Dance of the Damned

Temper Tantrum

Reaching the Pober estate, Philip jumped off his horse and talked to the gatekeeper, who opened the gate for him as the water from the heavens poured down.

Soaked to the bone, Philip made his way to the mansion as quickly as he could, hands over his head in a poor attempt to keep some of the water out of his eyes.

The Pober’s mansion is a vast expanse of land with trees and all kinds of plants that Philip bought and planted to add beauty to the dull house, especially after their deaths.

It is only now that he could see just how beautiful everything looked as all the flowers were in bloom and were glowing like lanterns in the pouring rain.

No matter how beautiful everything looked, he could not concentrate on it. The flowers blooming are always beautiful to look at, if you forget the fact that it means that someone in the kingdom died.

Even on the way to the mansion, as he rode the horse, he could see the flowers open up along the path he took making his worst thoughts even more prominent.

The flowers start at the place of the death and then spread throughout the kingdom. No one knows why this happens but they do know that it does.

What was a little strange about those flowers blooming is that they are brighter than any other time he saw them bloom, to the point that it is almost aggressive.

As Philip was about to reach the estate, he noticed a man seated on the stairs, a man he has never seen before.

Right. The king is supposed to come today. He thought, walking past the man who looked at him intently until he entered the estate. Must be a bodyguard.

The instant he opened the door, chaos seemed to burst out as servants ran back and forth in a panic.

“Philip!” A woman ran to him. “Where were you? Goodness, you are soaked.”

“What is happening here?” he asked, seeing more people run around the room in a fit of panic.

“The king. The king wished to talk to the young master but we cannot find him and now, he is demanding for the boy saying that he will tear this house down if he doesn’t find him.” She started sobbing. “We don’t know where he is. We looked everywhere.”

“Where is Elise?” he asked, not having the time to have a casual talk with her. He heard all he needed to know.

“We don’t know. Everyone is everywhere at the moment.” She said, wiping her eyes with a handkerchief she pulled out from her apron pocket. “What if we don’t find the young master, Philip?”

“Don’t worry about that.” He said, walking past her to look for Elise.

I need her to get into the dining room. He thought, there will be guards at the door. The only person they will let through would be his nanny. Otherwise … the suspicions on me will …

Suddenly, he remembered his son’s reaction and what he said before he left.

I can’t waste time trying to find her. Fine. Let us brave the fire first.

“Philip!” He paused then turned hearing a voice from behind him, relief washing over him as he spotted Elise making her way to him.

“Elise! I was about to begin looking for you.” He said happily.

“I know.” She said, worry written all over her face as she looked around him. The bottom half of her skirt was wet, so she must have been outside.

“H-how did you know?”

“A servant in the other building told me that you were looking for me in the main hall.” She said, turning to him. “Where is the young master?”

“What servant? When? Other building?”

“Where is he?!” She asked again, desperation written all over her eyes. “You know, don’t you?”

“I do.” The man said, shoving all his questions to the back of his head. “But I need to talk with the lord and lady. It is very important."

“Something horrible happened to him, didn’t it?” She asked, getting confirmation when he only looked to the ground. Instead of breaking down, she took in a deep breath and pulled herself together, “Come with me.”

As the two walked with Philip making the loudest noises because of his wet shoes and clothes, the people cleared the path, watching them as they made their way to the dining hall.

Some men in civil uniform stood outside the door, stopping them from entering as they heard shouts coming from just one person in the room, followed by the clatter of plates and a scream.

“The king has instructed privacy.” The guard said, stepping in front of the two as Philip swallowed hard, heart hammering against his chest.

“Out of the way,” Elise said, glaring at him. “I have an audience with the king.”

The guard looked at her up and down sceptically, “Are you the young master?”

“No.” She said, “I am his nan- governess. Now, if you want the king to calm down then you will let us through.”

The guards looked at Philip who looked back at them, though his knees felt weak.

“Is this the young master?”

“He is the one with information on the young master. Now let us in. If anything happens to the young master because you all kept us here, I will remember who to blame.”

They stared at each other and sighed before opening the door for them.

She gave them a nod, walking into the room followed closely by Philip.

_______________

The room is a mess with plates scattered all over the floor along with the food the servants worked so hard to prepare.

In the corner is the Lord and Lady trying to keep a dignified air thought their visible shaking could be seen immediately.

In the opposite direction is a man seated on the chair with a darkened expression on his face. His dark blue hair fell over his face as his golden eyes turned to them.

“Who are you?” he asked, hardly looking up. “How did you get in here?”

“She is the young master of this house’s governess. She says she knows something about him.” The guard said and walked out of the room immediately. 

“Speak.” The man said, leaning forward, his hands intertwined in front of him.

“I am the governess, Elise and this is the groundskeeper, Philip. He has a son that is very close with the young master.” She explained, moving to the side so that Philip could tell them what happened.

He looked at the aunt and uncle in the corner, walking forward but only very carefully, like they did not want to be seen.

Swallowing what felt like rocks, Philip began, “I don’t know how this happened, but the young master went to the marketplace by himself.”

“He what?!” The Lord of the house shouted, getting a tired look from the king. “How did he get to the marketplace that is quite a few minutes away? Why did no one stop him?!”

“We do not know,” Elise said, keeping her tone steady but they could hear the anger in her voice and the quick accusatory glance at the woman in the corner. “Please continued, Philip.”

“When my son found out about this from a servant, he told me and we rushed to the marketplace on the back of a cart. We did not have the time to mount the horse.

“As we were about to reach the marketplace, we were stopped by some people asking to get the doctor because someone got injured.”

He paused, looking at Elise who gave him a reassuring nod while her hand gripped at the skirt of her dress, trembling.

“My son and I jumped off the cart and ran to the crowd as it was beginning to disperse. We noticed parts of the carriage as being ours and, pushed past the crowd to see the young master sitting in the wreckage, covered in blood.”

“Oh. Oh goodness.” The Lady pulled out her fan and began fanning herself. “I … I feel faint. Blood. Someone catch me.”

“Are you well, my wife?” The man asked in a sickly sweet voice that no one bought.

“I believe the one we should be concerned about is the injured.” The guest said, getting to his feet, glaring at the two before turning to Philip. “How bad is the injury?”

“He was stabbed multiple times all over his body. We took him to the hospital but his condition is unknown.

"My son is waiting there and I came here to inform the Lord and Lady as per his request before they took him into the room," Philip said sucking in a breath as his body began to shake.

"You did a good job." The man said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Guards!"

"Your majesty?" They entered the room, standing to attention.

"I will need a horse prepared immediately." He said then turned to Elise. "Are you coming as well?"

"IIs that a question you need to ask, your majesty?" She asked, sucking in a breath as the worry on her face became even more prominent.

"I too," Philip said. "I will show you the way."

"Alright. We are leaving now." He said when the Lady suddenly spoke up. "Horses for everyone in the room."

"Now? But it is raining, your majesty." She said, smiling nervously as he glared at her.

"Your nephew might be dying and asked for you, and you worry about getting wet?" He asked, looking at her like he wanted to wring her neck.

"I apologise for my wife." The man came in between suddenly. "She is still in shock."

The man did not look like he believed him but he decided to leave it be, for now.

"EVERYONE OUT!"