Storm Sisters

Chapter Seven

~1~

          Kara           

Life at court for a royal is just a series of parties and silly games, fancy dresses and funny hats, tables covered with exquisite meals and desserts, and laughter.. so much fake laughter that one could almost begin to think that it was authentic.

But in the back of Kara's mind, she knows that these people with whom she laughs and plays the days away, are not her friends at all. On the contrary, they are her mortal enemies, scheming sycophants, who would smile at her face then cut her throat the moment she turned her back. This sense of looming danger is ever present beneath the surface of the castle's finery.

But even amongst this den of snakes, it is the Jester, Pike, who she hates/fears the most. He roams the halls of the castle, always dressed in his performance attire complete with makeup, and always with that sinister grin.

Pike is not a man, but a demon, or so Kara suspects. She regularly notices that his yellow eyes are always leering upon her regardless of whatever else is happening in the room.

And for a fool, he has amassed an impressive degree of sway over the king, quickly becoming one of his most influential advisors. A fact that must not sit well with Lord Gilroy, who doesn't like to share the king's ear.

On an evening like any other, joyous music played in the great dining hall while plates full of food that had been barely picked at by the wealthy guests who favored wine over sustenance, sat to waste for the gathering flies, as hungry servants were forced to stand at attention and watch with envy.

Lord Gilroy pleaded with the king as impassioned as he could to try and persuade him not to send the farmers east to fight. "My grace, I implore you." he said, "we are dangerously low on grains as it is, and we will not have enough in our stores to last the winter if the harvest goes to waste."

The king, having already overly indulged in his share of wine this evening, seemed disinterested in the subject, and a bit annoyed by Lord Gilroy's insistence.

"Yes yes, harvest the fields, I get it. What do you think Pike?" Kara noticed a brief eye-roll from Lord Gilroy at the mention of Pike. Perhaps she was not alone in her disdain for him.

"Your Grace, I am but a simple fool, not an educated man on the matters of state like Lord Gilroy here." Pike flutters his eye lashes at Lord Gilroy. "But one might think that the farmers wives and children could handle the harvest of the grains, whilst their husbands were off on the king's business. Surely a show of strength and solidarity is what's needed most, don't you agree?"

To this the king raised his cup, "here here, that's exactly correct.. strength and solidarity."

Kara waited patiently the rest of the evening for an opportunity to speak with Lord Gilroy alone, and after games and brandy in the great hall, she finally got her chance as Lord Gilroy took the air in the courtyard.

The night was cool enough that one could see their own breath, and the sky was clear and full of stars.

She approached Lord Gilroy as he gazed out over the balcony. But it was he who spoke first without turning to face her.

"Is there something you wish to say to me?"

She paused, having been thrown off her train of thought.

Lord Gilroy continued, "You've obviously been waiting for an opportunity to speak in private, so it must be important.. well here we are, so what is it?"