At The Capital

Queen Cordelia was dead. Our floating fleet arrived at Talshin with the red dawn. The city’s massive white walls were painted red by the dawnlight of the sunstar. The white flags were blowing in coastal breeze. They were painted red by the dawnlight as well. The gates of the city lay open, their guards kneeling before the oncoming army. It was a beautiful city. Its white towers rising over the massive city walls, gleaming like a precious pearl against the glittering blue sea tainted by foamy waves as red as the dawn. This gave the eerie appearance the sea was filled with blood. The royal sector was built upon a hill raised by magik. Even the Cathedral of the Church of the Goddess was flying the white flag of surrender.

I stood at bow of our central command Island at the forward point of our fleet, staring at the Queen’s Palace. What had happened there to bring about the murder of the queen? Whose hand was behind this treachery? Whose hand was manipulating Sinestelos to smear my name and reputation?

Our elite guard proceeded in to the city, and we secured all the walls and gates. We unarmed the resident military, and marched to the castle. We passed within. My Royal Dragon guard were all in battle mode, as was I. We flew above our troops. Once we had secured the city and the military my troops mostly retreated out of the city. The streets were emptied, and the windows shuttered against the invading army.

We entered the Palace grounds, and were escorted to the throne room. When we entered, the first thing I noticed was the infamous Cardinal Richekhan. He had another name, a darker name, from a time he was a wandering mercenary. Before he had his revelation and reformation. He was known as Richekhan the Butcher of Zánkízar.

“Kiera, Rosie, find Maleficia and retrieve her. Use whatever means, or force, is necessary,” I mindspoke.

“Understood.”

Richekhan was standing on the left hand of the new queen, A girl no more than fourteen years of age. She looked terrified. Sitting in the large and elaborate throne, positioned on the northern side of the room. On her right was her Chancellor, a man with graying hair and lying eyes. He was confident, arrogant, and crafty. The chambers had many nobles lining the sides of the great hall. Portraits of former Queens lined the walls on the east and west. Mostly all in some form of heroic or valiant pose. Nearly all of them of maritime theme. The south wind blew into the hall, and the architecture came to life. Carved in such a way that the wind made music as it blew through the many subtly carved pipes of the Palace. Some enhanced magically.

“Greetings Queen Camellia. We are saddened at the news of the passing of your mother Queen Cordelia. However, we are troubled about why your sister, Maleficia Heir Apparent, did not ascend to her mother’s throne?” I said.

“O-our s-s-sister, has been arrested for the assassination of our mother,” Queen Camellia said.

“I see. That is quite strange, and very out of character for the princess,” I said.

“The stress of the war affected her, and she and mother would get into many arguments over it,” Queen Camellia said.

“I see. War can tear families apart. Such a tragedy. Well, then we will assist you in resolving this issue of succession. Then we can settle the matter of your nation’s surrender,” I said.

“That is too kind of your majesty, but this is an internal affair,” Chancellor Bahar said.

“It is a settled matter of International Law, that in matters of assassination an independent third party of equal rank must be present for the investigation and trial of an heir apparent,” I said.

“Your majesty, Queen Yamikoo, of the Queendom of Crispenwell, has been informed. We can expect her within two months,” Bahar said.

“Two months! Ridiculous, I am here, now, and we will begin the inquest! I will not tarry here for two months for that faithless one to arrive just so I can remove her from her throne for daring to attack us not once, not twice, but three times! You, Cardinal Butcher Richekhan! Convene the Court of Churchwardens! Chancellor, lead us to the Grand Marshal so we can examine the evidence,” I commanded.

“Your, Majesty. I answer only to the Pope. You cannot command me,” Cardinal Richekhan said.

“You would fail to obey the International Law as set down in the Treaty of Thirteen? The sentence for that is death. Do you truly wish for death so dearly?” I said, and began casting the execution spell.

That got his attention, and he bowed, just enough to meet the protocol for acknowledging a sovereign, and not a hairsbreadth more, saying,

“As you wish, your Majesty.”

“I shall escort you to the Grand Marshal, your Majesty,” Bahar said. Both men’s anger and hate flashed briefly on their faces before they regained control of their masks.

We were brought to the Grand Marshal, and he showed us what proof they had against Maleficia. An empty bottle of poison, and the testimony of her guards, and the queen’s guards. We took note of those witnesses. We thanked the Marshal and returned to our base.

When Kiera returned with Maleficia, I said,

“Hello Maleficia, it’s been a while. I’d ask how you’ve been, but I think I can guess. I have to ask. Did you kill your mother the Queen?”

