The Eyes Behind the Walls

Chapter Eight - Arabella

    "If we want to continue to flourish as a whole, you must be more frugal when it comes to spending on all your lavish gowns and trumpery jewelry..." Aldric ranted.
She sat there motionless, staring at the banners hung neatly across the walls as she listened to him rambling on about unimportant topics. He needed to be less bothered with his financial prosperity and more concerned about maintaining control of his people. She tapped her fingers on the brown table repeatedly, staring at them and listening to the thrumming melody they made. He drawled on and on, never ceasing to surprise her with his ability to draw on the importance of the mundane.  Her head jerked up at the sound of the door barging open and footsteps rushing towards her, finally silencing him.
"Arabella, may I speak with you, privately?" Gareth urged.
She rose and followed him to the hallway outside, appalled by his lack of subtlety. He had never come to the castle to speak with her before.
He leaned in and whispered in her ear, "The Raider's attack failed, they're heading back now. Only a few of them survived the raid."
"What!" she whispered angrily, "Are you telling me that a group of untrained and supposedly peaceful traitors somehow managed to overpower them?"
"Well... yes. But they're not my men, they're Taenin's. I'm just telling you what happened last night," Gareth mumbled quietly.
She rubbed her hand across her forehead, her eyebrows scrunched together.
"That's no excuse! This is unacceptable! We need to send the Hunters to attack them, and properly this time!  If you're men cannot do it, mine will!" she said as she stormed back into the room.
"What is it?" Aldric asked.
"A group of Raiders attacked a compound last night and failed. In the exact area I told you the Hunters should have been searching!" she shouted.
"Do not raise your voice at me. I will not be undermined by you and have my authority constantly called into question!" he roared.
"If you had listened to me the Defectors would all be dead right now! But instead you called it off, all so that you could buy more extravagant banners and crowns to sit on that empty head of yours. You talk about frugality and my lavish spending and then go around throwing money away like it's nothing! Admit it, you didn't call them back for money. You did it because you'd rather sit up here in your castle and drink wine, ignoring your starving people and the traitors who live outside these walls! Pretending everything in the world is okay and ignoring every problem that's thrown your way! You're afraid to take control and rule. You're afraid that you might make a mistake, infuriate the wrong people and lose your power. You're foolish and you're weak, and you don't deserve to rule. You're a coward!"
A loud smack echoed throughout the room, cutting her off completely. She gasped and backed away from him, utterly appalled, holding her hand up to her burning red cheek.
"How dare you speak to me like that! You're my own blood, yet you speak to me as though I'm some lowly commoner, inferior to you and your luxurious ways. I am the Commander of Port Blair, not you, and don't you forget that for one second! You will leave at once and you will never again raise your voice to me! Do you understand?" he bellowed.
She nodded her head as a tear spilled down her stinging cheek, turning and running from the room. Gareth stared at her as she ran past him down the hall, a perplexed look across his face. She heard his boots stomping across the stone as he followed her to her room, calling after her. She ignored him and fell onto her bed, embarrassed and frustrated.
"Are you alright? What happened?" he asked as he sat down next to her.
"He slapped me," she said, her voice muffled from her face being buried in the bedding.
"He did what?!" his voice boomed.
"Gareth, don't! You'll only make it worse!" she pleaded.
"We have to do something. He doesn't deserve to be the Commander, you do," he said as he brushed her hair away from her face.
"We won't just do nothing." She sat up, a small smile forming on her face.
#
"I must say I felt bad about how I treated you earlier, I was out of place," she admitted.
"I was surprised to hear from you. I didn't think you would apologize this quickly," Aldric replied with a smug grin on his face.
"I wanted to apologize for my behaviour. You were right, you're the Commander and you should be making all the decisions, not me. Who am I to tell you how you should rule?"
She strolled over to the window at the side of his room, gazing out over the rooftops below. She watched the bustling crowds below as commoners flooded the streets on their way home. The sun slowly set behind the walls surrounding the Port, painting the sky with deep blues, smooth oranges, and shimmering yellows.
    "I must admit that I should have listened to you in regards to the compound incident."
    "Oh, don't fret over it," she said, a satisfied smile forming on her face, "I know it won't happen again," she muttered.
    "I'm sorry, did you say something?" Aldric asked.
    "Oh, I wouldn't worry about it," she replied sweetly, walking over to where he was standing, looking at his back and the outline of the Port over the edge in front of him.
    She reached her arm out, a sense of clarity overtaking her. She watched as he floated down, thrashing violently as he fell. She smiled, turning her back to the window as a loud thud smacked against the ground, followed by screams rising from the streets below. The sound of boots running grew nearer, and she turned and fell down toward the edge, screaming as tears began to run down her cheeks just as the door swung open.
    "Help, someone help!" she shouted.
