Bloody imagery. Implied torture. Let the games begin.

King Leftin

Zara - no, Aissa. My name was Aissa Dapler after all. Honeybear was right - woke on a cold, marble floor. Her clothes didn't feel like her own. The fabric felt richer and stiff with the lack of use. All around her she felt the press of people, the King's Court. There were guards everywhere, as well as lookers-on. But she instinctively knew that it was the sight of the King and his Court that was supposed to impress and cow her.

"We know you're awake, dear Lady." The words were said in Leftin's most commanding voice. Somehow it didn't impact the woman the way it was supposed to. She'd served aboard Death, after all.

"And that means what to me?" she spat angrily without opening her eyes. Murmurs ran rampant through the room. Derek, the mercenary that had captured her, was dead. Murdered by his own crew for striking the Lady. She knew this as surely as she knew her old name, even though she'd been kept under a sleeping spell for the duration of her journey to the hated king.

"Enough," the king's voice cracked through the large chamber like a whip. "Why won't you look on me, Lady?"

"I don't want to know you yet," she shrugged, pulling herself into a sitting position. "Who I see, I know." More murmuring. That's right, keep them off-balance, she thought, keeping the smirk off her face with supreme effort. He set up this meeting this way just to intimidate you. Do not give him the satisfaction of your fear. Play it cool, just like always.

"But I want you to know me," the King said, the arrogant smile in his voice grating on her nerves. "Won't you look on your new master?"

Aissa opened her eyes and rested them on the king of all of Estron. Dressed in his finest livery, the cocky middle-aged man sat on his bejeweled throne next to his small-boned, elegant Queen, confident in his power over his domain. With two Khaleesi by his side, he felt all-powerful, untouchable, invincible. Little did he know…

"Death comes for you, oh King," she pronounced, the future falling into a straighter line than it had since the King's Ball. Everything wasn't clear to her yet, but his final end was written all over his arrogant face. "A common death, hardly worth mentioning." Her chin jutted up proudly as she stared at his pale face.

"You lie!"

"Why would I lie, King Leftin? Do not mistake me for that weak little witch of yours who'll flatter you and tell you what you want to hear. I am Khaleesi! I speak only truth. And truth," she smiled, "be your death." The murmurs were no longer just murmurs. His Court was rebelling at the news that he would only have a certain amount of time left in his rule. "Shall I read the room, your Majesty?" she asked conversationally. "Very few of those assembled here will live past your death."

"Send her away," someone shouted fearfully.

"Not until she tells me how to avoid my fate," Leftin growled, the arrogant smile no longer on his face to her relief. Leftin was trembling, never having faced the full power of a true Khaleesi. He felt the truth of her words settling around him like a shroud. But he refused to believe that there was no escape for him. According to his other Khaleesi, there was always another path.

"And why would I help you?" she asked quietly.

"Silence!" that same authoritative voice whipped through the chamber, silencing the Court and the guards. He then turned to his Khaleesi with a kind look. "You'll help me because you are a Khaleesi. Death sickens you." Confident in that bit of logic being lobbed her way as she stared at him slack-jawed, King Leftin was not prepared for her full-throated laughter.

"Um… I'm a pirate," she grinned proudly. "Death is my trade. Stephanie Graves and her father demand justice. You set yourself on this path."

"Take her away," the king said angrily. "Let her join her sister and learn why it is never a good idea to enrage a king." He frowned when the feisty little girl only smirked at him. The woman was led away - no one dared to touch her - but she went willingly enough to her room, which turned out to be an entire wing of the castle. The place was lavishly designed; the bed at the far end of the large space was obviously added for her. There were gauzy swaths of fabric separating the different areas of the room; no doors except the one separating the Khaleesi from the outside world. A large, sunken pool of steaming water for soaking was in the middle of the wing, magically spelled to keep the water clean and steaming at all times. A recreational flower-arranging area was off to the side. There was a library and a dining area and a lot of other areas that hurt her head to name. The little witch was living in absolute luxury. Aissa went through the door that the guard held open for her, noting that he was quick to lock it behind her.

