I looked back once again, hoping I'd see him again.

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Demetria had read her daily newspaper and glanced toward Gelid who sat opposite to her. "What is up with you nowadays? You take in every pup you find on the roadside. You are planning on opening up a zoo? They are useless otherwise." Gelid smiled.

"Loyalty. Mostly, the pups I find on the roadsides turn out to be the most loyal ones. Be kind to the one who has never tasted kindness before and they’ll gladly burn themselves for you when the time comes." Demetria was amused and so was he. She leaned back on the sofa, closed her eyes where only darkness engulfed her and whispered softly,

"You Devil"