After all the chaos Jazmine had seen today she thought it best to head back to the castle. The afternoon was approaching, and she knew she had to catch up with her schedule. Normally, around the afternoon people such as her parents and teachers would try to check on her. She couldn't be caught red-handed, so she rushed to the castle in a hurry and made sure to sneak past the guards.
Of course, that wasn't any trouble because of the chaos that happened not too long ago. The guards were still outside in the village making sure the pirates didn't break into the castle walls. There were little to no guards left in the castle. She didn't even see any near her bed chambers, which was good for Jazmine because this gave her time to get out of her clothes and switch to her dress.
As she rushed to take off her cape and dress, she ushered to find appropriate clothes she could wear today. She didn't have time to put on her corset, but she felt that was only for special occasions. She hated the corset since it was tight and also hard to breathe in. Due to her body type, it was always advised her corset be tight.
She didn't think too much about that and just decided to move on to the gowns. She picked out this beautiful pink dress she received as a gift from Prince Henry of France on her 16th birthday. She loved the colors that looked like flowers grown in the springs. She always waited for the occasion so she could match the colors.
When she had it on, Jazmine had to check her hair to make sure that nothing was out of place. By out of place she means any curls or wavy strings popping up out of nowhere. As she brushed her fingers through her hair she couldn't feel anything.
She breathed a sigh of relief as she felt she was clear. That was until she heard a knock at her door. This caught her off guard because she wasn't paying attention to the possibility of who would come to her chambers. Jazmine didn't hear anyone on the other side letting her know it was someone else, a man if that. If it were her parents, maids, or teachers, they would verbally let her know it was them at the door. Hell, even the guards would say something if they needed to speak with her.
She had once again heard another knock at the door and sighed. She had adjusted her dress before walking towards the door to answer it and be met with the White Shadow. Jazmine heart had skipped a beat as she had seen the White Shadow as clear as day standing in front of her door. She didn't want it to look obvious that she was hiding something so she calmed her nerves down.
The White Shadow looked at her with a frown and had to muster up the words to say, "Princess."
"Shadow," Jazmine said giving off the same tone as him. The two just looked at each other and wanted to sigh but they didn't dare to show the other face. There was a saying that a person had three faces, one that they show to the world, the second they show to their family and friends, and the third that was shown to no one. The third face was the truest reflection of one's self.
Jazmine and the White Shadow felt to show their third face, but due to their positions, they had to show their first face. It was no secret that the two didn't like each other. The White Shadow was always onto Jazmine and her secret but he could never prove it. All he knew was that the Princess of Maryland was hiding something from him. Something big that she didn't want anybody to know.
He also didn't like Jazmine because aside from the negros he felt she was the only one within the castle walls that was onto him. He knew everybody on the outside questioned where he came from because it shocked them all. A white man sent to torture them to death was unreal to them. With the way he executed it and left them in deep thoughts at night. None of the kings and queens from before ever questioned where he came from. They had a no-ask type of relationship and that's the way he liked it. Even King Wuncler and Queen Sarah never questioned his existence. They were just satisfied with how he got the job done.
Or at least King Wuncler was excited. He couldn't speak on Queen Sarah as much because it was no secret that she was a cokehead. She would be nice to the whites and the negroes and he didn't like that unusual behavior of a queen. Most of the time he just assumed Queen Sarah wasn't being her true self and just left it alone. He had his suspicions about Queen Sarah when she first came to the country, but he never bothered with her since she never bothered with him.
All was going great for the White Shadow until Princess Jazmine of Maryland came along. He wasn't going to have any issues with her until she started asking questions. Questions that had to do with him and his existence. He didn't like that Princess Jazmine would ask questions no one thought to ask.
She would ask things such as: Who are you?
Where did you come from?
What is your background history?
Do you have any family?
How are you older than my dad, but you don't look anything like him?
Why aren't you dead if you knew my ancestors?
What exactly do you do around this kingdom?
