Fool Chapter 24

twenty-fourBOUDICCA RISINGAll my years as an orphan, and to find t lid I had a mother, merely she killed herself over cruelty from the great power, the besides father I had constantly cognizeTo find I had a father, notwithstanding(a) he, too, was murdered by beau monde of the kingTo find the best friend Id ever kn confess was the mother of the woman I adored, and she was murdered, horribly, by order of the king, because of what I had doTo go from being an orphan clown to a bastard prince to a boisterous avenger for contacts and witches in micro than a week, and from upstart crow to strategist cosmopolitan in a matter of monthsTo go from telling bawdy stories for the pleasure of an remand holy woman to planning the deprave of a kingdomIt was bloody disorienting, and non a fiddling tiring. And Id built so matchlessr an appetite. A insect goe was in order by chance even a sufficient meal, with wine.I watched from the arrow loops in my over-the-hill apartment in the barbican as Cordelia entered the castle. She rode a great white warhorse, and deuce she and the horse were fitted with full plate armor, fashion in black with g hoar trim. The aureate lion of England was emblazoned on her shield, a comfor tabularise fleur-de-lis of France on her breastplate. Two columns of knights rode nooky her, carrying lances with the banners of Wales, Scotland, Ireland, no.mandy, France, Belgium, and S distress. Spain? Shed conquered bloody Spain in her spare quantify? She was rubbish at chess in the lead she left. Real war must be easier.She reined up her horse in the centre of attention of the drawbridge, stood in the stirrups, pulled off her helmet and shook forbidden her bulky g hoaren hair. Then she smiled up at the gatehouse. I ducked discover of spy Im not sure why.Mine she barked, and so she laughed and led the column into the castle.Yes, I know, love, merely bad form, isnt it, to march ab off with your own bloody army laying adduce t o random property, innit? Unladylike.She was bloody glorious.Yes, a snack would do nicely. I laughed a bit myself and danced my way to the great hall, indulging in the odd somersault a eagle-eyed the way. peradventure going to the great hall in search of food wasnt the best idea, and perhaps it wasnt my real intention, which was on the nose as well, since quite a of a repast, the bodies of Lear and his two daughters were laid go forth on three high tables, Lear on the dais where his throne sat, Regan and Goneril below, on each side, on the main floor.Cordelia stood over her father, lock in her armor, her helmet tucked below her arm. Her long hair hung in her face, so I couldnt tell if she was crying.Hes a good switch more(prenominal)(prenominal) pleasant now, utter I. Quieter. Although he moves about the same speed.She looked up and smiled, a great dazzling smile, indeed considermed to look on she was grieving and bowed her take aim again. convey you for your condole nces, Pocket. I see you go managed to endure off pleasantness in my absence. tho by keeping you constantly in my thoughts, child.Ive missed you, Pocket.And I you, lamb.She stroked her fathers hair. He wore the lowering crown that hed thrown on the table before Cornwall and capital of New York what seemed so long ago.Did he suffer? Cordelia asked.I considered my answer, which I almost never do. I could energize vented my ire, cursed the old man, do testament to his life of cruelty and wickedness, but that would help Cordelia not a bit, and me genuinely little. Still, I needed to temper my theme with some truth.Yes. At the end, he suffered greatly in his heart. At the hands of your sisters, and under the weight of regret for doing wrong to you. He suffered, but not in his remains. The pain was in his soul, child.She nodded and turned from the old man. You shouldnt come up to me child, Pocket. Im a queen now.I see that. Smashing armor, by the way, very St. George. suffer wi th a dragon, did it?No, an army, as it turns out.And an empire, evidently.No, I had to create that myself.I told you your disagreeable nature would serve you in France.That you did. Right after you told me that princesses were only good for what was it dragon food and interchange markers?There it was, that smile again, sunshine on my frozen heart, it felt. And like a frozen limb, there were pins and needles as the feeling returned. absolutely I felt the small scrunch with the witchs puffball heavy on my belt.Yes, well, one cant be right all the time, it would spelunk ones credibility as a fool.Your credibility is already in question in that regard. Kent tells me that the kingdom fell before me so easily because of your doing.I didnt know it was you, I thought it was bloody Jeff. Where is Jeff, anyway?In Burgundy with the duke well, the Queen of Burgundy. They both insist on being referred to as the Queen of Burgundy. Turns out you were right about them, which again counts against your standing as a fool. I caught them unneurotic at the palace in capital of France. They confessed that theyd project each other since they were boys. Jeff and I came to an arrangement.Aye, theres normally an arrangement in those situations the arrangement of the queens degree and body at different addresses. nada like that, Pocket. Jeff is a decent chap. I didnt love him, but he was a good fellow. Saved me when Father threw me out, didnt he? And by the time this happened Id won the keep back and most of the court to my sympathies if anyone was going to endure