"Such an extravagantly designed gilded cage," she muttered, taking in her surroundings with distaste. She missed Death already. The witch stood up out of the pool at her entrance, shocked and completely naked. After a while of staring slack-jawed at her new roommate, the delicate woman reached for a towel to cover herself and stepped out of the water.

"I… I didn't expect you so soon," she stated nervously, twisting the edge of the towel around her fingers. "I was just… I was trying to relax a little before you got here."

"Yes. I'm sure you were," she said with contempt. She walked through the hall towards her bed. She wanted nothing to do with the witch or this lavish setup. She just wanted to get back to her home, her husband, and her friends. As she passed the pool, the witch grabbed her arm to stop her forward momentum. She looked defensive, something that Aissa could appreciate. She wanted the stupid, weak chit to feel her inadequacy.

"You don't know what I've been living with," she defended herself, holding the towel closed.

"You're right. I don't," the younger woman said with a glare before pulling her arm away as if Leftin's witch was contagious. The two stared at each other until the state Khaleesi looked away with a sob. Aissa left her to her misery. She deserved it. She deserved Aissa's scorn and so much more after all the trouble that she had caused over the years. The Medical Peruser walked away from the crying woman, settling herself into the bed on the far side of the room.

Aissa woke to the sound of her roommate leaving the room with the guards. Once she had the place to herself, she quickly stripped down and cleaned her sore body in the tub. Wearing nothing but a towel, the girl went into her new closet and growled at the girly selection. If she'd thought Madrul had set her up with a feminine wardrobe… Apparently, the king reveled in making his Khaleesi look like little china dolls. No wonder the other woman had no will of her own! Taking out the least offensive dress of the bunch, she dressed and went off in search of breakfast.

"Hey," she yelled, pounding on the door, "when is…" The hair on the back of her neck stood up without warning. She turned around and saw a heaping plate of food on the table in the dining room. There were diced potatoes fried with onion in them, a couple of eggs over easy, bacon, sausages, and buttered toast. Next to the overflowing plate was silverware, a tall glass of orange juice, a saucer of what she strongly suspected was Ketchup, and an assortment of jams and jellies for the toast.

"Is everything alright, my Lady?" the guard asked respectfully.

"Uh… No. I mean yes. I mean, you know I'm never going to be able to finish that much food on my own, right?" Winston looked over her shoulder, then smiled at her gently.

"The table is spelled. It will clear and clean itself when you have eaten your fill. Enjoy your meal, dear Lady." With that, he closed the door and locked it, leaving the Lady to her thoughts. Aissa put an impressive dent in the mountain of food on her plate as she ate thoughtfully that morning. The orange juice glass was bottomless, making the meal all the more pleasant. Luckily, she didn't have the key to the Asalona vault. Khaleesi or not, her life would have been forfeit once he got his greedy hands on it. Was that the play? She froze. Of course, Leftin would trade her for the key. Asalona's gold would put him back in the driver's seat of his life. There was enough blood money there to quell even the most persistent of his detractors. Without access to that massive amount of money, his rule was precarious at best.

Goddess above, if only Envy had stuck to the plan! They would have robbed the place right under the evil Leftin's nose and been headed back toward Zumir to watch the end of the evil King's rule! They would have been a full crew; Charles, Gary, Kai, Quinn, and Peter would still be alive. Goddess above, she hadn't even gotten to mourn poor Gary. He'd taken a bullet for Madrul and had given his life without hesitation. And she could have saved him! With this extraordinary power at her command, he didn't have to die. But the loss of the junior lookout rang through her, the grief of his loss all the more poignant because she hadn't gotten to mourn him with her friends.

