Characters: Queen Isabella, Countess Olivia, Fallon, Kadaj, Narsis, Aisha, Frankie, Gena, Roxanne, Lucilla, Cara
Location: The Royal Box Section, Tournament of Champions
Time: Day 4 - 4:05 PM
“What do you mean they escaped!?”
Olivia shrugged and bit into a grape, chewing like she had all day, like she didn’t care that the blood was rushing to Isabella’s face like a hot geyser. “They said they couldn’t wait for you any longer, but they would come check back tomorrow. When do you think you will be free to meet with them? I can schedule an appointment, if you would like”
“If I would like!?” Isabella screamed. Her eyes flared. She started to reach for something—anything—to hurl at her cousin, but Olivia paid her no mind, sitting idly in her chair, leaning ever so slightly forward, her elbows flat on the table, chewing in quiet contemplation. She didn’t care what the queen had to say. In fact, she smirked through the juices of the grape, finding amusement in Isabella’s bubbling anger. She couldn’t help but laugh.
Isabella’s eyebrows narrowed to the point where she went cross-eyed, but there was nothing she could do. This wasn’t the first time somebody had ruined her fun. She walked to the table and squeezed the wooden arm of Olivia’s chair. “Yes, yes, this is all so very droll, Olivia. You really should be a court jester. Maybe then I wouldn’t kill you.”
Olivia took another small bite of the grape and offered the rest to Isabella.
“…I hate you. I hate you so much, Olivia.”
“And you are the wind beneath my wings, Bella. Will you fly me away?”
Isabella steamed. She had to take out her anger on somebody. Somebody had to pay for the wrong done to her. Her eyes suddenly landed on Kadaj, who was trying to remain inconspicuous by Olivia’s other arm.
“You!” she said. “Why did you let those Men escape?”
Kadaj swallowed hard. “I-I-I tried to stop them, Your Highness.”
“Well, y-y-you failed, Your Dumbness. And if I don’t get them back, you are going to take the punishment for each of them. We’ll see how royal you are after you become a walking bruise.”
“I wouldn’t speak to Kadaj like that,” Olivia said. “I might have to sic him on you.” She smiled and popped the remainder of the grape into Isabella’s open mouth, using her thumb as a cork to keep it in. “You don’t want that.”
Isabella pulled back her hand, ready to cuff Olivia, but Fallon caught her wrist in midair.
“It’s okay, Isabella,” she said. “Olivia means well. You don’t want to start trouble with her.”
“No, I don’t. I just want to kill her.”
Olivia wagged her finger. “Now, now, Bella. You should listen to your superiors. You have a lot of them, after all.”
Isabella screamed, broke away from Fallon’s grasp, and tackled Olivia. The whole chair toppled over like a derailed train. Olivia fell to the ground. Isabella landed on her, pinning her down, and the two rolled under the table and across the floor, swiping and kicking at each other in their long dresses. Their struggles continued for another minute, but Isabella had the advantage the whole time. She had caught Olivia off guard.
Suddenly, in the midst of the fight, a tiny voice cried out. “Stop it! Stop it! I can’t…breathe… Stop it…”
Olivia obeyed, even though the voice was so small, barely audible, giving Isabella the chance to knee her in the gut. Olivia collapsed. Scowling down at her, Isabella staggered to her knees and peeled away the neckline of her dress, revealing Frankie, still hanging from the necklace, smushed against the folds of her pale skin.
“Oh,” Isabella said. “Forgot you were in there.” And that was all. With a shrug, she took off the necklace and handed it to Fallon. Fallon stared at the little boy for a moment, watching the way he dangled, like a fly in the threads of a spider’s web, and slowly took the necklace into her own hands.
“Are you okay?” she asked the boy.
He groaned and closed his eyes.
“Two for the price of one,” Isabella said, kicking Olivia and then sitting down in her chair.
Olivia shook her head, a little more dazed than usual, and pried herself up onto her elbows. “That wasn’t very nice, Bella.”
“You deserved it. And you can sit there on the floor until I feel you deserve a chair again.”
But Olivia stood up anyway, marched over to the table, and scooped up Kadaj. Then she prodded her index finger into Isabella’s chest. “Listen to me, Bella. Your mother may have put you in charge, but don’t let this ‘queen for a day’ thing go to your head. You’re going to have to learn how to share. There are other people in this world too.”
“None that are more important than me. And when I do become queen, everybody will know that.”
“The day you become queen, everybody is moving out of this kingdom. Including me.”
“Praise Dai Celesta for that day then.”
Olivia looked at Fallon, who was helpless to do anything, and then back at Isabella. “…Fine. I’m leaving, Bella.”
