Reviews:
Mariiiiiie001- Thank you! Always awesome to hear that :)
-Rhys' POV-
We set out early in the morning.
Rick, Michonne, Daryl, Rosita, Sasha, Tara, Carl, and me. We all somehow manage to squeeze inside one car with Jesus behind the wheel. Carl doesn't understand why I find that funny.
Maggie asked me to stay last night, but I told her I needed to do this. I told her I knew the people in the Kingdom and that I needed to see this through.
It's late afternoon by the time Jesus stops our car outside an abandoned garden centre that I helped chase boars through one time. Jesus gets out.
"How much further?" Rick asks, getting out too.
"Well, technically, we're already here," Jesus says in a soft voice. "I mean, we're always here, but here we are... at the Kingdom."
Rick opens his mouth a little like he's trying to prosses that. Everyone else is just looking around confused at each other.
"This is just the outer edge," I tell everyone still in the car. "The Kingdom's realm technically spans for miles."
Michonne and Rosita don't look convinced. Sasha keeps looking out the back window.
"How much of the cool-aid did you drink?" Tara asks me.
Daryl pokes his head out over his door. "Hey, what the hell we waitin' on?"
"Waiting for them—" Jesus points to two horses trotting towards us down an overgrown road that I know leads towards the Kingdom.
I feel everyone tense up inside the car as they strain to look out the dirty windows at the riders.
"Relax," I say. "It's just one of the patrols. They go round every hour."
Tara mimes drinking the cool-aid at Carl. I shove her, laughing.
"Who dares to trespass on the sovereign land of the— oh shit! Jesus, is that you?"
I recognise Alvaro's voice. Peeking out the window, I see Richard is the other rider.
"Who are all these people, Paul?"
"Hi, Richard," Jesus hums. "Nice to see you."
"It's good to see you, too." I see Richard's smile come with pursed lips. "Your friends, who are they?"
"This is Rick Grimes," Jesus says, pointing at Rick. "He's the leader of a like-minded community. These are some of his people."
Richard and Alvaro look at the car, but the windows are too dirty for them to make me out past just another silhouette.
"We would like to request an audience with King Ezekiel."
Richard dismounts, not putting away his handgun as he walks up to us.
"Get out of the car," he orders.
I groan a little before following everyone else out of the car.
Alvaro sees me first.
"What the fuck..."
"Hey, Al..." I wave, uncomfortably stepping on the spot like a cat making biscuits.
Richard sees me then. I'm shocked when he marches across the road to hug me. It's brief, and I don't know what to do with my arms. "Rhys?" he stutters a little as he pulls away, gripping my shoulders tightly. Alvaro's grinning. "What the hell... how? You're alive!"
"I believe you know Rhys, too," Jesus chuckles.
"Sorry about stealing a horse," I say, scratching the back of my head.
"You never came back from the cottage... we thought..."
"Yeah, sorry, kinda lied about going there."
Alvero looks stunned. "Was Jenny in on it?"
I rub the back of my head again, and apparently it's all the answer he needs because he laughs at me.
"Guessed as much going by that quiver." Alvero points over my shoulder. "Suppose that means Benjamin helped, too."
My silence speaks for me again.
"Those little shits," Richard mumbles to himself.
Rick clears his throat.
Richard ignores him. "What about Mikey?"
"Uh, huh," I say. "He's from where I'm from. He's fine. He just— he stayed back because our other friend did, and she asked him to, erm..." I trail off when I see that everyone else is watching me impatiently.
When Richard manages to wipe the stunned look off his face, he turns to Jesus.
"You said they're a like-minded community. Like-minded how?"
"We live, we trade, we fight the dead." Jesus shrugs. "Sometimes others."
Richard nods. Then he tells everyone to line up.
"You don't need to," he says to me when I move.
"It's fine," I tell him, taking Carl's sleeve because it's about all the comfort I can find in this moment, and lining up anyway.
Daryl scowls at me like I can just tell them that everyone's cool and we should all get a free pass. I look at the floor.
Richard notices Daryl's face.