Why do you spread discomfort to other individuals when you enter the room?
Why are you always looking at me?
What's your real name?
How did you get the name the White Shadow?
Jazmine had been asking these questions since the moment she could say a full sentence. This irritated the White Shadow because this had never happened to him with the previous queens and kings. Over the years as Jazmine kept asking questions, it started to make others wonder about his existence. Even going so far to the point King Wuncler and Queen Sarah started to wonder. They never directly addressed it to him but it did make them wonder for a slight second.
The White Shadow always tried to make his identity and backstory limited to only his name. Nothing more and nothing less. Just the name is all they needed to know. He didn't show it, but deep inside the White Shadow was threatened by Jazmine. The possible power she could obtain when she came of age worried him. As soon as King Wuncler passes away she would be the next heir to the throne. This would threaten his position in court since he forces authority. If Jazmine has a say in his position then he will become no more.
Since his son, Edward Wuncler II died during the Black Plague, Jazmine was next in line. Another problem the White Shadow had with Jazmine was the possible destruction she could cause to her country. The people seeing a woman rule them and not a man would disturb them all. It might even cause a rebellion if it gets out of line. This is why Jazmine will need him in the situation unless there's a 1% chance that she makes it as queen and she won't need him to enforce the people of Maryland.
To keep this from happening, the White Shadow suggested a little mythical item. Perhaps called the Eternity Flower. It is said that consuming the Eternity Flower will give the person who consumes it eternal life, rather not physically age and simply age gracefully and wisely.
This flower only grows once every century. It is kept hidden in the Enchanted Forest and is protected from theft by the woodland critters. No person is deserving of eternal life, hence nobody should consume the Enchanted Flower. Everyone is entitled to the best possible existence, followed by a celestial journey to the afterlife. Living an endless life will gift you with wisdom, but those who torment others don't deserve to live for eternity. The flower judges people by heart. Those who have a strong heart should be gifted with something magical while those who have a bad heart should suffer the punishment of consuming the flower. Only a few people know the full power of the Eternity Flower. Others only know half of the story.
The Eternity Flower was slipped to King Wuncler so the pirates could bring it to him. They succeeded but all the White Shadow had to do was go through with his plan and consume the flower for himself. If King Wuncler dies along with Princess Jazmine, he'll be left to the throne.
He can rule Maryland forever!
But he has to come up with a plan to get rid of Princess Jazmine. It's not going to be easy with her always being uncomfortable around him. It's a mutual disliking feeling they have of one another.
"What brings you by my chambers this lovely afternoon?" Jazmine asked.
The White Shadow cleared his throat and answered, "I simply came to check in on you Princess."
"Right," Jazmine said not believing the White Shadow willingly came to check in on her. She knows he tries to avoid her and her commands half the time. "What does my father want?" Jazmine asked knowing her father sent him.
"He just wants me to see if you're okay," the White Shadow simply answered. Her father was a bit overprotective of her for a bunch of reasons, one of her being a girl, his only child, and the next in line for the crown.
"Why wouldn't I be okay?" Jazmine asked out of curiosity as the White Shadow looked as if he wanted to shoot himself with his pistol.
"If you must know Princess, we had some unwelcomed guests, which were the pirates who came to the castle." the White Shadow started as Jazmine now wanted to roll her eyes. She had seen this morning that the guards were escorting them to the castle. "And they made a scene," the White Shadow ended.
"A scene?" Jazmine questioned.
"Yes, a scene," White Shadow repeated.
"What kind of scene, was it over an item?" Jazmine wanted to know.
"That's something you should have limited information to and something a princess doesn't need to know," the White Shadow said a bit defenseless.
Jazmine laughed to herself as she looked at the White Shadow, "But it is something your future Queen should know. Shadow, if we're going to have to work together in the future and this is how you limit information such as this to me then you might want to start thinking of a backup plan for your position at this court."
