Two Sides

Chapter 2 - Unexpected

Your eyes darted between the man on the throne and Jesus, you heard the clinking of the chain, the loud breathing of the tiger. Your heart started to beat faster. Now you knew what he meant when he said this place was special.

"Your Majesty, I come to seek your help... well, we do. This is (Y/N)."

"It pleases me to meet you, (Y/N)," the man said loudly and with much effort, nodding towards you in a delicate movement. "I am King Ezekiel, and I welcome you here in the Kingdom."

You swallowed hard, not knowing what to reply. A king? What were you supposed to do now? Bow down? Kneel? Shake his hand? You settled for slightly nodding your head. "Uhm, it's a pleasure... Your Majesty."

King Ezekiel smiled at you, apparently amused by your confusion. Then the tiger let out a low purr as it laid down on the floor. "Oh, I almost forgot. This is Shiva."

You smiled warily, at least the tiger was calm and not hostile. The animal fascinated you and the absurdity of everything you saw here made you think that the man on the throne might just be a bit crazy... but not a bad person. If he had a tiger that trusted him, he couldn't be.

"Now, what can I do for you, fair maiden? What can the Kingdom do?" the king asked.

You took a deep breath, fair maiden. "I'd like to stay here for a while. It's just... I need a place where I can find some distraction and rest... to recover."

"Recover?"

"From some traumatic events," Jesus concluded. "Some of her people died. Her brother was one of them."

You took a deep breath at the reveal of this very personal piece of information, while the king raised his brows. His expression became sad and sympathetic. "I am deeply sorry for your loss. For I do not know the circumstances, I can only try to comprehend your grief. The Kingdom shall be the place you can make your peace with it. The only condition is that you contribute, in any way you think you can manage at this point of time."

Jesus smiled at you and you smiled back. "Thank you, Your Majesty. I'll be happy to be a valuable part of your... realm."

"We shall discuss the circumstances later," he replied. "For now, I'll have someone show you where you can stay, so you can have a meal and find some rest after your journey."

You nodded and let out a sigh of relief. No matter how strange this was, you were glad to have a safe place to stay. Jesus put a hand on your shoulder and you smiled at him. You already felt a lot lighter than before.

The Kingdom was huge in comparison to what you had gotten used to and you had a nice little room where you could stay. Jesus had left soon after you met the king, you had thanked him and in a moment of quiet he had told you that you didn't have to be ashamed of needing to get away. It helped to hear those words, at least a little.

A man in some kind of armor showed you around and then brought you to the place where dinner was served, a canteen basically. It was odd to be in such a well-organized place with a real structure for everyday life. But it felt good, maybe just what you needed... to not be responsible for so many things at the same time. When you left the building after the first real meal of the day, you felt a lot better.

"(Y/N)," you heard someone call your name then.

You immediately recognized the very striking voice and turned around. The king was walking towards you, a dark-haired man following him. Your pulse immediately fastened, maybe you were nervous... you didn't really know what to expect. He probably had a lot of questions. Just like you.