Characters: Queen Isabella, Fallon, Rachelle, Aisha, Gena, Roxanne, Frankie, Lucilla, Narsis
Location: The Royal Box Section, at the Tournament of Champions
Time: Day 4 - 4:25 PM
Aisha kissed Frankie on the forehead, even though her lips practically enveloped his entire head, and then stepped back. “Are you feeling okay? Does it hurt anymore?”
“Only between my legs…” Frankie said with a weak smile.
“What? Why does it hurt there?”
“It’s been doing that a lot lately…”
“I can’t imagine why.”
“Would you mind taking a look?”
Rachelle looked over at Aisha and then grabbed Isabella’s hand, dragging her to the other corner of the room. “We need to talk.”
“Excuse me,” Isabella snapped, breaking free of her grip. “Uh-uh. You do not touch the Queen, commoner.”
“I am a celestial Priest of Dai Celesta, Your Highness. You’re obligated to hear me speak.”
“Aw, I’m sorry. You think your opinion matters, don’t you? So cute. You’re really a doll, Sister Rachelle. I want to kiss you for that. But you know what? I think I’m fed up with uppity snobs like you telling me what to do. Is this your kingdom? Are you wearing a crown? Because all I see is a servant’s mace.” Reaching forward, she pinched Rachelle’s pale cheek with such arrogance that the cheek turned blood red in a matter of seconds. “Because that’s all you are, sweetie. A servant. I guess the next time I want to discuss important matters with somebody on your level, I’ll refer to the dirt under my fingernails. I promise.”
“Queen Isabella,” Rachelle gritted her teeth. “This is about Sister Aisha. You can’t kill her.”
But Isabella’s eyes were on her fingernails—holding them in front of her face, turning them around for inspection, nodding at them with pretend interest. “I see, I see. Please continue, dirt. You are so fascinating.”
“…Aisha is a dear friend of mine and the royal council.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes.”
“And what am I?”
“You’re…” Rachelle fumbled for the words. “You’re the queen…”
“Aw, you’re so right!” Isabella scrunched her nose and pressed her fingernail to her lips, giving it a quick peck. “You’re so right when you play stupid and you play stupid so right, dirt. I guess we both know our places. But I like things the way they are, don’t you?”
“This isn’t a joke, Isabella…”
“Gee, then why am I laughing so hard?” she asked with a smug grin.
“I’m serious!”
Isabella puffed her cheeks, pretending to hold her breath, and waddled around in place like a duck. “So am I!” Then she laughed through her teeth and slapped her hand down on Rachelle’s shoulder. “Oh, oh, I’m so sorry. I forgot to respect you as a fellow human being, didn’t I?”
Rachelle didn’t respond. She couldn’t. The first words out of her mouth, the ones she wanted to speak, were enough to get her hanged right beside Aisha.
Sensing her anger, Isabella stuck out her lower lip and let it quiver on end as she looked up at Rachelle with the saddened eyes of a puppy. “I guess your wittle friend is gonna die. How terrible! Maybe you should go say buh-bye. Buh-bye. Buh-bye, wittle Aisha.” She waved a pretend handkerchief in the direction of Aisha. Her eyebrows were sagging and fake tears filled her eyes, but she was snickering underneath it all.
“…Your heart is stone,” Rachelle whispered through a cold breath.
Isabella’s lip continued to quiver in mockery.
Before Rachelle could do something that she would regret, Aisha appeared between them. “Excuse me…” She couldn’t look Rachelle in the eyes. She just walked by, her head down, and went to check on Roxanne without another word. There was nothing she could say. She remembered the last conversation with Rachelle; the one that ended in a struggle, the one that ended in this. And the worst part was that Aisha didn’t even know what was to come.
Rachelle wanted to call out her name, tell her to run, to get away from this madness, but she couldn’t find the words. All she could do was turn back to Isabella, who was holding herself up by an imaginary noose, pivoting on her heels as she pretended to be hanged. Her face was twisted, her tongue was sticking out, and her eyes were wide open.
“Save…me…” Isabella gasped, clawing at the air with her free hand. She pretended to sink to her knees, but she wouldn’t let herself get that close to the ground, so she just let go of the imaginary noose and laughed.
“Enough of this, Isabella. I’m doing this for you.”
Isabella let out a yawn that filled the room and smacked her lips together a few times before drawing them into a smirk. “Are you really, dirt?”
“Yes,” Rachelle said, seizing Isabella’s hand and bringing it down to her waist in a balled fist. “Yes, I am.”
“Aw, so you do care about me.”
Rachelle tried to ignore the queen’s haughtiness, but it was beginning to show in the tone of her voice. “More than you think. Look, I’m on your side here. I think Aisha should be punished. But this is wrong and you don’t have the authority to sentence her to death.”
Isabella sank her teeth into her lower lip. Her mouth trembled and her emerald eyes bounced around like rain. Then she began giggling through her teeth.
“If you harm her, you will jeopardize your chances of becoming Queen when your mother returns!”
Still laughing, Isabella popped her forefingers in her ears. “La la la la la la. I can’t hear you, Rachelle.”
“Isa…”
“La la la la!”
“Cut that out.”
“I can’t read lips. So sorry. La la la la.”
“Enough!” Rachelle yelled, throwing up her arms. The queen laughed again, throwing up her arms too.
“Is there a problem here?” Fallon asked, suddenly appearing at Isabella’s side.
“No, no problem…” Isabella smirked and then waved to Aisha. “Sister Aisha, Rachelle has something she would like to tell you.”
“What is it?” Aisha asked.
Rachelle scowled at the queen, who turned and walked away with a pompous stride.
“What is it, Rachelle? Aisha asked again.
“Aisha… Don’t talk.”
Aisha’s eyes dropped to the floor. So that’s how it would be. Rachelle was still mad at her for what she had done. She nodded quietly, to herself. “Rachelle…”
“I said not to talk.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be.”
Isabella was outside the doorway, speaking to Lucilla in hushed words, but she soon sent the Paladin away and returned to the royal box section. “Sister Aisha! Did Rachelle tell you the good news yet?”
“No…” Aisha said. “She didn’t tell me anything.”
“Aw, shame on you, Rachelle,” Isabella said with a wag of her finger. “Must I do everything?”
Rachelle tried to stop her. “No, Your Highness, wait…”
“Hm?”
“Aisha doesn’t deserve this. I do.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yes, this was my doing. I should’ve—”
“You?” Isabella laughed. “What did you do to save Roxanne’s life?”
“What?”
The queen pointed over to the couch, where Roxanne was grunting and just beginning to open her eyes. Gena ran over to her, put an arm under her head, and helped her sit up.
“Sister Aisha did that,” Isabella continued. “I’m surprised at you, Rachelle. I thought you would be happy for your friend. She did a great thing for me.”
Rachelle’s mouth hung open in bafflement.
“You were trying to take credit from me…?” Aisha asked, her eyes finally meeting Rachelle’s. “Sister, I never thought you would stoop so low. How could you…?”
Rachelle blinked, unable to speak.
“It’s over now,” Isabella said. “I will make sure the Apostles know of what you have done, Sister Aisha. Roxanne is a good friend of mine. By saving her life, I will make sure you are properly commended.”
“Thank you, Your Highness. It was my pleasure.” But Aisha’s eyes were still on Rachelle, looking down at her even though she was a great deal shorter. And Rachelle was still speechless. She just stared at the queen, who had the nastiest little smirk creeping out from both sides of her lips.
Giantess World
