Neverquest - Part 109
Characters: Gena, Roxanne, Fallon, Frankie
Location: A royal chamber in the castle of Felwinter
Time: Day 5 - 12:42 AM
“Is there anything else I can get you?”
Gena patted her cheek. “No, Fallon, you’ve been a dear. You should really talk to the Queen about a promotion.”
“I’m quite content where I am.”
“Of course you are.”
Fallon stood by the doorway, a bit uneasily. “Well, if that’s all then…”
“Yes, I think that will be all. The room looks great.”
“I do hope you like it. It was the best I could do on such short notice.”
Gena looked over her shoulder. A canopy bed that fit eight, silk curtains and bed sheets, pillows that were fluffed to look like giant marshmallows, a private buffet table that wrapped around the wall like a snake, crimson walls that bled with color, gold trimming, a ceiling and door that would admit giants, expensive oil paintings all around.
“Yeah,” she said, “I think it’s fine.”
“I’m glad to hear it. Please don’t hesitate to call if you need anything else. I’ll be right down the hall.”
Gena nodded and smiled as Fallon turned and walked away. Then she slowly shut the great oak doors.
“Can you believe this?” Roxanne said. She was plopped down on a glossy sea of pillows on the bed. “Just last night we were sleeping in some rundown, roach-infested inn. We became royalty today. We’re one of the few, Gena.”
“We are, aren’t we?”
“Yeah… Look at all of this. This is ours. This is so unreal.”
“It is amazing…”
“Let’s never go home.”
Gena smirked. “I thought you’d never ask.”
“Just imagine. We could live like queens. We’d never have to answer to anyone again.”
“That is true.”
“This is what we wanted, isn’t it?”
“It’s almost perfect.”
Roxanne looked up from her pillows. “Almost…? Gena, look around. We have everything at our fingertips. This is what we’ve been planning.”
“Planning? Careful there. Let’s not squander our words. We’ve been scheming, we’ve been plotting, we’ve been preparing for this moment. We never wasted a moment planning because we never knew what was possible, what we could achieve in this life.” She smiled tenderly. “But now we know.”
“I don’t like that look… And I don’t like what you’re saying.”
“You’re not happy.”
“What do you mean? I’m happier than I’ve ever been before.”
“You can be happier. We can have more than this.”
“Gena, you don’t know what it was like being me. I’ve never had a life like this.”
“Like what, Roxy? You’re satisfied being tools to Isabella? Because that’s all we’ll ever be. You’re not on top unless you’re the one on the throne. Only then do you have the world at your feet. Only then do the people bow to you.”
“I spent my whole life stealing and fighting for my food. It’s nice to be handed things on a silver platter now.”
“What if I could promise you the world?”
“I know what your promises are worth, Gena, and they can’t buy me happiness.”
“Why, Roxy, I’m hurt. I thought we had something.”
Roxanne shook her head. “You’re taking all of this too seriously, Gena. We don’t have to keep going like this. We have something good here.”
“You don’t get it, do you?”
“No. Why don’t you enlighten me?”
Gena pointed her snake staff towards the window, causing the curtains to flutter in the wind like ghosts and let in the rising moon. “There’s a whole world out there. Are you fine sitting in your room? Are you fine watching the sun and moon fight for the sky like the forces of good and evil? Don’t you wish for something more? Don’t you want to control the stars, to tell the darkness when to come and when to keep away?”
“Some people are just happy to see another day.”
“Not me, Roxy,” she said, lowering her staff to the floor and staring at the white rift in the sky that was the moon. “…Not me.”
“What do you want, Gena? What would finally make you happy? You have Frankie, you have me, you have a seat in the royal court… What more do you want?”
“I want the world, Roxy… You know that…”
With a faint smile, Roxanne rolled out of bed and stood next to Gena. “Leave the world alone. Let it spin. It’s never done us wrong before.”
“I’ve been wronged.”
“It wasn’t the world’s fault.”
“Yes, it was!” Gena screamed. “You think it was hard being you? Try being me. Just for one day, Roxy, put yourself in my shoes. I never had anyone to love. Nobody ever cared about me. The whole world wanted to see me fall to my knees… The whole world wanted to laugh at me.”
