Much thanks to Note of 10th Generation for your support, I will try to keep it up as much as I can!
Lightning flashed across the sky in short, sharp shocks, lighting up the curtain of rain cascading over the land. It also lit up the face of a young politician, facing the courtyard, watching as water stabbed at the marble arches, and the runoff slither down the stone steps. Such a night - such an inauspicious night. Thunder, storms, whipping winds - Red pulled the robe more tightly around his shoulders. Somehow, he felt unnerved. For all his power and his courage - rashness, some might say - he was nervous. Very nervous. Yellow had been tossing and turning all night, crying out in her sleep, shrieking gibberish that had sent shivers down her husband's spine. And then there was his dream...
The rain gradually dissipated, the rivers running down the steps tapered into thin trickles, and while clouds still hung thick in the sky, they were steeped in the faint blue of a new dawn, heralding the beginning of the new day. Red watched this intently, his fears slowly easing. Hopefully this would be an auspicious day. There was a nagging feeling that something still wasn't right...he couldn't place it, but it was there...All the same, it shouldn't stop him from going to the Senate. They needed him to be there. And of course, the taste of power was fairly intoxicating.
He turned and strode back to his room, only to find his wife waiting for him at the doorway.
"Red," she whispered.
"What is it?"
"You're not planning to go to the Senate today, are you?"
Red felt a slight prick of irritation. Women should never be allowed to become involved in politics. "Of course I am. I'm their king."
Yellow's bottom lip trembled. "Please, don't."
"Why ever not?"
"Please, don't. For me."
"Can't you even give a sensible reason?"
"Because - because it's not safe."
"Woman, nothing's entirely safe." Red tried hard not to raise his voice.
"But - Red - please - I had such awful dreams. A lioness giving birth in the streets - stars falling from the skies - the people washing their hands in a fountain of blood. Your blood."
Red bit his lip. The uneasiness was beginning to well up again -
"What do you think it means?" Yellow was gazing anxiously at him. "I don't know, but it just feels - wrong. It scares me, Red. Please don't go."
Her husband simply looked at her, motionless.
"Please," Yellow went on, pleading. "Even if not for your sake, do it for mine. Please."
Red closed his eyes briefly and heaved a sigh.
"Alright."
"Thank you," the young woman whispered.
"A visitor," one of the servants announced.
"What the - who is it? At this early hour?" Red grumbled.
"He introduced himself as Silver."
"Oh. Him."
"He says he is here to escort you to the Senate."
"What on earth for?"
"I'm sorry, sir. He didn't say why."
"Tell him I'm not coming."
The visitor in question's response was a hiss of frustration. This was getting more complicated than trying to understanding the insides of Lance's brain. If they should fail...
"Can I at least see his Majesty in person?" Silver growled through clenched teeth.
He got his wish, albeit a full twenty minutes later. Must be dressing or something, Silver speculated. It did nothing to improve his mood or his impression of his sovereign.
"Sir," he said, bowing low, when Red had finally come out to meet him. "I hear of your wish to abstain from the Senate today."
"Yes. Tell them I cannot come."
"Sir, well, if anything, please let me know the reason. Or else I shall be mocked when I tell them." It was a gamble to play, but Silver decided he would need to play it nonetheless.
Red hesitated. He didn't trust Silver fully, but there was no reason to deny hime knowledge. Besides, he was Blue's adopted brother, and had been fairly close to Lance till recently..."My wife wishes me not to go. She saw a vision of the people bathing their hands in a fountain of my blood, and believes it a sign of evil."
Silver's mind turned quickly. "But sir, that is a most fortunate dream. It signifies that from you the people shall receive reviving blood, and that all shall benefit from your grace." Noticing a shift in Red's expression, he went on, "The Senate have decided to give a crown to you, sir, but they may change their minds if you do not come...besides it might seem - out of place, let's say - if we break it up merely because of your wife's dreams. Surely sir, you are not afraid of what a woman dreams?"
That did the trick. Red shook his head. "Of course not."
"Red - please - " Yellow whispered, lingering at the doorway.
"Don't be a fool," he replied sharply, cutting her of. "I shall go. And that's final."
Not for the first time, Silver wondered if Red knew - might ever know - how close to death he was. Like a lamb before the slaughter.
The first part was down. All was left was the actual action.
A/N: Slow-moving, I know. Sorry. It'll probably be a month or so before I get back