More and more news came about her husband's victories every day. Also letters from him addressed to the children, but not to her. She hated that it hurt, but couldn't stop herself.
She loved a man with no heart.
Gabrielle didn't want to hate him and she couldn't with her pure heart. Afriendship is what she hoped for. In the end, though, she fell for him. She remembered the fairy tales that had comforted her from the time on her father's lap till she bloomed into a young woman. They always spoke of noble and handsome princes who would fight the fiercest dragons, cross the most treacherous seas, and battle any force that the Gods would throw at them for love. While she knew that she could not expect such from men in the real world, no more than a man could expect a woman to be the most beautiful and perfect, she still dreamed of her knight.
A silly notion she knew, but she was the girl with nothing in the world except two books and a cat. So surly the Gods could forgive such silly dreams.
Apparently not. He had come into her life. A man with looks to rival Apollo, the wits of Hermes, the strength of Hercules, and a mind of strategy to almost best Athena. The mere looks of such a man could melt any young maid's heart.
But he had none himself. Perhaps she shouldn't be so hard on herself. He had forced her to marry him after all, but he didn't force himself on her (she had willingly given herself to him) and had not even attempted to force her to show any kind of affection, much less love, towards him. But she did and more.
All magic had a price. She had a pure hurt that cursed her to love all mankind, no matter how wicked. Perhaps it was only the Gods' humor that the girl who was cursed to love all mankind loved the man who was cursed to love none.
She sighed as she steered herself away from such sad thoughts. Gabrielle had to remind herself that she was now a queen, not a passive victim that was under her stepmother. She was the most powerful woman in the kingdom, and that alone made her one of the most powerful women in the world, even if she had no desire to use such power.
Gabrielle had a family to protect and a city to guide. While worried about her own children, she also recognized her duties toward the women, elderly men, and children left behind in the kingdom while their men had gone off to fight the invaders. The queen would give speeches praising the bravery of their men, but also of the steadfastness and courage of the women left behind. With the men gone they kept the kingdom running as it did. She spoke with great pride as she addressed them all as her sisters despite their class differences. She emphasized how they were all fighting a hard battle by waiting for news of their husbands, sons, brothers, and uncles, but together they would see each other through.
Pretty speeches weren't the only thing she did though. Her pretty words would be nothing more than that, pretty words, if she did nothing to back them up. So the king's consort made sure to be present for any and every charity, to visit homes for orphans and widows. To see the war effort made by women in the factories and many other things. She also made the conscious decision to only wear her plainest gowns, not wanting to appear as an arrogant noble as the women of kingdom faced so many hardships.
Gabrielle's family, like her stepsisters, brother-in-law, and father-in-law were now staying for much longer since war had broken out. Perhaps it was a bit selfish of her, but a she was honestly thankful for such a thing. With her family there they could comfort her children while she was busy comforting the rest of the kingdom. Of course, she spent as much time as she could with them. Luckily, both children seemed content. Helios spent most of his time with his grandfather, listening to his stories and jokes; Atropos on the other hand much preferred the attention of her Uncle Peter. She listened with rapt attention to his stories of kings and battles.
Peter had remarked later, in private, that both children were far too advanced for their ages, with which Gabrielle agreed. It was more than likely due to having two cursed parents. But for what reason neither of them could conceive.
The queen's time was split between nurturing her kingdom and family. While she loved both dearly, she was often tired and stressed most days. It came to the point where she was no longer dwelling on her husband's threat upon his return. She didn't give much thought to things other than her duties.
So it was lost on her the danger that was subtly starting to surround her.
It wasn't very noticeable to begin with, but it was still there. The palace staff seemed lower than normal. Some guards stopped talking when she passed through, giving each other uneasy glances. A general hush fell over all.
So it came as a complete shock when two guards burst through the doors of her twins' rooms. At first, Gabrielle thought some sort of invasion had happened, or possibly a Kodasian spy had been caught. Her children were at each side of her, sitting on a window seat, as she read to them. But before she could speak, the guards drew their swords on her.
"You are under arrest by orders of the queen."
Utter shock adorned her face. What...
"But I am the queen," she said, placing the book in her son's lap and standing up. "What is the meaning of this?" she said in a voice that was more trembling than demanding.
They didn't lower their spears. "The real queen...not an imposter like you."
Gabrielle's heart almost stopped, and her green eyes widened to the size of saucers. She immediately wrapped her arms tightly around her children, hugging them to her.
"Alisha," she whispered, as she felt the blood drain away from her face.
