Alcingeria

Chapter Forty One: First Strike

Chapter Forty One First Strike:

Thursday July 1st 1690

I caught a glimpse of the young witch that I met earlier, Antoinette.

"Oh my goodness Tabatha, you look so pretty!" She exclaimed when she saw her friend.

"Thanks Antoinette. You too." She replied with a smile. "Isn't that dress a little, well, tight?"

"It is, but the men love it," she winked.

Just then, the band stopped playing. I looked to the stage for an explanation. Curious chatter filled the air, and I too was wondering why the music fell silent. The band members stood on stage holding their instruments. The one playing a drum looked to his friends and nodded. They all looked back at him and nodded themselves. I was probably one of the only ones who was relatively idle and not doing something, so no one noticed what they were doing at first. I looked on in confusion as I saw what was happening.

They each reached behind them and pulled white caps out of the insides of their jackets. They put them on. The people playing violins reached inside their instruments and pulled out... Flintlocks! The drummer turned his drum upside down and retrieved a pistol of his own from within. The other band members reached into their instruments and pulled their own out as well. Someone noticed and screamed, chaos ensued.

What was going on!? I saw panic shoot across Queen Yuka's face.

"Guards! Guards!" She yelled at the top of her lungs.

I looked up to the balconies where I'd seen the guards earlier, only to see several men wearing white caps standing in their stead. Who were these men? The drummer from the band raised his pistol in the air and fired at the ceiling. This quieted everyone down. He quickly reloaded, the others kept watch over everything in the ensuing silence. The pianist sported a nasty grin on his face.

"Good evening everyone," he grinned, "enjoying the ball?"

The pianist had light brown hair that came down to his neck. His eyes were pale hazel. His skin tone was pale and he was fairly tall, maybe a little shorter than me. He was a bit thin, too. His clothing was that of a servant, except for the white cap atop his head.

He strode across the stage, surveying the crowd. His jaunty walk and satisfied grin hinted at the fact that he liked being at the center of attention. There was only silence in the room. You could have heard a pin drop. The man cleared his throat and continued.

"I'm sure you're all wondering who we are. To put it simply, we're with the mafia. Don't even think about running, as no guards are gonna come to protect you. My associates and I have incapacitated any who were in the room, except for the ones surrounding Queen Yuka there. We have every entrance and exit covered, so don't expect any help from outside."

At last, Queen Yuka got the courage to speak. Her guards had already drawn their own pistols, but they were outnumbered. The guards seemed to have been concentrated outside and in the balconies. The Queen must not have believed something like this could happen.

"What is it that you want?" She asked, her voice almost shaking. "Obviously there has to be something."

The pianist grinned, spinning his flintlock on his finger while walking towards the Queen. Any guests between him and Queen Yuka scattered.

"Indeed I do want something." He said, almost flippantly. "It's the only reason you're still alive, sweetums."

Queen Yuka wanted to protest, but she was silent, awaiting his demands with the barest holds of patience. I looked around desperately. I saw that Robert stood glaring at the men on stage, his fists clenched, swaying on the spot. The others looked afraid, so did everyone else in the room.