"Oh, we wouldn't want that to happen," the White Shadow said feeling a bit threatened.
"At least one of us doesn't," Jazmine said throwing in a backhanded comment.
"Where's my father at?" she asked the Shadow as the White Shadow wanted to snap her head off right then and there.
"He's in his chambers," the White Shadow answered.
"Well, if you excuse me, I'm going to go see him," Jazmine said closing the door behind her. She walked away towards her father's chambers leaving the White Shadow in deep thought. No one had ever made him feel uneasy, challenged, and thinking mentality about his well-being. Jazmine was a huge threat to him and his future and he be damned if he let her ruin that.
He was the enforcer, he was the one who gained respect through fear, and he was everybody's nightmare—the one who lingered in their minds all day and night. The White Shadow was never scared of any man or woman up until now.
He stared at Jazmine until she was out of sight, but not out of mind!
The White Shadow sensed chaos about to come and he was prepared to solve the problem.
Jazmine made her way to her father's chambers where she could hear him coughing. She hurried in a rush because his cough could get quite bad. She rushed into his chambers without knocking on his door to see him coughing in bed.
"Oh, dear Lord!" Jazmine said as she ran over to her father to pat his back. He kept coughing and at some point, it went away after all the patting. King Wuncler rubbed his throat and it felt a bit dry. He pointed to the cup of water the maid left him. Jazmine took notice of what he was asking for and handed him the cup of water.
King Wuncler drank the water and his throat started to feel okay. "Thank you, my sweet little Princess," King Wuncler thanked.
"You're welcome, Father," Jazmine bowed.
"So, my sweet angel what made you stop by my chambers today?" King Wuncler asked.
"Oh, I heard something happened earlier today and I wanted to check in and see if you were okay," Jazmine truthfully spoke.
"I'm okay my dear child...those pirates were causing trouble today," King Wuncler said in pity.
"Pirates?" Jazmine questioned.
"Yes, those dirty black hooligans got upset with me because I didn't pay them the amount they deserved," King Wuncler said a little upset.
"For what?" Jazmine asked.
"For this Enchanted Flower, they got from the forest," King Wuncler answered.
"Enchanted Flower?" Jazmine questioned.
"Yes, it's a beautiful flower that blooms only once a century. Could you believe they wanted me to give them 30lbs for the flower?" he said.
"What's so special about it other than it blooming every century?" Jazmine asked.
"Sweetheart I wouldn't be able to tell you even if I could. It was something the White Shadow suggested I get as a treasuring item," King Wuncler answered causing Jazmine to roll her eyes.
"Of course, it was him," Jazmine mumbled in disgust at the White Shadow.
"I thought it was a beautiful flower just gazing at it," King Wuncler said in admiration. "I was in the highest spirits until those negros had to ruin it by demanding high pay for a flower," he fussed.
"Oh wow!" Jazmine said a little taken aback.
"Yes, it was the most irritating thing I had to deal with today. You see darling, when you become queen someday, I don't want you to have to put up with that foolishness they bring along with them every visit," King Wuncler said in worry.
"Father, I don't think a couple of men can be that bad to work with," Jazmine said nonchalantly.
"Oh, you don't know the full story. The pirates are known thieves that sail across the seven seas. They're not innocent human beings because if they were they wouldn't be doing a life of crime. They're lucky I don't execute them for their crimes. I think I'm being a generous king by taking them under my wing," King Wuncler fussed.
"Of course you are Father," Jazmine agreed.
"I don't want you to worry Jazmine, but the pirates are truly bad people. I hope you don't have to see what I've seen and experienced in my life," King Wuncler said in hope.
"I understand, Father," Jazmine said. She didn't want to believe what her father just told her because he is known for exaggerating his stories. When she saw the pirates today, she noticed the fear that was radiating in the village. She couldn't tell if it was worse than the White Shadow or equal.