"That is Queen Alisha to you, imposter queen."
The thoughts of how and why didn't matter right now. All she needed to do was to see her children to safety. She carefully rose to her feet and bowed her head in the appearance of subservience. She felt her children try to move, but she ushered them to stay on the seat. Her heart was in her throat, as she knew she only had one chance at this.
In her mind was this prayer.
Gods above and below, if my actions be just allow me to protect and defend what is closest to my heart.
"I see you aren't putting up a fight, Swan Queen. Quite wise of you." The first guard laughed.
Gabrielle kept her hands folded at the front of her as her eyes looked down...but not at the floor.
At the guard's sword.
With one swift movement she shoved every single ounce of her weight into the guard's stomach. Before either could react, she pried the sword hilt out of the falling guard's hand. At this point the other guard was now raising his sword above her, his clear intent to cut her down. She met his sword with her stolen one in the air.
For a moment, the guard's superior strength overtook her, but then Gabrielle changed the tilt of the sword so it slid downwards against the steel of his—right into his neck.
Before the hiss of death could be heard from the guard, the queen withdrew her sword and turned to the other guard, who was now on his feet.
His lack of weapon made him almost a lamb to the slaughter. She thrust the sword into his chest with all her strength and probably some of the Gods'. She had precious moments to hear his cry of death as his knees gave out, and he fell onto the floor. Gabrielle withdrew the sword, breathing heavily now.
She raised her sword above her head.
"Praise be to the Gods!" she cried, not forgetting to thank them for what she had asked for earlier. She heard a cough from the guard she had stabbed in the stomach and turned around. He was coughing up blood, and he had one hand over his wound, and the other propping him up on the floor.
"Swan Queen...forgive me!" he cried, "Alisha...she has the entire castle under a spell. Only now I am broken free of it. She wants—" He coughed up more blood "—you and your children. She plans to kill you and then take the children hostage to use against her son." His body then gave out. "Gods save you...my queen." With that he fell to the floor.
In any other time, she would have taken a moment to honor the innocent victim's death, but now she had no time for that. A spell...but Alisha had no magical powers. It didn't take a moment for her to come to the realization, but when she did a cold shiver ran through her body.
"Asura.." She barely spoke above a breath. She then felt something crash into her leg and looked down to see the face of her trembling son, with tears streaming down his sweet and boyish face. Like with the solider she had an immediate reaction to comfort him, but there was no time for such acts.
Instead she quickly moved past him to the wall. She observed her daughter, a neutral expression on her face, as she surveyed the dead corpses of the guards. This was the first time Atropos had seen someone being killed and not by her father, the King of War, but her mother, the Swan Queen. She didn't have time to contemplate the irony of this as she slid the hidden passage open.
"Atropos and Helios, listen well. I cannot come with you." She heard her son give a cry of protest, but waved a hand to silence him. "If Alisha catches us together it will be the end of the kingdom. The kingdom can survive without its queen, but the people need their prince and princess. Our people must come first, that is a lesson all royals have to learn. I just wish you didn't have had to learn it so soon."
Helios was still crying, but the sobbing had stopped. Without looking up, Atropos took the hand of her twin and looked up at her mother with pure conviction in her green eyes.
"I will be brave...brave enough for me and Helios. Tell us what to do."
For once Gabrielle was thankful of her daughter's rather adult-like nature. "This will lead you into the forest...find either Shango, or Kianda. The guard said everyone in the castle was under a spell, and magic is usually very specific, so that likely means that only people in the castle were affected." She prayed the Gods would bless her again by being right.
"They live on the outskirts of the royal forest. Atropos, I know you know the way outside the trails."
The princess nodded. Gabrielle motioned for them to go through the passage, holding back tears. She couldn't cry now. She simply bent down and hugged them like this was her last chance to do so.
And it likely probably was.
"Never forget that I love you. Never forget."
"Yes...Mommy," Helios said, letting out a sob.
"I love you too, Mother," came Atropos' small voice.
Perhaps for the last time a smile spread over her face. She got back on her feet and motioned the most precious people that she ever had in her life to go through the hidden passage. She resisted the temptation to look at them as they vanished and she closed the passage behind them.
It was not a moment too soon.
The sounds of metal and heavy footfalls came into the bloody nursery, and the living guards glanced down at the dead ones, and then at the bloody sword in the queen's hand.
"Looks like she is even more of a demon than we suspected," the captain of the guards spoke, as though she weren't there. Though more likely because she wasn't a person anymore in their spellbound minds. "A swan would not have blood on her hands—this is a vulture."