Isabella clasped her hands and curled her nose. “Oh, goodie! Can I watch you go? Buh-bye! Bye! See you! Go on now. Bye! Have a nice trip back home. Bye!”
Huffing her nostrils, Olivia turned and stormed towards the door. She didn’t have the strength to fight back with Isabella. Not anymore. Her face was red from embarrassment and exhaustion and overheating.
“Olivia, wait!” Fallon tried to stop her. But there was nothing she could do. She knew that. She got halfway to the door before Olivia left and there was no point in chasing after her. Sighing, she looked back at the little boy in her hand and then at Aisha, who was still tending to Roxanne on the couch.
“Sister Aisha,” she said. “Will you look at this boy?”
“He’s very nice,” she said.
“No, I think he’s hurt. He needs a Cleric.”
“Oh, okay… Bring him over.”
Queen Isabella watched them with disgust. Showing concern for a Man… It was unthinkable. But it was just a little boy, after all, and he did belong to Gena. Isabella smiled, thinking back to the tournament. She knew Gena would win. Lady Gena. It had a ring to it. Maybe Gena would be able to join the royal court. Maybe she could replace a certain snooty countess. Maybe. Just maybe.
Then things would be perfect.
No sooner had she started to plan out how it would work than Gena walked in the door, followed by Lucilla, Cara, and the other Paladins, as well as a very disturbed Rachelle.
“I had nothing to do with the attack!” were the first words Rachelle said, pushing through the Paladins to get to the queen. “I swear, Your Highness. I tried to stop them. I wanted to stop them. They wouldn’t listen to me. They…they’re not good people.”
Isabella raised her hand. “Enough, Sister Rachelle. I know you weren’t in on it. You’ve always been a noble servant of Dai Celesta. For that, the council forgives your involvement with those people.”
Aisha’s eyes drifted from Frankie to Rachelle. She tried to hide behind Fallon. She didn’t want to be seen. Not by Rachelle. Not after what she had done. But it seemed inevitable because all Rachelle had to do was step back and turn her head to the side. Then their eyes met.
But they both looked away and said nothing.
“…Thank you, Your Highness,” Rachelle said with a polite bow. “Are you alright?”
“Yes, yes. I’m fine. I’m just having a terrible day. Why do all the bad things have to happen to me?”
“I don’t know, Your Highness. It’s a shame, though.”
“It is a shame, isn’t it?”
Rachelle wasn’t sure if she was supposed to answer that question and Isabella didn’t provide any visual clues. She just sat in her chair, legs crossed, using Narsis as a footrest. He moaned under her weight, which seemed to be pressing down on him extra hard.
“…Somebody needs to pay for what went wrong today,” Isabella said after a moment. “Don’t you agree?”
“Absolutely.”
“Absolutely. That’s what I think too. But it seems all of the Men I wanted to punish have escaped. What are we to do?”
“Build stronger prisons?”
Isabella laughed, but it wasn’t the kind you wanted to hear. “Stronger prisons or weaker Men.” Then she was quiet, musing over her dark thoughts, as she silently rolled a thread from her dress into a ball between her fingers and then unraveled it. “…I think it’s the Women who need to pay, who need to learn that Men are not worth fighting for. Killing a Man doesn’t change a thing. It’s like killing a bug; something we do every day without thinking. Truthfully, it’s the Women who support Men that sicken me more than the Men themselves. Do you know what I mean?” She plucked the thread as if it were a human life.
“…Yes, I do.” But Rachelle didn’t like where this was going. She looked at Aisha again, but the Cleric had her back turned.
“I have two of them locked up in my dungeon along with a couple of Men,” Isabella continued. “I think I’ll have them killed. I’d like to do the same with Lady Kendira, but she has Master Luna protecting her. But once Master Luna is exiled from the Arcane Order, I’ll have both of their heads on my bedposts. It just takes time.”
Rachelle tried to fake a smile, but she knew who was in the dungeon. Siarra and Kim. Why hadn’t they listened to her? Why did they have to interfere? Why were they so stupid?
“…I suppose that those deaths will be enough,” Rachelle said. “The killing of two Women should be enough to teach the citizens of Ellewyn that Men are nothing but scum.”
“Two? Oh, no. We’re going to have three.”
“Three?”
“Why, yes. The two in the dungeon are nobodies. Their deaths won’t change the minds of anybody. We have to kill somebody who will really strike fear into those who think of disobeying me.”
“Who…is the third one?”
But she already knew the answer. There were three who interfered with the tournament. And this time it was Isabella who looked at Aisha and nobody had to say anything. It was all too clear. And she continued to mend Frankie, oblivious to it all.
Giantess World
