Hello! I am officially back - or at least I'm trying to be. I don't have any time to write, really, unless I make it so the updates will be short and few in between chapters, but I hope you still trust me.
I hope you guys like this story. I am not an expert in medieval times or warfare, but I hope that everything else makes up for it.
I should warn you that this first chapter includes the death of an established Glee character. Read at your own risk, and please do not give me shit for it, since I warned you and you chose to keep going. :)
Anyway. Quinn Fabray is the Queen and her empire is just beginning. Until she falls in love for the baker's daughter, Rachel Berry, who absolutely wants nothing to do with her. The rest, is history.
WARPATH
[Chapter 1]
"We have to be ready to move in two moons," her loyal advisor informed her. General Finn was nothing if not reliable when it came down to orchestrating attacks on enemies.
She picks up her cup of wine and tilts back a gulp, setting the gold vessel back down on mahogany table before speaking, "send Mike out to prepare the horses. Tell Puck to the men ready to go by nightfall of the second day. I want Santana to inspect our resources for the campsite and then have Sam prepare my uniform."
The General turns around without another word, but a firm nod of the head informs her that he understood and is set out to do so.
It is late in the evening, and the nights have been darker each day. She is aware that this next battlefield may bring her complete victory or defeat and death at the hands of her worst enemy. It doesn't scare her though, the idea of leading her armies into battle. She knows they are ready, and they fight for her - they trust her and they love her.
She has been their Queen since the tender age of 12 when her father, King at the time, died by assassination on his birthday feast. Her mother had been dead since her birth, and because her father had no other heirs, Quinn Fabray had to ascend to the throne and take over the matters of the reign.
For a large part of her reign, she had to report to someone else, Will Schuester - her late father's lifelong friend and trusty second-hand man. He assured that she got to keep the throne, through many years of jealous people trying to take her out or kill her like they had killed King Fabray. But Will was a man of his word, and he stepped down and had Quinn take over when she turned 18.
That had been five years earlier, and Quinn had proven herself to be a fair and merciful ruler, but also ruthless when it came to conquering their enemies. She had managed to provide her people with more job opportunities as her empire grew, and she made sure that the widows of the men in her army were taken care of. This, and the fact that she liked to spend her days roaming about her city, made her a popular queen.
The next hour found Quinn in her chambers, getting ready to sleep. She had put on her robe to lay down when Santana came in her room.
"We have a little problem with our rations. Some rats got in the food we had been storing for three months. We will not have enough supplies for the entire army to last a day."
The thing about Santana is that she does not care whether Quinn is her queen. They have known each other since womb, and this is why Quinn trusts Santana with her life, as well as with the inventory as well as her wealth. Santana is also the best fighter Quinn has ever met.
"What do you mean? How did rats get in there?" Quinn is already discarding her robe, walking around naked in her candle-lit room, with the light breeze of the midsummer air creeping in. She starts putting on her trousers and blouse while Santana explains.
"To be quite honest, I think spies did it. Now, this seems to mean that we have a traitor in our midst. We need to find out who, immediately."
Nodding in agreement, Quinn orders, "grab all of them and meet me in the Violet Room."
This was not good for her, Quinn pondered. She would need to figure out a way to feed her men and women if they were going out to fight for her. Otherwise they would need to push back the attack another three months and that would leave her exposed and at the mercy of her enemy.
She and Finn had planned it out for so long, each of them making sure that everything would run smoothly. What Santana said was the only logical explanation to what had happened since the storages where they kept the food rations were secured so that nothing could get through, not even the smallest ant.
Artie, the man behind the architecture of those units, reassured her over and over again that it would keep all kinds of pests away. Someone must have given information out to the enemy and then got those rats in there. But who? Who would be willing to risk their life to betray their Queen and their country?
It seemed like Quinn would have to be much more guarded about who she included in her future plans.
She had to deal with one problem at a time: first she would need to figure out who was selling their plans to the enemies, and second, she would need to figure out a way to feed her troops. All within two days' time.
In the Violet Room, Finn is reviewing his plans again, trying to keep his head focused on the battle ahead and not let this distraction derail them too much. That's why Quinn is the queen - she's the one who has to figure out these bumps on the road before they depart. He hates seeing all of her hard work go out the window, but he has faith in his queen that she will figure out.
Santana paces by the window, a look of desperation mark her features. She was the one responsible for that food, she will be the one to pay for this. Even if they find the person who betrayed them, the setback is too large for them. An army of over 10,00 soldiers is not a small army to feed. She wouldn't expect anything less from Quinn; Santana knows that there will be a consequence for her slip up, even if they have been friends forever. Above all, Quinn has to be a just ruler in the eyes of the people.
Mike, Puck, and Sam were sitting by the fire, trying to come up with a way to collect 3-months worth of food in two days, but between the three of them, the only idea they had was to collect donations from every household in the city. They understood that would not be fair for those staying behind, and it would still not be enough to feed the army for the entire month-long campaign.
