monarch

The summer sun sets very late, until eight o'clock in the evening, the sun seems to be reluctant to let go, slowly slipping out through the gaps in the blinds.The room became darker and darker, and the colors of the furniture and oil paintings gradually disappeared, and then the shapes became blurred, leaving only groups of black shadows.

Robert lit a small oil lamp and set it on the mantelpiece, and its dim glow outlined the room in the silence and gloom.The daytime sounds outside the window had disappeared, the guards returned to their barracks to rest one after another, the tired birds returned to their nests, and even the breeze stopped blowing the leaves of the branches.

The wall clock struck midnight, and half a minute later the church bells of the city echoed through the room.

Robert moved an armchair to the head of the bed and sat down. He supported the head of the bed with his hands, and stared at the unconscious king with his red eyes.

……

Edward felt as if he had fallen into a state between dream and reality.His mind was dizzy with fever, and from time to time he heard familiar voices, but he was so weak that he couldn't remember whose voice it was.He didn't know whether he was awake or asleep, everything around him seemed to have turned into some kind of unpredictable shadow like clouds, and the thoughts that passed through his mind were as hazy as if wrapped in a layer of veil, mixed together. All sorts of outlandish flashes and fleeting impressions.He tried to use the reins of his mind to trap these thoughts, but his efforts were futile after all. Before long, everything evaporated like dewdrops during the day, and he fell asleep again, surrounded by boundless darkness.

As usual, the king awoke from the darkness once more.However, this time it is not exactly the same as before, everything around is no longer a variety of vague shadows, but some kind of definite existence.Everything around him became brighter and brighter, he opened his eyes, and for the first time in these days, his mind was clear.

Edward found himself sitting in a Scandinavian-style living room with iron-gray wallpaper and simple yet elegant furniture.The TV set on the wall was turned on, but there was no program on the air, and the huge red letter "Suspended Service" flashed on the screen.

Edward picked up the remote control placed on the coffee table, but it seemed that all the TV stations were out of service, and the red letter "suspended service" flashed faster and faster, shaking him with some fireworks.

He turned off the TV, stood up blankly, and walked to the huge floor-to-ceiling windows, where raindrops were hitting the glass window drop by drop.Red and white roses were blooming in the garden outside.A silver Audi station wagon passed by the door, turned a corner, and drove into the private driveway of the opposite house. The door opened, and several children with schoolbags jumped out of the car with smiles.

Countless memories flooded into his head, Edward remembered, this was at his home in Oxfordshire, he was a young professor of history at Balliol College, Oxford University... outside roses he had grown himself, at the Chelsea Flower Show He has won the third prize... The family of Mr. Winters lives opposite him. He is a stock trader in the City of London. He and his wife have two children, one is nine years old and the other is seven years old...

Suddenly, Edward felt a sharp headache.He fell to one knee on the ground, his fingers gripping the woolen carpet on the floor, his nails were split, and the blood flowed from the wound, leaving spots on the carpet.

Outside it was raining harder, and the raindrops crackled on the panes, leaving cobweb-like cracks on the windows.The roses in the garden trembled in the wind, and the petals fell into the soil and were quickly swallowed by the soil.

……

Robert was startled by the king's heavy breathing. He hurriedly looked closer and found that Edward's face was flushed with fever.

He quickly picked up the glass on the bedside table, which was the medicine left by Dr. Paganini before he left.He poured out a spoonful of the potion from the glass and drank it. After making sure that there was nothing wrong, he lifted the unconscious Edward and gently fed the potion into his lips with a spoon.

The clear potion flowed down Edward's chin and dripped on the blanket, but the potion was indeed effective, and it didn't take long for Edward's breathing to calm down.

Robert laid the king gently on the bed again, sat back in his place, and continued his vigil.

……

The wall clock pointed to a quarter past four, and the last student had left the classroom. Edward put the lesson plans on the podium into his briefcase, and erased all the handwriting on the blackboard.

The rain outside the window is still falling non-stop, showing no sign of stopping.Edward shook his head, picked up the long-handled umbrella on the edge of the podium, and took the windbreaker hanging behind the door when he walked out of the classroom door.