"The King is a busy man," he says. "And it's a dangerous world. We don't usually allow a pack of strangers to waltz through our door. You are lucky that you're vouched for by people we trust."
I get all hot and decide I should have stayed at Hilltop. Carl chuckles quietly at me because he knows how much I hate this.
"We want to make the world less dangerous," Michonne pipes up, "and we are all here to show the King how serious we are about that."
I think Michonne might have just saved the day because Richard's eyebrows unfurrow at her words. A skill that took me days to learn.
"The car stays outside," Richard states. "You gotta hand over your guns."
"We've only got the three," Rick says.
Richard takes Rick's revolver and Carl's pistol. He hesitates when I hand out my berretta and bow, but I give him a look that says, "please, please, please don't make this any more awkward than it already is," and he must understand because he takes my weapons too.
"Okay," Richard nods, starting to lead his horse back the way they came. "Follow me."
Tara walks alongside me, asking if they're serious with the whole paintball armour get-up.
I hear Richard talking to Jesus. "Before we go in, you have a brain and a backbone, so I'm talking to you and not Gregory. Whatever you're trying to start here, another protection pact, a trade, none of it matters if we don't start dealing with the real problem. The Saviors."
"You know, Richard, I've never seen you smile," Jesus snickers. "I think that's gonna change today."
It feels good once we're inside the gates. I was worried I wouldn't feel the same magic I told Carl about last night. But I still feel it. While waiting for Ezekiel to grant us an audience, I spot Nabila working in the gardens, keeping myself somewhat hidden behind Tara and Carl. I listen to an open window of the palace and hear singing.
I guess the choir's moved.
A group of training soldiers run by in their armour, a few double taking at me and almost tripping over each other.
"They have the numbers," Michonne smiles, chuffed.
"But can they fight?" Rosita looks around.
"Oh, they can fight." Jesus nods.
"Maybe," Daryl grunts, scanning the area with his hands on his hips.
"Trust me?" I ask him.
He sighs, then bobs his head a little.
Tara walks away from me, and I growl at her to let me hide. But then she says something.
"Morgan?"
Everyone turns. Morgan walks out of the palace with Richard.
Tara and Sasha both hug him, and when he sees me, Morgan walks straight up to me and pulls me in close. I pull away fairly quickly.
"Hey," I say, trying a half-smile.
"Where the hell did you go?" he asks, eyes wide with worry I didn't realise I'd earned from him.
"Home," I tell him. "Like you told me too."
"I didn't tell you to run off without leaving a note," he breathes, shaking his head. "There were search parties, and the King even took Shiva out to track you down."
"That like his dog?" Sasha asks.
I laugh at her.
"Should have guessed you'd know them too," Richard sighs, clearly tired of the wool that keeps getting pulled over his eyes.
"Yeah, we go back to the start," Rick tells him.
Richard just nods. "Well, the King is ready to see you."
Morgan pats my shoulder as I follow Richard and everyone else into the palace. Morgan stays outside for a moment, speaking privately with Daryl and Rick.
Richard goes to join the King on his stage. Every one of us stands at the back of the auditorium, bunched up like a group of gazels. Gazels ready to be eaten as they spot Shiva. I didn't tell them about the tiger. Partly because I thought they wouldn't believe me on top of all the King business. But also because I kinda just really wanted to see what I looked like the first time.
Jesus walks straight down the aisle, not a fear in the world.
"Jesus!" the King bellows. "It pleases me to see you, old friend."
I stay hidden at the back, hoping I might sit this one out.
"It pleases him, indeed!" Jerry cheers.
"Jerry," Ezekiel hisses.
I watch Carl's pupils dilate and his nostrils flair at Shiva and her shining coat.
"Tell me," Ezekiel asks, "what news do you bring good King Ezekiel? Are these new allies you've brought me?"
"Indeed, they are, your majesty." Jesus sounds excited. "This is—"
He notices everyone still standing at the back and staring down the tiger.
"Oh, right... I forgot to mention that—"
"Yeah, a tiger," Rick shrugs like it's not that big a deal, but his voice goes quicker than I've ever heard him speak.
"Rhys, you really left that bit out?" Jesus calls back to me.
