Unhonored Read Online Free PDF Page B

appearance of blood. As he came to center stage, he faced the audience. He reached up with his right hand, removing the mask with a flourish.
    â€œI know him,” Ellis murmured to herself. Silenus Tune had been one of the people she had meet in Gamin. Only slightly taller than herself, he had a young, clean-shaven face with a mischievous, one-sided cant to his smile that always put her on her guard.
    â€œLord Merrick and Lady Ellis,” Silenus said, bowing deeply toward them both in the front row. He then gave a less gracious bow to the rest of the audience. “And to everyone else of far lesser consequence! The Nightbirds Society is pleased to present…”
    Ellis braced herself. The Nightbirds Literary Society had been Jenny’s social club in Gamin. That it should exist in this house of eternal horrors as well was both significant and disturbing.
    â€œThe Tragedy of Jenny March!”
    Ellis’s gasp was covered completely by the roar of approval from the audience.
    â€œOh, a tragedy!” Alicia beamed, clapping her hands together lightly. “Those are the best. Ever so much more engaging.”
    â€œLet the play begin!” Merrick called out.
    The great velvet curtain rose behind Silenus as he bowed deeply a second time. The stage was bare behind him, the raw bricks of the back wall exposed and only a pair of tormentors to frame the sides of the proscenium.
    â€œIf we take you back, dear friends. Back before the beginning.” Silenus took several steps backward toward the center of the exposed stage as he spoke. “For in that time there was a king; a king of light and darkness, of hot and cold, of vengeance and forgiveness.”
    Silenus beckoned with his left hand for someone to come out of the wings. A costumed figure that was entirely yellow on one side and purple on the other strutted onto the stage and began striking poses for the audience as Silenus continued his narration.
    â€œThe king was the embodiment of contradiction,” Silenus continued as he seemed to conduct the actor onstage through his performance. “His head yearned for reason but his heart argued against it. His hands yearned to stay and create but his feet longed to wander. He knew that he must choose between the two halves of his contradiction but could not do so on his own and so he called together his great, large family that they might all advise him as to what to do.”
    Silenus then pointed to a number of the revelers who were standing in both the aisles. With a flick of his hand, he gestured for them to come up on stage and take their places in the drama.
    â€œAmong them were two brothers,” Silenus offered as the excited people he had beckoned onstage settled down. As he spoke the words, one man in a costume that resembled a dragon gently pushed his way through the crowd to stand at the front of the stage. Another man in a costume that resembled a pale horse did likewise from the opposite side. “One of the brothers was the champion of order, obedience and law. The second brother argued for choice, discovery and freedom. They fell to quarreling and soon all of their brothers and sisters were being asked to choose between one side and the other, one brother against the other. It was in this time, with the rumbling thunders of contention threatening war, that all of the host—even good friends—were broken by the streams of choice.”
    â€œOh, isn’t it wonderful!” Alicia said. “I just love this part.”
    Ellis continued to watch the stage. There were now four or five main characters at the forefront of the stage, Silenus being one, and some sort of battle going on in the background between the two sides. One of the main characters, dressed as a vagabond, appeared to side with the group on the right side of the stage while two characters in peacock costumes set a gate on the stage between the two warring sides and the other main characters fled