(3rd Person)
When Aliendra located her chambers a bath had already been drawn, and several excited servant girls were standing ready. Their clothes Each one was equipped with an assortment of brushes and oils held at the ready.
"Your majesty, everything has been prepared for you." The youngest said with a swooping bow.
Aliendra stiffened her back but allowed a kind smile to spread across her face. "I am flattered by your assistance but I am able to do this alone."
Tell them I would like their help Jack thought to her.
No! You are aware that I can hear what you're thinking right? Aliendra said with a slight blush spreading across her cheeks in spite of herself.
C'mon, I was just poisoned. Can I have a little relaxation?
From what I'm seeing it looks a little more stimulating than that. Aliendra thought with her blush spreading to consume her cheeks, she looked down to admire the floor.
"Yes your majesty, if it is your wish that we should go, then we shall leave. If you have need of us for any reason, please do not worry yourself to call." Although slightly concerned at their Queen's behavior they slid out of the room.
Aliendra began disrobing, and slid into the bath. The water was warm but not entirely hot, and it relaxed her deeply.
You didn't tell them. Aliendra heard Jack think, sounding quite disappointed.
What has gotten into you? Aliendra laughed into the empty room, astounding herself with the sound.
Hey you almost died, and then I almost died. We should just stop doing things unless they make our life better, and those girls definitely would have made my life better.
Were there any drugs in the poison they gave you? Opium or something?
No, I've just seen you stressed out too much. Earlier in the hallway I expected you to burst, so I've decided that you and I are going to be happy no matter what.
Speaking of what happened earlier-
YES! That was amazing! You should write a book "how to make stuck up members of your court sit down and shut the hell up" by Aliendra.
In that empty room, with Jack, I felt at peace. I was home, in a strangers bathing chamber.
I should but seriously, what am I going to say later today?
Tell them the truth, you're Alena's daughter and you're going to kick some serious ass.
How do you think they're going to react? I've never done this before.
Jack wasted no time before responding. They're going to love you.
If you say so.
Aliendra emerged from the bath, and began the impossible process of making her hair dry enough to style. Seconds hadn't even passed before some red-face handmaiden shoved the door open and wrenched control away from her.
Aliendra sat still while this girl, no more than 18, yanked and tugged on her hair, pulling it into something resembling what a queen would wear.
"They're already gathering for you." She murmured.
"Already?" Aliendra asked. "The speech doesn't begin for another hour."
"Oh your majesty you don't understand. These people have waited years for you. Another hour is nothing."
No pressure. Jack thought.
Aliendra cracked a smile.
"I'm sorry your majesty?"
"Nothing." Aliendra said.
About fifteen minutes later Aliendra's hair looked nothing like it had looked in a decade. Braids flowed without end, held perfectly in place by jeweled pins. Not a single strand was unaccounted for. It was smooth and precise, with no room for error. Aliendra shivered at the thought.
The serving-girl ran over to the door and knocked on it twice. The door burst open at least five other girls each carrying some array of fabric or shoes. Aliendra was pulled up and brought to the corner of the room, where she was made to stand absolutely still while they stuck needles into her and draped the fabric around them. At least that was how it felt. At the end of the ordeal she was dressed in an unusually tight floor-length dress, made of some purple fabric that shimmered when it caught the light directly. They tried to shove her into some horrifically small shoes that appeared to be more amethyst than shoe, but luckily the terrible things didn't fit and Aliendra got to wear her slip-on travel shoes.
From the door a subtle knock was heard. A girl about fifteen rushed over and opened it slightly.
"Is the Queen ready?" A small and raspy voice asked.
"Yes, she has been for a few moments now. Where the hell were you?" The serving girl demanded.
"My apologies, we have been preparing for the, ah, speech." The girl pursed her lips as if tasting something sour, then called out.
"Your majesty, they are ready for you."
Aliendra stepped away from her crowd of servants into the company of a very brittle looking man with an arched back. He hadn't introduced himself, he just motioned for her to follow him.
As they walked, images that Aliendra hadn't let herself see her first time through stood out. Paintings that she used to sprint past on her way to do more fun things, a scorch mark on the wall from when she was still learning how to control her powers. The cleaning staff had tried to clean it off but it wasn't a simple burn, she had melted the stone slightly.
Aliendra reached a point where she couldn't decide whether she was an 8 year old running through a place she wouldn't keep for long, or a queen preparing to speak to a people desperate for hope. She knew she should be deciding what to say, but she couldn't focus her thoughts. It wasn't real.
They reached an intersection, on the left stood a path up to the balcony where her parents made speeches, on the right stood a path to the grand doors and the front of the castle. They took a right.
Aliendra grew more and more nervous at this change of plans. The tiny man didn't however, and he seemed to grow more calm the closer he got to the exit. The dress felt too tight, she couldn't run in this. Thank the gods she didn't have the shoes.
They reached the doors and without warning the tiny man shoved them open, appearing tranquill. Aliendra stopped in the doorway, but the tiny man placed an arm on her shoulder and shoved her through. His tunic shifted and just above his elbow a precise tattoo was visible: a snake.
Aliendra's blood ran cold, and she stepped into the cool air of twilight. Her people stood gathered looking nervously at each other and their queen. Aliendra glanced up, and in the balcony where she should be making her speech, sat several people she remembered from the planning room. She glanced back down and established directly ahead of the crowd, was a noose.
Jack where are you? Aliendra thought nervously.
In the dungeons, they remind me of home. He joked.
Get out here, they're going to hang me!
They can't hang you. You'll have the entire city incinerated in an instant if they try to harm you.
Yeah I know that, and I'd like to avoid bloodshed if at all possible.
Alright I'll be up there soon, just hang tight and let me think of a plan.
The tiny man stepped back and pressed himself against the wall. It appeared that they weren't going to hang her, they were going to have her hang herself. The symbolism was dripping from the situation. Someone far more clever than a few corrupt nobles had to have put this little gem together.
"People of Spear." A deep voice boomed from the balcony. "Before you today stands a traitor, someone who sought to rule you alone and to ignore the words of her counsel. We fight together to remove a tyrant, not to get another. The false queen of Spear must hang for her crimes, for that we all know to be true. Alice Springhaven, you have been sentenced to death. Do you have any final words?"
Tough talk for a man who doesn't even have me in a noose yet. Aliendra thought to herself.
"Yes, I do have something to say. People of Spera would you care to know the exact crime I committed in their presence. The crime that was so severe it decided my fate, despite my presence on the battlefield among you protecting Spera? I burned the speech they gave me. I burned it because it called for the removal of taxes on the wealthiest among us, and who is more wealthy than the court. It would lower taxes on jewelers and tailors, but raise the taxes on farmers and hunters. It did not encourage you to fight, but it encouraged you to submit. This court speaks of tyranny but what greater tyranny than this? You are the people of Spera, not the slaves of Spera.
If you will still have me, I will stand with you on the field of battle alongside your Captain Xavier, and my twin of heart and mind Jack, as we did today. We will march upon the real tyrant King, and we shall slay him. I escaped from his clutches once. I have eluded his capture at every turn, and today we have defeated his strongest armies. His strength is failing and his armies are scattered, and we can defeat him. None of that will happen if you execute me here today."
The people screamed as they tore ahead of the steps and ripped the noose from it's frame, but from somewhere in the shadows a voice was heard.
"Foolish girl." It said.
Author's Note- After the longest hiatus I have ever had, I have returned. It's been a year since I've started this account, and I have spent no less than six months not updating. I'm sorry about that, but I'm hopeful that in the future I will be able to.