She didn't feel fear when she gazed upon the pirates. She felt bad about how dirty they looked but they had been overseas for a long time so she understood why they looked bad. And she also felt the captain of the group was cute. Something in her stroke an attraction towards him and she didn't know why.
She shook the thought of the afro man away and focused on her Father.
"I have to inform you of something else my flower," King Wuncler said.
"What would that be, Father?" Jazmine asked.
"Due to my sickness, your mother and I are going to have to go to the village in Cancoon to find out the next steps in my sickness and see if there is any cure or remedies I can do to make the pain go away and die in peace," King Wuncler informed.
"You and Mother are going away? For how long?" Jazmine asked a little sad.
"We're going to leave tonight and hopefully return in 2 months," King Wuncler sadly spoke.
"Father, why wouldn't you and Mother tell me of you guys leaving? Why can't I come with the two of you?" Jazmine exclaimed. She didn't want to be left alone at the castle without her parents.
"Because my flower, if something happens to me or your Mother, we need someone else to take the throne. You are my only living child who is healthy and capable of handling a country," King Wuncler explained as Jazmine shook her head, "No, Father, I'm not capable of running a country. I don't even know much about my people or what goes on around the kingdom itself. My face is kept hidden from the world and many don't know what I look like or how I act. It's all a mystery to them!"
"Sweetheart, I have my reasons why I keep your face hidden from the people. I just can't take any risk of anybody hurting you and costing this country its future. There are a lot of bad individuals on the other side of those walls, hell even inside, and you don't understand what people will do for God, gold, and glory," King Wuncler explained.
"What is on the other side of those walls, Father?" Jazmine asked out of curiosity.
"Blacks...they lurk around in the fields all day waiting to prey on its next victim. It gets worse at night because you can't even see them which makes it easier for them to hunt you down. They are vicious creatures that the Devil put in this world to take us down. We can't let the Devil win, so what we do is fight back and keep the problem from evolving. The White Shadow has done a fascinating job at protecting us from the Blacks," King Wuncler described the negroes.
"That's why when your Mother and I leave, I'll be leaving him in charge of the kingdom until we return," King Wuncler said.
"In charge?!" Jazmine exclaimed.
"Yes, in charge, is there a problem with that?" King Wuncler asked.
"No...no it isn't at all!" Jazmine hesitated.
"Good...you need someone who can protect and look over you. I don't trust anybody in this kingdom other than the White Shadow to look over you and protect you from dangers such as what we faced today," King Wuncler said. It was hard for Jazmine not to roll her eyes. She and the White Shadow did not have a liking relationship and it showed.
"Okay," Jazmine began, "I understand, Father!"
"Thank you my flower!" King Wuncler softly smiled and Jazmine smiled back.
She had an unsettling feeling of the worst that was about to come.
...
All of the A.F.R.O. B.R.U.H. had convened at the bar to talk about the earlier incidents. Because they wanted the captain to deliver the news before they did, the other guys remained silent. He was capable of telling them straight and settling them down if they got out of hand.
They were all confused about why they were at the bar instead of with their family and friends. They hadn't seen them in almost a year and they barely got to spend time with them due to their captain calling things in.
While they were all mumbling to one another why they were in the bar, Huey Freeman stood in front of everybody trying to muster up the words he was going to say to his crew. He stood up high and mighty and caught the attention of his crew who grew silent when he made a sudden movement.
They awaited their captain's words as he hesitantly took a deep breath and started: "Men, I'm sorry to call you in so early from seeing your families, but I had to see you right away to discuss an issue that happened earlier."
The crew started to mumble to one another again as they didn't know what the next words were to come out of their captain's mouth.
"Me, Caesar, Riley, Cairo, and Duey," Huey named.
"Why the fuck did my name come after the ass kisser?" Riley mumbled which caused Caesar to glare at him.
"All were escorted into the castle walls to the king who was awaiting us and the flower we bought," Huey continued, ignoring Riley's little comment. "We gave him the flower and afterward we demanded payment for the 30lbs he promised us...and," Huey hesitated.
