by Lucas Flores
With her arms in the air, she went on, “I entered into a contract with the people of this kingdom. Together we have made extraordinary changes. Together we have made our kingdom safe.”
The crowd cheered as the queen’s voice boomed. “I will not give up! I will not give in! I will make sure that my job is done to the very end!” she roared.
She hadn’t publicly addressed the citizens in years. Though morale was low due to the forest riots, the people of the city maintained their unwavering devotion and fascination with the queen.
“I work for you, I work for all of us. However, there are some who do not share our dream. There are even those who work against us! I have brought three conspirators who have fought us from the very beginning. Up until now, they’ve been secretly working with the lepers, feeding the enemy with information and supplies. It is because of these three traitors that the forest riots have dragged on for so long.”
The queen then signaled to a cluster of her soldiers. Three stepped forward. Each dragged a governor onto the stage. Chained, cuffed, and blindfolded, these were the same three who challenged the queen in Court the day before.
“Do not be alarmed!” the queen shouted. “Although the three in front of you are governors, I want to make it clear that no one is above the law! We will find and prosecute the enemy no matter who you are!”
As the crowd chanted, “Long live the queen,” over and over again, she ordered the soldiers to execute the governors. One by one, in orchestrated fashion, the soldiers drove their spears into the governors and let them fall to the ground.
“Now, I let you go, brave soldiers, into the forest where you will encounter the monsters—the lepers who threaten our existence and our way of life. God bless our army and God bless our kingdom!” The queen smiled and blew kisses into the crowd before disappearing behind the stage.
General Gustaban Bello accompanied her into the shadows. “You were magnificent, my dear,” he whispered into her ear as the crowd roared.
The last man to speak to the queen with such sweetness in his voice was the man who fathered her illegitimate daughter. Feelings stirred in the pit of her stomach. “Tell me, General, is this how you talk to other women?”
“My dear, there are no other hens in my pen,” the general scoffed. He wrapped his arm around her lower back and slid his hand down to her hip.
The queen blushed. The general could do no wrong.
After a few moments of playful whispering, the two walked back to the queen’s coach. The general opened the door and helped her up. “Farewell, my dear. I look forward to our next evening together.”
Inside, the queen leaned back into the seat. She reached out her hand and gently waved goodbye. In return, the general blew a kiss into the coach before closing the door.
The queen couldn’t help but dream about Bello. She leaned back in the seat and relished the moment and memories of when he last visited her in the palace.
The door popped open and Blackheart climbed up into the coach. The queen jumped out of her daze.
“Are you okay?” Blackheart asked.
“Of course I’m okay,” the queen snapped. “You just startled me. That’s all.”
Blackheart raised her penciled eyebrows. “Well, I can never tell if you’re dead or alive when you have your eyes closed.”
“Shut up, you dirty horse,” the queen said.
“You know, cousin, I’ve only seen that scepter once before. Can I hold it?”
“You know all too well that you can’t,” the queen said.
“What’s so special about this scepter anyway?” Blackheart asked. “Don’t you have more?”
“No, I don’t,” the queen said. “Now please refrain from opening that trap of yours until we reach the palace. I’m tired, and the sound of your voice is annoying me.”
“Come on, let me hold it just for a little bit, at least until we get back to the palace. I want to know what it will feel like,” Blackheart said as she jerked the scepter away.
“Give that back!” the queen shouted.
“Relax,” Blackheart said. “It’s not going anywhere.” She continued to tease her cousin until they reached the palace.
A line of armed guards waited outside to salute the queen.
Once the two stepped out of the coach, Blackheart returned the scepter. “Now that wasn’t too bad, was it?”
The queen slapped Blackheart and knocked her to the ground. “Don’t you ever do that again!” she shouted. “Do you understand?”
Blackheart picked herself up and dusted herself off. The guards, standing at attention, looked away as they struggled to keep themselves from bursting into laughter.
Blackheart faced the men. “You think it’s funny, don’t you? Go on, laugh. We’ll see who’s laughing last,” she said before marching into the palace behind the queen.
The queen and Blackheart were greeted by the remaining governors in the marble foyer. The gloomy day’s light barely lit the room.
“My dear cousin, do hurry and show us this new project you’re working on,” the queen said. “We don’t have all day.”
Blackheart rolled her eyes, sighed, and gestured wildly for the group to follow her.
The queen and her governors walked through the foyer and into the gardens where a huge piece of machinery sat next to a thick tree stump. The machine was long and heavy. Four metal rods held up a wide and rounded double-bladed saw.
Blackheart beamed. “One of the greatest advantages the lepers have over us is the forest itself. With this contraption, my men will level the forest, leaving the lepers with nowhere to hide. To demonstrate, we have four guards who will pick up the machine, turn it on, and saw the tree stump in half.”
The guards stood at each corner of the machine and attempted to lift it. They barely lifted the saw a few inches before it slammed back on the ground.
“Damn, you wimps. Try harder!” Blackheart burst out.
The guards attempted to lift the machine again, but couldn’t. Then, unexpectedly and to everyone’s surprise, the queen walked over and with one swoop of her arm pushed two of the guards aside like rag dolls. Both fell to the ground. She stared down into the other two guards’ eyes. “Move,” she said in a deep voice.
