by CR Daems
I had to smile as we made our way to the dining hall on the first floor. She was taking the threat remarkably well. I wondered if it was because she had already lost everyone she loved and wasn't leaving anyone to grieve for her, or because she was a very strong woman. Probably both, I concluded.
The dinner was uneventful. At the end of the dinner, the guests were led into another room where chairs lined the walls, leaving the middle of the room open for entertainment and later, dancing. For over an hour, several groups of acrobats, jugglers, and magicians entertained the guests. Afterward, a band consisting of three violins, a piano, two clarinets, and a harp, played songs for dancing.
Every man who considered himself eligible requested a dance with Estelle. She accepted everyone that asked, but limited them to one dance. I thought that generous, as I suspected she wasn't interested in dancing, and clever, as it avoided being pestered repeatedly by one or more individuals, specifically the duke's sons.
To my surprise, Karl grabbed Estelle's arm as she left the floor with some baron's son, propelling her towards the French doors leading out onto the balcony. I signaled Zinn, who stepped in front of the couple. As I approached, I could see Estelle's face tighten in pain.
"Get out of my way sergeant, or I’ll have you beaten," Karl shouted drawing the attention of several guest in the area. Zinn didn't move, her face neutral.
"I would not try to move her," I said as I came closer.
"Why? She can't shoot me!" Karl sneered at me.
"Why not? She has a weapon and its loaded." I shrugged.
"I'm the heir to Dawar!" He shouted. Now half the room heard him, which somehow made him bolder.
"Her bullet will kill you as easily as any pig farmer," I said coming to stand just behind the pair.
"You can't stop me from going out on the terrace. I can have you whipped as well as any common soldier."
"No, I can't stop you, but I can stop Queen Estelle. She and I have a contractual agreement which she would break if she exited this building against my orders as it would, in my opinion, place her life in more danger," I said and continued before he could comment. "Sergeant Zinn, if Lord Karl doesn't release the queen immediately, shoot him in the knee. Hopefully, this planet has the technology to rebuild it."
As Zinn’s Mfw swung downward toward Karl's knee, he let go and jumped away. As he did, Sergeant Haber stepped up next to the queen, while Corporal Paler and Private Joo removed the weapons of the two palace guards in the room, and Sergeant Glick moved next to Colonel Eckehard who had been reaching for his communication device. A minute later, Duke Belesis came running over. I spoke before he could speak.
"Your Grace, your eldest son appears to have lost his common sense, or he is in league with the assassins trying to kill Queen Estelle," I said shaking my head in disbelief.
"How dare you–" Belesis began but I cut him off.
"How else do you explain him wanting to take the queen out on an open terrace where any assassin with a rifle could kill her? When Sergeant Zinn correctly stopped him, he threatened her. He threatened the queen’s security who were attempting to protect her. That's very suspicious. Now he is threatening me. Normally, I'd just shoot him as a threat to my client, but I didn't want to upset the queen."
The Duke stood with his mouth open, raw anger showing in his eyes at having his son threatened, but knowing even trying to punish the guard would be disastrous. Embarrassed at his guests seeing him powerless, and disgust at his son's stupidity, he finally decided to let his son take the blame.
"You're right, Captain. I'm afraid the queen has dazzled his common sense. Taking her outside was not a good idea. I'm glad you stopped them," he said implying the queen had consented to go with his son. A face-saving gesture which Estelle didn't contradict. Estelle elected to stay until the dance ended, but only danced with those men who hadn't yet had a turn. The duke left with his son and returned a half hour later without him.
"Thank you, Captain Sapir," Estelle said after we were in her wing. That arrogant…man grabbed me and forcibly pulled me toward the terrace. I wanted to scream but thought you might shoot him, and that would cause an awful rift between the duke and me, one I can't afford so early in my reign." She invited me into her room with a wave. "I thought you handled the incident perfectly. The duke and I can blame you for being arrogant and overly cautious, so I won't have to take any action against Karl, and the duke saves face." She smiled, then frowned. "You don't mind, do you? I know it isn't nice putting the blame on you."
