Hey y'all! I'm posting a new chapter because I realize that the "character development" chapters can be less than exciting in contrast the plot. Plus God are these chapters easy to write! I'm already working on chapter 12!

Also...Something happens, guys...!


Catharsis

By Gold Sparrow

Chapter 9: God


"Elders of my council,"

He's the pure king. A man who, though he's dressed in black, is bathed in white. His heart is strong and sturdy, his mind unbiased and unbreaking.

"It's made me a happy man to know I've always had you all by my side."

Joab has known him for longer than anyone else. Joab has talked with him, walked with him, learned with him. Joab has been one of his pillars holding together all their dreams. He'll never fight against his King.

"Which is why it's exhilarated me beyond belief that you've welcomed my Queen with open arms."

Joab, along with a fourth of the council, inwardly cringe at the mention of Lady Bathsheba. As if she knows this, Bathsheba meets his gaze, almost like she's going to relish the look on his face once David finishes talking.

Joab scowls.

What did the witch do this time? Get David to bend the rules to allow for her stowaways to live in the palace? Convince him to refute a bill? Persuade the King through use of her womanly wiles to cause him to be lax with a species?

I'll never accept her.

A burning resolve.

Never.

"Now, my dear friends, I ask you to accept yet another into our fold."

Bathsheba's eyes haven't moved from his face. She no longer looks smug. She doesn't appear like the harmless trophy wife she pretends to be. She looks blank.

Like she's so caught up in something that she can't see anything in front of her. For a moment he sees a hint of pain, a flash of wispy desire, an echo of resignation. Then the Bathsheba he knows and hates is back, smiling slightly at the back of David's head. Joab contemplates her look, picks it apart with both hands.

If she had gotten something from David, then she'd have a certain gleam in her eye, a spark hidden behind her calm facade. Instead she seems slightly against whatever her husband decided.

Joab's lips twist upwards. Good. About time the beast queen gets knocked down a peg. Perhaps David is finally realizing what everyone else does: that having her as Queen was a mistake. Maybe he'll grow tired of her and get rid of-

"My dear friends, please, rejoice!" David takes Bathsheba's hand to pull her forward. "My lovely wife, Lady Bathsheba, is pregnant!"


I haven't exactly wanted a child.

Bathsheba perhaps did...Later in life. Either way, I suppose it doesn't matter. After years of watching my future bride, of playing games, of trying to pry my way into her mind...She's finally doing what I've always knew she'd do. What she was meant to do.

My son shall be born soon.

Then the final leg of this tough journey will finally play out.


"Hey, David?"

The office is dark. Outside the clouds cry long and hard, tapping against anything they can: the roof, the windows, the grass, the trees. David doesn't seem to mind, dragging his quill across a piece of paper under the light of an unwavering candle. Across from his desk, sitting in a large, comfortable chair, Bathsheba faces the window. She strokes her enlarged stomach, a pregnancy belly David takes a minute to admire.

"Yes?"

"May I name the child?"

He contemplates this. He had not thought she'd want to name the baby, though he hadn't cared enough to think up any himself. But he realizes now that, even though she barely tolerates him, she does love their child with all her heart.

"If you want," He responds, placing his chin on his palm. "What are you thinking of?"

"...I have a boy and a girl name picked out." Her eyes are softer than they usually are, her shoulders more relaxed. It makes him quiet, because he doesn't want to ruin the rare moment of perfect calm his wife sometimes allows him to see.

"Did you want a child?"

"I'm not sure," Bathsheba responds. Her hand still makes a slow, loving movements over the hill where her baby grows. "I suppose I always knew I'd have one."

She looks over to him.

"What is it?"

"...Nothing." But something's bothering her now, he can tell by the way her lips purse together. It's the same look she gets whenever someone tells her something she doesn't want to hear. "Just a cosmic joke, I suppose."

"Everything is." He agrees.


I've betrayed many people in my life.

My friends, my subordinates, the magicians in my armies.

Betraying them sometimes felt thrilling or exciting. But being a traitor scoops out large portions of your soul, as if God is feasting on the sweet pain of us weak humans. Yet even I, a traitor, have certain limitations. There are two people whom I promised, almost eight hundred years ago, to never, ever betray. Two single people. It should've been easy to keep that promise.

But with Bathsheba and the son within her, I, a traitor, have done what I vowed with my whole heart not to.

It's the first time in many long years that I've felt [a lengthy, wordy section entirely blacked out].

