Part One
Queen Carrissa and Princess Cassandra
Chapter One
Koschei woke curled up on the hard floor of a dungeon cell. His memory and thoughts were fuzzy and he felt sick. He vaguely remembered someone screaming, terrible pain and then an engulfing blackness. He shivered- he had no idea where he was or what had happened to Carrissa and the Doctor after he had lost consciousness.
He opened his eyes and winced at the dim light. A guard stood outside his cell. Koschei coughed and tried to sit up, but fell back when the world started spinning. Besides making him feel worse, the movement got the attention of his guard, who turned and stared at him for a moment.
"Good, you're finally awake." The guard turned and walked off without another word, leaving Koschei to ponder what that meant.
'Where in the universe am I?'
The guard returned with several others and they unlocked the cell and hauled their groggy prisoner to his feet. The world tilted again and Koschei stumbled, but they held him up and half dragged him out. The little group ascended from the dungeon and trundled through the hallways. Koschei kept his eyes shut and tried to keep from being sick.
Finally, they halted. Painfully Koschei opened his eyes and saw a dais and throne in front of him. A girl walked towards them. Her blurry silhouette stopped in front of Koschei and eyed him disdainfully.
"Kneel before your queen." Her voice was icy, but at the same time achingly familiar. The guards let go of him, and Koschei tumbled to the ground, not exactly kneeling- more like laying in a crumpled heap- but the queen didn't seem to care.
"Who are you, and how did you enter my palace undetected?" the girl demanded.
Koschei gathered himself. He braced himself against the ground and managed what was the closest he could get to a kneeling position, then took a deep breath and replied, "I don't know how I got here. It… it was kind of an accident."
He didn't see it, but the young queen raised her eyebrow at him, "Oh? So you just happened to stumble into a royal palace, is that it?"
"It happens to me more often than you would think." Said Koschei, a hint of amusement in his voice.
The girl reached down and grabbed his hair, forcing him to look up at her, "Do you have any idea who I am?" she hissed in a furious whisper.
Koschei nearly screamed as pain exploded in his head. A headache developed in seconds and started pounding in his scalp, mocking the days when he used to have to deal with the drumming. He couldn't breathe for a moment, then he took a gasping breath and shivered violently.
"No." he managed, desperately hoping she would let go of him.
The young queen did. She released his hair, straightened up and glowered at him. "I am Queen Carrissa, ruler of this realm. How dare you come here and mock me." She kicked him in the side, knocking the breath out of him and leaving him in a further haze of pain. "You would do well to remember me for what remains of your short life, you pathetic creature…"
"Mother!"
Koschei registered the new voice, but it took him a moment to place it. When he did, his eyes widened. Painfully, he rolled over and he saw a little girl in a dress glaring indignantly at the queen.
"Mother, what are you doing?" demanded the little girl.
The queen glared at the child, "Cassandra, what have I told you about interrupting me when I'm having an audience?"
The little girl huffed, "Not to. But mother," she fumbled for words, "Why are you beating him up?"
The queen sighed, "This is an interrogation, daughter, it's not pretty. I have reason to believe that this man is a spy."
"So you're kicking him?"
"Sometimes we have to do unfortunate things to get information." Replied the young queen.
"I don't think he looks like a spy." Cassandra said, "I think he looks sick."
"And what do you suggest I do with him? Let him go?" the queen sounded exasperated.
Cassandra shrugged, "I've been needing a servant."
"I'm sure I can find you a better servant than…"
"He won't hurt me, mother, he can't even sit up. And anyway, we have guards for a reason, don't we?"
The queen threw her hands in the air, "Fine. Get him out of my sight."
The guards converged on Koschei again and dragged him up. As he fell back into unconsciousness, he heard the little girl issuing orders.
'Where in the universe am I?'