"The heartless bitch doesn't mind. It's why we are so expensive." I grinned.
"Of course, the duke knows his son has no chance of ever marrying me. Between you and me, I would marry a corpse before I would marry Karl."
Breakfast with the Duke and his family went well, with each member of the family and Estelle giving me looks to kill. Eventually, Karl spoke.
"I don't understand why we can't punish that common sergeant and her," he jerked his head in my direction. I concluded the man was mentally challenged if he thought Estelle had gone with him willingly.
"The Jax have long held they are not subject to their clients' laws and are willing to destroy anyone that challenges that stipulation. They would destroy this residence and everyone within several klicks if we tried," Belesis said glancing at me standing against the wall.
"But she would also die," Karl said.
"She's willing to make the sacrifice to maintain the Jax mystique. Are you willing to sentence you, your family, and thousands of subjects to punish her?" Belesis asked. Eventually Karl shook his head.
"What about a duel, father?" Karl persisted.
"I forbid it!" Felicie shouted. "Even I know they aren't called the Black Guard because of the color of their uniforms. They are professional killers. They kill for a living. They fired eleven shots at the assassins that attacked the queen in Quitha. They found all eleven bullets hit the kill zone. Son, you are a noble, not a gun fighter."
I noted Estelle's lip twitch at the mention of eleven in the kill zone.
* * *
Estelle toured the army base after breakfast and talked about a variety of providence issues as they went from one facility to another. After lunch, Estelle took her place in the great hall to hear petitions, mostly from nobles and merchants.
The person approaching Estelle was a wiry built man in an expensive dark blue silk shirt and pants. He claimed to be a merchant, and looked like one except for his shoes, which were a soft leather, rather than the more traditional stiffer calf-length leather ones. He stopped and knelt just before the red carpet leading up to the throne, close enough to talk but a safe distance for security.
"Your Majesty, I coming bearing a gift from the common man." He jerked upright and turned as an object arched into the air looking to land in Estelle's lap. Recognizing it as a grenade, my right arm shot out as I kicked out, knocking Estelle's chair and her over. I caught the grenade, turned, and threw it will all my strength at the closest window, snapped my Mfw free, and fired at the window. It broke a fraction of a second before the grenade would have hit the window, sailed through, and exploded two seconds later. Glass from the shattered window came blowing into the room as I threw myself over Estelle. I noticed idly that the merchant lay sprawled and not moving, and that the four Black Guards had their Mfws out and were scanning the room. The thirty people in the room were laying on the floor or huddled in groups against the walls. I lay draped across the arm of her upturned chair, my face only a few centimeters from hers.
"I'm definitely going to need more padding in my dresses." She gave me a lopsided grin.
"I could loan you one of our undergarments," I said. Her eyes went to my shirt which she pulled out a few centimeters and scratched her fingernail across the material.
"Nice but it's doesn't feel comfortable. What happened?" she asked.
"The man threw a grenade at you and thought he could make it safely to the door in the chaos."
"I give you a ro
yal pardon for manhandling the queen," she tried to sound official, but it came out weak and was followed by a sob. "I want to go home."
"But you won't," I said quietly, knowing she wasn't the kind to quit.
"No. The position is mine for better or worse.'' She finished the audience after a two-hours rest, bath, and change of clothing. We left for Lesothe the next morning.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Lesothe:
At the landing pad in Lesothe, we were met by Duke Dungi and his daughter, Mirari, who looked to be in her thirties. Dungi's wife had died years ago. It was rumored he preferred to remain single as he already had an heir and liked being free to court a variety of women.
"Welcome, Your Majesty, to Lesothe," he said as he stood. He looked in good condition for a man in his fifties, tall, muscular, with a smooth face looking fifteen years younger. "The rumors are disturbing. I'm surprised you haven't returned to Adalok."