“My mother was an evil and wicked woman, but I would never kill my own,” Maleficia said.

“Your guards testified you went to her chambers, and your mother screamed out, and when her guards and your guards entered, the Queen was dead, and there was an empty bottle of poison there.” I said.

“I never left my room. My guards weren’t there to protect me. They are stationed to keep me under control. The even guard the secret passages against me,” Maleficia said.

“As I expected. You seemed more a prisoner than a princess at Academy,” I said.

“The Chancellor and Cardinal are mother’s killers. I’m certain of it. They plan to kill my sister eventually. Probably after marrying her to a puppet. She’ll never be a puppet for them. Nor would I have been. Not that it matters now. I suppose you plan to become queen yourself?” Maleficia said.

“I plan to make you queen. I have enough to keep me busier than I want to be as it is. However, I will be making Sinestelos a vassal queendom. For several reasons. Not least of all because your mother’s invasion has cost me in people, time, and money,” I said.

“So you will put me on the throne to be your puppet also?” Maleficia said.

“I will put you on the throne because you are the heir apparent, and an adult. I expect you to rule over Sinestelos, so I don’t have to. We will not interfere with your rule. I do not know the inner workings of your nation, other than you have some sort of connection to the pirates. I have destroyed and captured most of their fleet. What we do with them is up to you, once you are queen. If you ask we release them, we will. No other country, that I know of, has ever penetrated your inner circles, and discovered your connections. I am curious, but do not need to know. Want, yes. Need, no,” I said.

Maleficia laughed, “I think every nation suspects we are connected to the pirates. We do a lot of business with them, and do not hunt them, or bother them when they visit. But we have no relations with them. We are a safe harbor for them and openly trade with them, and thus they don’t attack our ships. Generally speaking. It may be that they have powerful people in the Queen’s Court, or in a powerful position in Talshin. We may find out, if you get your way and put me in power. How do you hope to do that?”

“Kiera, I have another task for you. Celes, if you would help, I’d greatly appreciate it. You need to find and detain as many of these witnesses as you can. I also need you to find the real killers, and everyone possibly connected to this assassination,” I said.

“I’ve been waiting for a chance like this! I’m in!” Celes said.

“We’re on it, Dee! I already have some spies in place,” Kiera said, and they left to gather a team of spies to assist them.

“Now we wait. I wonder what the Chancellor and Cardinal are doing at this moment. They must be aware, that I spirited you away by now. Hopefully Kiera and Celes can get to some of the witnesses before they all die unexpectedly,” I said.

Three hours later we got a message from the Chancellor firmly asking for the return of the princess. We ignored his request. Kiera and Celes returned four hours after that, with some of the witnesses.

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Celes said, “Several of the witnesses have had accidents resulting in their deaths. We have retrieved as many as we could. We also have the Queen’s will. They didn’t think to protect it. We also have a surprise witness, the apothecary’s daughter. Unfortunately, the apothecary is dead, with his own poison. Then we have this. It appears that the Cardinal doesn’t trust his partner the Chancellor. No honor, or trust, among thieves and murderers.”

I read the document, which was an agreement between the Chancellor and the church, in case the Chancellor tried to kill the Cardinal once he was done with his ‘services’.

“Well, this should solve the assassination, quite nicely. But won’t the Cardinal miss this document? I don’t even want guess how you obtained this,” I said.

“I left a worthless copy for the Cardinal. He probably won’t notice it,” Kiera said.

I showed it to Maleficia. When she finished reading it she handed it back with a trembling hand, and she said,

“I hated my mother, and I loved her. I wanted to love her, but she made it impossible. I think it was the same way between my mother and her mother. My grandmother was a cruel woman, but she always treated me and my siblings kindly. I hope to break that cycle. I want to be a good, and loving mother. Like you, Lady Deirdre.”

So we prepared for our show in the Cathedral tomorrow. When the dawn came, the bells of the Cathedral began chiming. So we collected ourselves, and formed our party. I took Only Kiera, Kanae, two of my dragonkin guards, Maleficia, and our witnesses. We walked into the city, people were lined up watching as we passed. We saw many emotions among the crowd. Fear, anger, frustration, curiosity, and more.

We passed a bakery, the sweet smell of honey cakes wafting in the breeze. Talshin was famous for its honey cakes. A child suddenly ran out into the middle of the road. She couldn’t have been more than five. She ran to the middle of the street and stopped there staring at my crown, my horns, my white armored gown, and my dragonkin guards.

