Scarlet Court
Stone fangs diced Pyrrhia's skyline; somewhere between the crevices and caves, wicked spires of craggy stone rose from the batholith roiling deep within the continental crust. Between these jagged claws were nestled hundreds of thin spires, like volcanic necks, emerging from a grand coliseum. All garish halls within were but tributaries, eventually linking to form a grand hall where sunlight danced around the lavish columns and arbitrary decorations, flowing from the walls. In the midst of it all: Queen Scarlet.
The throne for whatever indescribable reason had been built as to point true north. While I do appreciate the artistry—her gold-tipped claws lovingly ran over the engraved rhodium surface, where veins of electrum ran through it—I cannot fathom what superstition lead to such polarizing nonsense. Scarlet's eyes narrowed. Perhaps abolish such practices? Those burials are becoming ever more tedious too. A sigh wracked her body. Let the insects believe what they wish.
Reclining on a cushion of the finest gossamer, her snout rose pompously toward the heavens. "I'd simply loath to miss the execution later; I do hope the wardens find it in themselves to hurry." A talon slithered across her jugular. "Less I have to give them, ahem, motivation."
Scarlet's gaze wobbled around the room before it fell upon a stiffly-postured guard positioned along the east wall. "You there, with the simply thrilling scale color—carmine, I believe—and laughably unimpressive horns, in your menial opinion, is it more benevolent to just kill them now... or to give them some real hope by just disposing of them in the arena?"
Thinking about it, Scarlet was fairly sure the guard held a certain resemblance to one of the jailers. Her dimples doubled in size as his eyes flickered over to hers, his composure crumbling. The poor, unfortunate soul didn't seem to know whether to meet his queen's eyes or not. Scarlet gave him her very best fanged grin as reassurance. It didn't seem to help.
"Your Majesty, I think it would be better if we—" He gulped and allowed his eyes to scramble toward the ground, almost as if they themselves were bowing. How absolutely adorable. "If we perhaps didn't hurt them… at all."
Scarlet stroked her chin in false thought before draping her body over the throne, casting a sly grin toward the shivering soldier. "Now why, of all things, would I do that." A dreamy opaqueness came over her eyes. "Oh, I do love the way they plead." Her head whipped toward the guard. "I could show you something beautiful. Everyone, screaming. For mercy." She laughed with underlying rapture.
The chuckles only halted when a crescendo of steps touched her ears. "Guard, back to your post." She adjusted her crown and fell back in a regal pose before beginning to file her nails, as if uninterested by her surroundings, which was, to be fair, her general state of consciousness. "It looks like we have a visitor! How… thrilling."
A chuckle pulled at her lips as a scream echoed through the adjacent hall. All remains of the chortle were smothered by the time an Icewing in chains was dragged toward her throne. Those scales—an actual pool of saliva built along the anterior of her mouth—would look stunning on my mail!" She clawed the gold lattice of her armor.
Scarlet's eyes tracked the roiling form of crystal scales fight his bonds and then writhe in horror as a dragon emerged from the western pillars grasping a tungsten chain, surrounded by a thin envelope of iron. The queen's hushed humming was smothered by a muffled roar, as the Icewing's movements became increasingly spasmodic. She nodded toward the chain-bearer.
Acetylene burst forth from the Skywing's throat, igniting surrounding oxygen and washing roaring fire over the metal bonds. The iron crust warped and became fluid, hints of heated tungsten showing beneath the murky depths of molten metal. Scarlet hummed along to the music as those fiery bonds were crudely wrapped around the Icewing's muzzle; orange-tinted iron splashed across the creature's scales, a high-pitched ring dicing the air as metals rapidly cooled around his snout.
The tungsten chain was ripped from his muzzle. Silence, conflicting with the Icewing's expression of agony, washed over the crowd. Puffs of sublimated material escaped through his mouth and nostrils.
Scarlet leaned forward. "Imagine my displeasure when I heard, an Icewing, of all creatures, was found stealing from me." Her claw rose to slide back and forth through the air, expressing her disapproval. "Tsk… tsk." A sigh washed over the room. "Imagine my even greater displeasure as I realized that of all my grand treasures, what our perpetrator wanted most was an insignificant Skywing egg. A dragoness can get jealous you know." She winked slyly in his direction. "But then I thought. What could be so important about about an underdeveloped slave to possibly warrant its theft, and then—" A chuckle wracked her body "—you'll like this part, I remembered a certain Skywing turncoat from years past who'd joined, of all the competing nations, a peace committee of senile dragons who don't understand how war works.
"A certain prophecy jumped to mind too." Her eyes narrowed. "You wouldn't happen to be a member of the Talons of Peace, would you?" Fangs spilled over her lip to form a malevolent grin.
A flurry of coughs dominated the Icewing's body, looking as if he'd fallen from a cliff. Hm… kind of like a certain egg. Her laughs dimmed as the Icewing sputtered out, "The dragonets will come, Scarlet, even you can't stop that." Rasping growls echoed through the chamber as blood poured from his throat. "The dragonets will come."
A sneer overcame her grin. "What an asinine ambition. I just heard that a certain Asha was killed in action, the unfortunate soul." She witnessed the integrity of his limbs fragment. "Oh, yes. Your poor little mud dragon, dead. Just like that Skywing egg, scattered among the stalagmites." Her entire body leaned toward the pathetic worm. "So, Hivitur, it appears that the dragonets will indeed not be coming."
Shudders wracked the Icewing's body. "You monster. What is my role in your scheme now?" He hacked up another blob of blue blood. "Just another body in the pyre? Another skeleton for the gorge?" A tear danced with the sunlight along the rim of his eye. "Another champion for the macabre coliseum of a tyrant warmonger?"
Queen Scarlet's brows dropped over malevolent yellow slits. "There's a rift between being a righteous ruler and being a successful one, Hvitur. I fancy myself the second. No queen stands unimposed without the occasional morally ambiguous action. After all, didn't you feel the need to run from little old Glacier, hm?
"Those prisoners are going to die anyway, why not have them service the ones they've stolen from? Really, the entire affair is quite thrilling."
Hvitur looked upward. "It's wrong. This war can end. All we need is a little faith." He whimpered from pain, ebony burns tarnishing his moon-silver scales. "Because, Queen Scarlet, the dragonets will come, and they'll rip that usurper, Burn, from her false throne. They'll bring your entire world crashing down around you. You'll desert your throne as nothing but a—" He coughed "—vagabond hag."
The queen reclined on her throne, eyes squinting in consideration. "Guards, take this witless worm to the dungeons," she growled, teeth grinding together and tail unconsciously whipping around, "I have an execution to plan."
She needed to focus her rage toward something. Her eyes fell upon the familiar jailers exiting the room behind her honor guard. She called toward them, unsheathing a ruby dagger hanging from her chest, watching the light gleam from its surface. "Which of you would like to go first?" Scarlet's very best simper adorned her muzzle.
Authors' Notes: I was going to write a diary-like story with Scarlet as the narrator, though was inspired to do this instead for whatever ungodly reason. Still, Scarlet is a fun character to mess with. Maybe I'll do an actual multi-chapter story with her (extremely unlikely). Anyway, have a good day.