"I understand that no king or queen can please or be liked by everyone. Nor do I believe whoever is trying to kill me hates me. I have begun to believe someone sees this as a perfect opportunity to sieze power," Estelle said with a hint of anger in her voice. "So, I'm putting him and his group on notice that it's me or them. Adalok is not big enough for us both."
"Spoken like a queen I'm proud to serve," Mirari said. "You cannot show them weakness or it will embolden them and their followers." The women smiled at each other in some sort of secret pact.
Dungi laughed. "Ma'am, you and my daughter will keep the men among us honest." He nodded toward me. "You were smart to hire the Black Guard. If the rumors are true, whoever wants to harm you has a major problem."
"I can guarantee the Black Guard are awesome from the lowest ranked person to their heartless bitch of a captain." She produced an ear-to-ear grin. "I wish I could afford to keep them until I was ready to step down."
"Minister Imanol is aware you want your security in the palace and has your room ready if you would like to freshen up before lunch," Dungi said, waving toward the palace, a massive two-story structure that looked like one long straight building from the front but was actually three wings like a squared off "m".
Imanol met us at the front entrance and escorted us to a second-floor wing on the other side of the building from Dungi's wing. Mirari accompanied the queen into her suite.
"Ma'am, none of us believe it's one of the dukes. They are all loyal, to one degree or another," she gave Estelle a crooked smile, "besides they have too much to lose if a war starts to determine who will rule the kingdom. You provide stability."
"So, we are looking for someone who wants to destabilize the kingdom," Estelle said while nodding. "But I can't see what he accomplishes by destabilizing the kingdom." She turned and looked at me.
"He may feel that destabilizing the kingdom will provide the chaos needed to grab whatever he has designs on. He may only want a small piece to begin with, hoping to gain more and more as time goes on. Or, another kingdom wanting to cause unrest in Adalok," I said not really caring as it didn't change the contract or my responsibilities. "I guess you still want to go to the market knowing they will have people there waiting to kill you."
"Are you going to use the contract terms to cancel if I do?" She asked, her face close to tears.
"Don't give me that, "please mommy I'll be good," look. Remember, I'm a heartless bitch and immune to tears and begging," I said. "So, yes. Unless we can work something out that gives me reasonable odds of you surviving." I didn't like it, but I thought her continuing would cement her position whereas quitting now may cause her to lose the dukes' support. "How do the vendors get permission to sell on market days?" I asked, hoping it was closely regulated.
"The vendors must purchase a license," Mirari said. "Most families have had their licenses for years."
"Lady Mirari, can you have someone check to see if any new licenses have been purchased in the last week or two?" I asked, thinking they may try something like that after we had identified the last four they had sent.
"You think they are that organized?" Mirari asked, forehead wrinkled in thought.
"Yes, they have money and can hire soldiers. I would wager it's a small group with money and connections to criminals."
* * *
A dance was held in her honor the next night and it went off without an incident. The formal audience was held the next day, also without any problems. Estelle had an easy-going style which seemed to endear her to everyone. Of course, that could be faked, but it seemed genuine in most cases. The third day, we decided to attempt a visit to the market. Duke Dungi had his soldiers erect a fence around the area, and had two guards checking licenses prior to the official start of the market. Estelle obtained a valid license and entered with the other vendors accompanied by me and two other Guards who carried her tent and wares. We were all dressed in appropriate clothing for vendors. Shoppers were asked to wait for the official opening.
"Sergeant Ganz, Corporal Volpe, why don't you check out vendor Zeru," I said after our tent was up and then motioned to Estelle that she could begin her walk around. She wasn't particularly noticeable as many of the vender were strolling around or gathering in groups. A little over an hour later, Estelle and I left the market through an opening in the fence at the rear of the area, and the shoppers were let in.
"That went well, Captain," Estelle beamed an award-winning smile at me, obviously pleased with herself.
"That new vendor, Zeru and his two friends were assassins. Sergeant Ganz found rifles, throwing knives, and grenades, but nothing to sell. We'll question them, but I doubt they know anything important."
