Chapter 65 - The Kingdom

One Month Later

"How're you feeling this morning?" I ask as I take a sip of my tea, looking over at the woman before me.

Maggie nods her head and smiles, "Better, still a bit nauseas but not too bad."

"That's good, I know you've been having a bit of trouble with that." I state and she nods her head, "Yeah, but Doctor Carson said that that would happen."

"So everything's good?" I ask, worried for my friend and her unborn baby.

She nods her head, "Yeah, I mean for awhile there I thought I was going to lose the baby but he did everything he could and now look at us." She smiles, gesturing to their room.

I look around the room and sigh, giving a shake of my head, "I still can't believe you live here now, it's so weird not having you back home." I say.

She nods her head in agreement, "I'll admit, Glenn and I miss Alexandria a lot and we do plan on coming back once the baby is born. However Doctor Carson has advised us to stay here at the Hilltop until then, in case things get as bad as before."

"Yeah I get it, I just miss you guys is all." I say and she smiles, reaching over placing a hand on mine, "We miss you guys too."

We exchange a small smile before she pulls back and settles back into her chair, "So how are things back home?"

I sigh and run my fingers through my hair, "I mean they're as good as they can be considering the circumstances. Rick is keeping the community together despite everything. They'd all mad at him and he just keeps on going. The saviours come every week to collect their supplies, Negan hasn't come in a while which is a God send."

"How is that going?" She asks and I roll my eyes, my face screwing up, "It's disgusting. He won't stop hitting on me whenever he's around. He seeks me out, makes passes and suggestive comments which infuriates Daryl to no end. Nothing ever happens and he just doesn't take a hint, I think it's now more about the challenge then actually getting me."

"That's so gross, Daryl must want to kill him." She states and I nod my head, "Every time Negan comes I just send him off to make sure he doesn't do anything stupid or put the plan in jeopardy."

"Negan still doesn't know anything?" She asks and I shake my head, "If he did, we wouldn't be having this conversation or going to the Kingdom."

"So how many of you are going today?" She inquires and I let out a breath, "Rick, Michonne, Morgan, Aaron, Heath, Daryl, Glenn and I." I list.

"That is an awful lot of you, you sure Negan won't suspect something's up?" She muses and I shake my head, "No. We've told the town that we're going on a supply run into DC, bringing more people in case of walkers. If the saviours show up for some strange reason, there's the excuse. The only ones who know the truth are Sasha, Carol, Rosita, Tara, Eugene, Gabriel, Carl and Eric."

"I'm still not sure about this Kingdom, especially from what Jesus has told me." She murmurs.

I nod my head in agreement, "Yeah, I know. But Rick went with Jesus to meet with him to discuss the plan with Ezekiel so hopefully everything works out. I'm more wary of Dwight."

When Rick went to meet with Ezekial, he came to find Dwight was at the kingdom too. The two got into an argument and fight but were soon pulled apart, Dwight's intentions becoming clear. Apparently, he wants to take down Negan just as much as the rest of us. He's been meeting with Ezekiel for awhile now, hoping to get him on board. It took Rick coming to finally convince him of the possibility of taking action.

She shakes her head, "After everything he's done who can blame us? How does Daryl feel about the whole thing?"

I scoff, "After everything he's been through with the man, being captured and his bike and crossbow being stolen, Denise's death, him and the others being captured, shooting him and Abraham's death... He's itching at the chance to kill him."

"Aren't we all?" Maggie murmurs.

I let out a sigh and run my fingers through my hair, "I want him dead too, he's just as much to blame as Negan. But we need him to make this work, to get the inside scoop on Negan and the saviours. And as much as it pains me to say it, this won't work without him."

There's a knock on the door and we both turn in time to see Glenn pop his head in, "Bree, we're heading off now."

I quickly finish off my tea before getting to my feet, Maggie following my lead. We turn and make our way down the hallways to the entrance of Barrington house where Jesus and Gregory stand along with the others. Gregory's arms are folded over his chest and he has a hard set face, "Are you sure Negan has no idea of what's going on here?"

Rick glares at him and shakes his head, "No, so you don't have to worry about another person coming to try and kill you."

Gregory looks at Rick angrily and unfolds his arms when Jesus steps forward and looks between the two of them, "There is nothing to worry about. Now you better get going, it's going to be night soon and Ezekiel is expecting you."