"And what?"
"What happened, Captain?"
"Don't tell me what I think you're about to say."
Huey took another deep breath and said, "He refused to pay us the amount he promised and now we're left with nothing. We don't have anything to split equally or enough to buy us food to last us on another quest."
"Woah!"
"Wait a second!"
"Are you shittin me mate?"
"Captain, are you serious?"
All the men asked. "You can't be serious about the king not giving us our gold. We worked too hard for him not to pay us anything," one of them said.
"How will we feed our families and provide them the money for their health?"
"How are we going to feed ourselves when we go on another quest?"
"We barely have anything to last us for another quest."
"Captain, what are you going to do about this?"
"Why didn't you force the king to give you the money?"
'Why, what, how, when, where?' was all Huey kept hearing and he closed his eyes in irritation at hearing nonstop questions and complaints that were being made. Riley, Caesar, Cairo, and Duey all noticed that their captain and friend were irritated. The crew had reasonable questions, but they were all going in on him at once wanting an answer to each other their questions.
They wanted to answer some of the questions for Huey, but they weren't too sure how to deliver it without receiving more backlash. They even looked back and awaited his response which he took very long to answer.
Huey let his crew yell out more questions to him until he finally snapped and said, "ENOUGH!"
Everybody stopped yelling and looked at him in fear. He was never one to snap out of nowhere, but when he did it was a serious issue.
"I understand your frustration, men...I'm just as shocked and upset as you are, but what can we expect from King Wuncler himself? He is unfair, unkind, racist, and a bad king. This was to be expected at some point," Huey said.
"Well, if it was to be expected why didn't you do anything, Captain?" one of the men asked.
"We wanted to do something, but we refrained from it because the White Shadow came," Huey admitted which caused everybody's face to just pause for a second. All the men knew the White Shadow and had encountered him in some form of way. You know when the White Shadow came there was a serious problem. He was the type of person who the people only wanted to hear the name as a myth and not a legend.
The White Shadow was as real as he could be and it feared the negroes. They told scary stories about him that were undeniably true.
"We were going to force the king to give us the gold he promised us, but he called the White Shadow who threatened us if we didn't leave. So, in our good name, we surrendered, but they decided to carry us out and throw us out of the castle walls in front of the whole kingdom," Huey said a bit embarrassed just thinking about it.
"Negro, you didn't have to tell them that part," Riley mumbled. Huey looked back and glared at him, signaling him to be quiet before he got slapped upside the head.
"We felt downplayed, but I had rather us all be safe rather than sorry. I apologize to you and your families for not bringing back the gold that was promised. In order for us to gather enough money to go on our next quest, we need to work enough hours in the fields for us to buy the food and travel to another country, so we can look for more quests to go on," Huey explained.
"Why don't we steal some of the food from the fields?" one pirate suggested.
"Now, mate, you know how that all ends when we steal food," Caesar said rolling his eyes.
"I know this will take a while, but if we put it together, we should have enough to buy food that will last for two months," Huey assured. "Now, do we all agree with this plan to go on our next quest?" Huey asked as he awaited his crews response.
"Anything the captain says, I'll go along with it," Caesar said raising his hand.
"I second in that," Cairo said agreeing. Normally, Cairo would fight with Huey on this type of matter, but he knew the captain was right.
"Me too," Riley and Duey raised their hands. The other members started to raise their hands, stating that they agreed with their captain.
Huey was relieved that he found a better alternative than what he wanted to go with at first. He wanted to storm the castle and steal what they deserved and part from Maryland.
In simple words, going rogue, but that would be stupid. He brushed the idea away from his thoughts until he thought of her again.
The woman with the black cape on. Huey didn't know who she was or why he kept seeing her. She could just be someone who was part of his imagination. But if she was part of his imagination, why did he see her today in town, and why were these visions he had consisted of her?
He never got visions until he had seen her.
