Characters: Queen Isabella, Fallon, Countess Olivia, Kadaj
“The countess has arrived,” Fallon announced, standing in the doorway of Isabella’s room. She had her usual white dress on, red ribbons tied in her hair, and a small courier’s rapier dangling from her belt.
Isabella was standing in front of her mirror, wearing a gorgeous teal dress that flowed down her skin like silky streams of water and pearl necklaces that stacked upon each other like layers of beautiful rocks. She put on a hat—a black, round, brimmed hat that pointed upward on either end—and then exchanged it with a feathered blue hat. She smiled and began fluffing her locks of hair to make a nest around the hat.
After a moment of smiling at herself, Isabella waved to Fallon. “Send her away.”
“M’lady, she just got here. You haven’t even spoken to her yet.”
“Honestly, Fallon, I don’t see why we have to do this. You know how she acts.”
“I know, but she’s your cousin. If anything were to happen to you and your mother…”
“Then this whole kingdom would fall apart,” Isabella laughed. She patted her hair and straightened her dress. “How do I look?”
“Beautiful, M’lady.”
But she frowned and turned back to the mirror. “How does Olivia look?”
“Beautiful as well.”
“Who looks more beautiful?”
“You, of course.”
“Yes, of course…” Isabella laughed, smiling, looking at herself in a trance. “I really am beautiful.”
“Yes, you are.”
“I think I’ll sell my face before I get old. What do you think?”
“I think you might need it later on.”
“Perhaps…” She tipped her hat forward. “Perhaps.”
“Should I send in Olivia?”
“In a box would be fine,” Isabella said as she went back to work on the nest.
Fallon took that as a yes and disappeared. A moment lady, Countess Olivia ambled through the oak doorway. She was older than Isabella—twenty-four, twenty-five perhaps—but there was a lot less to her. For one, she wasn’t as tall as Isabella; not that Isabella was very big herself, but Fallon stood a good six inches over them both. Also, Olivia’s dress was very simple. It was a black corset with red sleeves and long white gloves that touched her elbows. In her hair, she wore a small ruby tiara with silver trim that had a little dish behind the headpiece for her faithful assistant, Kadaj, to ride in. He was in it now, holding onto the curls of her hair as reins, as she strutted about the room with an arrogant sway of her hips.
“You know, Bella…these old rags don’t match the rest of your room,” Olivia said as she ran her fingers across the curtains to the balcony. “Blues are in right now, you know. That is, controlled blue; not a splatter of blue like you’re wearing now.”
Isabella bit her lip to keep from saying something really nasty. “Really now? I heard olive drab is all the rage in your backwater town.”
“At least our clothing isn’t big enough to wipe an elephant’s rear end.”
Isabella looked down at her fluffy, bloated skirt and stamped her foot, silently, when Olivia had her back turned. “…So what brings you to a civilized city anyway?”
Olivia flipped through Isabella’s bookshelf—not really looking for anything, but picking out books, thumbing through the pages, and then putting them back in the wrong place. “We both know why I’m here. You can’t run this kingdom by yourself and your mom still hasn’t returned. There’s a good chance the Men of Penee are going to attack soon, and if they do, we must be ready.”
“I can handle any Man.”
“Yes, I’m sure you can, Bella, but meetings with the council must take place before war can be declared.” She turned around. “Need I remind you that you’re not in the best terms with Riva? She will never agree to an all-out war.”
“We’ll leave that up to the council to decide.”
“For the most part, she is the council. She has always made our decisions. Just because you’re the queen for the day does not mean you can throw your weight around and expect everybody to bend to your will. We have rules and procedures to follow, you know.”
“Enough!” Isabella spat. “The meeting is still a few days away and I’ll find a way to convince the council by then. At least May will take my side.”
“You don’t know that.”
“You’re lucky you’re my cousin, Olivia. If you were anything less than blood, I’d have you beheaded right now.” She glared at the little man in her tiara. “Both you and that annoying flea you carry around in your hair. What’s its name again?”
“His name is Kadaj,” Olivia said matter-of-factly. “Say hello to the loud-mouthed princess, Kadaj.”
Kadaj bowed his head. “It’s a pleasure, Your Highness.”
“Oh, stuff it!” Isabella huffed. “…I have to get going. Unlike you, I have stuff to do.”
Olivia nodded. “You have to attend the Tournament of Champions, I know. I will join you.”
“Like hell you will.”
“I already asked Fallon and she saved me a seat, right next to you.”
“…Suddenly, I’ve lost my appetite.”
“I must apologize on our behalf,” Kadaj said. “We didn’t realize we had scheduled this meeting with you on the same day as the tournament until last night. I promise that we won’t be an intrusion to you or your—”
“Olivia,” Isabella said softly, putting a hand on her cousin’s shoulder, “please tell your flea that if I hear one more word out of his mouth, he’s going to end up on my plate before the day is over.”
“You don’t scare either of us,” Olivia said. Nevertheless, Kadaj sealed his lips and sank behind the ruby tiara.
Isabella smirked, somewhat arrogantly, and patted Olivia’s pale cheek as she stepped past her towards the open door. “I hope to see you at the tournament. I’m sure you can find the place. It’s the big building with all the people.”
Olivia watched her go and then let out a sigh, nudging her head a little to shake Kadaj out of his paralysis. “Don’t let her intimidate you. She doesn’t know the things we know. She can’t see the beauty within or the stars in the day or the voices of the waves… She is empty inside.”
Kadaj stared down at his master, but her expression was blank and something was gone, and then there, in her eyes. Something ominous. Something so very cold.
Giantess World