The two leaders glare at each other for a moment more before Rick turns and looks back at us all, "We better get going."

He turns and eyes Gregory before turning and making his way out the doors towards the RV. We all follow out after him, all of us beginning to pack into the RV. I turn to Maggie and give her a quick hug before pulling back and looking her in the eye, "Rest up okay?"

She nods, "I will. Be careful."

I give her a small nod, "I will." I say before stepping back to let her say goodbye to her husband.

I climb into the RV and take a seat on one of the long benches beside Daryl, us taking the corner. Everyone piles in and Glenn steps in last, shutting the door behind him. The RV rumbles to life and Rick begins to pull away, the doors to the hilltop opening up before us. We soon drive out and begin to drive, leaving the hilltop in our wake.

A nervous feeling runs through me at the thought of going to this new place. There's a lot of pressure on this visit, but if it goes right it could mean taking down the saviours. I nestle into Daryl's side and close my eyes, him wrapping his arm around my waist as he stares out the window while we drive towards the mysterious community that holds our future in it's balance.

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A pair of men on horses dressed in body armour escort us towards the entrance to the kingdom. There's a large wall surrounding a significantly sized high school that must house the people. The men are rather confusing, them speaking in rather strange old time accents.

The doors open up before us and Rick parks the RV, turning to all of us, "We all need to keep our weapons down and follow these peoples leads."

"Are these guys for real? I mean, they're acting like knights and they call this place he kingdom." Heath says, wariness in his voice.

"They're eccentric, but it works for them." Morgan explains knowingly.

We climb out of the RV and begin to walk after the men, all of us taking in the surroundings. There's been no sign of walkers within the surrounding blocks which is actually quite remarkable. As we enter the gates, I take in the massive structure before me and I'm impressed by its size. The interior is clean and well maintained, off to the sides are some school buses that they use for transportation if necessary.

"There's a lot of people here?" Glenn asks Morgan and he nods his head, "Enough."

"We may have to wait out here while, there's some formal greeting that they like to do." Rick says and Daryl and I exchange a look.

"This place is strange." Michonne murmurs but what Sasha says next catches our attention more, "Is that a tiger?"

My eyes look forward and widen at the sight before me. A hulking dark skinned man with dread locks and feathers in his hair make his way towards us with a cane in one hand. But that's not what catches my attention, but instead the beautiful creature that walks beside him. The tiger eyes us all as it slaunters towards us, wariness and danger in its captivating eyes.

The man, who I assume is Ezekiel smiles broadly at us all as he takes us in, "Behold! It seems a mere few days ago that good Rick Grimes departed from my kingdom, vowing to return with able-bodied soldiers to help us prepare for our coming conflict! Not nearly enough time has passed and yet here he stands, said soldiers in tow. Remarkable!" He says, his voice like that of a King.

"You've got to be kidding me." Sasha says, rolling her eyes at him.

He walks towards her and reaches for her hand, "And what, pray tell is bothering you fair maiden?"

"Don't touch me!" She hisses, pulling her hand back and glaring at him.

"What is the meaning of this? How dare you disrespect me within the walls of my kingdom? This is an outrage!" He declares, glaring at her.

"Disrespect is about to be the last thing you worry about." Sasha says, going to reach for her gun.

"Sasha!" Rick yells, stepping forward and the tiger roars at her, pulling against it's chain.

"Shiva no!" Ezekiel commands, looking down at the tiger who calms down at his voice.

He turns and looks towards Sasha, a polite smile on his face, "Please forgive me for my theatrics. I meant no offence. I do hope you understand. I want our peoples to be allies, united against a common enemy. It's essential for us to work together. Please put your weapon away and let us just forget this ever happened."

"Put away your weapon, and I'll put away mine." She says, not lowering her gun as the rest of us look on cautiously, ready to step in at any moment.

He raises his eyesbrows, "You mean Shiva? Shiva my dear, is my pet... This is my weapon." He says, pulling out a sword from within his cane and holding it near Sasha's neck.

Rick steps forward towards Ezekiel, "This isn't-" He begins when Ezekiel cuts him off, "It's okay. Calm yourself." He says pulling his sword back with a smile, proceeding to put it back into the cane.

Sasha slowly lowers her gun and Ezekiel turns and smiles at us all, "Come. Make yourselves at home. You have had a long journey. Let us put this nonsense behind us and feast!"