He had to shake his head again because he was thinking too much about her. Huey just had to convince himself she was 'unreal'.
"You can go home now, and tomorrow at dawn, we will offer to work in the fields until we have the money to leave," Huey said.
They all had hung up on the subject for tonight. They left the bar and were heading home to their families they were waiting to see.
Huey and his group of friends all lived in the same area, so they walked down the streets together. The AFRO BRUH were too far apart to see a little boy and his group of friends coming from the fields. When Huey took one look at them it reminded him of him, Riley, Caesar, Cairo, and Duey from when they were little. He wanted to smile at the thought of how they all bonded when coming from the fields, but his smile was mentally wiped away in his head in when spotted them with food they had obviously stolen from the fields.
The food they spent months growing was meant for their white superiors who were inside the castle walls. It was unfair for them not to get anything nutritious for themselves or their families. They had to get the leftover scraps from animals such as pigs, cows, and chickens. Even the fruits and vegetables that weren't popular on the inside were given to them as scraps.
Of course, their elders made it work for the family and they were still able to eat good. Not in a healthy way, but it filled their bellies, so they couldn't complain. Although, getting the good stuff that the white superiors ate was wanted by the negros at times. Some would steal the foods grown in the fields and bring it back to their families without being caught while other's did.
The boys clearly weren't hiding it well and they could easily be caught. Huey stood back and watched them hold it inside their clothes trying to make sure it didn't fall out. He felt they were about to be caught when he got a shiver down his spine.
He stood correct when he saw the one and only Uncle Ruckus who started to approach the five little boys with his whip on the side of his pants. Huey shook his head in displeasure because he knew what was about to happen.
Uncle Ruckus was a black old man about the same age as his grandfather. He worked as one of the disciplinary for the negroes. His whole race felt he was a trader since he wanted to earn the approval from the white superiors who didn't respect him as much they did respect the race itself. Uncle Ruckus also thought he was a white man behind his black skin. He was too oblivious to listen to those around him and just made their misery worse. It was bad enough the white man was punishing, but one of their kind was even worse.
"What chu' little monkeys doin'?" he asked in his strong accent. Another thing that made Uncle Ruckus worse as a kiss up is that he criticized his own race as if he wasn't black.
The little boys looked back at Uncle Ruckus in fear. "Nothing, Uncle Ruckus!" one of them said a little scared of them being exposed.
"We're just heading home," one of them said trying to keep his food from falling out his shirt.
"Really?" Uncle Ruckus said not believing them. Most of the pirates that were nearby were watching the scene unfold in front of them.
"Yes, really, we want to make it back home before curfew," one of them tried to excuse themselves.
"Ah huh," Uncle Ruckus said observing them. "I see you added a little package on yourself," Ruckus pointed out the food they were hiding under their clothes.
"What package, we don't have any package, Uncle!" one of them said nervously.
"Boy, I don't believe that as far as I can throw you," Uncle Ruckus said taking out his whip. He unraveled it and managed to hit all the boys quick enough for them not to move in time. The sharp pain that occurred so suddenly caused them all to lose their grip with the food that was in their clothes. It dropped to the ground and Uncle Ruckus smirked at how he caught them red handed.
"Oh shit!" Huey mumbled.
"Damn!" Riley said as he watched them.
"Oh well look at what we have here. Five little monkeys stealing from the fields. You know stealin' is bad and is put up from punishment?" Uncle Ruckus rhetorically asked.
"We're sorry!"
"We promise we won't do it again, please let us go home?"
"We're so hungry!"
They all tried to excuse.
"You all know the rules!" Uncle Ruckus smirked as he held up his whip and started to unravel on them all. The pirates watched in pain as they saw their own kind being whipped to death. They cried out in pain and started to attract the attention of the people in the village.
Folks started to come out of their house and watch in pain. They wanted to step in but something was preventing them. As Huey watched everybody in the village just staring at the boys being whipped he got upset about it. He even looked around at his crew and had seen them watching in fear. He knew even they didn't have anything intentions on stepping in and he did something he hadn't did in a long time, speak up!
