Theodore Montissay, King of Ashingcandor, walked down the marble floored corridor. His shoes made loud steps that echoed across the lonely empty darkness. But in the ring of light made by the candle he carried, Theo smiled. He was home.
He stopped outside a large closed door and took a few seconds to bask in the warm fuzzy feeling. This was his favorite room in the whole palace; and inside he would find his daughter. He pushed open the door and walked in.
Silence greeted him home from his trip.
Abysmal and Shelley were sitting by the fireplace reading. Theo just smiled and walked over to the row of shelves and picked out a book. He held the data-padd, but his attention was on the girls.
Abyss held up a book for Shell to see, "What's that one?" she demanded loudly.
Shell quickly found a stopping point in her paragraph and looked at the page she was being shown. With a soft sigh she read, "Wookie." Even the slave seemed to realize it was a sad day when the Princess could not read.
Abyss just giggled happily at the picture, "They're hairy," and then she was on to a new page.
Theo walked over and ruffled at his daughter's hair a bit, "Hey, Abyss, I missed you."
The Princess pulled away as if his hand burned, "Don't touch me you disgusting bastard!"
Theo slowly shook his head, "Father… father… call me father"
Abyss smiled wickedly. "Bastard," and she pushed the book away with her pretty boot, and moved on to finish a drawing she'd started earlier. Nothing could hold the girl's interest for too long.
But Theo had come prepared for this; "I got you something while I was away"
"Not more stupid books…"
"No… not more books. I got you a nina-cat. He's waiting downstairs for you to go get him."
No more need be said; the girl was already off running to claim her new prize. Theodore just nodded his greeting to Shell, and walked over to his chair. His smile grew as he looked at the ugly beast that had seen way too many years. The only thing that held the blasted piece of furniture together seemed to be spite. It wasn't that he particularly cared for the chair, but it was the mere fact that Sierra hated it. He was glad to see it was still there.
He reached his hand out and lightly fingered the fraying material, "Hello, old girl. I missed you. Did she treat you well?"
Shell carefully put the book down to address the King so he would not be talking to inanimate objects anymore, "The Queen had it sprayed again."
Theo turned to her still smiling, "I know… I can smell it. She does hate my chair, doesn't she?"
Shell, baffled by his delight only stared at him unable to come up with a response. But Theo needed no answer; he knew his wife despised the thing.
"Abyss still refusing to read?" he asked just to keep the conversation going.
Shell nodded slowly, "Yes, sir. But I read to her whatever she may be interested in at the moment." For some reason the slave almost felt obliged to defend the princess.
Theo just let his smile fall, "She is lucky to have a friend like you."
Shell decided not to tell him she does not consider herself to be a 'friend' of Abyss'.
Just as the silence was about to become unbearable, Abyss loudly opened the door, drawing both people to look at her, grateful for the distraction. The princess, pompous as ever, led in a slave that was holding a small cage. The slave set the cage down where the young girl indicated and opened the tiny door to let the very regal white, nina-cat strut out. Everyone paused to watch such a noble creature move about the room.
He walked right past Abyss, only casually glanced at Shell, and then headed straight to the King upon his throne of bad taste. The cat sniffed at the chair for a moment and looked at Theo's hand, which was now wiggling about so, in a way that cats only find to be a pathetic attempt at play from people. The cat hesitated no longer. He simply turned his face from the king and then proceeded to urinate upon the side of the royal recliner. Then he simply turned up his nose, scratched the floor with his hind legs and then walked over to the fireside and made his place beside the Princess.
By now Abyss was madly giggling, rolling about on the floor in delight. Shell's eyes only looked upon the King in great sympathy. Theo groaned loudly, rubbed at the bridge of his nose and pushed himself to go past this moment, "So Abysmal, what will you call him?"
Abyss simply shrugged. Theo sighed; she was done with his gift already. He merely turned his attention now to his book. Shell watched as Abyss made sure Theo was not looking and then began to stroke the cat's back to make him purr. Shell made a quick prayer that this would make the girl behave for at least a little while and went back to her own reading.
The silence lasted a very short while. Before Theo had even reached the first scrolling point, a sickening snap echoed through the room, followed by a child's giggle.
"I'll call him Dead," the Princess declared with little feeling, and then she went back to coloring.
Shell gasped in shock at the sight of death, and stood so suddenly, her book fell to the floor. She slowly walked backward away shaking her head in disbelief. Abyss had never done anything this bad.
Theo, himself, took a long time to process what had just happened. He stared, unable to pull his eyes from the sight of the motionless animal, and Abyss' seemingly unfeeling form, as she hummed and worked her tongue between her lips as she concentrated on her colors.
He stood, forcing his mind to follow his angry stance, "Abysmal Jean Montissay!" he hoped he sounded as stern as he intended. "What have you done?"
"I killed it," she answered, almost smugly. And almost as an after thought, she used her foot to push the body farther away from herself, much as she had done with the book earlier.
Theo shook his head. She had not only killed a pet just then, but she had killed, right along with him, any doubts Theo had had about there being something wrong with the future queen. Theo looked over to Shell who was sitting in the corner crying for the cat. This had to end tonight. He was going to have a talk with his wife whether she wanted to see him or not.
