Chapter 140 Section 140 Take immediate action

I woke up one night in total silence, with the wind and rain outside my window, and my heart sank, filled with dreadful omens, and when I woke up in the morning and saw the blue sky outside the window, I felt dread just increased.Although it was a sunny day, the atmosphere in the castle was quite solemn.Several times, I felt the Skill scratching my senses, almost driving me crazy, because I wasn't sure if it was Verity's attempt to make further contact with me, or the prying eyes of Zegu and Tanning.And visiting King Shrewd and the Fool in the evening was more discouraging to me.The king, skinny to the bone, sat there smiling vaguely, then handed me a feeble hand as I entered the door. "Oh, Verity, my boy. How was your fencing lesson today?" The rest of the conversation was much the same.Regal came almost after I entered the room, sitting in an upright chair, looking at me with his hands folded across his chest.We didn't talk, and I couldn't judge whether my silence was cowardice or self-control. I ignored the jester's accusing eyes and left as soon as possible within the scope of decency.

The Fool looked no better than the King, with his dark circles as if painted on in such a pale figure, and his mouth as silent as the hammer in the bell on his coat.If King Shrewd is dead, there will be no one else between the Fool and Regal, and I doubt there will be anything to help him then. Like if I can help myself then.I thought sourly. I sat alone in my room that night and slurped down the cheap blackberry wine that Burrich despised, knowing I'd be hungover tomorrow, but I didn't care.Then I lay in bed listening to the bursts of laughter from the far hall, wishing Molly would be there to scold me for being drunk.The bed was so big that the sheets looked as pale and bleak as a river of ice, and I had to close my eyes and seek the company of a wolf.My days of imprisonment in Buckkeep made me search for such a partner in my dreams every night, just for an illusion of freedom.

I woke up before Chade grabbed me and shook me awake; good thing I recognized him right away, or I'd have tried to kill him. "Get up!" he whispered hoarsely. "Get up! You drunken fool, you idiot! Jieyi Bay is under siege, there are five red ships, and I bet it's too late if we don't act. Get up, you bloody bastard!" I stumbled to my feet, but his words scared away all my drunkenness. "What can we do?" I asked stupidly. "Tell the king, there's Kettricken and Regal. Even Regal obviously can't ignore this, because the robbers are coming. If the red ships take Jieyi Bay, they will surround us further, and then Not a single ship will leave the Bucks River port, and even Regal will understand the seriousness of the matter. Go now! Go!"

I put on long trousers and a knee-length short-sleeved tunic, and with my hair disheveled, barefoot, rushed toward the door, but stopped immediately. "How did I know this news? Where should I say I got this warning?" Chade hopped in panic. "Damn it! Damn it! Tell them anything! Tell Shrewd that you dreamed of a pockmarked man in a pool of water divining this terrible news! At least he understands what it means! Tell him an ancient spirit has a message for you! Say what All good, but don't forget to ask them to act now!" "Okay!" I ran wildly in the corridor, slid down the stairs and rushed to Shrewd's room door and knocked hard.At the far end of the corridor, Burrich was standing by the chair outside the door of Kettricken's room. As soon as he saw me, he drew his short sword and stood in a ready position, watching the surroundings with his eyes. "Robbers!" I yelled to him down the hall, not caring who might overhear or react. "Five red ships sail into Jieyi Bay! Wake up the Queen and tell her that the people of Jieyi Bay need our support now!"

Burrich turned and knocked on Kettricken's door without asking, and was admitted right away. I was not so lucky.Wallace finally managed to open a crack in the door, and he didn't move until I suggested that he take my message to Regal himself.I believe it was the opportunity of swaggering into the hall, and conferring with the prince before a party of merry-seekers, that made him decide to rush from the door of the guard's room to his own little antechamber to dress. The king's bedroom was dark and smelled of smoke.I took a candle from his sitting-room, lit it in the dying fire, and hastened in, almost stepping on the Fool in the darkness, crouching like a wild dog beside the king's bed.I gasped to see him curled up on the rug beside the king's bed with no blanket or pillow.Then, with a stiff stretch, he regained consciousness, and then immediately became alert. "What's wrong? What happened?" he asked.

"The robbers invaded Jieyi Bay. There are five red ships in total. I must wake up the king. Why are you sleeping here? Are you afraid to go back to your room?" He smiled bitterly. "I'm more afraid that I won't be able to come back after leaving this room. When Wallace locked me out last time, I knocked and yelled for almost an hour. Asked where I was. Last time I sneaked in with an excuse to deliver breakfast, and before that..." "They want to separate you from the king?" He nodded. "By bullying. Tonight Regal pulled out a purse with five little gold nuggets in it and asked me if I could dress up and go downstairs to entertain them. Oh, you should have heard what he was babbling after you were gone, Saying how much the court misses me, and how it would be a pity to let my youth be wasted here. When I say King Shrewd is much more comfortable with King Shrewd than with other fools, he hurls a teapot at me ...which pissed Wallace off because he'd just made that disgusting pot of herbal tea that smelled worse than fart."

As he spoke, the Fool lighted a candle and lit a fire in the fireplace in the king's room, and drew aside one of the heavy curtains. "Your Majesty?" He whispered as if coddling a sleeping baby, "Fitz Horse has brought you important news, can you wake up and listen?" At first the king was unresponsive. "Your Majesty?" cried the Fool again, and patted the King's face with a cloth dampened with cold water. "King Shrewd?" "Your Majesty, your people need you." I burst out the words anxiously. "Jieyi Bay was besieged by red ships. There are five red ships in total. We must immediately send troops to support, otherwise we will lose all the territory there, and once they establish a stronghold there..."

"They can close the Buck River port," said the king, opening his eyes.He still maintains his prone sleeping position, but closes his eyes tightly as if resisting the pain. "Folier, please pour some red wine." His voice was as weak as breathing, but it was the king's voice after all.My heart was turbulent, as if I were an old dog listening to its master.