[At the bottom of the page, written in tiny, sloppy letters] Can I be forgiven by them?


There is a room in the palace no one is allowed to enter except for Elder David.

It's an isolated spot placed behind secretive hallways and twisting turns, a small room that, unless you've been there before, you cannot find. David, on the contrary, could find it in his sleep, and sometimes he does. The atmosphere is darker than midnight, the halls seem to echo with ghostly murmurs. And, when you aren't looking, you see flashes of movement in your peripheral.

That's why the contrast between the demonic outside and the inside of the room is shocking.

The room isn't entirely a sacred place, but there is a special quality to it that emits a calming, peaceful feeling. There's no alter nor holy book, no prayer beads or any painted third eye. There is, however, paintings.

Many, many paintings.

Some are of places, others are of people. Open paint cans lay either on top of the three long tables pressed against each wall of the room or on shelves above them. A few are neat and unopened, but many have drippings falling over the sides and lay in dried, colorful pools. Blank canvases are tucked underneath the tables, stacked up and waiting, while the ones that are used lean against the walls or are hung up or sit on easels. There's no part of the room that's not splattered with paint- from floor to ceiling- except for the large bay window looking out at the long green plains around the capital.

It's the only place in the entire room that's untouched. There are pillows and a blanket waiting for use, but no one has used them in a long time- not to mention David.

Across from this bay window, a portrait of a woman sits waiting for attention on an easel. Once you notice this woman, your senses stop for a moment. She sports short, soft looking blond curls, a color that seems to catch the light and change to a shimmering gold. Her face isn't fleshy nor thin, a blend of both that draws attention to the lovely high cheekbones underneath her doe-like eyes, covered in thick yet pale lashes. Half her hair is pulled up and pinned with a silver hairclip that matches the flower-shaped locket around her neck. She's smiling slightly, looking gentle and loving and worshipped.

If one was to look for more paintings of her, all that needs to be done is to glance up. Then her image will start to appear throughout the artwork produced in the workshop, staring at you with gray eyes. Which leads to a question: why is Elder David so obsessed with this woman?

But that story is for another day.


"What do you think about God?" Bathsheba sighs, looking over at him. David's laying flat on his back, staring up at the ceiling.

"Really?" She asks, glaring. "This is what you like to talk about after…"

She gestures to his bare chest and her mussed hair. He doesn't look at her, but grins smugly at the ceiling.

Bathsheba sighs once more. She pulls the covers up and answers,

"I think God exists."

"That's not what I asked."

"Of course not." She rolls her eyes. "I don't know what you want me to say. I think he's all-powerful? I think we should give up our lives for him?"

"Those are the Church's teachings."

"I'm aware."

"Oh, you're a cold woman," David laughs, finally gazing into her face. His eyes lock onto hers. "Why did I marry such a cold woman?"

"Maybe God made you."

"Well, there's no question about that," Now he rolls his eyes. It's an unfamiliar gesture, and she's slightly offended. "But I could've said no, chosen a different path...Not that wouldn't have lead me to you somehow. Instead I went along with it."

Bathsheba's quiet.

"Do you do everything your mind tells you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Do you ever feel like your heart wants to do something else, but you just won't do it?"

"...All the time."

"So, once more, what do you think about God?"

"..." Bathsheba uses her hands to rake back her long hair. She twists it a few times and then sets it back down on the bed, staring up at the ceiling as well. "I think that God is a wonderful and hateful being, if he's the reason I don't get to feel."

David's hand searches through the sheets of their bed to find hers, and grips it. She does not react even though she'd like to rip her hand away from him. She does not react because, maybe, God doesn't want her to.

"Yes, God is hateful," David whispers. "This God is hateful. Wouldn't it be nice if we could create a perfect world where no one has to suffer…?"

"..." She doesn't respond because she's not sure what he's talking about, and also not sure if she really wants to know. David's comment disintegrates into the night air until there's no trace it was even uttered.

Then he blows out the candles.


YAY! So, Davie announces Bath's pregnancy! And we're starting to go more deeply into Davie and Bath's relationship, David's many secrets, and Joab's feelings! How exciting. Hope y'all liked it!

Got any questions or suggestions? Something wrong about the chapter? Grammatical errors, something you didn't like? PM me or leave it in the reviews, I will reply and see what I can do to make the story better/clearer for y'all to understand. ILY MY DARLING READERS!

BYE~~~~~~~