Gabrielle looked up at the face of the captain, but also at the others. She knew them: George, Henry, Aaron, and so many others. She spoke to them, knew of their families, pasts, hopes, and dreams. These men had respected her and had proudly pledged their loyalty until death to her.
But Alisha with Asura's magic had changed all this. Those twisted women had morphed the minds of these noble and brave men into slaves who were far from their true selves.
"Unless you want to be cut down, imposter queen, I suggest you drop your sword."
Gabrielle had a neutral expression as she let her blade fall. If she continued to fight, she would have to fight her way out of the palace and into the city. She knew herself and her skill well enough to know that was impossible.
She lowered her head in submission as the guards came behind and cuffed her. One of them roughly pushed her forward, almost causing her to lose her balance and trip. She luckily regained it, but heard cruel laughter. Nothing that would have come from these men before their enchantment.
"Where are the bastards?" the head guard demanded, much to Gabrielle's confusion.
"What...bastards?" She hated that word coming from her lips, but now was not the time for lady-like pretenses. They all gave her cruel laughter again.
"Your bastards," he said, pointedly, "We know that those twins of yours are not the king's, Adrian's. Alisha has told us you have been spreading your legs for the whole council right under your husband's nose."
Disgust and humiliation filled Gabrielle's chest. Even though she knew that these men were under an enchantment by an evil woman it still hurt to be accused of such. Especially considering the fact that Adrian himself had told her that Alisha slept around so much he had wondered if Oswald was actually his real father.
Even though she knew it was useless she couldn't help but plead.
"Listen, you are all under a spell." She looked around with a desperate glistening gleam in her emerald eyes. "I know you are all far too noble for such acts of barbarism. Please, fight it!" she begged.
For a moment there was silence. A spark of hope filled her heart. Had it worked? Then it was extinguished with the sound of more of that cruel laughter. Tears began to prickle in her eyes. A despair filled her that she hadn't felt since the days under her stepmother's thumb.
"Weep all you want, whore," the captain told her mockingly, "It won't change a thing. Now tell us where the bastards are," he ordered.
"I don't know..." She trembled. "I was supposed to meet them here...but I guess they are late." She prayed again that the Gods would favor her by making the guards believe her lies.
The captain pointed to two of his men. "You stay here and wait for the bastards. We are taking this vulture to see the true queen."
The guards ordered to stay behind saluted their captain and declared they would follow orders. Fear gripped the inside of her heart. What would happen to her, and more importantly, what would happen to her children? What if she had been wrong about the spell not affecting those outside the castle and she had led her precious twins right into a trap?
Her thoughts were interrupted by a push to her back, again almost causing the imprisoned queen to fall down.
"Come on, vulture queen," she was told, as she was dragged forward. Gabrielle didn't say a word as thoughts of all that could go wrong tormented her mind.
–-
Kianda knew something was wrong, and so did Shango and the rest of her brothers.
"They should have been here by now," commented one of her brothers, Tendai.
Kianda and the rest of the queen's guard where not brought along with the king in his war against the Kodasians despite being highly elite soldiers. Kianda and the rest of her comrades were to guard the queen at all times.
Not that the warrior woman had any complaints. She easily considered the queen her best friend and likely so did Gabrielle since her sisters could only visit so often. She remembered when she first saw this strange white noble woman, so different than the others who had mocked her for the color of her skin, accent, being a warrior, or other foolish things. At first she thought that perhaps Gabrielle had been playing some sort of joke on her; when the white woman had first offered to teach her to read every part of her sensible body had told her to reject such an offer.
But she hadn't. To this day she didn't know why. Perhaps it was a spirit of a wise ancestor, or perhaps one of the white man's gods that had made her say yes. But it had surprised her more that Gabrielle had wanted to learn to fight. She could tell the girl had the hands of a servant, but fighting...she thought it impossible.
Surely, she would be worn out, bruised, and crying by the end of the first session—no, before. And indeed she had been…sans the crying part. But she had gotten right back up and kept going that time and the time after, never voicing a single complaint. Kianda had been impressed, though she didn't want to tell her that at the time. She didn't want her to get an ego, and a part of her was still reserved.
But that had changed the day when she saw Gabrielle defend her against those noble women. That day she saw that the small, petite form held a strong spirit. A spirit that many would not see due to the woman's naturally gentle and demure nature. But only fools would see gentleness as weakness.