Quinn comes into the room, large door shutting behind her as she takes a seat at the edge of the rectangular table in the center of the room.
"We have a traitor among us. Clearly someone who knows of our next moves." She starts, slow and calculated. She is seen as their leader for more reasons than just the fact that she was the heir to the throne; she is a natural-born queen - it's in her blood to know how to lead her people. She presses the tips of her fingers together, eyes focused on the map laid out on the table, "I know who this traitor is and we will capture him from his home tonight and hang him. In the morning, the entire city will see what happens when you betray the kingdom."
"Who is the traitor?" General Finn asks, already putting his hand on the sword at his waist, ready to go.
Quinn raises one eyebrow and matches his gaze, "Blaine Anderson, the smith's apprentice."
This causes the General to still. "We can't know that for sure, Your Highness."
She shakes her head, irritated, "you don't have to call me that in here, Finn."
He steps closer, the others watching intently, "it couldn't have been Blaine, Quinn. He's a close friend of my brother. He would never do something to put the realm at risk."
Santana scoffs, "he is a mystery - nobody knows where he hails from. He just showed up in the past six months..." She starts muttering something under her breath, finally coming to the realization that maybe they had been careless about this new citizen.
The knights sitting by the fire stand when Quinn does, scraping the legs of her chair against the hard wood floor beneath. "You three - go with Finn. Bring me this man, alive. Do whatever it takes."
The three of them acknowledge her order and file out behind a sullen Finn.
Santana and Quinn are left alone in the room, so she sits back down, asking Santana to join her in the process. "I have to figure out a way to provide for the soldiers."
"Quinn, I deserve to be punished too. It was my responsibility and I failed."
The Queen looks at her friend, and shakes her head, "non-sense, Santana. It wasn't you." She does her best to share a comforting smile, but it's been hard smiling lately, with all of the concerns this ongoing war has her going through. "Please, help me figure this out."
Santana is the daughter of a high-born, a Lord from the Southern parts of the realm. They moved to the capital, Lima, once they had heard of the failing wealth of Quinn's grandfather, the King at the time. Because Santana's father had been the illegitimate son of said King, then Quinn's father took the throne. King Russell I was a loving man, though. Even if he was unable to pass the throne to his eldest son, he had given George the title of Lord and never once said he was not his son, however he had him move to the South to take care of that part of the kingdom.
In a way, she and Santana were family - distant, half-blood cousins. And they couldn't look more different.
While Santana had the dark hair and skin-tone of the Southern folk, Quinn had the silk-white skin, and hazel eyes of the Northern people. She was taller than Santana, and her blonde hair would shine in the sunlight; Santana's hair was as black as coal. They both had the family temperament though. As kind and as sweet as the Queen was to those around her on a daily basis, if you crossed her, you would feel her wrath sooner - and probably violently - than later.
Santana, as Quinn's best friend and most favorite Knight, was not as kind. She was borderline evil, taking pleasure in the pain of those that hurt her family and friends, but she was loyal as ever to her queen and realm.
"We can push back the siege..." Santana starts, but Quinn interrupts.
"If we push back, they will know their efforts worked and they shook us up. But it's no longer a siege - they are aware we are coming. We may have to re-work our approach."
"Quinn - that means that you should not go into battle. It's not safe for the queen to go if there is no certainty of a victory."
"I always lead my men into battle, Santana. I will not let them down this time."
She sighs, not wanting to argue with the queen, and gives in, "fine. Now about the food. We'll have to take as much food as we can from the cities we destroy along the way, maybe collecting enough to last us the trip. We'll have to deal with it day by day."
"We'll have to conserve food; we'll loose hundreds of men," Quinn considers. "I will make a fine example of Blaine, so that others do not dare."
There's a quick knock on the large doors, and the candles fickle as the heavy metal is pushed open. "Your Highness, the Knights are back. But the man is bleeding profusely, so they don't want to bring him in your wing. They request your audience in the throne room." Brittany is a blue-eyed beauty that runs the affairs of the castle, making sure that nothing is missing and that things are always running smoothly. She is also the woman that Santana is madly in love with.
Quinn watches as Santana visibly stands up taller at the sight of Brittany and says, "I'll handle this. Santana, please stay away from my bed."
Santana rolls her eyes and smiles when Brittany comes in the room, tall and simple. She has lighter blonde hair than Quinn but she also carries in her an innocence that Santana doesn't find anywhere else; she keeps her grounded.
Once Quinn is out of the door, Brittany comes closer to Santana, her eyes sparkling under the stare of dark brown. "Hi."
Santana whispers, "hi. I haven't seen you in a while."
The girl shrugs, "you have been gone."
"I'm sorry. I was away for two weeks and things have gone to shit. I missed you."