"You were right, Captain Sapir, and I appreciate you letting me attend. It was important, not a whim. Thank you." Then she smiled again. "But that did go well."
Just then, Minister Timoteh entered the market and stood on a stool and rang his bell. "Vendor Alize," he shouted and an elderly woman appeared looking nervous. She smiled after biting the coin to make sure it was real. A few people noticed the young woman standing near a group of men, several in black, and began pointing. Estelle waved.
"Thank you, I've loved talking with each of you. You are why the kingdom of Adalok is strong. I love you!"
With that, many knelt but Estelle raised her hands for them to rise. Then the chanting began, "Long live Queen Estelle."
"One more to go," Estelle said as she entered the vehicle for our return trip to the duke's residence. We left for the providence of Zamara the next day.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Zamara: The Scroll
At the landing pad, Estelle was met by Duke Murdus, a shapely woman, and two young men in their late twenties.
"Welcome, Queen Estelle, I'd like to introduce my wife, Gabriela, and my two sons, Amandor and Santos," Murdus said. He was tall and stocky with a rugged face which supported a full mustache and beard, black and curly like the mop of hair on his head. The boys were as tall as their father but clean shaven and slender like their mother. All four looked nervous.
The two-story "H" looking residence was made from stone and looked old. It sat on a slight hill and was surrounded by a short stone wall with a four-meter iron fence. Presently, a crowd of several hundred had gathered at the front gate with signs that could not be read from this distance and were chanting something lost on the wind.
"That crowd looks hostile," Estelle said putting her hand over her eyes to shield them from the sun.
"We have a plague here in Zamara," the duke said cautiously. "We have a man named Flamur who leads a group called Divine Rights, that claims the plague is caused by your family’s blood line and calls for you to be banished from Adalok." The duke’s forehead had beads of sweat by the time he finished. I couldn't blame him. There were people in the duke's providence who wanted the queen dead, and he appeared to be taking no action against the man or the group. The man was clearly guilty of treason, as was the duke for taking no action against him. Estelle stood looking at the group for a long time. She app
eared to be considering walking to the gate. She looked to me. I shook my head.
"Perhaps we can discuss this over tea," Estelle said as she turned back to Murdus. "I would like to freshen up first."
"Yes, Your Majesty. Your rooms are ready. I've prepared the entire North Wing on the second floor for you and your guests," Murdus said, and waved toward the palace. "From the rumors, this has been a very traumatic tour for you."
"Yes, Duke Murdus, and we have finally discovered the reason," she said glancing back to the gate. We were met by a man in a long black coat, pants, and tie.
"Your majesty, I'm Minister Tonkan. Your rooms are ready for you and your guests. If you need anything, you need merely to contact Greta, the head of the house staff, and she will arrange it for you."
"What do you think, Captain?" Estelle asked when she was finally in her suite with all but two of her ladies in waiting, who were preparing to get her clothes settled and a bath ready.
"We need more information. I'm sure the plague complicates the situation. People will be ready to panic and not be acting rationally. They want an easy solution which gives a person like Flamur power. It does rule out a day at the market," I said. She gave a snort.
"It also rules out a welcoming dinner and dance."
* * *
"The plague started about two months ago," Duke Mardus began after tea and snacks had been served. The small gathering included the duke and his family, his minister, head of palace security, Dritan, Estelle, Timoteh, me, and the two Black Guards assigned to the queen. "I sent my senior physician, Yeshua, into town to determine the problem and help. He reported it was an old plague that returns periodically and to date has no cure. The usual carriers are rats and sometimes other small wild animals. So, I sent in soldiers to help reduce the rodents and set traps. But the plague spread despite our best efforts. A month ago, Flamur, who runs a church dedicated to the God Zorya, a little-known goddess who is supposed to allow each day to exist, began preaching that Zorya would no longer bring new days into existence and night would persist if Queen Estelle wasn't exiled. It was her family's blood that caused the plague, and wouldn't end until she was gone."