his head, it wasnt me. France took some territories, Toulouse, Provence, and some bits of the Pyrenees with him, but considering the territories Ive taken, boilers suit its more than fair. The boys have a crashingly sizeable palace in Burgundy that they perpetually redecorate. Theyre quite happy.The boys? Bloody Burgundy buggering froggy France? By the dangling ovaries of Odin, theres a song in there somewh ereShe grinned. Ive purchased a divorce from the Pope. Bloody dear46 it was, too. If Id cognise Jeff was going to insist on support of the Church Id have pushed to rein body politic the old Discount Pope.The sound of the great penetrations hypothesis echoed through the hall and Cordelia turned, fierce beset in her eyes. I verbalise I was to be left alone however past garbage, who had lumbered through, pulled up as if hed seen a ghost, and started to back away. Sorry. Beggin your pardons. Pocket, I got Jones and your hat. He held up the puppet stick and my coxcomb, forgot for a stand by that hed been shouted at, indeed resumed backing out the doors.No, come, Drool, give tongue to Cordelia. She waved him in and the guards unlikeable the door behind him. I wondered what the knights and other nobles energy think that the warrior queen would admit no one to the hall except two fools. Probably that she was merely another in a long line of family nutters.Drool paused as he pas sed Regans body and garbled his sense of purpose. He lay Jones and my hat on the table next to her, wherefore pinched the hem of her gown and pleadan to maturate it for a peek.Drool I barked.Sorry, tell the Natural. Then he spotted Gonerils body and moved to her side. He stood there, looking down. In a abet his shoulders began to shake and presently he broke into great, rib-wrenching sobs and proceeded to drip weeping upon Gonerils bosom.Cordelia looked at me with pleading in her eyes, and I, at her, with something that must have seemed similar. We were shits, to realizeher, we were, that we didnt grieve for these people, this family.They was fit, tell Drool. Soon he was petting Gonerils cheek, then her shoulder, then both her shoulders, then her breasts, then he climbed on the table on top of her and commenced a rhythmic and unseemly sobbing that approximated in timbre and the great unwashed a bear being move in a wine cask.I retrieved Jones from Regans side and cloute d the oaf about the head and shoulders until he climbed off the erstwhile Duchess of capital of New York and slipped through the drape and hid under the table.I loved them, Drool said.Cordelia stayed my hand and bent grass down and lifted the drapery. Drool, mate, she said. Pocket doesnt represent to be cruel, he doesnt understand how you feel. Still, we have to keep it to ourselves. Its not proper to dry-hump the deceased, love.It aint?No. The duke will be here concisely and hed be offended.What bout the other one. Her duke is dead.Just the same, its not proper.Sorry. He hid his head under the drape.She stood and looked at me, turning away from Drool and involute her eyes and smiling.There was so a good deal to tell her, that Id bumged her mother, and we, technically, were cousins, and, well, things might get awkward. It was my instinct, as a performer, to keep the moment light, so I said, I killed your sisters, more or less.She stopped smiling. Captain Curan said they poiso nous substanceed each other.Aye. I gave them the poison.Did they know it was poison?They did.Couldnt be helped, then, could it? They were right vicious bitches anyway. hagridden me through my childhood. You saved me the effort.They just treasured someone to love them, I said.Dont steel the case with me, fool. Youre the one that killed them. I was just going to take their lands and property. Maybe debase them in public.But you just said I loved them, said Drool. take out up I chorused with Cordelia.The doors cracked centripetal then and Captain Curan peeked his head through. Lady, the Duke of Albany has arrived, said he.Give me a moment, then send him in, said Cordelia.Very well. Curan closed the doors.Cordelia stepped up to me then, she was only a little taller than me, but in armor, somewhat more intimidating than Id remembered her but no less beautiful.Pocket, Ive taken quarters in my old solar. Id like you to visit after supper tonight.I bowed. Does my lady require a story and a jest before bedtime to drop dead her head of the days tribulations?No, fool, Queen Cordelia of France, Britain, Belgium, and Spain is going to shag the bloody bells off you.Pardon? said I, somewhat nonplussed. But then she kissed me. The second time. With great feeling, and she pushed me away.I invaded a domain for you, you nitwit. Ive loved you since I was a little girl. I came back for you, well, and for revenge on my sisters, but mostly for you. I knew you would be waiting for me.How? How did you know?A ghost came to me at the palace in Paris months ago. Scared the barnaise out of Jeff. Shes been advising the strategy since. lavish talk of ghosts, I thought. Let her rest. I bowed again. At your bloody beckoning assistance, love. A humble fool, at your service.ACT VHow I would take shape him fawn and beg and seekAnd wait the season and look out the timesAnd spend his prodigal marbles in bootless rhymesAnd shape his service wholly to my hestsAnd make him proud to make me proud that jestsSo perttaunt-like would I oersway his stateThat he should be my fool and I his fate. Loves Labours Lost, Act V, Scene 2, Rosaline