"Gary argued hard for me to have the key," she grinned through her tears. It was true, Gary had said that as the Mastermind, she should have the key. Good thing he'd been outvoted. Her man, her protector, had the key. But he was likely on his way here to collect her. By rights, she should be trying to escape. Given all that she knew about the king and his plans for her, she should be desperate to escape and somehow make her way back to Death. The King, his Court… Hell, even the guards expected it. But for some reason, she wasn't doing it. She knew how, Goddess knew she had the route to her freedom mapped in her mind even after so short of a time. King Leftin had planned the design of all his castles around the empire similarly. If you'd seen one, you'd seen them all. But something about leaving seemed wrong. There was still something she needed to do. The Lines of Destiny that she'd been following all this time without knowing still wouldn't reveal what it was, but there was still a task for her to complete. The Medical Peruser nodded to herself. She would stay put and wait for her crew to rescue her. In the meantime, she planned to take her frustration out on the Khaleesi.

The week passed slowly and leisurely for the impatient Khaleesi. She ate, she read, she partook in the decadent pleasures of being Leftin's slave, and she soaked in the tub. Slowly the calluses on her hands from holding swords softened. It was like losing the identity of Zara Titan all over again. The State Khaleesi was moved to another guest room on day three. As it turns out, she couldn't be in the same room as Aissa without bursting into tears. The younger woman didn't even have to say anything to her! Apparently, her guilt was that great. Aissa's belly was constantly full and her scrawny body filled out as time went by.

She was not granted another audience with the king. It seemed that Leftin knew better than to antagonize her again. She didn't glow and she was uneasy in the confines of her room, but that seemed to be par for the course. Early one morning, Winston, the kind guard at her door, knocked, informing her that she was to leave with everyone to get to Asalona before the crew of Death did. A couple of servants came in and efficiently packed up some clothes and other essentials for her, they even asked the Khaleesi to pick a few books for herself before she left the chamber. The Khaleesi was escorted to the ship and assigned to lavish quarters close to the King and the other Khaleesi's rooms. Aissa was sure to be as antisocial as possible during the four-day trip. She never asked to leave her room. The quarters were set up like the one at the castle, which made it easy to be all by herself.

The knock at her door on day two of the voyage was unexpected. The Queen didn't hesitate to enter the extravagant room, squirreling the key into the lace of her gown.

"I only have a couple of minutes to talk. Carl will be looking for me soon. Please, dear Lady, I want to know of my fate before my lord husband reclaims his fortune."

Aissa Anasazi looked over the delicate woman, the words trickling out of her like her tears.

"Your fate will depend largely upon the anger of the crowd, your Majesty. If you perish, it will be quick; no one desires your suffering. Should you live through the monster Leftin's death, you will be wed to a good man. You will have many babies by him and know true happiness at last."

"And there's no way to know which fate will befall me?" The Khaleesi was already shaking her head.

"I'm not omnipotent, your Majesty," she grinned through her tears. Her eyes clouded over even as she said this. "Take three steps to your left when he approaches the final door with the coveted key in hand if you wish to save yourself, Crystal. Your fate is now in your own hands." She blinked and shook her head hard, blood draining out of her nose. "Um… What were we talking about?" The Queen was looking at her in awe, handing her a handkerchief. The Khaleesi had just told her that in her native language. No one had spoken to her with such familiarity in years!

Aissa took the square of linen just as the door burst open. "We must go, my Queen. No one is supposed to speak to the Lady according to the King's unofficial decree. The guard is returning. We must go!"

"I am coming, Carl," the Queen said. She turned back to the bleeding woman. "Thank you, my Lady."

"No problem, your Majesty," the girl responded, still looking a little dazed and confused. A turn of the key and she was alone once again. What was that all about? Why would the Queen of all people defy Leftin's orders just to see her? What, did she have a death wish?

"And what the hell did I just say?" she asked out loud in the empty room. Things were moving, she was approaching that knot in time that she couldn't see past. Aissa ate, bathed, and settled in her bed for the night. No one disturbed her again during their voyage, which was thankfully brief.

Two days after her chat with the Queen, they arrived at their final destination. Madrul was already there. The feeling of fear and dread in the air gave it away. But all the Medical Peruser felt was the need to get to her beloved husband. She was all but vibrating with excitement, too keyed up to eat much and just barely able to button her dress after she bathed. Everything in her wanted her man.