"Hey!" Huey yelled as he walked towards Uncle Ruckus.
"Hey, I'm talking to you!" Huey said once again.
"Huey!"
"Huey!"
"Huey, man what the fuck are you doing?"
"Huey, don't do it!"
He ignored all of those comments and walked up to Uncle Ruckus to knock him out. He was unsuccessful, but Uncle Ruckus ended up on the ground. His whip was no where in his hand. Huey looked around for it and found it right in front of him. He thought of the craziest thing and smirked at the idea. He picked the whip off the ground and held on tightly to it.
Huey started to whip Uncle Ruckus and give him a taste of his own medicine. Uncle Ruckus screamed in pain as he suffered the pain he inflicted on his people for decades. The people in the village what in shock of what was happening.
Captain Huey of the Seven Seas was whipping a displincary. This was unreal and would go down in the history of one of the most risky actions to take upon a superior.
"Oh White Lord help!" Uncle Ruckus screamed out in pain. Huey was so angry with what happened today that he didn't even stop. Uncle Ruckus was bleeding and getting injured with the constant whipping.
"Please help me!" Uncle Ruckus pleaded. Huey kept going until white shadow fog started to appear out of nowhere. This caused everybody once again to be even more scared. He got shivers down his spine when he felt the White Shadow creep up on him.
"I see you're causing problems again, Freeman!" the White Shadow emphasized.
Huey looked back at the White Shadow and then looked at his hands to see he was covered in blood.
"What did I tell you before when I said if you step out of line?" the White Shadow rhetorically asked.
"You give and I take!" he repeated as he made Huey shiver in fear. He didn't want the White Shadow to sense it so he shook it away.
Huey tried to hit him with the whip but the White Shadow caught it without it fazing him. He swiped it away from Huey and had a little bit of Uncle Ruckus blood on his hands as he wiped off the excess of it.
"You see, I warn you all the time, but you don't seem to take me seriously when I try to be nice," the White Shadow sternly said wiping away his frown. He smirked madly as he held on tightly to the whip just as Huey did.
"So, I'm going to have to teach you the hard way, Freeman!" the White Shadow lastly spoke before whipping Huey with the whip. Huey tried to get away but the White Shadow followed and made sure to consistently keep hitting Huey. Everybody watched in agony as they saw the man that everybody looked up to and spoke legends about was getting whipped by the White Shadow.
"Please stop!" Huey could hear his little brother who tried to run up to help. Before Riley could even do anything he got whipped just a bit before the White Shadow focused all his attention on Huey.
Huey felt this was a never ending pain until he just gave up and it felt numb to him. The White Shadow eventually stopped and he was huffin' and puffin' out of anger and exhaustion. The people were surprised because they had never seen the White Shadow go all out on someone and be exhausted. Whenever he punished folks he did it with ease and it didn't faze him. But for some odd reason, after getting done with Huey he was tired.
The White Shadow glared at the Freeman Brothers and tied up Uncle Ruckus whip and pointed: "If I ever see the two of you causing problems around here ever again, I will make sure to take everything away from you! I promise you that!"
"Especially you, Captain Freeman!" the White SHadow emphasized.
"You gave me a problem and I take away your dignity...good luck getting a quest from here on out. Your negro afro crew is done for!" the White Shadow lastly spoke to Huey.
Huey laid their in pain as he trembled in fear.
"Ruckus, take the five little boys to the hanging tree. Since they feel stealing is okay around here, they need to be an example to show for what we don't put up with around here," the White Shadow ordered.
"No!" one of them said.
"We said we promised we wouldn't do it again," one of them said crying.
"I don't trust any promises that comes out of a negroes mouth," the White Shadow brushed off.