There is no student or teacher in the college building built in the middle ages, and the oil paintings hanging on the walls seem to be covered with moisture.Edward lowered his head and found that the marble floor was already full of water stains.

He quickened his pace and walked towards the gate, without noticing that the colors of human faces began to melt on the oil paintings behind him. On the full-length portrait of Sir Herbert Henry Asquith at the end of the corridor, this The face of a famous alumnus has become like a portrait drawn by Picasso, and the face full of wisdom is replaced by a gradually distorted outline.Countless pigments, together with the paint on furniture and decorations, have turned into flowing liquids, flowing all the way to the ground like lava flows from volcanic craters, leaving only black and white behind this river of color, just like old people. The world in photos.

Edward walked out of the gate, but there was still no one in the parking lot. His silver Mercedes was parked alone in the corner of the parking lot.

He walked across the parking lot in the rain, opened the door, started the car, and turned the wipers to full.

Edward fastened his seat belt, put down the handbrake, hesitated for a moment, and turned on the radio.Unlike the TV, the radio immediately blared merrily.

"...the Prime Minister returned to London this morning after his visit to eight African countries and spoke to reporters at Heathrow Airport..."

The wheels began to turn, and Edward drove the car around the parking lot and onto the main road home.

"Local news, there was a four-vehicle collision accident on Highway 35. Affected by the accident, the Oxford-High Wycombe section of Highway 35 was suspended. The expected reopening time is unknown..."

The rain was falling harder and harder, the wipers were working in vain, but no sooner had it swept off the glass than the glass was full of water stains again.

On the road in the distance, a small green creature bounced there, reminiscent of a goblin emerging from the woods. Edward slowly slowed down and approached, and found that it was a policeman wearing a reflective vest, and he was setting up a roadblock there.

The car stopped, Edward opened the window, and the policeman came up.

"Good afternoon, sir, the road ahead is closed." The policeman wiped the rain from his face, "Please detour to other roads."

"Closed?" Edward heard himself asking, "What happened?"

"There was an accident on Highway 35. The highway is closed. I'm very sorry." The policeman nodded at him, ran back again, and then set up roadblocks.

Edward sighed. He turned on the navigation, reset it, and found that the new route took 15 minutes longer than the original route—not unacceptable.

The car turned around, drove back half a mile and turned right onto a two-lane country road.

The sky was getting darker and darker, and the leaden gray cumulonimbus clouds were getting lower and lower, and seemed to be pressing down from the sky.Edward turned on the lights and drove forward at a leisurely pace, while the radio continued to babble.

"...they have just ended their six-year marriage. According to people familiar with the situation, the two parties have hired a team of lawyers and will go to court over a series of issues such as child custody and property division..."

Two dazzling beams of light enveloped everything, and Edward couldn't help closing his eyes. He seemed to see a huge monster emerging from the corner in front, like a tiger hiding in the jungle waiting for an opportunity to prey on its prey.

It was a gigantic truck that had somehow appeared on this small road, perhaps also to avoid the closed highway, but none of that mattered anymore.

Edward slammed the steering wheel to the right, he stepped on the brake pedal to the bottom, and the tires and the road made a harsh friction sound.

With a loud bang, Edward felt as if someone had smashed every bone in his body with a hammer. The tempered glass was torn apart like a piece of plastic film, and the airbag popped out. He felt his face hit the white In the airbag.

There was a cracking sound of skull shattering, and the world fell into darkness again.

……

When he saw Edward on the bed start to twitch, Robert felt as if he had been thrown into icy water in winter, and his blood became cold.

He sprang up from his chair, seized the bell-rope, and yanked it so hard that he almost tore the poor rope.

Five minutes later, the disheveled Dr. Paganini rushed into the room. The doctor held the king's cold arm and felt for his pulse.

"What's the matter? Doctor?" Robert tugged at the hem of the doctor's clothes anxiously, "Hurry up and talk!"

