THE HAUNTED KINGDOM 2 - Charles E.J. Moulton (good books for high schoolers .txt) 📗

have fallen. The entire palace believed her.
This morning, Rolf had arrived and had only come to tell the King what he knew that the King did not know. “I am only saying this, your majesty, because I think you should be informed of the circumstances. Patrick has been over there so often that it is sometimes more of a home to him.”
Alex put away the document he was reviewing and nodded. “Well, thank you, my dear friend. It is good to be relieved of ignorance.” He looked at the fireplace and the logs of fire wood burning inside it. “How long have you suspected that they have gone behind my back and led this double life?”
“I am surprised you have not noticed it before and screamed at them like you used to, Alexander. They have been frequent visitors there. In fact, those three have been spending more time in Madam Zonga’s than here on the grounds.”
Alex seemed to be looking out toward the garden, trying to find some answer out there that actually could be found in his heart. ”I hope they don’t conjure up some scandal.”
“Alexander” Rolf giggled nervously and sardonically. “Scandal is the least of your worries. Forget all those people who will wonder what the royal family does or not. Your children are being drawn into the arms of the devil.”
He saw the swaying trees and sighed. “Dear God. What shall I do? I have neglected them and I have no idea how to stop it? How shall I make this group of youngsters realize what they are doing?”
Rolf shrugged. “Reprimand them. Erica claimed to have fallen and will not say that anything else is true.” Rolf shook his head. “Patrick hit her. I am sure of it. Lance and Alfred know something.”
Alexander nodded. “I have spoken to them. They say they heard nothing.” Alexander pouted and groaned. “I feel sorry for Erica, so sorry. On the other hand, I feel it is good for Lance to have his father spend more time at The Rose and in town and not give his son a hard time.” He looked at Rolf. There was a look of sadness there that almost broke Rolf’s heart. “But he needs a father, does he not? A real father?” Rolf nodded. “We are running a country. We must uphold our reputation. What are people saying?”
“The Clurafarians know that the Prince is there all the time. But they don’t blame you for it. They blame them for being the bad seeds of Sodom.”
“Have Ellie and Marcus sent a message when they will return to us? I know they talk to Patrick frequently” the king said. He put his hand behind his back and looked out the window at the green trees. There was no answer at first.
“No. Sire, they have not” Rolf finally whispered.
“Well, I hope that when they do, they let me take care of discussions with Morgana and her husband. Patrick always overreacts. What bothers me is Richard, who seems to be living off his assets and not even considering returning to a military career. I should’ve thrown him out years ago. But I am afraid to throw anyone out and you know why, my friend.”
”May I be bold?”
”You often are, Rolf.”
He smiled. “You cannot change them. They will only get worse. If you want to change anything, exile them completely.”
”Rolf, I exiled one family member. You know how that ended.”
“I don’t want that to happen again” Alexander whispered. “Besides, I should be thankful if Ellie talks to Patrick when he is here. She is calm and collected. All I worry about is Maria. She seems to be so distant when she is here on visits.” Rolf did not respond to this. The two men, the king and his assistant, looked at the swaying trees outside. “I cannot exile family, Rolf, no matter what they have done. No matter how bad they have been. I did that once. Look where that has brought us.”
“There is a rumor, Sire.”
Alex looked at Rolf. “What?”
Rolf sighed and shook his head. He took a step toward the window and walked in stately manner around the room. Then he stopped at a safe distance from Alexander and turned toward him.
“The rumor is that your daughter is selling herself as a … well, you know what … at Madam Zonga’s as a prostitute” Rolf cried ever so softly. “I am just saying that to hint that she is a sinner.”
Alex stood up and walked to the window, stroking his beard.
He leaned against the stony windowpane.
“The world is falling apart, Rolf!”
Rolf joined him by his side, gently laying a hand on his shoulder. “I know …”
”The worst thing is that I have no idea how to stop it.”
The two men said nothing to each other after that. They simply stood in the throne room, looking at the morning sun, wondering how long it would keep on shining.

