Apocalypse

Chapter Five ~ The King

When I got back to my room, a written missive lay on the floor at the entrance to my room. Wes who was at my side scooped it up before I noticed it and opened it, scanning it's contents.

He whistled low and long before showing it to me. As soon as my eyes rested on the page, I saw the word 'attend'. I groaned miserably before I shucked off my coat and threw it across the room.

My father, the King, allowed me to hunt if and only if I agreed to attend royal council meetings and gatherings as the princess. Normally, so as not to have to play both prince and princess simultaneously, a rumour was spread that I was not in a fit condition to be out and about regularly, which confines me to the castle. Therefore the third sibling, the 'younger prince' can roam freely without too many questions asked.

So the only reason I forced myself to don a dress and make my way to the throne room was to ensure that I kept my hunting rights intact. Wes decided to change, so he told me he'd catch up with me later before disappearing down the corridor. I went into Alex's room and dragged him with me to meet dad.

I kept on fidgeting with the dress, adjusting the sleeves and kicking at the hem when it swished against my ankles. I scowled at Alex's getup- loose dark jeans and a button down shirt. "It's not fair."

"Would you just stop playing with the thing and calm down?" He replied as he glanced down at me. The royal blue garments were simple, with a silver belt around my waist and long fitted sleeves whose ends attached to my middle fingers with silver rings.

I just grumbled incoherently until we reached the large room that father felt the need to sit in to solve the problems of the city. Instead of a grand arrival through the main doors, we opted for the side door that took us to the right hand side of the throne relatively quickly and without all that tra -la -la of announcing ourselves.

Only a few council members and father noticed our arrival, barely acknowledging us as they continued to rant.

"-little left! We need to have more people to defend our walls as a clear indication of this morning. The only way we weren't overrun was because of some lucky shots our archers made."

"If I may cut in, sir Phelps, but do you believe that those shots were entirely the product of luck and not skill? Luck would have been one well placed shot, but with quite a number, do you insult our hunters by calling it luck? " Alex spoke clearly, his underlying anger undetected by any but I. He was obviously offended by Phelps' words, as he should be.

I myself disliked Phelps, whom I found to be entirely self-motivated. He always argued against the hunters, for reasons beyond me, because we protected the city and everyone in it, even him. He was currently standing around a round table, his fingers splayed on its surface. The table itself, under a layer of glass was a map of the world with its remaining safe cities and disease riddled areas.

He was a man with no hair on his shiny head, but a healthy mustache that sat on his upper lip quivering and quaking with every word he uttered. He had beady eyes with fuzzy eyebrows that gave him an ever brooding look, one that seemed to be sinister and haughty. He was thick in build and was pale of skin, all of which made me positive that all he did all day was sit inside and brood unhelpfully.

Phelps' cheeks turned red as he stammered, "Of course not. Just that, well, would it not be better to have more people to defend the walls than to be out running after beasts that can easier kill us when we just expose ourselves like that?"

"So you are saying that we should remain cowering behind our walls while they get stronger? To only stay on defense? Would prevention not be the better option? Or would you rather that the beasts we could have killed outside of the walls attack us instead?"

Phelps paled at my verbal attack and sat down heavily, his eyes down turned, but I can tell that was not the end of that argument. I glanced at my father, whose eyes twinkled with amusement at my admonishment. He always found it funny how I can silence a grown man with a few well placed words. Well, a girl needs some kind of defense after all.

"Well," my father said, his voice low but commanding, "is there any other complaints or shall we look over the reports of outside the walls?"

With no refusal, the king pulled out a small cube that was as big as my thumb and rested it on the table. The glass under the cube lit up with folders and files in blue pixels. With a flick of his finger, he slid a virtual folder across the table where it was projected upward in a holographic image above the centre of the table. The king zoomed in on the reports and read aloud.

"Creatures with vampirism and lycantropy have been noted as being swifter with more acute senses. The undead is also able to partially smell as well as hear the hunters. "

He continued with similar reports, his demeanor growing ever more troubled with each sentence. Finally, after he got irritated with the news that we were no match for the beasties, closed down the folder and sat in stony silence. I glanced at Phelps who seemed to be the only one that took the news in stride, without even a twitch of his mustache.

I kept an eye on him as the king sighed, before quickly typing an order for the Captain. As he typed, the words appeared in midair. It basically stated that only the skilled and seasoned hunters were to go on missions further than a kilometer from the city during the day and night while the others were confined to daylight missions closer to the city.

I kept a blank expression, but my brain was running a mile a minute. I understood why we had to apply that restriction, and with the beasts 2.0 everyone was in even graver danger, but the more we can go out and eliminate them, the less there would be to torment our souls. But alas, we had to adapt with the times.

The king dismissed the meeting soon after, when all the reports about the success of the crops were read. The council member stood and bowed, all murmuring, "King Knight," before leaving.

He stood warily and dragged his hand down his face before turning around and spotting us, whom he seemed to have forgotten. His face lit up in a smile and he came and hugged me before holding me at arms length, surveying me.

"You've grown, my dear." He smiled sadly.

"That happens with time, father. You also seem to be getting richer with your silver hair, " I returned lightly, his smile echoed on my face.

He then turned to Alex and laughed, "And you seem to want to give skyscrapers some competition!" Alex grinned and clapped father on the back, returning his hug.

"And you always seem to be a silent guardian angel," father stepped past us. I spun around and saw Wes standing there silently, smiling as my father engulfed him in an embrace. I didn't even notice Wes back there. I swear he would make the perfect ninja.

The king stepped back and surveyed us before nodding. "I need you to assess the situation out there for me. Private mission, get to the cave where you found those leads and report back to me and me alone. The situation is getting worse and something needs to be done but I need more information."

I was surprised at the request because normally father was overprotective of me, not wanting me to go out and trying to give me menial tasks to keep me inside the wall.

"This is to be done in one month's time. When we are preparing for the full harvesting."

The three of us nodded in unison, but I didn't miss the worried glance in my direction. I tried to smile comfortingly, but his eyes just grew sadder.

A knock resounded on the door and a voice called out, "A report is being requested about Her Majesty's arrival, Your Majesty."

In response my father tapped his knuckles on the table and turned around. He gave us a final farewell before straightening up and striding out the door. I glanced at my companions and sighed. Life just seemed to be getting harder and harder recently.