The Telematrix, Part 5
“Yes, sire.”
The enormous hall was deathly silent. All eyes, absolutely astonished at what had just transpired, turned to the man on the Lystrian throne. As for King Bobolonious himself, he could hardly contain the beginnings of a smile.
Relishing every moment, he leaned forward and looked right into the eye of the servant who had just spoken out of turn. “Excuse me, but I seem to have forgotten what day it is.”
The servant, a slightly overweight man who was somewhat nondescript in every conceivable aspect but for his utter lack of hair, went white as a ghost.
“You may speak,” Bobolonious began. “I fear it’s a little late for silence. So I ask again, what day is it?”
The man was practically squirming. “Thursday, my lord.”
Bobolonious did his best to feign surprise. “Thursday! But is that not the day of silence? Why, now that I think on the subject, I specifically recall setting aside Thursdays for solemn reflection upon my sovereignty. Am I wrong?”
The king’s fierce gaze was met by furious, and silent, nods from the rest of the household staff.
Bobolonious suddenly turned to his left and pointed at a young guard near the throne room door. “You there, guard!” The guard seemed absolutely petrified to have been singled out. “Approach!”
The others in the room gave the guard a wide berth as he slowly walked up to the king’s dais.
“Draw your sword,” the king commanded. When the guard had pulled it completely from its sheath, Bobolonious snatched it by the handle and raised it into the air. In a dazzlingly quick flourish, he lowered it directly into the chest of the man who had initially spoken. The man’s body fell to the ground, a faint trickle of blood running down from the corner of his lips.
Bobolonious smiled widely. “I love Thursdays.” And then, to the staff: “Clean up this horrible mess. I won’t abide filth.”
As the man’s body was being dragged out of the king’s sight, he finally got around to the business of the morning. “I am now prepared to dictate my message to King Reginald. Are you ready?”
One of the scribes raised his hand in affirmation.
“Excellent. Dear Reggie, I have your girls. I suppose you’re expecting me to offer some condition for their release. I’m terribly sorry to disappoint you, though … under no circumstances will that happen. My only promise to you is that they will not be killed. After all, I’m not in the habit of helping you along. Rather, some will be hidden while others will be scattered across the land. All I need is for more than one of them to survive past their twenty-first birthday, at which time my opportunity to rule the entirety of Gilbetronia will finally come to fruition. While I’m confident you will never find them all, I of course look forward to your finest attempts. It has been quite some time since I was last so thoroughly entertained. Best wishes, King Bobolonious the First.”
He grinned with satisfaction. “See that he gets the note.”