"Out." Leftin had come for her himself at midmorning. Aissa followed the nervous King without comment. She'd already said all that needed saying to him. "Madrul is here," he said needlessly. "He has arranged for a trade. You for the key."

The girl gasped in horror and Leftin's thin, cruel lips curved into a very becoming smile. "Seems that you are not omnipotent after all. With all that money, I'll be able to rebuild my empire and the people's trust in me. You lose, little Khaleesi." His smile grew as the silence stretched between them. The evil man took his prize to the vaults, eager to have the key back in his possession.

By the time they arrived at Yoger, the field in front of the heavily guarded vault, the King was surrounded by his Court. His wife was present by his side and a large crowd of commoners was being held back by the guards. Leftin wanted everyone to see the final defeat of these wretched pirates who should have known better than to meddle in affairs of state.

"Do you have the key?" The King asked loudly, holding his hostage to him when all she seemed to want to do was run to her people. The Khaleesi was actually glowing, something that she hadn't done even once in his custody. Madrul held it up without speaking, clearly ready to get this over with. And it was the berserker that was in control at the moment. There wasn't a trace of her tender husband present in his demeanor. Even his loyal crew was giving him a wide berth.

"No tricks, Madrul. You give me the key and I release the Lady." He gave the key to Soujiro, who walked through the empty field lined with guards. Leftin grinned happily, intending to have all of these troublesome pirates executed on the spot once he had the key in hand. Enough was enough. The Khaleesi bitch was also on the slate for execution. If he let her go, she would only show up in a few years' time, making his life Hell again. Not to mention that she had upset his own Khaleesi. He'd invested years into breaking Blair. He simply didn't have the patience to do the same to another Khaleesi, no matter how much stronger she was.

Leftin took the key from the peasant in front of him with a grateful sigh. It was a relief to have the power back. The Lady hugged that same peasant in a friendly manner and the two started back towards their Captain. It was over as far as they were concerned. They'd lost. The woman didn't even spare him a glance as she walked away. His heart full of hatred, the most powerful man on the continent followed the two friends.

"Lady, I believe you forgot something," he said reasonably before burying his large hunting knife in her heart when she turned to face him. He twisted the knife while everyone looked on in disbelief, leaving it in as he turned to open his vault. "Kill them," he commanded his soldiers as he went.

A horrible scream rent the air as Aissa sank to her knees. She barely recognized the voice as that of the berserker. She herself was too shocked to make a sound. Leftin's pettiness knew no bounds. This was why he was going to die, torn to pieces by his own people.

"At least I'll get my wish," she said weakly as the first of the proletariat slammed into the wall of soldiers, bellowing in outrage. Leftin didn't even notice this, intent on opening the vault as his wife took three steps away from him. So this was why I couldn't see past this point in the timeline, she thought ruefully as her life left her. There is no 'me' past this point. She coughed up blood, wishing fervently for her husband in her dying moments.

"Aissa," a tearful voice sounded through her as she realized that she was laying on her husband's broad chest. So, he'd come to her before tearing the foolish king limb from limb in vengeance. She was glad; she didn't have much time left.

"I love you," she whispered with a pained grunt as the crew of Death gathered around her. Then she blinked as the king inserted the key into the vault and it dissolved. "What the-"

"Just a little spell I cooked up," Envy laughed through her tears as the members of the Court joined the proletariat in attacking the king. The crew laughed at the look on the King's face. No one had made a move to attack the knot of pirates. No one was following the King's orders at all. Hell, only his two corrupt bodyguards were holding back the crowd at this point. Even the soldiers were rebelling in the face of his senseless killing of the Khaleesi. There was too much screaming to make out what any one person was saying. The commoners wanted him dead for the Khaleesi's demise. The courtiers wanted him dead because he could not pay them anymore. And the soldiers were with the commoners. Either way, the crowd was tearing through the two loyal bodyguards, not even turning tail when Wallis and Argon started firing wildly into the crowd.

