The New Life

a novel by Mark Robert Whitten

Chapter 29

The evening went on without much disturbance. Someone became ill and had to leave the ball, but other than that it was a quiet evening. Finally, the time came for the young nobles to be wed. Leslie left Jess' side, walking woodenly to stand at the side of her future husband. Jess watched her step up beside the fat boy—realizing that he still didn't know his name—and sighed. He expected the lard-stuffed toad to leer at Leslie or do something else ungentlemanly, but he only seemed to have eyes for the food tables.

Jess almost wished he would do something to Leslie, something to disgrace himself and annul the wedding. He wished for Leslie's sake that he would prove unworthy of her. As he watched, helpless to save her, Leslie and her betrothed disappeared from view as many young nobles crowded about the center of the hall like cattle waiting to be slaughtered.

They were all separated by age groups. Many were as young as May belle. It was understood that those younger than sixteen would not be required to consummate their marriage—whatever that meant—and would continue to live with their parents until they came of age. Jess consoled himself that he would have six more years with Leslie. The past seven months had been the best of his life and he honestly couldn't imagine his life without her. But then the King began to speak. His words were filled with power and passion, committing the nobles to each other in the bonds of marriage. Jess knew that the marriages were meant to strengthen the kingdom by bringing together families of nobles. He looked upon the King with new disgust. He was the facilitator of this nightmare. It was his fault Leslie would suffer. He wished more than anything for the King to burst into flames on the spot. As the King finished his speech, the Queen rose to perform the service. "Do all of you young nobles promise to cherish the ones to whom you are sworn, to honor them always and bring forth happiness and peace for as long as you shall live?"

As one they spoke that they did. Jess could hear Leslie's dead voice in that colorful crowd.

"Then by the power vested in me by divine right and the will of the gods, I pronounce you wed for all time."

A roaring cheer went up from everyone in the room. Some of the older newlyweds embraced passionately, while others shook hands or stood awkwardly as their parents rushed in to congratulate them. Jess couldn't see Leslie in the crush of people but he hoped she wasn't being kissed by her new husband. Leslie deserved better. As they crowd merged once more into a seething mass of color and noise, the musicians started up and everyone took their places. Husbands held their wives, both newlyweds and parents, and slowly, as the music rose to a steady cadence, they twirled in unison, like flower petals of every color swirling across the room. Jess saw Miss Edmunds laughing as Tom spun her about and Duke William dancing with his wife Judy. Leslie's parents had been married this way and they seemed happy about it. Jess sighed. He supposed Leslie would get used to it. Perhaps she would even learn to love the boy to whom she was bound. Just then, two pairs of couples parted long enough for him to see her. She was facing away from him, the fat boys arms wrapped awkwardly around her as they danced for the first time. Jess smiled at the sight of his best friend, but as she turned around, he started.

She looked like she was in pain.

The crowd folded again, dancing in time with the music. When they opened again, he saw her crying out. He started forward but some servant woman grabbed his shoulder, holding him back. The crowd closed and when they opened again, he caught sight of her. This time, he relaxed. She was in pain because the fat boy was stepping on her toes. He almost laughed aloud. Leslie wasn't in trouble; she just had a lousy dancing partner. Jess swept a hand back through his hair.

The first dance would soon be over and she would be free.

When the music finished, the partners released each other, applauding. Some went their separate ways and others retreated to the safety of the tables for a drink. As Jess clapped his approval of the dance display, Leslie hobbled over to him. She rested her backside against the table and winced as she took some pressure off her feet.

"Are you okay?"

She forced a smile and whispered, "You know how fat he looks?" Jess nodded. "He's even heavier than that."

Jess laughed a little. Leslie smiled a bit more. He didn't expect her to be in such a good mood. Jess guessed humor was her way of dealing with things she couldn't change. The music started up again and people took partners for their next turn. Some chose their new spouse, others girls or boys they knew. Everyone looked to be having a good time.

"I don't suppose you'd be interested in another dance?"

She looked at him askance. "With you?"

He shrugged. "Why not?" She looked hesitant. He scratched his shoulder. "Well, I can understand if you'd rather dance with your husband…"

One look at the fat pig stuffing his face at the table across the room convinced her. "I'm yours."

Jess smiled and taking her delicate hand, they walked out onto the dance floor. Everything was going well. He didn't feel as nervous as he thought he would. As Leslie stepped into his arms, he felt odd, peaceful, like nothing was wrong with the world. He turned her in time with the music, letting her lilting laugh fill him with joy. They twirled about the marble floor, dancing quite well amongst the massive crowd.

Jess didn't step on her toes even once.

000

As the evening came to a close, Jess found he had trouble staying awake. Many of the younger children had been escorted home in the arms of their caretakers to be put to bed while their parents danced the night away. Stifling a yawn, Jess wished for a bed himself.

