Tell Me A Story

Chapter 19: Sinister Plans

"Who's there?" Edward's voice cut through the air like a knife. The figure didn't move an inch.

As much as he didn't want to admit it,  panic arose in his heart. Sweat trickled down his forehead and he took a gulp.

"I'm warning you, I'm armed!"

That was a lie. Edward didn't have as much as a stick with him. But he couldn't reveal that. Whoever was standing there was a cold-blooded murderer. He wouldn't mind finishing off another.

Edward looked upwards once again, trying to figure out who'd been hanged above him. His heart skipped a beat when he saw who it was.

The priest of the church!

His mind went numb.

"It wasn't me!" The man spoke at last, as he took a step forward. The crunching of gravel under his feet sent a chill down Edward's spine.

"Stay right there or you'll be sorry!" Edward shouted.

"Please, I'm innocent!" The man cried again. "Wouldn't the King of Assangue hear the plea of a helpless subject?"

"How can I trust you?" Edward asked, preparing himself for defence.

"Look at me!" The man said as he stepped into the light. A deep wound ran straight across his chest, from which blood was flowing down. The next second, he fell to the floor with a thud.

~~~

The man groaned as his senses finally returned. With great difficulty, he pried open his eyes. A low moan escaped his mouth as he tried to raise himself.

Edward attended to the man at once, helping him settle. The man let out a sigh of relief. Edward handed him a glass of water, which the stranger gulped down at once.

"How're you feeling?" Edward asked him.

"Better," the man replied, his voice a little shaky. "Where am I?"

"In the Palace," said Edward. "I've never seen you around here before. Who're you?"

But the man seemed not to have heard him. His gaze was fixed upon something beyond the window.

"Have you gotten hold of him?" he said.

"Who?" A curious Edward asked him, wondering whether the man was mentally stable or not.

"George." The man said.

Edward's heart stopped.

"George?" He exclaimed.

"Yes, George. Catch him before he murders someone else."

This time Edward rose to his feet. "What do you mean?" He asked angrily. George had betrayed him but he wasn't cruel enough to murder someone. And that too the priest of the church.

"A poor wandering soul I'm," the man began, "Who'd heard of the kindness of King Edward one too many times. There I was, on my way to the Palace, in the hopes of fetching myself a job. And then the traitor came. Carrying a mutilated body. The body of the priest who earlier had given me the directions to the Palace. I stood there frozen as George hung the soulless body. I cried and he attended to me at once. He asked me to remain silent and I denied. He said that he wouldn't mind killing another and swung his sword across my chest."

Edward gulped. Had he known George at all? Why would he do this?

"I don't believe you. If you're new to here, how did you know it was George?" Asked Edward.

"Because the priest had shown me a painting of his and Amelia, requesting me to let him or the King know if I spotted either of them."

"As I fell to the ground, he snarled at me that he'd finish anyone who stood in his path! And then he left me to die. When I heard you coming, I gathered all the strength I had and stood up. I didn't murder the priest. It was George!"