    "Arabella, my dear, what happened?" Henry asked as he barged into the room, running over and crouching beside her. 
    She threw herself onto him, sobbing as the guards rushed to the window, gasping at the bloody sight below. She shook her head as her breathing became ragged.
    "He... He just..." she mumbled pathetically, her sentences being interrupted with sobs.
    "Shhh... Shh, it's okay. You're okay," Henry comforted, brushing his fingers through her long blonde hair as she cried, "Arabella, what happened?"
    She hugged him for another minute without responding.
"He... He called me in here," she explained, trying to talk through hyperventilated prose, "He was drunk... He was going on and on about how he couldn't stand to carry on any longer. He kept saying how much he missed Lila, how he wanted to join her. How he couldn't keep living without his wife... He was rambling frantically on and on, and I tried to calm him down, but he was unruly and... and inconsolable."
    "Arabella... Arabella, what happened next?"
His large brown eyes stared gently into hers, showing deep concern and worry inside of them.
    "I... I can't. It's just too horrible to speak of!" she shrieked, howling uncontrollably as she threw herself face down onto his bed.
    "Please, Arabella. We need to know," Henry urged.
    She eventually quieted down, sitting up on the sopping bedding, her face red and wet with tears. Her breath raced in and out, and her body shook with grief.
    "He said he couldn't take it anymore... He said he was sorry. And then, then he stood on his windowsill, and turned to face me... He said he was sorry and he just, just fell backwards. And then he was gone!" she began weeping again as her husband tried to comfort her.
    He looked up at the guards and nodded, pressing his mouth into a line as they exited the room.
"I'm so sorry you had to witness that," he whispered, "He's never been the same ever since Lila died."
    She gradually toned down her crying, whimpering as he consoled her.
    "And just as we were starting to get along. We were finally at a good place in our relationship... now we'll never get the chance to live together peacefully," she remarked, "It was all I ever wanted."
#
    She groaned at the sharp knocks at her door, annoyed by the uninvited guest who decided to disturb her at this hour. She padded over to her door and opened it, immediately pushed back by the body brushing past her and into her room.
    "What did you do?" Gareth bellowed.
    "I don't know what you are referring to," she stated matter-of-factly.
    "Oh, cut the crap Arabella! I heard about what happened, everyone's talking about it."
He turned to look at her, his eyes, off center from his crooked nose, were wide with annoyance.
    "If you're referring to Aldric's death, then yes I would assume everyone is talking about it," she said, "Considering the fact that he threw himself out of the window and into a crowd of people below, I'm not surprised."
    "I know that you had something to do with his death. Admit it, you pushed him, even after I told you not to interfere," he said, pointing his finger at her accusingly.
    She looked up at him and walked back over, lying in her bed and refusing to answer him.
    "You told me he would die soon and then it would be my turn to rule. All I did was speed up the process a little bit."
She yawned and closed her eyes, ignoring his presence in the room.
    "I was under the impression that you would have discussed this with me first," he said.
    "All I want is for us to be able to rule together, side by side one day, you know that," she replied innocently.
    He walked over and sat on the bed next to her, "Yeah, I know. Where's Henry?" 
    "He said he wanted to give me space to grieve. I presume he's out drinking the night away at some brothel," she commented.
    "Well, I guess that means it's just you and me," he replied with a grin.
#
    The crowd erupted in cheers as the gold crowns were placed upon their heads. She smiled in satisfaction, a feeling of power rushing through her veins. Henry stepped forward onto the platform, clearing his throat as the Elite quieted down.
"Now that Commander Aldric has passed, my wife and I will be stepping into his place. As you know, we cared deeply for him, and will continue to mourn his death as we move into a new era.  Aldric was a just man and a respectable Commander. However, I believe some of his policies and ideals should end with his reign."
Henry stood on the platform, staring out into the eyes of the Elite, side by side with Arabella. She glanced around the faces in the crowd, their eyes full of admiration. She spotted Gareth in the corner of the courtyard, leaning against a wall and watching her intently.
"With this transition I will be changing a few of the laws we've had in the past. That being said, we will once again be searching for the traitors who live outside these walls. Hundreds of Defectors are in open rebellion against us, leeching off of our resources and feeding on our crops. We will no longer stand idly by while they live in contradiction to us! We will no longer tolerate their treasonous actions, instead we will recognize them for what they truly are, acts of war against us. As of today, we will not cower away from violence, we will stand up and make them face the consequences of their actions! We will show no mercy to those who stand against us! We will emerge on the other side victorious!" he roared.
    The crowd thundered with applause and cheers erupted from all around them. She stood proudly, feeling her power sinking in with the bellowing crowd surrounding her. Her chin rose high in the air, an illustrious grin beaming across her face. If drastic measures were the only way for her to achieve and retain her power, then so be it. She was willing to do whatever it takes to stay in power, no matter what sacrifices had to be made in the process.