A woman shrieked and moved to intercept the child. I nodded my head at her and knelt down to the child, “Hello.”

The girl didn’t answer, but her eyes were wide open in wonder.

“Did you come out to see the White Dragon Queen?” I asked.

She was still for a long moment, then she nodded her head.

“Am I as scary as you heard?”

The girl shook her head.

“You are very brave. That bakery back there, is there honey cake good?”

The girl nodded her head fiercely.

“I hope I get a chance to try them later. I’d love to have some delicious honey cakes. Thank you. Your mother is worried about you. You’d better hurry back, and be a good girl for your mother,” I said.

The girl nodded her head and ran back to her mother.

“What was that all about?” Kanae said.

“Just making a new friend. Jealous?” I said.

“You’re plotting something,” Kiera said.

“You two are so suspicious! You wound me,” I said.

When we entered the cathedral The chancellor, the Bishop, the underage queen, the Churchwardens, and a lot of soldiers were inside.

“Dismiss the soldiers and let the people come in. The trial of a princess should be seen by the people,” I said.

With soldiers gone, the people crowded in. I approached the queen and said, “Salutations Queen Camellia, Churchwardens, and company.”

“G-g-greetings and Salutations Queen Deirdre,” Camellia replied.

“You’ve abducted the prisoner and witnesses. Perhaps you have convinced them to give the answers that best benefit your motives? Your majesty,” the Cardinal spat.

“I had questions for the accused and the witnesses. It is my duty to investigate the matter at hand,” I said, as I pulled out a glowing blow truth stone and set it upon pedestal before the court.

“What is the meaning of this!? Bringing an unblessed mana stone into a sacred cathedral of the Goddess?” the chief Churchwarden said.

“This is the Stone of Erech Macha, blessed by the power of the Goddess herself from the ruins of the Cathedral of the White Dragon Empire. Surely you have no objection to this stone of truth?” I said.

Every Churchwarden turned pale at the mention of the famous stone. A stone worth more than even a Queendom. It was nearly priceless, and the church was sure to seek to lay claim to it.

“That relic belongs to the Church! Why had you not returned that relic to the Church?” Cardinal Richekhan said, moving towards me to hopefully take the stone.

“The stone belong to the Cathedral in Shin Shirochi, where it is normally housed. I had it brought here for this trial. There is where it will return, when the trial is over. It is quite well protected. Do not attempt to take that which is not yours. You are all welcome to come to Shin Shirochi and offer your prayers to it, and use it as may be appropriate. As queen, it falls to me to see to its protection.” I said as I removed my hand from the stone and a mana shield rose in place protecting it. Richekhan stopped advancing, knowing full well the level of protection the stone likely had.

“Preposterous! This is an outrage! I will not stand here and have insult slung at me.” Richekhan said.

“You will stay, as you are a witness for the defense,” I said.

“Me? I am no witness ... Preposterous!” Richekhan said, tripping on his words as he gazed at the truth stone.

Gotcha! Not many people caught what just happened.

“This court is now in session! The trial of Princess Maleficia in the matter the assassination of Queen Cornelia. The accused will come forward,” said the Chief Churchwarden.

Maleficia walked into the accused box.

“Trial shall now begin. Prosecution, call your first witness,” the chief said.

“You are getting ahead of yourself, Chief Churchwarden. The accused must enter a plea, first,” I spoke up.

The chief looked nervously at me, the Cardinal, the accused, and tried not to look at the truth stone, but failed. Then the chief said,

“Princess Maleficia, you are accused of the poisoning and death of Queen Cordelia, how do you plead?”

“I neither killed nor poisoned my mother, Queen Cordelia. I am innocent,” said Maleficia.

The stone shone brightly blue. Queen Camellia gasped and so did some others. Most of the crowd sighed in relief, as Maleficia was very well liked among the citizenry. The Chancellor and Richekhan remained stone-faced.

Then the trial began, and each witness we have obtained before the Chancellor could kill them, answered truthfully when faced with a stone of truth. We had already questioned them anyway, and knew the truth.

“The state call Knight Cayle, Queen Cornelia’s personal guard to testify.”

Cayle entered from a side door, his eyes a blank stare, as if there was no thought behind them. He took the stand.

“Knight Cayle, did you witness Princess Cornelia enter the queen’s bedchamber on the night of her murder?” the Inquisitor asked.

“Yes,” Cayle replied, and the truth stone turned red.