The queen lifted the giant saw and swung it around effortlessly. She flipped a switch and turned it on. Thick dark smoke poured out through its rear and cloaked the queen in haze. She swung the saw back and forth to clear the smoke, grinning.
Terrified, some of the governors ran back toward the palace.
“What are you afraid of, dearies?” the queen shouted over the sharp, loud noise of the machine. She laughed and ran the blade through the tree stump.
The queen turned off the machine and dropped it on the floor. “It works. I am actually impressed. We’ll just have my men use the machines instead of your frail, useless guards. The show is over.” She gracefully took in a deep breath and straightened her dress before ushering the governors back into the palace,
“This way,” the queen chimed, leaving Blackheart behind to deal with the machine.
* * *
Blackheart called for more guards and directed them to carry the saw back into the palace workshop.
Inside, blacksmiths, engineers, and other laborers reeked of oil and dirt. They worked in shifts, day and night, to create more screws, rods, and blades for additional saws. It took months to complete, but the men did so with Blackheart as a constant thorn in their sides.
Blackheart monitored their progress daily. She needed the saws as soon as possible. Even with the support of the queen’s new army, palace forces still had a difficult time fighting in the forest.
Blackheart smiled when she was told that the workshop had completed her order. The forest was the lepers’ refuge, but the saws would even the playing field. Without the forest, the lepers would be defenseless. The thought sent chills down her arms and legs. Finally, things were going well for her.
Once Blackheart confir
med that everything was ready, she went looking for the queen.
The queen, dressed in a puff-sleeved gown and large ruffled collar, was alone in the court room when Blackheart walked in. Over the years, the room grew more and more extravagant. Even the throne, once an old antique made of wood, was replaced with a large opulent chair of solid marble.
The queen sat with her head hunched over her body and her arms lying over the armrests of the throne. “What do you want, Elzana?”
“The workshop finished the saws. I thought you would like to know.”
The queen squinted and grunted in response.
“What’s wrong?” Blackheart asked.
“I’m tired, that’s all. Drained,” the queen said. “What have you done with the saws? Where are they now?”
“They are ready to be sent to the generals, with orders to pass them out to your soldiers.”
The queen nodded. “Good. Be ready to leave with the cargo tomorrow morning. I want to see the machines at work for myself and check in on the generals,” she said with a sigh. “That will be all.”
“Do you need help getting back to your room?”
“I’m fine. I can manage by myself.”
Blackheart frowned. “Are you sure? I wouldn’t want you to fall.”
“I said that will be all, Elzana. Besides you’ll probably trip me.”
“I’m only trying to help.”
“Help yourself, and don’t worry about me.” The queen’s expressionless gaze matched her tone. She took in a deep breath as she stood and walked out of the room.
The next morning, Blackheart dressed and arrived downstairs early to inspect the day’s preparations for the ride through the woods to meet Bello and the other generals.
The queen’s new travel coach pulled up and parked in front of the palace doors. It was a hideous thing, made from a long hearse carriage. It was drawn by black horses, an untraditional color for royalty and Blackheart’s least favorite.
Bells rang to alert the city that the queen was ready to leave the palace.
Blackheart ordered a platoon of armed guards to line the pathway alongside the coach.
The palace doors swung open. The queen stepped out, stiff and rigid, her face awash in heavy white makeup. She wore a low-cut, vibrant red gown that exposed the top of her withered breasts. A black, heart-shaped pattern ran down each side of the dress. The sleeves were adorned with short black ruffled collars to accent the dress and give the queen’s frail body more shape.
Blackheart couldn’t help but roll her eyes at her cousin’s appearance. Though this was the first time the queen ventured beyond the city walls since taking the crown, the extravagant clothes seemed over the top.
Blackheart, accustomed to traveling, dressed more conservatively.
Upon hearing the bells, a crowd of people gathered outside the palace walls. Some tossed white roses along the side of the road, a sign of respect for their queen.
The coach, accompanied by armed palace guards and carriages, slowly paraded past the walls and down the street. The crowd cheered and chanted. Some waved at the queen. Others threw roses. A small girl stepped out of the crowd and into the street. She held a red rose and wore a short flower dress.
The queen shouted to the chauffeur, “Stop!” The entire procession stopped.
The enthusiasm of the crowd quieted as soon as the door to the queen’s coach opened. The queen stepped out and walked down the street with no escort.
Blackheart rushed out of the coach to her cousin’s side as she approached the girl. “Is this for me?” the queen asked in her deep voice.
The girl gasped when the queen spoke. The rose trembled in her hand. The girl curtsied. “Yes, Majesty.”
The queen leaned down and grabbed the flower. She looked at the stem and pricked her finger with one of the thorns. “Look my child, no blood.” She patted the girl on the head, crumbled the rose in front of her, and returned back to the coach.
Blackheart followed.
The procession continued. The crowd followed as far as the city wall, but then dispersed back into the city.
As the day passed, the coach traveled on a narrow and winding road. The further they trekked into the woods, the thicker and taller the trees grew. Most trees this deep in the woods were as wide as houses.