The weakest spirits were the ones who hated the world and saw nothing good in mankind, so they returned evil for evil. The strong where the ones who were able to see the world for all the wickedness it possessed and still say to mankind, "I love you" and mean it with complete sincerity.
In Kianda's eyes the Swan Queen was far stronger than her husband, the King of War, could ever be. Her reign as queen had only proven to the warrior woman more and more what a strong spirit that the gentle woman possessed, with the endless kindness and warmth she showed even the lowest of her people.
Shango suddenly stood up from his sitting position. Kianda heard a rumbling in the bushes and on instinct put her hand on her sword hilt.
Then out of the bushes came the royal heirs. The moment Kianda saw their faces she knew her fears were confirmed. Even the ever stoic princess had a clear look of terror in her green eyes. She signaled to her brothers to surround the area and take battle ready positions.
She approached the heirs and the golden haired prince immediately ran up to her and reached around her thin waist, burying his head into her tunic. He was sobbing and spilling out words so fast that Kianda couldn't make out a single thing he was saying. The warrior woman, with great tenderness, picked up the little prince and began to pat him on the back, urging him to calm down with soft words.
Never having been the maternal type, Kianda felt out of her element dealing with the sobbing child, but there were more important matters at hand which Shango was seeing too.
The rabbit knelt down before the princess. The white haired child looked back at him, her gaze steady.
"Our mother is in danger. The former queen has broken out of her cell and somehow put the whole palace under her spell." She would not refer to Alisha as her grandmother. "The guards have turned against us and have her captured."
A shock fell over them. Alisha had gotten out, but how? But then it came to her.
"Asura..." she whispered. All the elite guard knew of the lethal fae. She could see looks of shock and grimaces of fear on her brothers' faces, but they soon faded to expressions of complete determination.
"Shango!" Kianda called, taking the lead. "Take our brothers who are the fastest riders and make your way to the King. He is in the village of Reeden. I and the rest will take the prince and princess to safety and work out plans to save our queen in case Alisha decides to pull anything."
Shango and her brothers, as swift as rabbits, set out to do just that. Kianda took the princess' hand with one and held the prince to her breast with another. She started to walk them both to a safe place as ideas formed in her mind.
–-
Gabrielle tried to carry herself with as much dignity as was possible for a queen who was now a prisoner in her own palace. Her wardens didn't help make that any easier. They pushed and prodded her along whenever they thought she was going too slow, and often just for the heck of it. Finally, they made their ways to the giant double doors of the throne room.
The blonde waited with baited breath as the doors were pushed open to reveal her mother-in-law (which she had not seen since her imprisonment, six years ago) sitting in her throne. Before she had a chance to even consider anything about the scene she was roughly forced to her knees, and then a hand on her back forced her to bow so far that her nose touched the ground.
Once released, she sprang back up, but not on her feet. She couldn't manage that with her hands tied behind her back. So she sat up, looking up at Alisha. She was wearing a smile that could make any crocodile proud.
"Leave us!" commanded the true imposter queen. The spellbound guards bowed and did as they were told, leaving them alone with a large bang of the door being shut. Gabrielle took a moment to study the newly escaped prisoner. Her skin was a ghastly pale, and her hair very long. But she didn't look too thin, or malnourished. It looked like Adrian had been taking care of his mother. But she was sure it had more to do with keeping her alive long enough to suffer as much as possible than out of affection for his mother.
Still smirking, the Peacock Queen gloated and stared down at the Swan Queen, or Vulture Queen, as she saw her. Alisha tapped her fingernails against the arm of Gabrielle's throne. It was the only sound in the absolute silence of the room, if you didn't count the rapid beating of Gabrielle's heart.
"Well, well, well. Imprisoned for six years, yet the thing that seems to upset me the most is seeing how the 'Swan' Queen has replaced my beautiful throne with this ugly thing." She used both hands to gesture to the throne she was sitting in.
There was a silence afterward, and the blonde took it as her chance to speak. "The throne was a surprise to me. It was one of the first things Adrian did for me when he took me here." But it was more than just a gift out of "generosity". More as a symbol for the end of his mother's reign.
"Ah, my treacherous son. Not a surprise though. But don't think you are out of the fire yet." Gabrielle thought it would be impossible, but Alisha's smile actually became crueler. "Those six years, I spent thinking a lot about you, Vulture Queen. I thought of you a lot before then as well. I was so scared of the prophecy of the young and so called beautiful queen taking my place. I thought of all the things I could do to you, but it all ended the same way. With your pretty blonde head on a plate."