The dying woman watched all of this with a big old smile on her face. At least that bastard Leftin wouldn't be far behind her in the apparent race to the afterlife. She tried to breathe through her torn lungs and found the task harder and harder. Then the other Khaleesi came up to the group, the Queen in tow.

"Let me through! I can save her!" Death's crew parted like a sea to get her to the girl. She laid a hand on her rival's chest only to have it taken off by the berserker.

"Why?" She smiled softly at the grieving man.

"All my life I've been King Leftin's puppet. I've let him use me for terrible things, and it's crushed my spirit. Then your amazing wife came along and showed me what I was supposed to be all along. I just want to do good. For once in my life, I want to do something good." He stared at the other Khaleesi doubtfully but finally relented when his woman placed her bloody hand on his.

Blair smiled and placed her own bloody hand back on her spiritual sister's chest. She started to sing something in the Queen's native tongue. As she sang, the knife started to dislodge itself as her deep wound began to knit itself closed. The older Khaleesi's song didn't work as fast as Aissa's would have, but it did work. After the third repetition of her quiet song, the knife fell into her lap, the wound completely gone. Aissa took a full, deep breath with no pain.

"Thank you, sister," she said, placing her hand over Blair's. The middle-aged woman could only grin. It was the first time she had used her healing abilities in her life. Aissa then pushed herself to her feet to survey the damage. Leftin and his entire Court lay in bloody chunks on the once pristine field. The people were rejoicing over the deaths, looking for more victims now that the bloodlust was on them. Everyone stopped in their tracks when they finally noticed that the 'dead' Khaleesi was no longer dead.

"My Lady," Whitney said reverently, kneeling to block her view of the King's head.

"My Lady," more people followed Whitney's example, covering up the corpse parts as they knelt. Aissa smiled serenely at them all. Then she turned to Atherton.

"It's time. It's time for you to be known, your Majesty," she said loudly so that all the people could hear. Benji actually gulped before stepping forward. He didn't like the way his crewmates were staring at him in shock. But at least it meant that the Khaleesi had kept her promise in all the time since his illness. She'd never revealed his origins.

"I am… was Leftin's half-brother," he said firmly. "My mother was a palace servant who the old king forced himself on. She escaped the castle before he could have her executed and raised me to be an upstanding citizen. I-"

"How could you serve the Crown all those years knowing what the Crown did to your mother, General Atherton?" one of the older soldiers demanded. Everyone knew that the old king was as perverted and cruel as his son. The man would have his conquests killed to avoid scandal. Several people nodded their agreement, remembering the stories.

"Simple. I didn't know. My mother kept the secret literally until her dying day. By the time I found out, Leftin had already made the connection. That's why he accused me of foul play, to discredit me so that he could have me murdered and eliminate the competition for the throne. He had no heirs, so technically the throne would have fallen to me if he died. The idea of a commoner - even a half-commoner like myself - on the throne was too much for him." People absorbed this information, nodding their approval of a commoner for a king.

"But wait! How do you plan to finance your reign?" Another of the peasants asked over the mutterings of the crowd. "All the kingdom's wealth was stolen. All except for the blood money collected from us and stored in this vault. And that fool Leftin lost the key! Do you plan to tax us to death as your half-brother did?" That riled up the crowd, but Benjamin was quick to ease their fears.

"I've been traveling with the Lady and her crew for months now, stealing wealth from the Crown in an effort to destabilize his corrupt government. That wealth will be returned to the people now that he is gone."

"As for this vault," Aissa spoke up from behind him, making her way gingerly around the dismembered members of the Court, "I can fix that." She focused her attention on the door and music filled the air. In time the crowd heard the sound of the lock turning. She grinned and opened the door. Everyone looked at the open door in wonder, having thought that gold was lost forever when the key dissolved. There was more than enough money there to jump-start the failing government.

So ends the reign of King Leftin. I really came to hate that awful man over the course of this story. Only the epilogue left and this story wraps up. See ya next week! :D