The Seven Souls

Chapter 3 (Marigold)

I stayed behind the servant for the entire trip out of the ballroom. That other girl, Jeanelle, stood to my left. She wouldn't even look at me. I know from that day we met on the way to the art exhibit that she wasn't too comfortable around me. Her and that guy, Gabe. Was it just because I was new? Maybe the do-rag and sunglasses made a bad impression?

Eh, who cares? If the king of this place likes 'em, then I do, too.

When we approached the throne, we noticed the king was gone. "Oh," the servant said in surprise. "He must have already gone to the back room. Follow me." He stepped up onto the stage where the throne and the musicians sat and led us through a small door to the left. Inside, it was completely dark. The servant turned on the light to reveal the king with his crown off sitting on a slightly smaller throne.

That just left me with one question: how many thrones does this guy have?

Well, he is a king. I guess I shouldn't be surprised.

Anyway, the moment he saw us, he said, "Marigold! Jeanelle! I'm so glad you could make it tonight," in that low, raspy voice of his.

First of all, how did he already memorize our names? Second of all, what did he want us for? If he wanted to make us his concubines or something, I'd have to do something illegal.

Er, we were already tasked with doing something illegal, which was killing this guy. I looked down at the wand still in my right hand. He was, like, ten feet away from me. I could just raise my wand, shoot a death ray out of it, and kill him. Boom. Mission accomplished.

Before I could do it, though, the king stood up and walked towards us, one foot sliding in front of the other. "I bet you're wondering why I asked for you two specifically."

The two of us looked at each other, then at him. "Yes," Jeanelle said.

"Well, it's because you two showed up," the king answered. "Well, actually, it's because all seven of you showed up. If the Seven Souls are here, that means something bad has happened in the kingdom, and I want you to figure out what it is."

"Felipe already told us," Jeanelle replied. "That's why he gathered all of us. He said the black tar was back."

The king looked at Jeanelle with one eyebrow raised for a second. Then he let out a loud laugh that came from deep within his chest. "That's preposterous! The black tar hasn't been a problem in 1,000 years."

"But Felipe saw it himself." I straightened my back to try and get on his level. "He saw you turn into this giant black reptile monster or something!"

"Oh, that?" he chuckled. "That happens sometimes."

Jeanelle and I both reeled back for a second. He was treating actually turning into a giant monster like it was no big deal. I stepped forward. "That's not something that 'happens sometimes.' You've been infected with the black tar!"

"Yeah," Jeanelle nodded. "Your life is in danger. Either the black tar will kill you, or we will to keep it from spreading."

This was my cue! I raised my wand. "And we're going with the way that'll kill fewer people."

"Cut that out, you little brat!" The king snatched the wand out of my hand and threw it on the ground. "You don't have to kill me just yet. At least let me tell my story."

I crossed my arms. "What story?"

"You see, the truth is I've been infected with the black tar for a while now," the king explained. "When Felipe was five, I oversaw his first painting lesson. The thing is instead of grabbing black paint, his instructor accidentally grabbed a jar of black tar that had somehow wound up in there. One thing led to another, and, well, Felipe got some of that tar on my face." He turned his head to show the red streaks on his left cheek. "You can even see where it first made contact. He had no idea what the black tar or the Seven Souls were back then. He just looked so scared as he saw his own father turn into a monster in front of him."