Fuck.
"Rhys?" Ezekiel asks. "Did I hear you right, Jesus?"
I step out from behind the others, inching my way down the aisle until I'm standing behind Jesus.
"Hi, your Majesty," I wave.
With a better view of the stage now, I see that Benjamin is up there too. He looks like someone just smacked him across the face several times.
"Rhys!" King Ezekiel claps his hands and holds them high. He stands up from his throne in excitement. "You've returned to us."
"Holy shit balls!" Jerry's mouth is gaping.
I chuckle nervously, looking back at the others a few times before nodding to the King. "These... um... these people are, well... my people. My family."
Ezekiel beckons me forward. And I slowly walk towards the stage, considering running back and telling everyone this was a horrible mistake. I make it to the foot of the stage. Shiva makes a strange mewing sound that I've never heard.
Growing impatient, Ezekiel jumps off the stage and embraces me. Taking it as their cue, Ben and Jerry jump down after him, sandwiching me between the three of them. Richard chuckles, holding onto Shiva's chain for the King.
"Thanks, guys," I mumble with my face squished to someone's chest.
Jerry ruffles my hair in a half-noogie with his fist. "You seriously need to chill with the surprises."
Jesus takes another step forward, clearing his throat and raising an eyebrow.
The three step away from me and resume their previous — more in character positions — on the stage.
"This is Rick Grimes," Jesus points over his shoulder, "the leader of Alexandria, and these are some of his people."
Rick follows Jesus down until he's standing by him, halfway down the tilted aisle. The rest spread out in the seats, standing behind them. I go to stand next to Carl in the middle row. Ben gives us these wide eyes as he realises who he is, and I roll mine back at him. Carl looks baffled by it all.
"I welcome you all to the Kingdom, good travellers. You come with the love of Morgan, Rhys, and Jesus, which puts you in the love of the King. But I must ask, what brings you to our fair land? Why do you seek an audience with the King?"
Rick glances back at me, and I make it a point to avoid his eyes and curse under my breath.
Long gone are the days of just listening to the adults talk.
I think I miss them now.
"Ezekiel. King...Ezekiel." Rick takes a few more steps toward the stage. "Alexandria, the Hilltop, and the Kingdom... all three of our communities have something in common.
Rick pauses, looking at Richard, then back to the King.
"We all serve the Saviors."
Richard looks genuinely shocked. More than I've ever seen from him. He glances at Ezekiel.
"Alexandria already fought them once, and we won," Rick tells them, "We thought we took out the threat, but we didn't know then what we know now. We only beat one outpost. We've been told you have a deal with them, that you know them. Then you know they rule through violence and fear."
Ezekiel keeps looking at me through Rick's speech, and only in my head can I beg Rick to stop as the King's face gets angrier and angrier until it's so fierce and pointed at me that I have to grab Carl's hand.
"Rhys," the King speaks deep, booming over Rick's head and straight to me, Carl's hand not saving me, "you are well aware that our deal with the Saviors is not known among my people... for good cause. We made you a party to that secret, trusted you with passage on the deliveries of goods to the Saviors because you and Morgan told us of your troubles on the road with them." Shiva must sense the King's wrath because she peels back her lips a little, showing teeth in my direction. "Telling us nothing of your community is something I can understand as sovereign, but we did not expect you to share—"
"I thought we could help each other!" I shout.
"Don't interrupt the King," Jerry warns me, glaring over his double-headed axe.
I bow my head, ready to puke. "Sorry."
"We brought you into our confidence," the King tells me. Then he looks to Jesus. "We did the same with you." His fingers click as he grips Shiva's chain tightly. "Why did you both break it?"
"Because I want you to hear Rick's plan," Jesus tells him calmly. I take the opportunity to duck out of the conversation, keeping my eyes on King's feet.
"And you, Young Rhys?" Ezekiel doesn't let me off the hook.
"I guess I wanted you to hear us out, too." I look up. "The Saviors killed people I care about while I was gone, and I think we can help each other. Also... I don't want to lie anymore."