"There is nothing I can do for His Majesty." There was a trace of sadness in the voice of the gray-haired doctor. He had served the court of the entire country for 20 years, and the countless tragedies, comedies and farces he had seen made him more or less The earth has become a somewhat hard-hearted person, or rather, he has built a protective shell for himself with extreme rationality.But tonight, this solid shell was torn, and there was no tragedy more terrible than what was in front of us.

Robert's legs seemed to be broken, and he suddenly collapsed on the ground.He stretched out his trembling hand, and gently held Edward's hand in his own. If there was still some warmth in that cold hand before, then the remaining warmth is rapidly disappearing now.

The king's convulsions gradually died down, and his pulse grew weaker and weaker.

……

When Edward woke up, he found that he was back in the living room of his own house.

He supported the armrest of the sofa with his hands, stood up, walked to the wall, and wanted to turn on the light.However, after pressing the switch, the room was still completely dark.

Edward frowned, and tried another switch, but there was still no response, apparently the house was cut off.

He walked to the bed and looked out, a blood-red moon hung in the sky, the moonlight illuminated the garden outside, but beyond the garden was a mass of darkness.The road, the street lamp, and the two-story house opposite Mr. Winters, everything is gone, there is only boundless darkness, and his own house and garden are like a solitary boat floating on this boundless sea of ​​​​darkness.

An inexplicable fear enveloped Edward's whole body. He walked quickly to the door, wanting to go out to have a look, but the door seemed to be locked from the outside, no matter how much he turned the handle, it still remained motionless.

Edward kicked the door angrily. He turned back through the living room, came to the kitchen, opened the door of the cupboard, and there was a red box inside, with several eye-catching characters written in white paint—— "FIREEMERGENCY".

He opened the lock of the box, which contained a dry powder fire extinguisher, a fire axe, and a hammer.

Edward hesitated for a moment, then grabbed the hammer.

He walked to the French window of the living room and slammed the glass with a hammer, and spider web-like cracks immediately appeared on the hit place.

He was overjoyed and raised the hammer again.

……

Robert picked up a silk handkerchief, dipped it in the mint water in the silver basin on the bedside table, and gently wiped Edward's forehead. The king's feeble breathing became slightly louder.

He looked at the doctor in surprise.

Dr. Paganini bent down and took the king's hand, and His Majesty's pulse, which seemed to be disappearing just now, became strong again.

The sheets and pajamas under the king were soaked with sweat, and Robert picked him up gently.The king looked very haggard, his beautiful blue eyes sunk in their sockets and had not been opened for a long time, and his body was as light as a feather.Strands of sweat-drenched black hair fell across his forehead.A fly got into the room through an unknown gap and fluttered on the king's forehead. Robert waved it away.

"My lord, please use a pillow to prop up His Majesty's back, which will help His Majesty breathe." Doctor Paganini said.

Robert moved quickly, stacking pieces of fluffy pillows under the king's body.

……

The glass of the floor-to-ceiling windows was finally broken. Edward dropped the hammer in his hand, turned back to the kitchen, and picked up the fire ax in the red box.

He returned to the living room, and the cold wind was pouring into the living room from the big hole knocked out in the window.

Edward bent down and got out of the big hole in the window. His feet stepped on a bush near the window, and the crackling of the branches was very loud in the silence.

Suddenly, as if receiving some signal, the roses in the garden began to sway wildly, and then all the buds opened at the same moment, and the sticky floral fragrance spread in the air.The thorny flower stems began to grow. Under Edward's surprised eyes, they grew taller and denser. The red and white roses formed a dome and wrapped the whole house. It is also difficult for moonlight to penetrate the fine gaps between the flower stems.Innumerable petals fell from the sky, and their number could not be matched by the raindrops falling from the sky in a heavy rain.

Edward picked up the fire ax in his hand, and vigorously chopped the endless flower stems in front of him. Blood-red liquid flowed out from the incision, and the flower stems trembled violently. To Edward.

……

Robert stared lightly at the king's closed eyes, and gently shook a fan of peacock feathers in his hand, letting the hot summer air blow a light breeze, blowing away the fine hair that appeared again from the king's forehead. beads of sweat.

