ACT ONE: EUROPA

Scene 2: Mizpah

It was raining the day Devon met the king. The light rain pattered onto the pavement as Devon looked up at the mighty palace. It was big. His hair covered his eyes and the fog covered the streets but he could still make out the large silhouette of the royal palace. His dreary eyes followed Emily as she approached the guards at the gate. She handed over a piece of paper that they had collected from her boss, when they had made a quick detour before going to the palace. The guards in their bright red uniforms read the paper and let Emily and Devon through the gates and into the palace grounds. When he stepped through the gate a wave of anxiety washed over him, a wave hit him right in the face reminding him he was about to meet the ruler of an entire country, nah, countries.

What would the king think of him? What would the king be like? Cold? Old? Sensible? He had a whole country to rule he couldn't stop all that to help just one citizen. Would the king be a kind ruler? Would he be like the king of Europa? A thousand questions raced through Devon's mind, filling the sights with a wash of red anxiety, as though Devon was a painter in his anxiety era.

Emily looked back and noticed his hesitation, she smiled to comfort him and took his hand. Before they had left the house Emily gifted him with a respirator and gloves. Maybe he hadn't noticed but in his painful fit during his first journey outside his skin didn't take kindly to the fog either. He took a deep breath and let Emily drag him into the labyrinth of a palace.

The corridors were largely decorated with flowers and gold. Portraits hung on one side of the wall and Devon looked out at yellow stained London through the windows on his right, as though it had been drawn on old parchment paper. A large door came closer on their left, it looked heavy and thick and two guards in the same bright red uniforms as before stood stationed at the entrance. They didn't move but Devon felt their eyes on him as he approached. Emily finally let go of his hand and gave the knights the piece of paper again. It took a few seconds for him to take it but when he did he crumpled it up and threw it away.

"What the hell was that for? We have important business with the king". Emily frowned and shouted at the guard. He remained silent. "Fine then be like that but if the kings gets upset at you then don't blame me". She glanced at the knight to see if he reacted. He did not.

Just then the doors opened slowly and a humble man wearing a white shirt and grey slacks looked at Emily with a surprised expression. "Winchester, you're here. I was worried you'd be late". He smiled. It was one of those soft caring smiles. A smile you never forgot. A smile that melted the heart.

Emily bowed "I wouldn't ever imagine being late to a meeting with his highness".

"There's no need for formalities. Please, come in". He moved aside and held the door open for Emily and Devon. When he passed him, Devon felt a strange look coming from the king. Why was everyone giving him the same look? Was he really that odd looking? He carefully closed the door behind them after asking one of the guards to fetch some tea. "I understand that this meeting is quite the odd one", the king turned back to Emily "Who is your friend?"

"We're not too sure. He can't remember anything". Emily's eyes followed the king as he sat at his large document covered desk. The only thing that wasn't made of paper was a small statue of a deer made from some amber or other. His pen sat without a lid on top of a freshly signatured paper. "Honestly I didn't really know who else to go to".

"Then please", he raised his hands to the comfy looking chairs at the other side of his desk "Take a seat".

Emily gave Devon a look. A look that he had to be careful and to think about what he said. He took a seat. A maid of sorts came in holding a tray carrying three teacups, a steaming teapot, a small bowl of sugar cubes and a creamer of milk. The maid poured the cups and sat them in front of each participant. She bowed for the king and left again. He thanked her as she left and turned back to Emily.