All The Kings Men {Peaky Blinders} (Completed)

Twenty

Lily and Isaiah stood at the back of Tommy's office at his house. Everyone involved with the scandal was there. Polly, Michael, John, Arthur and Uncle Charlie sat in the front. Linda, Johnny Dogs, a few other Peaky's, sat behind them. Esme and Lizzie sat on the small sofa, and Finn snuck in to the room and stood next to Lily and Isaiah before Tommy cleared his throat.

"Yes, yes! Before I begin. I want you to let you know I made a mistake. I made a mistake, and I want to apologise to all of you. Arthur, you warned me against getting involved in Russian business, and you were right." Tommy stood against his desk, facing the room.

Arthur grunted, looking slightly on edge. "I doubted your wife. For that, I'm sorry. Linda, I've added 3,000 here in the hope you will forgive me."

Linda caught the stack of bills Tommy passed to her. "Apology accepted."

"Esme, I doubted you, as well. Now, John's got innocent lives on his conscience." He passed another stack of bills to the couple.

"Ordinary working men."

"Yeah, all right, Esme. Got it." Polly scoffed, she held the most disapproving look in her eyes.

"No, she's right. And John and Arthur are going to have to share that burden. But, I hope the house that you could buy with this can become a place of contemplation. Perhaps redemption."

"Charlie, for lost tools dangerous goods and Curly's wise words." He threw small rolls of bills to each person as he named them. "Johnny, for board and lodgings."

"Lily, Michael. For the killings. Five for cutting and five for shooting." He threw a roll to the back of the room for Lily and pushed Michael's payment across the desk. Polly scoffed again and stole the money from Michael's hands before slamming it back on the desk.

"No, Tommy, no."

"What? Tell me, eh? This is who I am! And this is all I can give you for what you give me. For your hearts and your souls." He half shouted to the room, everyone stayed silent as Polly stood her ground against him.

"Yesterday, I nearly lost my son. You should fucking understand that."

"For what? For this? And I know that you all want me to say that I'll change, that this fucking business will change. But I've learnt something in the last few days. Those bastards." Tommy took a deep breath. "Those bastards are worse than us. Politicians, fucking judges, lords and ladies. They're worse than us, and they will never admit us to their palaces, no matter how legitimate we become, because of who we are. Because of who we fucking are, because of where we're fucking from."

He threw his arms in the air in distaste of Polly current position. He motioned to Ada. "Isn't that right, Ada? Our Ada knows. She got smart about revolution. And she knows you have to get what you want your own way."

He looked at Lizzie. "Lizzie, I want it known, that money is for you because, some nights, it was you who stopped my heart from breaking. No-one else." That one seemed to sting the air, a hornets jab to the back your back, that one spot you can never quite reach.

He turned to the room again. "And the rest of you, you took the King's shilling. You took the King's fucking shilling. When you take the King's shilling, the King expects you to kill. Right, Arthur?"

Arthur grunted again, Linda at his side. "That's how it works, right, John? That's right. That's right, Pol. That's fucking right."

"Tommy, you've had a bad time. We understand. So, at an alternative time when we have all recovered, I would like to put before the family an alternative view of the future of the Shelby Company Limited. A more hopeful view." Polly stared at him, Lily swore she could feel the tension between the two.

"Which I, for one, would quite like to hear." Esme stood up. Lizzie, Linda and Ada followed in suit. Lily stood quietly at the back of the room, having counted her five grand. She was intent on keeping a hold of it.

"Come on, Arthur. The train for the dock leaves in one hour, then we'll get the boat to New York and it'll all be in the past." Linda forced Arthur to stand. Lily and Linda didn't always see eye to eye, but she grew fond of wanting Arthur to be the better man that he can be.

Arthur stood, looking at Tommy. "I'll be off, then, Tom. I'll see you, eh? I'll see you, brother. Bye, Curly."

"You can go, but you won't get far, Arthur." Tommy was hunched over his desk.

"Ah, all right, Tom." Lily spluttered under her breath.

"I spoke to Moss last night. He told me that the Chief Constable of Birmingham has issued a warrant for your arrest. Murder, sedition, conspiracy to cause explosion." Linda dropped the money, ruined at his sudden statement. He didn't stray very far with the truth after that.

"John, they're coming for you, as well. Murder. Conspiracy too, for arson." He looked at Michael and then Lily in the back. "Michael, Lily-"

"What the fuck?" The room was close to chaos. The tipping point. The edge of the cliff. And Tommy was about to blow them all off.

"-the murder of Hughes. Polly-" Lily felt Isaiah's hand on her knee, his fingers spreading across her skin. She pushed the money bundle into his breast pocket, and waited out the rest of the troubles.

"Wait a minute, what the fuck are you talking about?" Polly was the edge of the sword. Everyone exploded after Polly's sparked outburst. Lily felt the world shift under her feet.

This can't be happening. Except it was. "The murder of Chief Inspector Chester Campbell."

"Why didn't you fucking tell us?" Lily had stood up, and shouted at him from the back of the room. Tommy, fuming and mad, stared at the rioting crowd. It was too much, too soon. There was too many elements happening in and around her for another earth breaking revelation to be revealed. Right now, right at the end.

"The people we betrayed last night want to bring us down They control the police, they control the judges, they control the juries, they control the jails. But they do not control the elected Government. Listen to me." Tommy stood in front of them, unamused but not all quite there. He never quite was these days.

"Why didn't you tell us before?" John swore at him.

"You're my brother!" Arthur fumed.

"Listen to me. So, I've made a deal-" Tommy's words were overthrown by the chaos rising.

"They'll hang us." Lily breathed, Isaiah moved to hold her, his arms more comfort than restraints. Michael side eyed her, unsure of how to react to the situation at hand.

"In return for giving evidence against them." Tommy carried on as if none of the commotion was happening. Polly moved through the crowd and held on to Michael and Lily, knuckles white.

"We'll fucking hang." Arthur reiterated, his comment aimed a punch at Tommy but missed by a few centimetres, he swung into the air.

"It's all taken care of. Lizzie, collect up the money and bring it to the cellar. You will all get your money in due course. When the police get in, do not resist." Lizzie went around the room, collecting the money from everybody as the police pulled up outside. "You go with them, you do not say anything."

"Fuck you-" Everyone began to leave, but they were ambushed by the police. Lily was caught first, thrown against the wall and cuffed as they caught Michael. She thought about fighting, but didn't see any point after seeing Isaiah being slammed against a wall, restrained but not cuffed.

They were shoved into the back of the vans, cuffed and suddenly bruising. Before they were taken to the station. How long they would be locked up? Nobody but Thomas Shelby knew.