"I'm sorry, Sir, but the Queen has specifically asked to not allow you into her quarters."
Theo nodded an acknowledgement to the servant and then grabbed the man and shoved him aside, "I know…" and he threw the doors open and walked inside.
The guard looked about, not sure what to do next, so he simply closed the doors again and went back to his post.
Sierra was sitting in her bed eating a rather large bowl of something that had a smell strong enough to turn Theo's stomach (or maybe he was still disgusted from the sight of murder) either way… he didn't care.
The Queen rolled her eyes at the sight of him, trying to look imposing. With a simple wave of her hand, the bowl and the half-dressed man that had brought it to her were gone. "Theo… this had better be good."
"It is Abysmal. She has done something inexcusable this time. There is no looking over this one, Sierra… you have got to do something with your daughter. She is getting out of hand!"
Appearing more annoyed than anything else she reached for her crown and put it on before she sat up to answer, "Oh Theodore, calm down… you'll work yourself into a fit again."
"Sierra, you're not listening to me! She's killed this time."
The Queen's attention is captured now, "Killed? Who? Her slave?"
Theo can not believe he is hearing right… "What? How can you even think she would kill a person? Sierra, she killed the nina-cat. Right there. With her hands."
The Queen's brain began to turn to find a way to save her daughter from punishment. "No. No she didn't. It was an accident. You know how she is. She gets rough. If you'd gotten her one sooner, she'd have known to be careful."
Theo shook his head wildly, "No Sierra… no… you're not doing this again. You do this every single time! She is not getting out of this one. We saw her, we both did."
Sierra turned her ice blue eyes to him, "Who? Who else was there?"
Theo let out a low sigh. What had he done? He had sealed the girl's fate with a simple word. Oh why did he have to bring her up? "No one, Sierra. It was only I."
"No. Tell me, you petty man, or I shall find a way to get rid of that chair yet." She stood, crossing the room to face him down.
"No chair is worth a human life."
"What slave are you protecting?" With a harsh shove she suddenly darted past him and off to the library where she found the scene exactly as Theo had left it. Sierra stepped over Abyss, whom was happily coloring, and then crossed the room over to the corner where the slave was crying.
Sierra grabbed Shell up and shook her violently, "You child, what have you done this night?"
Abyss had sat up by now to watch her mother's work and instantly knew what was afoot. She closed her eyes to call up tears and began to wail loudly. She pointed her chubby finger at Shell and moaned horribly, "She killed my kitty!"
Shell felt her eyes widen in disbelief as she watched "her friend" turn on her. She felt cold fingers grab at her neck and she forced herself to look at Sierra as the Queen began to choke the life from her body. Shell grabbed at the angry hands and tried to pry them free, and then it happened. Their eyes met, and Sierra suddenly stopped her angry attacks. She let go of Shell's throat and softly wiped at the girl's wet cheeks, "Oh poor child…. What happened to make you turn so violent?"
Shell was speechless as she struggled to regain her breath. Had the Queen finally lost it? Why the sudden change of heart?
Theo was but a step away from attacking his wife, when he stopped to stare in amazement. Sierra pulled the slave into her arms and she held her face so she could study her more fully.
Sierra actually smiled gently, "You are rather pretty you know."
Abyss too seemed surprised, but that quickly jumped to anger, "Mama!"
Sierra blinked, and realized her place once more. She released her hold on Shell and let her fall to the floor where gravity took her. Sierra stood over the cowering slave. , "You retched, vile creature. You have turned upon the masters who assured your safekeeping. You have bitten the hand that fed you. Well no more. This," she pointed to the dead cat, "is the last straw. You are gone." She walked over to the door and yelled down the hall for a guard to come quickly.
In rushed the fully armed man from his place outside the door, and he stood ready to kill at his Queen's command. Sierra then simply pointed to Shell, "Take this girl away, and lock her in the dungeons. And send someone up to fetch this creature. Make her eat it for dinner. See to it personally that she eats every bite."
The guard hesitated when he saw the tiny girl cowering on the floor, but he had to at least make a show for Sierra. He grabbed her arm roughly and lifting her to her feet, took her out.
Theo finally blinked himself back to reality and snapped. He grabbed Sierra and spun her to face him, "That is it… you have gone too far…. Shell did not do it, and you will set her free. The blame will fall where it belongs this time."
Sierra nodded grimly in answer, "Oh yes… the blame will fall where it belongs. Make no mistake about that." She pulled from him as a woman came in to collect the body. Sierra cleared her throat to get the slave's attention. "And later, won't you find someone to drag this chair outside and burn it?"
Theo shook his head, "No. Leave the chair."
"No," Sierra glared back at Theo, "burn it…"
The King stubbornly returned the glare, "No. This is my chair, and you will do no such thing"
"I will do as I please. This is my house, and the chair goes."
"Damn it woman, you have taken my name, you have taken my dignity, but you are not going to take my chair!"
Sierra let the smug grin sit on her face for a few seconds as she enjoyed Theo's rage, "No. The chair reeks of urine. It will be burned."
Theo could literally feel his soul sinking down farther inside his body. He nodded his concede. He answered without looking at anyone, "Burn it…"