Cayle didn’t react to the color change. His testimony continued. All of his incriminating answers caused the truth stone to turn red.

Every witness that was still alive that the Cardinal got to first was caught out as a liar. The Cardinal was surprised at this. What the Cardinal didn’t know was this particular truth stone didn’t just evaluate whether a person though they were speaking the truth, but went deeper to find if the person was being objectively truthful. Something that someone who has been brainwashed, or magikally manipulated to believe they are speaking the truth, cannot do.

Truth stones the like of ours were rare in this age, and very expensive to make. Then it was Maleficia’s turn to submit evidence. The Chief looked like he wanted to end the trial and find for the defendant, but that was not the part he was allowed to play.

“I would like to admit this contract as exhibit one of the guilt of Chancellor Marcanzor and Cardinal Richekhan as co-conspirators in the assassination of my mother Queen Cornelia. A contract that directly implicates them in my mother’s killing,” Maleficia said.

All of the untainted witnesses also implicated the Cardinal, the Chancellor, both of them, or ones who worked for them. Then she called the apothecary’s daughter, Dahlia.

“Did you witness who purchased the poison made by your father?” Maleficia asked.

“Yes. It was that man over there, The Acolyte of the Cardinal,” Dahlia said.

The Acolyte made to run, but was stopped by the guards we had replaced the old guards with.

“Having heard the witnesses, and seen the evidence presented, we have no choice but to rule Princess Maleficia innocent, and Cardinal Richekhan and Chancellor Marcanzor, guilty. Another trial will be held to determine the breadth of guilt among the Royal Household,” the Chief Churchwarden said.

“Given the verdict. We will now proceed with the coronation of Princess Maleficia Heir Apparent of Sinestelos. Princess Camellia. You were improperly crowned as Queen. We will now rectify that situation,” I said as I approached the throne and removed the crown of Sinestelos from her head, and handed it to the Chief Churchwarden.

“Chief Churchwarden, I task you with the duty to crown the proper queen of Sinestelos. Do you swear to faithfully perform your duty?” I said.

“I so swear it,” the Chief said.

The coronation was held just before sunstarset with the high tide. The coronation was held on the Tuatha Jetty. An ancient jetty made by the first queen at the of the Anduil Estuary. It was one of the ancient wonders of Eå. The jetty on the far side ran back many kilometers through the often dangerous delta and salt marsh of the estuary. It separated the channel of the estuary from the marsh of the delta. An engineering marvel of magik. It was the one thing that kept travel safe up into the interior.

Maleficia and the Chief Churchwarden walked to a circle in the midpoint of the neat jetty. The Chief knelt before Maleficia and she lifted the crown. It shone red and gold in the setting light, and she spoke the ancient rites,

“By the tide and the stars, I take up this crown. May the Goddess of the Deep guide me to steer this Queendom true and just. Let the tide and the Goddess bear witness, in the dying light!”

She bowed to the sea, and turned to the people and bowed to them. Then she placed the crown on her head with the last light of the day, and the light flashed on her crown before winking out. The people cheered!

“Now, Queen Deirdre, you have conquered our queendom. What is to become of us?” Queen Maleficia said.

“I came to destroy the queendom of Cornelia. She invaded our realm. She conspired with our enemy in Crispenwell. Her lapse in governing her own people caused another conspiracy in her own home, and it cost her life. I am mean to build something bigger than our own queendom. An empire that is not a single nation standing on the neck of other, but a union of nations, each with their own laws, customs, and crown. All of these nations under a single banner against that which would harm us. I will become Empress, though I would prefer to be just a citizen. You will keep your queen, your laws, your ways of life. In return, I require your oath, and your hands, when I call for them. That is all I ask,” I said.

I turned to Maleficia, “Do you accept?”

Maleficia studied me for a moment. Then she bowed before me and said,

“I, Maleficia, Queen of Sinestelos by the law of the Goddess and to the grace of the White Dragon Queen,” she said, “swear fealty to Deirdre, Empress of the White Dragon Empire. My blood is yours when you ask it. My realm is yours to defend. My crown is yours to witness, but not yours to take.”

“I accept your oath,” I said, “and I give you mine. I will protect what is yours, as I protect what is mine. I will never ask of you that which I would not do myself.”

Then a small, high, and crisp voice came from the crowd, “That’s the pretty dragon lady that wants our honey cakes!”

The crowd burst out in laughter.

“That was your evil scheme, was it?” Kiera whispered.