A/N:

Doing this at the top so as not to ruin the impact of the end of this chapter, but this is the second of my two "Interim tales" of the universe I'm building on top of the DCAU. Justice League: Bloodlines was released a few days ago and will be a Batman solo story, whereas this one belongs to Wonder Woman, as promised at the end of Above and Beyond. Just as with the other one, though, no knowledge of any of my other stories is needed for you to be able to read this one, though I wouldn't mind if you did.

I definitely wouldn't mind if you checked out the sister story Bloodlines. And if you could review any of them, that'd be just grand.

Also, as a disclaimer, I still own none of the characters, locations, properties etc. that are all DCs and Time Warners. Anything non-original is entirely theirs.

And now, the story begins...

Prologue: North/South Divide

The crowds had gathered in the grand plaza of the capital, in the far reaching shadow of the central government building. People of both sides were there, very evidently so. Those who had fought for the North wore their traditional colours, waved their traditional flags, sung their traditional songs. Those who had fought for the South were doing likewise. And yet, both factions were doing so together, side by side. They were doing it in a solitary gathering, as one, big, harmonious group. It was highly symbolic, actually, that the two groups were not stood apart, one on each side of the plaza. Instead, they were all together, intermingled, united. Just as they were supposed to be.

The man who had lead the South to the negotiation table, one Vladislav Kolchek, stepped forward to the podium to speak first, as had been carefully agreed long before this day had arrived. They had had a year to plan for it after all, a whole year since the civil war that had almost torn Kasnia apart had finally and officially come to a close. It had taken a long time to get everyone sat around the table, even after Wonder Woman and the Justice League had removed the influence of that ancient Greek warlord. But get around the table they had, people from the North, South and the royal family. Most importantly, negotiations had been successful. They had found peace.

Right now, they were celebrating that peace, on the first anniversary of the treaty being signed. A whole night more of celebrations were planned, starting off with the speeches. First the South, then the North and then Queen Audrey herself. This wasn't her first party, so to speak, but Audrey was certainly feeling nervous. This was one hell of an occasion, after all.

She hardly listened to either of the faction leaders speak. She had seen their pre-scribed speeches before the event had begun, as a means of making absolutely sure there was nothing even slightly inflammatory in there before anyone actually said anything. All she cared about was that the two men did not drift away from those speeches to the realms of improvisation, and neither of them had done. Good. It was long overdue that Kasnia got to know real, long-term peace.

Cheers went up when the speaker for the North, General Aleksandar Kronsteen, finished his speech, stepping away from the podium and back to his chair right at Audrey's side. She smiled as she noted that both North and South supporters were among the cheerers. But it was a struggle to keep that smile on her face when she realised that meant it was her turn to take the stand. She had come a long way since her days as a wild child, party animal. With her father's condition only having worsened since Vandal Savage attempted to unleash his madness upon the nation, Audrey had been instilled as ruler of the entire land for good. Considering that Kasnia had spent most of that time at war with itself, she hadn't exactly had the best start. Still, the future was now looking brighter. For that future, it was time for her to step up to the plate.

"People of Kasnia, we are free!" she announced when she reached the podium and the cheers for her mere presence had died down, a series of microphones spreading her words out for the entire world to hear. "Free of oppression, free of war, free of manipulation and free of hate. We have been through so much in such a short amount of time, but we have come through it with our heads held high! We have withstood eternal madmen, gods of war and our own distrust of each other in order to survive. To not only survive, but to evolve, to come back together as one. People of the North, people of the south. These are no longer our designations. There is now only one. We are now the people of the true, united Kasnia!"

Audrey paused. It was an enforced pause, brought about by the eruption of cheers from the crowd at her words. That made her smile again, especially as the cheers showed no sign of stopping. Audrey was forced into putting up both hands as a way of asking for quiet. As they were held up before her eyes, though, her hands looked to be shaking. She really must have been nervous. Still, as the silence fell again, she forgot all about that. She had a lot more words to issue.

"Yes, you are right to celebrate. We are all right to celebrate, for this is a great day for all of us. But let us never forget all that happened to get us here. That is vital. It is vital in helping us ensure that today is not the only great day for Kasnia. This celebration, it is about far more than the here and the now. It is about tomorrow, and the day after that, and the day after that, and all the ones that are to come during what lies before us. We have earned ourselves a future, a bright future. Let us not allow the mistakes of the past to repeat themselves. Let us not risk what we now have. Let us all work together to bring our bright future to fruition! People of Kasnia, we… We… We are…"

Something was wrong. That had been the point she had planned as the next moment to get the people truly cheering. It had been when she had planned her next big, rousing statement. The words had been laid out precisely beforehand, words she had learned meticulously to set the stage for that moment. She knew them even better than the back of her hand. And yet, now, words had escaped her. It wasn't just nerves either. Words had truly escaped her. The entire lot. All of a sudden, she had gone lightheaded, lost, confused, and struggling to even string two thoughts together. All of a sudden…

But she couldn't give up, she had to press on. This was important. This was more than her. The people of Kasnia had to hear her speech.

"People of Kasnia, we are…"

She never got to finish it. As she tried again, no longer was she just lightheaded. She could feel all manner of other symptoms striking her too by then. Before she could even contemplate trying to control what was happening to her any more, everything just went black.

And then she collapsed.

It was chaos, complete and utter chaos. People were screaming, charging, running around everywhere. It was safe to say that no-one had any idea what was going on. It had all happened so quickly, and with no warning signs at all. Dignitaries were being rushed out of there, those for the North and South notably being pushed in different directions by their security teams. Still, the one person on the scene who truly mattered was the one who wasn't moving at all. Not even slightly…

Security men had gathered around her as soon as she fell, forming a protective shield to guard her. Something was seriously wrong with the Queen, something that could well have been planned. No one knew what had happened, no one understood. But the security men knew one true thing. If this was an assassination plot against the Queen, they could not abandon their post and their monarch. The peace that Kasnia had just earned could all be lost instantly without her. She was too important, too important to everything.

The doctor's had dashed forward as quickly as the security people had, and they were already working. Or at least they had been, until the moment when they suddenly stopped. If the entire crowd had been able to hear what one of them whispered in the next moment, then the screaming and the chaos would have become even more prevalent.

"She's dead. The Queen is dead."