had dislocated my jaw. Then, once there on the floor and at his mercy, he rained down punch after punch until eventually, I blacked out.
But in doing so, I gave way to the darkness with one single comfort in mind.
I was a thief and a bloody good one at that.
Which meant that comfort came from what I held tightly in my fist under my back…
The Moonstones.
Nine
TRAPPED, CAUGHT AND… SENTENCED
1st September 1603
YE OLDE CHESHIRE CHEESE
A bloody good thief… that was me.
Now, exactly when it was that Pan discovered he had a bag full of rocks, I didn’t know, but the pebbles I had picked up whilst consoling myself on the death of my friend had been my plan after seeing him die. Then I let the anger burn bright as I had taken him to the ground, doing so as the distraction needed to make the switch. In truth, I had been surprised to find myself waking in the dirt with rain dripping on my face… and my little fist still holding the Oracle’s Moonstones.
After this, I decided to get my skinny body moving and myself lost in London, in case Pan discovered my trickery and gave me a beating I wouldn’t be coming back from. So, I had clicked my jaw back into place and limped my way to another part of the city, taking Percival with me so I could bury him somewhere nice in this shit hole.
And now here I was…
“There is nothing that can console me, but my jolly sailor bold.” Polly sang the last line with heart wrenching sadness, and I felt the tears roll down my cheeks as I picked up my tankard, and whispered,
“To Percival, may you be in Rat Heaven.” Then I wiped my wet lips with the back of my hand and placed my empty tankard down, just as the doors opened and in walked trouble. I had my back to the door, but I just knew the moment I felt a shiver wrack my body that my own kind had entered. So, I released a sigh and let my feet, that had been resting on the table, fall to the floor. Then I stood, rolled a shoulder, and cracked my neck to the side, getting ready for the fight before I said,
“Alright pikelets, who wants an ass kicking this time?” Then I turned around and the moment the entire room fell to the floor unconscious, I knew I was in big donkey shit. But then I raised my eyes up to the masterly figure and I couldn’t help it, my mouth dropped open. Because there, standing right in front of me was none other than the King himself!
Gods in Heaven and Hell combined, the man could burn the feathered bloomers off a chicken! He was so large he made Pan look like a beanpole, for he had muscles that only existed on the Gods themselves! Long black hair was tied back from his handsome face, one that was only revealed fully when he removed his wide brimmed hat, making me suck in a quick breath.
“Oh, Lordy and mercy be.” Dark eyes, that gleamed purple with a spark of power ignited in their depths, narrowed before a single dark brow raised in question at my reaction to him.
“Winifred Ambrogetti, I presume,” his strong deep voice said with a nod in my direction, and the moment I opened my mouth to speak the words erupted like Mount Vesuvius.
“I didn’t do it!” At this, the King smirked before raising his hat back and repositioning it with both hands as he said,
“I see.” Then the last thing I uttered before he clicked his fingers and I met darkness, was a damning,
“Ah fuck!”
LOCATION UNKNOWN…
The next time I started to come to, I knew something was different for I was no longer waking in my own lodgings. An obvious fact, as for one, it was warm, and my attic room had never been warm… not once. I also felt comfort in the form of a bed with coverings, and not just hard slats of wood and straw filled sacks.
I could also hear the crackling of a fire, along with feeling its warmth on my skin and I swear, had my mind not been screaming at me to wake, then I would have snuggled further into my comfort and promptly fallen back to sleep. But knowing of my different surroundings, it was clear that the King himself had taken me and brought me to his current place of