"Ruckus, take them away or you'll be next!" the White Shadow commanded once again. Uncle Ruckus came and quickly grabbed the boys who were fighting to get out of his grip. No one didn't dare to do anything due to them not wanting to suffer the same punishments as the victims.
"Remember Freeman, you give and I take!" the White Shadow reminded.
Huey wanted to get up but he couldn't. He watched the White Shadow disappear and he felt defeated. The men that were like brothers to him had picked him up and carried him home. The only living members of the Freeman family was his grandfather, mother, and Riley.
When they made it to his house, they knocked on the door to be met with Huey and Riley's mother, Debra Freeman. Among the ladies who labored in the fields was Debra Freeman, the hairdresser in the village. She worked in agriculture, and she was competent in that field. She was successful at stealing food, getting away with it, and bringing it home to her family. She used to invite people over to her house so she could do their hair and covertly hide food in it for them to eat when they got back to their families.
As she gazed upon her sons, tears started to slide down her cheeks.
"Oh my babies!" she cried as she looked at her injured sons.
"Bring them in!" she moved aside. The three men brought the brothers in and slowly laid them out on the floors.
"What happened to them?" Debra asked as she got down on the floor and started to caress Huey in her arms.
"The White Shadow!" Caesar simply said as Debra's face dropped.
"Huey and Riley got injured, along with Uncle Ruckus, and five boys are being executed today for stealing," Caesar informed.
"Oh my," Debra said in shock.
"You three get home before curfew ends. I don't want anything bad happening to you guys," Debra said rushing the three men away.
"Yes ma'am! We'll be over tomorrow to check on them," Caesar said.
"Okay, make sure you get home safe and sound...don't cause any problems," Debra warned.
"Yes ma'am!" they all said before leaving the Freeman residence.
Debra looked back at her boys who were half asleep. Riley was the first to be put out and then Huey just stared off into space until he eventually got tired. Before he could close his eyes and endure in slumber, he felt as if he was falling out of reality.
'Oh no, it's happening again!' he thought.
Huey's thoughts had blurred and he had seen the castle appear.
Why was he seeing the castle?
Deep inside where it was guarded, he had seen what he assumed was a safe that as a safe filled with gold, treasures they collected for the king, and the flower locked up safely. Meaning it was King Wuncler's prize possession.
Huey's heart raced at the sight of gold. He focused on the flower again to see the woman in the cape standing in front of it looking at it once again.
What was she doing?
Why was she attracted by this flower?
She reached out for it but she brought her hand back. She just stared at it in sadness.
She wasn't happy.
Huey was about to walk towards her until they're eyes met. He was getting sucked into those beautiful green eyes of hers once again. He shook the feeling away but that's when their surroundings disappeared and they were in another setting.
The woman in the cape was dressed in elegant clothing. She was in a pink dress, her hair was straightened, and she was wearing a tiara. She seemed to be located on the other side of the castle. Somewhere he had never been before. When he observed her, she was sitting down in a chair. Looking in the mirror while brushing her long straight hair.
She looked to be sad as she stared at herself in the mirror.
Why is she sad?
Huey looked around once again to see that they were in her room that looked to be hers. Huey wanted to say something, anything to her, just to hear her voice.
"M'Lady!" Huey called out getting the woman's attention.
She looked scared when she faced her eyes upon him.
Why was she scared of him?
"What's your name?" he asked.
She didn't say anything. All that happened was Huey snapped out of his vision and was back into reality.
Huey's head snapped back into place and he started to breathe hard once again. He felt scared and shredded a few tears.
"Who are you?" he mumbled to himself. He felt a gentle set of hands rubbing his back, and he knew it was his caring mother rubbing ointment on his back. Her touched hurt due to the fresh scars on his body but he had to endure it if he wanted to get better.
Huey decided to rest for the day and await for tomorrow to come.
'I hope I can meet you someday,' Huey thought to himself. He was referring to woman in the cape. He didn't know why he was seeing her but it had to be for a reason.
Thank you for reading!