Blackheart peered outside the coach. The canopy of trees shielded the path from sunlight. The wind grew silent and the air colder in the dimly lit space beneath the trees. The chauffeur and palace guards sparked matches and turned on lanterns. Owls, birds, and other creatures echoed in the distance and occasionally sent chills through Blackheart. She never liked the forest at night, and the canopy was so thick in some places that it gave the illusion of darkness.
The dim yellow glow from the lanterns barely lit the inside of the coach. Blackheart sat in silence and pondered her future while the queen sat with a blank stare and gripped her scepter.
After a day of riding, the group arrived at the military outpost.
The generals had separate tents prepared for the queen and Blackheart. On the opposite end of the compound, prison barracks held a family of lepers.
The queen and Blackheart met with the generals inside the royal tent.
General Bello reached out for the queen and kissed her hand. “My love,” he said. “I’ve missed you so much.” The queen giggled and threw herself into his arms.
The three other generals in the tent stared at the couple the same way a child would stare at a dead animal.
Blackheart snapped her fingers at the generals. “Sit down, you fools!”
The three generals quickly took their seats. All the while, the two lovers remained locked in a deep passionate spell.
“Bello!” Blackheart yelled. “Take your seat, now!”
Blackheart’s roar startled the queen so much that her crown almost fell off of her dried flaky scalp. She moaned and reached out her arms as Bello left to take his seat by the other generals.
Blackheart asked in a high-pitched voice that dripped of sarcasm, “Does Your Majesty wish to sit down with us?”
The queen nodded. “Of course, let us move on,” she replied with dignity.
The group discussed the few successes and many failures since the queen’s army first began its sweep of the forest. So far, the army found a family of lepers, but nothing noteworthy beyond that.
“You mean to tell me that after three months you’ve only managed to capture a family of lepers?” Blackheart asked.
“It’s the trees,” Bello explained. “The forest is too thick; we can’t chase anyone down. When we do, the lepers just disappear.”
Blackheart rolled out a map of the land. It illustrated their position in the woods, the city, the surrounding ocean and mountain range, and the Caterpillar’s Forest.
General Corrow, second in command to Bello, said, “We’re as good as dead if we wander into the Caterpillar’s Forest.”
The queen stood. “All ways around here belong to me. No matter where they hide, we will find them.” She signaled with the flip of her hand for Blackheart to move on and demonstrate how the new mechanical saws worked.
The group left the tent and walked to the nearest tree.
“You will have the advantage once you begin to use this,” Blackheart explained as she pointed to the queen’s soldier holding the saw. “We’ll start here in the woods before we move north toward the Caterpillar’s Forest.”
Blackheart instructed the soldier to turn on the machine.
“There is no way that saw will cut through this tree, Blackheart.” said General Carrow.
“Just shut up and watch,” Blackheart replied.
The soldier holding the saw stood still and did not move. Blackheart stomped over and stood in front of the soldier. “Turn on the bloody machine!” Again, the soldier stood motionless and stared straight through her.
She screamed as loud as she could until she became flustered and exhausted. Her silver hair, disheveled, hung down in h
er face.
The queen stepped forward and nodded at the soldier.
The soldier turned on the machine and headed straight for the tree.
She laughed at Blackheart as she shook her head and swayed her forefinger back and forth. “No, no, no, I give the orders.”
The saw quickly cut through the ancient tree’s trunk. It screeched as branches broke away from the canopy. The tree slammed against the ground.
* * *
By dawn’s first light, one hundred of the queen’s soldiers were equipped with saws. One quick nod from the queen set the army to work.
The creaking and snapping of tree branches filled the morning skies and resembled the cries of brothers and sisters being torn apart from one other. Clearing the fallen trees was an arduous and time-consuming task. Each had to be cut into smaller pieces and drug out of the way to keep the fallen canopy from building up and reducing visibility.
Numerous campsites and make-shift shelters were found, but to no avail. No lepers were caught.
After a few days, the queen ordered four of her soldiers to carry her and Blackheart on a golden pedestal through an area of freshly butchered trees. Looking out over the field of tree stumps and along the tree line, the queen breathed in deeply. She fixed her gaze on a forested area beyond the river. She squinted and held her hand up above her head to shield the sun from her eyes. “What do you see there?”
“What, Your Majesty? I see nothing.”
“You’re as blind as a bat,” the queen replied, pointing to the tree line. “I think I see a trail of smoke fading into the sky from the trees. Let’s take a look ourselves now that we’re out here.”
The four soldiers carried the queen and Blackheart down the now-barren hillside toward the remaining forest. The towering trees shrouded the group in shadows.
The queen lost sight of the smoke, but pushed forward. After some time had passed, she raised her hand. The soldiers stopped.
A woman’s voice echoed in the distance. “Hurry up and get inside, children. We need to get ready.”
The queen raised her hand again. The soldiers lowered the pedestal. “Follow me,” she whispered. She stepped down and walked to an area of tightly packed trees and tall, overgrown bushes. Blackheart followed. The two peered into the overgrown thicket.