He turns and leads the way into the building, his men flanking us from behind as we follow him inside. Something about this guy is off putting. Perhaps it's the royalty act, perhaps it's the tiger, but something is... Off. But I have the weirdest feeling that we can trust him, which isn't a feeling I get all that often anymore. We'll have to see how it plays out, but for now I'm going to have some faith in him. After all, without him, we're going to be stuck in this nightmare without a chance of getting out.

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"This will be your room for the evening, we hope that it is too your satisfaction." The man smiles as he opens the door to our room.

"I'm sure it will be fine thank you." I say with a polite smile.

Daryl glares at the man and his smile falters slightly before turning and walking away down the hall as the others settle into their rooms. I glance up at Daryl and see him glaring after him and I roll my eyes, "Come on you." I mutter, walking into the small room.

I hear the door shut behind me and I take in the small space. It seems to have been an office of some kind, before it was transformed into a housing place. It isn't much, a mattress off to the side with the desk pushed up against the wall. I take my backpack off and dump it down beside the bed before walking over to the desk, taking a seat on its edge.

"God my feet hurt." I mutter, lifting my foot up and untying the laces on my boot.

He doesn't say anything and look up at him, his cautious eyes taking in the room around us. I lower my foot down and tilt my head to the side as I look at him, "You trying to find another entry way into here in case they want to ambush us?" I ask, trying to keep my tone light.

He turns his hard eyes on me and I shake my head, "I think we'll be okay Dare. There's one door to this place and we aren't exactly going to let our guard completely down while we're here. Relax babe."

"You can relax here? I mean they have a fucking tiger for God's sake." He questions and I fold my arms over my chest and shrug my shoulders, "I don't know. I don't exactly get a 'let's trick them and kill them in their sleep' vibe from them. Even with the tiger."

"So you trust them?" He asks and I shake my head, "I didn't say that."

"Then how do you feel?" He questions and I stare at him for a long moment before I speak, "These people, they have weird customs, weird ways of life, but it works for them. Ezekiel, he's eccentric sure, but he isn't a dictator like Negan. Something about him gives me the feeling that he isn't a bad guy. I mean did you see the way he and Sasha were interacting a dinner? It's the first time I've seen her smile since Abraham." I say, recalling her brief, but small smiles towards the leader.

"Besides, Carol and Morgan trust him to some degree. Even Jesus thinks he's okay." I state.

He rolls his eyes at the mention of his name and I shake my head, "When're you going to let this whole Jesus thing go huh? I'm pretty sure he's proved to you by now that he's one of the good guys."

"I'm sorry that I'm not worshipping the ground he walks on like everyone else. I just get a weird feeling about the guy. He's just slipped his way in and everyone trusts him so willingly, you all adore him." He mutters angrily.

I chuckle, "Adore him? I don't think so."

"I see the way you two interact, he's got you in the palm of his hands." He says and I can't help but smile at the jealously coming off of him.

"You don't need to be threatened by him when it comes to me Daryl. I have it on good authority that I'm not his type." I state and he scoffs, "Sure you aren't."

A smile comes to my lips as I let out a breath, "I happen to know who it is he actually likes."

"Who's that?" He asks, giving me a look.

"You." I state and Daryl's eyes widen slightly as his face drops a little.

"Apparently we are both attracted to ruggedly handsome men who have an disposition towards being quiet and brooding. Unfortunately for him, this man already happens to be with me and is the father of my unborn child." I say, reaching forward and taking his hand in mine.

I pull him towards me so that he stands in between my legs. I stare up into his eyes with a small smile on my lips, "You don't have to worry about anyone taking me away from you. I've seen you at your highs and your lows, if that won't get rid of me than nothing will. It's you are me Dare, always."

He looks down at me for a moment before the side of his mouth twitches up and he reaches forward, placing his hands on my hips and pulling me tightly against him, "Yeah. Always."

I reach up and grasp his face in my hands, pulling him down so that his face comes to mine. The kiss begins soft and sweet, however as our bodies press together and my hormones begin to kick into over drive, it becomes something much more passionate and primal. We're all hands and lips, heavy breathing and naked bodies.

It's moments like these that remind me how good life can be and why we have to fight to survive, against the dead and the living. Everyone that I love and hold close to me, I protect at all costs. I would do anything to make sure that they're safe and if pairing up with unlikely allies is what I have to do in order to do it, than I will. These people are my family and I will protect them at all costs.