Everyone was separated into the groups with whom they had arrived to make departure from the palace a swift and simple affair. Leslie and her parents had gathered along with Tom and Julia and stood by Jess as they waited for the final event. None of the noble parents had departed but as the evening winded down the ceremony began. The squires brought forth the drink of departure, administering it to every noble man and woman. No one drank of course, waiting for the King to make his farewell speech.

As the king stood, he raised his golden chalice. "I thank you all for attending the midsummer festival, the most important event of the year. I bid you farewell for now and a good harvest, may we meet again next year."

As he drank the crowd gave a weak cheer and followed suit. The chalices drained, they returned them to the squires and smiled. As Jess watched, the King finished his speech.

"I hope you all… I hope you all have a wonderful…"

Jess frowned. The King's speech was slurred. The King coughed. Jess figured he must have had too much wine. As he coughed again, the chalice dropped from the King's fingers, clattering across the marble floor. As the echo of the goblet rattled around the room, everyone gasped. The King doubled over, clutching his stomach and vomited onto the marble floor. Jess was too shocked to laugh at the absurd sight.

Then he noticed what everyone else was beginning to realize.

The King had vomited blood.

As he moved closer, the Queen fell to the floor. Jess thought she had fainted at the ghastly sight, but then she vomited blood as well. Then everything went crazy.

All the nobles in the room clutched their stomachs and doubled over in pain. It was as if a plague had blown in, knocking all the Lords and Ladies to the ground. Jess watched in horror as every member of the royal family, the Wizard's Guild the Warlock Union and even the Sorceress Alliance fell to their knees, vomiting blood. Servant girls screamed, children cried out in terror and as Jess stood frozen, he heard the most terrifying scream of all coming from behind him.

It was Leslie.

He spun to see her sink to her knees on the floor. Jess breath caught in his throat. He waited for the blood to come. It didn't. Instead she clutched at a pile of silk clothes, screaming something that Jess couldn't understand. The echoes of everyone else's screaming were drowning out the words but as he made his way toward her, sidestepping the retching bodies, he began to understand what she was crying.

She was crying for her mother.

Jess froze. He saw clearly now what she was clutching. The pile of silk cloth was her mother's dress. Judy lay on the floor, unconscious as blood flowed from her open mouth.

Jess didn't know which was more frightening: the sight of Leslie's mother drowning in her own blood or the sound of her daughter's helpless pleas.

She shook her mother as tears streaming down her face, tears of helplessness at the sight of her mother dying. "Mamma! No! Mamma!"

As the piercing shriek of his best friend sliced through him, he was dimly aware of how Leslie referred to her mother by the infantile cognomen. He realized Leslie was so distraught that she had reverted to a more primitive state. She was wailing like a girl half her age. Unable to bear the sight any longer Jess staggered back, his hands running through his thick dark hair.

This can't be happening, he silently railed. By the gods, it can't!

He didn't understand what was making all those people sick. He felt dizzy. Clutching his stomach, he waited for the pain to take him. He thought sure he felt the hot nausea spreading through him but he didn't fall. He saw Lord Burke leaning on a chair and vomiting blood. He found Tom in a similar state, clutching a nearby tablecloth as he fell to the floor.

And then he saw Miss Edmunds.

The woman he loved was dead.

He screamed, rushing to her side. "No! Julia, oh, gods, no!" He lifted her limp body into his lap, stroking her dark hair as he wept. "No, please, dear gods, no…"

"Jess…"

Her voice came as a soft, hoarse whisper. Jess leaned close, desperate to hear her, to prove to himself that he hadn't imagined her voice. "Miss-Miss Edmunds…?"

"Jess…" she wheezed.

"Miss Edmunds!" He clutched her tightly, trying to shut out the sound of moaning that filled the room, the piercing shriek of his best friend behind him and his own terrified panting. "Miss Edmunds, please tell me what's happening! I'm scared. Please, I don't know what—"

"Poison."

Jess felt a cold chill run through him at the sound of her whispered explanation. "P-poison?" He swallowed. "We've-we've been poisoned?" She nodded, her ice blue eyes closing as she wheezed. "No! Miss Edmunds, don't die—please!"

Her beautiful eyes opened again, but only for a moment. She whispered something he couldn't understand and fell silent again. He stroked her beautiful face. She looked ashen. Jess searched the room, crying out for someone to help. No one listened. Servants rushed about the fallen bodies of nobles, officials and magical folk, not knowing what to do for them, tending the fallen. Soldiers had flooded the room, bringing healers and trying to help the retching, dying people to their feet, but none of them had any success.

"What are we going to do?" he heard someone call.

Jess knew the answer, but he dared not speak it aloud.

We're all going to die!