Brittany smiles at the admission and comes even closer, making Santana take a small step back. She hits her back on a desk and stops, "Then kiss me."
She doesn't need to be told twice, quickly pulling Brittany further in, watching her close the baby blue eyes and whimpering at the feel of Brittany's hands on her back. They kiss slow and passionate, because they haven't seen each other in weeks.
Meanwhile, Quinn arrives at the Throne Room. She hears Blaine before she sees him. She comes in from behind the throne, and Blaine is sprawled on the concrete ground directly in front of it. There are steps that keep the throne higher than common ground, so she descends them, and stops in front of him. His eyes are closed, and his breathing is shallow, but he is still moaning.
Puck, Sam, and Mike are guarding Blaine so he doesn't run, even though he couldn't even if he wanted to. General Finn is off to the side, head down. He seems disappointed that Quinn was right, even though she usually is.
"Blaine Anderson," the Queen speaks. This change in tone of voice and posture, her close friends know means that she's serious. She wouldn't use this tone on them, but with someone she deems inferior or an enemy, she employs it as an intimidation device.
He tries to shift, to sit up, but his bones hurt. He is so bruised up, that he can't even open his right eye. "Y - your Highness."
She chuckles, dragging her robe behind her and squats in front of him. Grabbing him by the hair, she lifts his face to come closer to hers. He groans and yells, loudly, because it hurts. "You betrayed me. Would you care to explain why?"
He denies it, crying, "I- I didn't! Your Highness, you - you, you have to believe me. I did not betray you. Never wo-would."
She chuckles unimpressed by his acting skills. Her gaze never falters as his shifts around her face. She can see the rage in his eyes, "we will hang you at dawn. The entire world will see what happens when you betray me."
With a look and a curt nod at Puck, she orders him to pick him up. "Take him to the dungeons. At dawn, he breathes his last." With a turn, she begins retreating.
The knight picks up the betrayer by a pull of his arm, making him stand. He screams in pain from the physical exertion, and he yells as the Queen parts, "You bitch! You will die! I would do it all over again!"
Quinn can't sleep that night. She tosses and turns on her sheets, her bed uncomfortable. She doesn't pity Blaine, she just hates never being sure in who she can trust. Besides her Six: Finn, Santana, Brittany, Puck, Sam, and Mike, Quinn knows that anyone she meets is a possible danger. The kingdom loves her, sure, but a leader is never without enemies - in the light and in the shadows.
Because she doesn't sleep, she's awake before dawn. She dresses herself in her most adorned dress, the one reserved for occasions such as the one today. She has to preside over the hanging and she will do so in her royal garments.
The entire kingdom is awaken by the sound of trumpets and the knocking of the soldiers at their doors. In events such as this one, the entire city has to participate, more out of a formality. She doesn't really take pleasure in making her citizens see her being so cruel and witness a man dying, but death is a part of life, and punishment must be inflicted upon a traitor.
The population is gathered at the square, and the gallows. When she arrives, they part, to make way to the queen. They bow as she drags her dress behind her, her long hair flowing with the wind. The sun is barely peeking over the horizon, but the lights of the torches guide her to the front. Along with her are the Six. The people she trusts the most, and also that would protect her in case of an imminent attack.
Above them all is Blaine, surrounded by five men, ready to proceed with his punishment. She makes her way up the stairs off to the side with her companions and they take their place to watch the kill.
When they are ready to begin, a young man rushes his way through the crowd. He is indeed pale, with light brown hair. He looks distressed, "Blaine! No! You can't do this to him!" Knights mixed in the crowd hold him by the arms as he shouts up at Quinn, unwavering. "You have no proof of what you condemn him!"
Blaine sobs while sparing a loving glance at the young man - Kurt, "I'm so sorry, honey. I messed up. I chose fealty over love. I hope you can forgive me."
Finn shares a look with the Queen and sighs, jumping to where his half brother stands, breaking. Next to Kurt, a young lady, brunette with intense brown eyes. She is staring so hard at Quinn that Quinn feels her very core shake. She barely turns to Santana, "who is that?"
Between the sobs, the agitation, and the screams, Santana informs her, "the baker's only daughter. Rachel Berry. She is trouble."
The queen hums, and then orders, "hang him."
Sam nods to the man that holds the noose. They fit the rope around Blaine's neck and stand back.
"Your last words?" Quinn asks.
"Kurt, I love y-" Blaine's ground opens underneath him. The people react as one, a sound gasp resonating. Kurt screams, tears falling down his face, red and hurt. He drops to his knees, the girl beside him does too, running a comforting hand up and down his back. Finn tries his best to lift him back up and when he successfully does so, he instructs Rachel to take him home.
Rachel guides Kurt out of the square and Quinn can't help but watch her go. She wants to find out more about this Rachel Berry and why she looked like she wished Quinn was the one hanging instead.