Two Sides

Chapter 3 - Conversations with the King

The Kingdom during sunset was a wonderful view. People were still outside, some for fun, some for work. Most of them looked very happy – it felt like strolling through a normal town where everyone knew each other and spent time with the other community members. You were still a stranger to them, but you didn't feel unwelcome, especially not while walking around with the king.

"Jerry, will you excuse us please?" Ezekiel friendly said to his steward after a while.

"If you need me..." the latter replied. "I'll be within..."

"Hollering range, I know. Thank you, Jerry."

Ezekiel showed you the royal gardens then, something he seemed to be very fond of. You understood that perfectly well, it was a little paradise within those walls, with ripe fruits and green trees. It looked very different from what you were used to and that was refreshing. And what you didn't want to admit – the king's presence was very calming as well.

After giving you a short tour he motioned you to sit down on a bench and as he sat down next to you – not close enough to invade your personal space though – he started to talk. "I don't expect you to trust me so easily, not after knowing me for a mere few hours. This place here... builds on trust though, on reliance. I won't force you to tell me anything but I do offer to listen to your story in whatever pace you want to tell me. I am aware that it is a big step to open up and speak about traumatic events, but as a matter of fact, talking about it is the only way to make it better." He looked at you as you didn't answer. "You do not have to tell me anything, like I said, and if you prefer to speak to Morgan, we can arrange that as well..."

"No," you interrupted. "Sorry, Your Majesty, I mean... I don't want to speak to Morgan, not about this. It's just... I've been carrying all of it with me for the past weeks and I actually don't feel ready to talk about every part of it... but I can tell you what made me leave my home, what caused me to make this decision. It's what I told Morgan earlier. Maybe in return you can then answer some of my questions."

"That would be a good start," he answered with an encouraging smile. "And a fair deal."

You took a deep breath, letting the pictures and fragments of conversations run past your mind's eye while trying to decide on what to tell him and what to leave out. You didn't know how much the king knew from Jesus or any other strings that connected you.

"Seeing that you know Jesus... you might have heard of a group called the Saviors," you started. "My own group made a deal with the Hilltop not so long ago, after we got to know Jesus. Our part of the deal was to free them from the Saviors. So we attacked and we kind of won, or at least we thought so. We didn't know much about them at that point."

Ezekiel was listening carefully, you swore you saw something in his expression when you mentioned the Saviors... something you couldn't quite fathom. "And what happened then?" he asked.

"Well, at first... not much," you explained, deciding that it wasn't classified information as long as you wouldn't be too specific. "But then we had to bring one of our group to the Hilltop. It turned out that we had only beaten an outpost, because the Saviors were blocking the road over and over again. We tried finding alternative routes... but they were surrounding us in no time and they were so many that we didn't stand a chance. To be honest I try not to think about that night too often."

Flashbacks were clouding your mind as you sat there next to the king, staring at the orange clouds above you. Sighing, you tried to focus back on telling your story. "All I remember is that we were kneeling there and then Negan came out of the RV, swinging his bat and deciding that he needed to kill one of us after what we did to his man from the outpost." You took a very deep breath, remembering that scene caused your heart to beat faster, as if you were sensing the fear all over again. Not just fear... pure terror.