Chapter 6 – Scorning the Woman
Jimmy was beginning to see the appeal of this storytelling business. Well, Alyssa always loved his stories, after all. But, she was also 9 years old. On the other hand, this audience seemed fairly interested. Maybe he shouldn't sell himself short, after all.
"ANYWAY," Jimmy continued, after Tony had glared at him to continue, "The newly crowned King was drunk on power and disbelief from taking over his father's vast empire. The kingdom marveled at how this young Prince had risen to claim the crown. Figuring it to be fate, they turned out in droves for his coronation. As it happened, it was here that the new King learned of his mother's desire to have him marry the Princess of Spain."
"Ah, international romance," Ziva said, smiling softly. "Such a lovely thing under the right circumstances."
Jimmy grinned at her. "Maybe, maybe not. These definitely weren't the right circumstances though, Ziva. Now, the new King had two problems with this, first, that his prospective bride was Catholic, and second, she wasn't exactly a dazzling beauty. However, unbeknownst to him, before his father's death, the former king had made a betrothal pact with the king of Spain that one of his sons would marry the Spanish King's only daughter, thus ensuring an empire powerful enough to conquer the world."
"Arranged marriage? That's so… wrong," Abby huffed with disgust.
Jimmy paused a moment again, for dramatic effect, then carried on. "So you see, the newly crowned King had a problem – the pact with the King of Spain would have to be eliminated, but without hurting his mother, who he adored, and was devoted to, especially since the passing of his father, which she had taken very hard."
McGee cut in suddenly with a question, partly for verification, and partly to inspire Abby to scoot just a wee bit closer to him. "Don't some say that ghosts appear as they last appeared in life? Since this girl was beheaded, she must have been quite a bloody sight."
"That's right," Jimmy said, nodding affirmatively. "Actually, Tim, your question ties in perfectly with what happened next. The King's mother, in her chambers getting ready for bed on the night before the wedding, was found the next morning, sprawled across her floor - her auburn hair snow white, her hand clutching at her chest, and an expression of unspeakable terror frozen forever across her once-beautiful face," Jimmy said.
Jimmy glanced once again at Ducky. The older man looked surprisingly content to be a listener, and not the storyteller, and his face held the expression of approval that Jimmy was learning to recognize as his mentor's way of saying, "Carry on, Mr. Palmer, you're doing very nicely."
Taking the cue from Ducky, Jimmy continued with the story.
"The bride's lady-in-waiting found the bride as well, but not in her chambers... She was found outside, floating face-down in the fishing pond that the previous King used to like to relax at - her skirts splayed around her, her raven hair floating like a halo around her head. Nobody could imagine why this girl would commit suicide on the eve of her wedding to a handsome monarch, the newly crowned King of the British Empire." Jimmy stretched out his long legs, and repositioned himself against the wall, stalling a little bit for effect. "Some speculated that perhaps she had second thoughts, and believed that suicide was the only way out of the pact. Nobody even considered that she might have been driven to it by a ghostly spectre from beyond the grave."
"The ghost of the scorned servant girl returning from the grave to reap her revenge?" Gibbs suddenly asked, causing his entire team, plus Ducky and Jimmy, to glance at him in shocked surprise. Gibbs blue eyes sparkled with interest, and then darkened briefly, and defensively.
"Hey, I like a good ghost story, too. I'm not THAT stuffy," he sniffed. He glared at Ducky's young assistant to continue. Jimmy's flinch was barely perceptible, as he hastily continued the tale.
"Oh, yes," he said. "She was back, and she was MAD. It is true - hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, and this one was going to get her man, no matter what it took, and no matter what side of the grave they were on."
Abby and Ziva both giggled. "You GO girl," Abby said, as she and Ziva exchanged a knowing wink.
Jimmy shook his head slightly and suppressed a grin, before continuing. "Now released from the pact of betrothal made years ago, the King was torn by relief from not having to marry the Spanish Princess, and grief over the loss of his mother," he said, clearly immersing himself in his role as storyteller. Okay, so, maybe his storytelling skills weren't meant to be appreciated only by those under the age of twelve, after all…
"But, the ghost of the scorned lover wasn't finished yet. Not only was she not going to let him marry anyone else, but she wanted revenge on him as well - for falsely accusing her, and having her prematurely placed in her grave, even before her 18th birthday. Some things, you just don't get over. Death being the top of the list," he said, glancing at Ducky.
"That, Mr. Palmer, is most accurate. Even as medical examiners, we study death very closely and in great detail, but we have yet to find a cure for it." Ducky's blue eyes sparkled behind his glasses.
"The ghost started out slowly, and with subtlety. She began by doing little things, significant enough for the new King to notice, but not significant enough for him to be bothered by them, at least, not right away. His shoes out of place, gems missing from his crown one moment, and returned the next. Furniture out of place, items not exactly where they had been left last. Then she upped the ante, and began to whisper to him, unseen. He tried to shrug it off as lingering guilt, but the ghost wouldn't retreat. Oh, no - she was only just beginning to destroy him."