Carl squeezes my hand. Tara gives me this strange look from across the aisle. One that I almost take as guilt. Morgan stares at me with panic that I don't get.
Ezekiel sighs deeply, and the disgusted look on his face makes me want to melt into a puddle on the floor and just fucking evaporate.
The King turns his head. "And what plans have you, Rick Grimes of Alexandria?"
"We came to ask the Kingdom, to ask you, to join us in fighting the Saviors, fighting for freedom for all of us." Rick takes another step. He's at the stage now.
Ezekiel looks down his nose and Rick and narrows his eyes. "What you are asking is very serious."
Michonne steps down the aisle so fast she could have skipped. "Several of our people... good people... were killed by the Saviors, brutally."
"Who?" Moran asks from the side of the stage. I realise now, that was the look of panic.
He still doesn't know.
I'm surprised when Rosita is the one to tell him.
"Abraham and Glenn..." she scowls down the seats at him. "Spencer, Olivia. Eugene was taken. They took Daryl, but he escaped. Every second he's out here, he's a target," she sneers. "You gonna say you were right?"
"No..." Morgan looks lost somewhere in all that. "I'm... I'm just real sorry they're gone."
Rosita shakes her head and folds her arms.
"Negan murdered Glenn and Abraham," Rick tells Morgan, "beat them to death."
I suddenly feel the need to sit down. I realise we're in a theatre, letting Carl's fingers slip out of mine as I shrink into a seat behind me.
"They terrorised the Hilltop," Sasha adds, changing the subject when she sees me folding into a million pieces. "Set loose walkers just to make a point."
"I used to think the deal was something we could live with," Jesus tells the King. "A lot of us did. But that's changing. So let's change the world, Your Majesty."
Ezekiel's eyes run between everyone that speaks like he might miss something.
"I want to be honest about what we're asking," Rick says. "My people are strong, but there's not enough of us. We don't have guns— not enough, at least. Not a lot of weapons, period."
Carl told me about how they cleaned out the armoury on their first visit. He looked so sad when he told me it was his fault. I just wished I was there, so I could have told him it wasn't without sounding like a liar.
Richard doesn't smile like Jesus said he might, but he loses the glazed look in his eye... like this meeting suddenly has a real purpose.
"We have people. And weapons..." Richard looks at the King. "If we strike first, together, we can beat them. Your Majesty, no more waiting for things to get worse beyond what we can handle. We set things right. The time is now."
"Morgan, what say you?" Ezekiel asks.
"Me?" Morgan looks confused at the King.
"Speak."
So Morgan does.
"People will die. A lot of people, and not just the Saviors. It... if we can find another way, we have to. Maybe it's just about Negan, just capturing him, holding him. I—"
"Morgan..." I find my voice in the giant room filled with much bigger people. "They killed Glenn and Abraham."
"I know," Morgan bows his head a little at me. "I'm sorry, son."
"The hour grows late," Ezekiel stands. Shiva growls at us all. "Rick Grimes of Alexandria... you have given the King much to ponder."
"Your Majesty..." Rick says, pausing to frown.
Then Rick does what I'm not sure even Carl's ever heard him do. At least, not since the world ended. Rick tells a story. A story of a Kingdom that traders would swarm towards with their goods. But the same rock in the road would break their horse's legs and wagon's wheels, day after day. Until one day, that same thing happened to a little girl. The girl lost her family's cask of beer to trade. Dirt soaked it all up, and it was gone. But the girl, after she cried over it, decided to dig at that rock until her hands bled. She didn't want anyone else to be hurt. And beneath that rock in the road was a bag of gold.
"Alright," Jerry cheers quietly, looking excited.
Rick tells Ezekiel that the King put that gold there. A bounty. A reward for whoever decided to do something about the problem. They deserved to have their life changed for the good.
By the end of the story, Ezekiel is looking at me. I don't know why, but I know I can't look away this time.
"I invite you all to sup with us," Ezekiel finally speaks, "and stay till the morrow."
"Yeah, we need to get back home," Rick tells him, shaking his head.
"I shall deliver my decree in the morn."
Ezekiel strikes his cane against the stage floor with two heavy thuds.