Bitter Hearts: A Dark Cinderella Retelling

Twenty Five

Present Day

"To-Tokala?!" King Volker stuttered in surprise. He never expected to see that hard chiseled black face beneath the mask. How could he! The man was the grand duke and his most trusted adviser for God's sake! The crowd was surprised to see their grand duke's face behind the mask and even though they were terrified they were surprised and curious as to why he would go around on a killing spree.

"W-why?!" Was all King Volker could ask brokenly, asking the question on everyone's mind.

"Why not?" Tokala retorted.

"The lot of you are selfish and wicked, somebody had to put you all in order," he continued, smirking at the end of his statement.

"What evil spirit possessed you to murder innocent people?" King Volker asked, his bloodstained brow shooting up in question. He was truly perplexed.

"Innocent! Innocent! How dare you say those evil doers are innocent. How dare you!" He raged.

"My son was innocent!" King Volker belted, the pain of losing his son with the anger of being betrayed causing a few drops of tears to leak for his eyes that were now red from holding back the tears.

"Lies! All terrible lies! Your son was a liar and you know that, he was a shallow, foul, ill mannered child that had no business sitting upon a throne!" Tokala argued back, earning him a blow on the head from a guard behind him.

"And I can't blame him, he got that from you, isn't it?" He continued, staring the King straight in the eye, blood dripping from his mouth.

"W-what are you talking about?" King Volker asked.

"Oh quit playing dumb you fat man," Tokala said rolling his eyes and receiving a hard kick to his stomach.

"I don't know what you're talking about," King Volker retorted with an arrogant jut of his beardless chin.

"You knew I loved her, you knew she was mine, you knew!" Tokala yelled. He received yet another blow to his face and by now his blood stained teeth gleaming for all to see. King Volker eyes widened in realization but he said nothing in reply, instead he signalled to his guards to step aside and let him go

"I loved her, I loved Amari," he whispered.

"You knew but yet you gifted her as if she were a common commodity to that man, for what? Lining your pockets with silver?"

"Answer me you bald headed man! Or are you too ashamed to admit you betrayed your own and accepted bribe from that selfish, hard headed man?" Tokala screamed but yet King Volker said nothing still bowing his head in shame. A guard motioned to hit the disrespectful man but the King's hand signal stopped him.

"You know I was serving you faithfully for many years but instead of rewarding me, you robbed me of the one thing, the one person I loved more than life itself," he said  brokenheartedly, a few treacherous tears slipping down his face.

"You know she was pregnant for me," he continued a forlorn expression across his features.

"But I didn't know," he hiccupped.

"I didn't know," he whispered brokenly.

"She fought for us though, she fought hard and she called you out. Everyone hated her for it, calling her rebellious. Mia suffered for it eventually. They loathed my Amari and when she died her child too,"

"When it got too much for her to bear she married that nincompoop, Cedric," he said, spitting the name out like it was bitter on his tongue.

"She cut communication with me after that, it was her father's wish. I left then, I went on those trips to other villages because I needed to get her off my mind," he continued, looking at King Volker, who could only stare at the broken man before him.