The King of Crooks

The King of Crooks

Prologue

There was a city. It was a powerful city, full of people, and animals, and buildings. Every day, the bustling streets of Rome were filled with noise. Day and night, there was no stopping to it. There were simply too many people. Oxen drew carriages and carts, full of goods and people. Too many people. The brick and stone buildings lined the streets so closely, there was no room for plants. The occasional wildflower stuck out of a sewer grate, but that hardly counted as greenery. The constant muck and filth made it a brown- colour.

If one were to look up from that particular flower, one would see a window. About twenty feet up, on the second floor of an apartment. It was a small window, with lacy White curtains billowing softly in the wind, in the same manner one's hair might. If one were to look in that window, one would see a bed. It was usually unoccupied, but on a particular day, it was special.

That bed by the window was helping a mother deliver a baby. The mother was screaming, as her husband frantically tried to calm her down. The midwives were bustling about around the mother, in the same manner as the street a mere twenty feet down from the window.

The husband was an Englishman, with a freckly nose and a shock of Ginger hair, but the mother was a native to the country. An italian. She was a beautiful woman, with raven hair that shone like the finest silk, and black eyes like the depths of the Mediterranean sea, not too far out of the countryside. The man thought she was the most beautiful creature he had seen. The mother's name was Angelica, and the husband thought no name would fit her more perfectly. She was truly an angel. Sweeter than honey, yet tougher than leather. A being of light.

He held her hand with certainty, waiting for their child to come into the world. He had planned already. They would have a party, and drink until the sun rose.

The party never happened. Angelica died in labor. The midwives were in care of the child now. The man was not sure of it's gender. Heck, he was not sure if it was alive. Angelica's husband- Benjamin- waited patiently outside the room with the bed, twenty feet above the flower, until the midwives came out. His eyes were streaked with tears, and his hands were red. A midwife- dressed in a long, dark, conservative cloak- stepped out of the room, holding a small package in her arms.

Benjamin looked up expectantly, eager to see what he had gained from his loss. His sorrow was too much for Angelica, but he had finally gotten what he dreamed most of: a child.

"it's a boy." the oldest midwife said, passably cheerful. "you have a little boy, sir."