["PLAY THE KING" IS ACT TWO OF THE "PLAY" SERIES. PLEASE READ "PLAY THE QUEEN" FIRST.]
It's been four months since Priam Torres, the once unpopular president of the Elysian University Student Council, assumed office. Thanks to his chief-of-staff Cas...
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REYNARD
YOU KNOW what? I kinda missed the USC beat. Don't get me wrong. I was enjoying my stint as the LEXECOM beat reporter, especially now that Castiel had become the presiding officer while Alaric was the majority leader. But man, the chance to roast their public information officer was always such a delight! I wanted to push Rowan Oronce to his limits and see how far he could go with his mental gymnastics and narrative spinning. I kinda envied Rie for being in that media room. Yup, I'm calling Ambrielle 'Rie' from now on.
After a two-week break, the second semester at Elysian University had officially begun. Good news para sa mga estudyanteng gustong matuto at para sa campus journalists na gusto nang bumalik sa pagre-report ng mga ganap sa campus. Unfortunately, the LEXECOM sessions wouldn't start until next week. For the next few days, I'd be a discarded piece of wood in the sea, floating aimlessly until someone picked me up and used me as a firewood.
In the meantime, I needed to find myself a distraction. The very first USC press briefing for this semester happened to be broadcasting on the television mounted on the wall of our editorial office. I paused from playing Minesweeper and listened to what Rowan had to say.
"... For those who are curious about Priam's health condition, we have received permission from his family to share with you that he's been in a comatose state since last week."
I wheeled my chair back, reclining against the backrest as I crossed my arms. Poor Priam. He was just strolling around campus to ensure that the event was going smoothly when he got stabbed multiple times. Wala ako sa pinangyarihan ng insidente nang mangyari 'yon. Nasa auditorium ako no'n para abangan ang opening ng Romeo and Juliet. I was already in the queue when I received a notif from our Herald group chat. My editor asked me to rush to the CBA area because a commotion was happening there.
When I arrived at the scene, a pool of blood greeted me as well as a stunned crowd who couldn't believe what had transpired just a couple of minutes ago. Na-witness ko pa nga kung paano binuhat sa stretcher at ipinasok sa naka-standby na ambulance sa quadrangle si Priam. Castiel was also with him. The way he stared blankly at nothing and the way his mouth hung loosely open showed me how devastated he was.
I might not be a fan of Priam—particularly since he greenlit the deceptive Oplan First Lady that dragged Fabienne into their mess—but he didn't deserve to be hurt that badly. Based on the medical report shared by the USC right after the incident, most of his stab wounds were shallow. Only two were deep enough to pose a threat to his life.
Because that was such an unexpected tragedy on the first day of the campus fair, I fished out my phone and typed a couple of paragraphs to send to my editor. Other students had already posted photos and videos of the incident on SchoolBuzz. Siyempre, 'di puwedeng magpahuli ang Herald. We also couldn't let the college publications post the story before us, so my thumbs danced across my screen.