Saturday - March 15th 1427

Morgana's double life was now so infamous amongst the people that everyone was speculating not if she was selling herself as a prostitute but to what degree she was doing it.
No one really knew exactly what proof they had that she was leading two lives. That previous night, over a drink or five after a whole day of fencing she told Patricia about her double life. Patty's first reaction was absolute horror, but after an hour's discussion she had convinced her sister of its merits and Patty ended up finding it quite appealing.
Morgana, realizing that her father had drifted away from her to the point that a friendship between the two was impossible, had walked up to him with plea for a kind word and the last words met a cold ear.
"Father, I will not let you leave without reconciliation! I cannot have you depart without some sort of compromise!"
Alexander had left the castle that same morning for the Danish Channel in order to be able to help the rebuilding, never to see Morgana alive again. Patty was in on the double life and entered the brothel as Vanessa Carolin, with Morgana acting as a hooker bearing the professional name of Penrypola Pilpoa. The two girls found it fantastic that they were not found out.
Patty and Morgy arrived at Madam Zonga’s at twelve that day, almost three hours after their father had left the house. Belinda had been in bed with a headache and Steven had been taking care of Alfred, so only Rolf and Geena knew of their departure with Richard and Patrick.
Zeddy had joined Sieglinde in the throne room that day and were holding a very tense meeting with Julius Cretan about the situation in the senate.
The entire forum seemed to be against all this shifting of power. At times, decisions were made by four people and the felt insecure about everything. Belinda rarely went to church any more and they were worried that the leadership was falling to pieces.
Richard, Morgana, Patricia and Patrick could go unnoticed into their coach. Rolf and Geena had sworn to secrecy, thinking that they were just leaving for a private feast on the hill. Once there, a third girl named Henrietta George joined them in a drunken spree and ended up mid afternoon with two strange men in their bed.
That particular afternoon, the seven of them had left the brothel on order to drink themselves from inn to inn to inn. By the time they came back to the brothel, they could barely stand. Still deciding to enter the establishment, they stumbled in and threw a bunch of coins on the table in front of the large Madam just to irritate her and called her a dragon. That same day the news spread like wildfire all across the town. Every innkeeper had recognized them and now the people in at least two of the inns had brought each other up to such a frenzy that they began marching to look for the assembled courtiers. Theo had been on an errand near the Senate that day and seen the six enter the building and at once recognized the four royals. He at once dropped his assignment and rode to the castle to notify the queen. What he never saw was the six being thrown out on the streets and not being able to stand up because of their intoxication.
Her majesty, Zedrick Ronkenshire and Julius Cretan ran up to Steven and Belinda, who were notified that her sister and brother were at Madam Zonga’s barely able to stand in the middle of the day and the family left in a coach without the queen after mutually deciding to spare the king before they knew any details. As they arrived in the city, they saw an angry mob approaching six intoxicated figures outside a side street opposite the marketplace.
Obviously, Patrick had been awake enough to warn the others before they were attacked. Soon enough the four royals were chased down the streets by the mob who seemed to be growing. They accused the royals for starting the war and killing the people. Belinda was not popular any more and the leadership was bad. The crowd took anything they could and threw at them.
Seeing this, Belinda stepped out of the carriage and pleaded with the crowd to use their senses. Steven and Zeddy ran to her and tried to help her calm the crowd down.
There was a mixed reaction here. Some people, cried for help. Some people pleaded with them to save the country. Some people threw food at them.
Finally, they were chased into to coach again. The stones and food that were thrown at Philip, who was driving the coach, forced him to drive around the houses to meet the four victims on the other side in order to help them and get the into the coach.
Belinda again grew desperate and knew that the mob was murdering her family. She ran out of the carriage and to the mob, desperately trying to fight herself threw the crowd.
Theo was told to get any army he could in order to vanquish the mob.
Philip ran into the senate and found guards, who were busy hiding from the mob. He found younger senate members with weapons. He found a few monks with provisory church treasures.
Theo came back with soldiers who came in time to find the four family members chased by the mob down the streets to the senate courtyard, by now almost unrecognizably beaten, sans teeth and hair, lynched by hundreds.
The crowd was beaten and there was no way of telling where this revolt had started.
The four barely alive family members were brought to the castle.
Henricus Balthazar was brought to the palace with his assistants and his wife.
Theo rode and fetched the king, who was notified about the disaster. Toward late evening that fateful March night, Morgana died of inner wounds in Belinda’s arms.


Tuesday – March 18th 1427

The four bodies of Patricia, Morgana, Richard and Patrick had been laid out with satin covers over their corpses in the side chapel. Bernardus Paul’s artist sculptors had been notified that four coffins were to be transported from St. Raphael.
“Our country is falling apart, dears!”
Sieglinde looked at her husband.
“We must not let it.”
Belinda shook her head. “What can we do?”
“We can try to control the situation.”
“How? Three of children are dead. How can we control that?”
Steven was silent. “I don’t know, Alexander.” He shook his head. “I really don’t know.”
“Where are the angels when we need them?”