“Nobody has laughed at you.”
“They do it when my back is turned. That’s how this world works. They’ll stab you in the back when you look away.”
“Who has ever stabbed you in the back?”
“Siarra!”
“Siarra? What did she ever do to you?” Roxanne looked over at Frankie, who was asleep on the bedside table. He was curled up on the plate, using a leaf of lettuce as a blanket and a chunk of chocolate cake as the best mattress in the world. “You kidnapped her brother, Gena. You sent her to rot in the dungeon.”
“She got what she deserved.”
“They’re going to kill her, you know.”
“At dawn, I know. Isabella told me.”
“…Don’t you care?”
“Why should I care?”
“Siarra was your friend, wasn’t she? Back in the real world?”
“Don’t ever mention that world again. I’m through with it.”
“You might be, but I’m not.”
“Oh, please,” Gena scoffed. “You said it yourself. You’re never going home.”
“It’s not like we could go back, even if we wanted…”
“You wouldn’t. You love it here as much as me.”
“I do, but…Gena… The methods they use for executions are real. Siarra would really die. There would be no bringing her back to either world.”
Gena’s smirk returned and it was darker than ever. “Good. She’s not good enough for either of them.”
“What did she ever do to you anyway? You never told me.”
“She had a brother.”
“…What?”
“In the beginning, I was like you, Roxy. All I wanted was something little. I just wanted a younger brother who I could torment and love at the same time… That’s why I started babysitting. I loved having people around who loved me and looked up to me. I loved that power, that compassion. It made me feel like I was part of a family.”
“Well, I know how that goes… My father was a bastard. But you can’t just run away to some fantasy world. You have to face the truth some time. If you don’t, it’s called escapism and it’s a disease.”
“I don’t have a disease! I have the world, Roxy! Soon, I’ll have it all. You’ll see. You’ll be there and you’ll see.”
“Look, I don’t want to be part of your fantasy if it involves killing everyone who you felt did you wrong. I’m fine with tormenting them, making them cry, but I won’t stoop to murder. It’s wrong, Gena. Even in your dreams.”
“So what are you going to do, Roxy? Are you going to stop me?”
“I’m not stopping you.”
“You’re standing in my way. You’re turning on me, Roxy.”
“No, Gena, I’m trying to knock some sense into you. What’s gotten into you lately? You’ve let this fantasy go to your head.”
“Isabella is going to die.”
“Gena…”
“I’m going to kill her. I’m going to slit her throat and leave her to die next to Siarra. Then we’ll see who becomes the next ruler of Ellewyn.” She leaned into Roxanne’s ear and whispered softly. “That’s when I’ll be Queen Gena. And you will be standing next to me. Lady Roxanne. Just you and me. On top of the world.”
Roxanne stepped back. “You’re insane. Even if you killed Isabella, the real Queen will eventually return and she’ll have you beheaded in the blink of an eye.”
“Not in my world, Roxy. Not in my life.”
“Gena, you don’t have to do this. Isabella is wonderful. She’s as terrible as we are.”
“When it comes to power, there can only be one. The deed must be done. No matter how great she may be, she’ll fall below us or she’ll fall to us. It’s the only way.”
“She won’t go without a fight.”
“And we’ll give her a hell of one. Did you forget who was the winner of the Tournament of Champions? Have you forgotten me so soon?”
“Of course not, Gena… But her guards…”
“She’s bathing. She’s completely alone and naked, like an unborn child. She doesn’t have a prayer.”
“But she hasn’t done anything to us… In fact, we owe a lot to her.”
“And we’ll repay her by giving her the choice of stepping down or dying by our hands. We’re not monsters.”
“They why do I feel like one…?”
“…You can wait here if you want, Roxy. You can sit on the bed and watch the stars and wish for a better life. But I’m going to make my dreams come true.” She turned towards the door. “Look for the morning sun. When it comes, I’ll have the world in my hands.”
Roxanne stood alone in the center of the room, torn between the window and the doorway. The moon was cold tonight. She stared down at her hand, sealed away under this black iron, this unbearable weight, and slowly curled her fingers into a fist. She could feel the power like twisted veins.
“Wait, Gena… I’m coming. I’m done waiting, too.”
Giantess World
