“Bad News ”
by Justin McNeely
Story takes place Monday after the Concordia game
in Mary's .

* * *

A look of horror passes over Jain's face as he looks at the paper sitting before him. He'd just arrived to his office that morning to find a stack of reports waiting for him.

“Oh hell. I'm never going to be able to calm her down after this news. Dammit, why couldn't they have done this more gradually? This is going to tear us apart faster than the serpent.”

With a great sigh, Jain gets up from his desk to go report the news to BEE.

The mansion is strangely quiet this morning. The normal morning sound of gunfire was nowhere to be heard. There was no one to pass in the hallways. Even Matilda, normally tending to the unending chores of the house, wasn't in her usual place at this time of day.

“Hmm, this is interesting. She must not be up and about yet.”

The search for BEE didn't take long. She and Matilda were sitting in the spacious dining room having coffee before starting the day. BEE appeared to be in a good mood this morning. This was going to be harder than Jain anticipated.

“Well hello Jain, did you sleep well?” By the sound of her voice, she could only have just been talking about Azriphale.

“Just fine. Good morning Matilda, the coffee's still on and hot?”

“As usual, Jain.”

“Thanks”

After getting himself a cup and settling himself at the table, Jain takes a deep breath and speaks up.

“BEE, we need to talk about something. Matilda, you're going to want to stay for this one, I don't think I can handle this by myself.”

A look of worry comes over both of them.

“What is it Jain? What's happened? Is it Azzy? Something's happened to him hasn't it? Tell me!”

“No no, nothing like that. I just got a report from some of my contacts at the high court. It seems that this past weekend was a very busy one. I don't know quite how to say this, but High King David is dead.”

The look of worry transformed to dread and sorrow before Jain's eyes.

“What? What happened? How?”

“It seems he was found locked in a cold iron cage, beaten nearly to death. He was brought back to Tara-Nar where he made his final proclamation before passing away. The reports are sketchy right now, but from what I've been told, Meilge was behind David Ardry's kidnapping.

“There's something else. David's last words were that Concordia had been broken by his own actions. He urged for cyclical rule to be re-established and the Parliament of Dreams fully instated.

“According to my contacts, Queen Mary Elizabeth has, in respect for David Ardry's dying wishes, acknowledged the presidency of Grass, with Abigail Anthony fully recognized as President.”

Jain braced for the vocal storm that was to come. BEE raged unabated for the next hour about the wisdom of David Ardry and sang the praises of commoner politics amidst the tears marking the High King's passing. When it was all over, Jain returned to his office and went about sending out messages to his other contacts, looking for more news on the happenings of the weekend…