The king's breathing, which was sometimes weak and sometimes heavy, became stable, and the pale pink like the morning glow re-occupied his cheeks, which could be regarded as an auspicious sign of a stable condition, or as a bad omen of returning light.

Robert lowered his head, and under the astonished eyes of the doctor, he kissed the king's forehead, "Wake up, Edward... Please... God bless..." His hair was scattered on the king's face, and tears flowed down his cheeks. The neck flowed all the way into the collar.

The king's arm moved slightly.

There was a humming outside the door, and the servants and officers in the castle awoke, now that discipline was no longer binding, and they all stood guard at the king's bedroom door, expecting the latest news.

……

Edward felt that the ax in his hand was getting blunt. He brought the blade of the ax close to his eyes, which was already full of cracks.

He threw the ax in his hand on the ground, and used his hands to tear the growing and denser flower stems, just like a sperm whale trapped in a fishing net struggling to tear the net.The sharp thorns pierced deeply into the palm of his hand, and the blood fell into the soil, and then another budding rose grew out of the soil.Red roses, white roses, the blooming roses showed their stamens to him, and their petals were swinging, like faces smiling grinningly.

Without warning, countless memories flooded into his mind again: the hall of Whitehall Palace was crowded with people, the smell of incense powder was mixed with the smell of burning pine resin; The surface of the water dances with the sparkling light; the wide avenue is covered with snow, and the honeysuckle is blooming in the wind on the green hillside.

And then came in countless faces, they quickly appeared and disappeared in front of him like a revolving lantern: men with gray hair; women with beautiful faces; Then there was a black figure who was being guillotined, a huge ax fell, and bright red blood gushed out like a fountain.The headless body struggled in vain like a fish out of water, and finally calmed down, motionless.

The countless faces gathered together into one face, that is a familiar face, sometimes smiling, sometimes frowning.Edward tried to recall the owner of that face, but before he could remember, the full muscles on that face gradually shrank, the blue-black eye sockets were sunken, and the smooth olive skin became wrinkled. After a while, that face turned into a skeleton with its mouth open.

Edward felt unbearable pain from every joint in his body, his legs went limp, and he felt his face fall into the mud, and the mud suddenly became extremely soft, like a swamp Usually, he keeps sinking.

Who is that?He thought in vain as the silt gradually enveloped him.

"Edward..." A familiar voice sounded in his mind, "Please...wake up...please..."

The tearing pain gradually subsided, and Edward's mind became clearer again, like a gust of wind driving away the sweltering heat.The countless faces have corresponding names, and the countless scenes are no longer fragments, but a continuous picture scroll, showing a period of his life.

He remembered who it was.

The rose branches that covered the sky burned without warning, and the golden flames flowed on the trembling branches like a snake.The red and white roses screamed, their petals that had just bloomed withered as quickly as a cold snap.Countless hot blood drops fell from the air, and those rose petals were stained with blood, and smoked like they were exposed to sulfuric acid.The thick branches supporting the dome were twisted and deformed in the fire, and then the whole dome collapsed.

……

The golden sunlight returned to the room through the gaps in the shutters, bringing shape and color to everything in the room. An early-rising magpie landed gently by the window, watching the movement in the room curiously.

Edward's eyelids opened slightly, and he squinted slightly because of the sudden bright light. When he finally got used to the light, the familiar face appeared in front of him.

"Robert..." he whispered, the hoarse voice in his throat startled him.

Large tears welled up in Robert's sunken eye sockets.He was crying and laughing at the same time, his mouth opened slightly as if he wanted to say something, but he couldn't say a word.

"I remembered, that's you..." Edward paused for a moment, stretched out his hand, gently stroked the stubble-covered chin, and murmured.

His mouth was immediately blocked by two fiery lips. It was an extremely intense kiss, full of excitement and joy of regaining what was lost.

Dr. Paganini huddled in the corner of the wall in embarrassment, turned his head to look at the wall, as if he was admiring the pattern of the wallpaper with great interest.

The magpie let out a soft cry, spread its wings, and then disappeared into the golden sunlight.Julius, the sun god, drove his sun chariot up to the sky, and the dazzling golden light enveloped the world, and everything became bright and clear again.