"But what to do before that?" Alisha began to stroke her chin, "Hmm...what to do?" She spoke as though she hadn't already decided. "Well, the only thing that lasts beyond death is reputation and so far you have the public wrapped around your little finger." She gave a snort. "I would have suspected more dignity out of a queen than to hang around the unwashed masses, but I guess I had given you too much credit." She shook her head.
At this Gabrielle couldn't fight back the need to speak. "You are wrong!" she declared. "Loving the people is what a king or queen is supposed to do. We are not meant to sit on thrones and eat off golden plates with their tax money while we view our people as worthless. Every single person in the kingdom, from the richest noble down to the poorest beggar, should be viewed with kindness, respect, and dignity. That is truly what is means to be a royal—no, more importantly, what it means to be queen."
A deafening silence fell across the room as Alisha's face became neutral, thinking over her daughter-in-law's words. Had Gabrielle somehow managed to break through to the woman with a heart of stone?
Such hopeful thoughts were shattered when the Peacock Queen just laughed and shook her head. Her laughter began to tinkle down into giggling.
Perhaps Adrian was right: having no heart ran in the family.
"Words I would expect from a so called 'queen' who spent more than half her life as nothing more than a plain scullery maid. A position much more fitting for you than the consort of the king." She gave one last laugh. "Well, as much as I enjoy mocking you, I will enjoy seeing the executioner chop off the head from your ever thin and delicate neck more. So let's get on with business, shall we?" At this she snapped her fingers. "Bring them in," she commanded.
After a few moments the doors came open and in marched Estelle, Rosella, Peter, and the former king, all in chains. The sight of the chains filled her with dread, but gratefulness also at the fact they were obviously not under the spell. If they were under the spell, why would Alisha have had them chained? Gabrielle could tolerate the cruelty of the palace staff, but it would have shattered her heart to pieces if such words came from their tongues, after all the work they had done to become a family.
Rosella was struggling the most, and had a wild look in her eyes as she glared up at the Peacock Queen with clear defiance in her eyes.
"Your little plan will not work!" she declared, "You might sit on the throne, but Gabrielle will always be the true queen and you are not even a peacock! You are more like a mean spirited turkey who stole a swan's feather in a vain attempt to make itself more beautiful. But in the end it made itself ridiculous, almost as ridiculous as you are looking in Queen Gabrielle's throne!"
A look of fury came over the imposter queen's formerly gloating features, clearly insulted by Garbielle's older stepsister's words. The Peacock Queen made a gesture to a guard, and Rosella gave a cry of pain as she was hit in the jaw, causing her to hit the floor as her chains clattered. Gabrielle watched in horror as Rosella raised her head to reveal blood dripping down her mouth.
"Anyone else want to be witty?" Alisha dared them, as she rapped the throne arm again with her fingernails.
Gabrielle must have looked as white as the rest of them as the color drained from their faces. Peter had a subtle look of outrage though at the treatment of his wife, but in chains he couldn't do nothing for her.
The smirk returned to Alisha's face at the fear in her prisoners' eyes. She leaned back in full confidence of her power being asserted again.
"Now, all of you, including my former treacherous husband. I think you should get on your knees, not just for me, but for the Vulture Queen as well. Your fate rests in her hands."
The blonde glanced back to her family, as they carefully got down on their knees, chains rattling. Rosella tried to sit up, but her position on the floor made it difficult. In the end a guard roughly grabbed her, causing her older stepsister to give a shriek of pain as she was forced on her knees. Gabrielle could now see her mouth was covered in blood that was dripping down past her chin.
Alisha cleared her throat, catching Gabrielle's attention again.
"Now...my dearest daughter-in-law." She spoke in a sickeningly sweet voice. "I will be generous before your execution. Your family's fate rests in your rough scullery maid's hands. I will have them all killed before your eyes unless you do me one small act before the public."
Gabrielle swallowed, and bowed her head. So she was going to die, but her thoughts weren't on herself, but her children and the rest of her family. Would Alisha keep her promise? She highly doubted that, but if she refused it would mean certain death for them.
In the end the decision was simple for someone cursed with a pure heart.
"I will do anything you wish, my queen."
A triumphant gleam was now in Alisha's eyes. "Before I have your head chopped off, I will have a list of high noble men read out to you and each time you will be asked if you slept with them and you must answer yes each time, and confess you have no idea who the father of your twins are. Of course, it will be all done in public." She laughed.
"So you will die knowing that you will not be remembered as the pure Swan Queen, but as a dirty slut."
Thanks to Cary for betaing