AN: Happy Holidays here is a story
Summary: The Agron Kingdom gets wrangled into a messy situation a dead beastkin is found in the home of one of their nobles. With the threat of war on the horizon will love prevail
Song: That's What I Want - Lil Nas X
Disclaimer: I own nothing
"Have you found my derelict sister yet?" Quinn questioned as she bent down, to get a closer look at the bear skinned rug that was on the floor. It was a massive thing that spanned quite a large portion of the room that she was currently in and to the untrained eye, it simply looked like an impressive trophy from a rather successful hunt.
"No, your highness, she wasn't in the palace," came the reply from the shadows.
Quinn extends her hand, and takes the handle of a long thin blade and begins to inspect the bear carefully, placing the blade in the bear's mouth she uses it to lift the bear's head, so she could get a better look. The rug was far heavier than it looked, and upon closer inspection she noticed the bear had some matting around its neck, indicating that it had once been chained. Her suspicions that this was not a mere trophy are abated when she gets a glimpse of a rather large hole at the base of the creature's neck. "Did you have some of the sparrows check the local taverns?" She asks, handing back the tool after she flips the head of the creature back, so she can have a closer look.
"We did check her usual haunts," came the rather dry reply.
Clicking her tongue in annoyance, Quinn stands when she confirms what she's looking for. The most likely scenario was that her dear twin had realized that she was being followed and had simply managed to duck her hidden escort. "Nyssa, my wayward twin, has managed to evade my sparrows for what feels like the umpteenth time. I am currently looking at a skinned Beastkin, and this has only come to my attention because the idiotic son of Viscount Coleman tried to defile one of my dolls. After such a failure, you can see why I believe that your father needs to retrain my Sparrows again, can't you?"
"I do," Nyssa replies simply, "I will see to it that I find out why this trade has escaped our—" Nyssa suddenly turns sharply, a long thin needle like knife appearing between her fingertips, as she flicks her wrist with enough force that the needle is embedded into the ground. Her lips curl up in annoyance, as a rather large rat attempts to make its escape and pulls free another needle. It seemed that Quinn was right and everyone's skills needed to be resharpened. She wouldn't miss the second time and as she takes aim, Quinn suddenly appears in her direct line of vision, forcing her to stop immediately. "Your—"
"Leave it be."
"But—"
"Prime beastkins are the only beastkin who can fully transform. You'll only make the situation worse if you kill another one. Besides I would rather they rely that information that this has just come to the attention of the Royal family and we will look into things. With how high tensions have been, it's best if we don't do anything to aggravate them further. This is already going to be a massive scandal." Quinn sighed, the news from the border was starting to make sense, and when this got out which it would it would be the spark for another war between them. Quinn pauses for a moment and she can feel Nyssa's quiet disapproval on her back. "You have my permission to speak, Nyssa."
"If that is a Prime Beastkin, then you must know that a war is unavoidable. Letting the rat escape means that we have less time to prepare, and if they're sending their rats out, then we have to assume that they've expected this and have already started preparing for war."
Quinn turns her attention back to rug for a moment, Nyssa was right, war was likely, "Our military force is always in a state of readiness, and given who we are fighting I imagine that the nobles will be happy to send troops, the greedy bastards will want to collect beastcores. I don't like being backed into a corner, Nyssa, nor do I like the fact that someone in my country has been selling beastkin, and I doubt very much that they're just stopping with selling parts." Quinn's jaw twitches in a cool refined anger as she slowly exhales, "Has the aggrieved doll arrived?"
Nyssa nods her head once, it would be best not to speak. Quinn was in a foul mood, not that she could be blamed; this was a failure of intelligence. Something was going on in the underworld that had escaped their notice. She just wasn't quite sure how it had escaped their intelligence.
"All this because some pathetic little boy tried to defile one of my dolls and his father tried to buy them off with a beastcore."
"They will not have a painless death. We have rounded up the entire household, and they are in the foyer awaiting your judgment."
"And the doll?"
"Lady Lance, wishes to make the transition to become one of your sparrows."
Quinn's mood shifts, and her lips quirk upwards. Nyssa wasn't like her sister, she had little tells, she could hear it in Nyssa's voice. "Lady Lance was always more of a—" Loud shouting interrupts her train of thought and Quinn sighs, and exits the room. Nyssa trailing a few steps behind her, as she makes her way down the stairs, not bothering to spare a glance at the entire household that are currently kneeling, as they await their judgment.
She finally comes to a stop in front of Viscount Coleman, a portly man who had been a member of the anti-royal faction of nobles. She would be lying if she said that seeing the blowhard like this didn't bring her a sense of satisfaction.
"Your Highness!" Viscount Coleman cried, his eyes wide with terror, he was still in his sleeping shirt and had been roused to a knife being pressed against his neck. His security had been neutralized. All the bluster that had been on his lips had disappeared when he had realized who had taken his household hostage, out of all the king's children the rumors surrounding his second youngest child were terrifying. So a minor humiliation meant that he could live to plot his revenge, then so be it. "Mercy."
Quinn ignores the pleading instead turning to look at the two Sparrows who had been in charge, "Fine work Natasha, Yelena. Give my thanks to the rest of your team for doing an excellent job." Quinn's smile quickly morphs into a look of disgust as she turns her attention back to Viscount Coleman and his family. They needed information, someone was breaking the laws of the kingdom and was putting the entire kingdom at risk for their greed. She would need to make an example of them. "Viscount Coleman, you have been a loyal if not contrary retainer to the royal family for centuries. It's a terrible shame that your son has destroyed your house." A cruel smile crosses Quinn's face as she watches the gears turn in Viscount Coleman's head. He was ready to sacrifice his son so that he may live.
"Whatever my son has done—"
"Don't play dumb with me Viscount Coleman, you are aware of the crimes that your son committed. You may have been able to pay off all the merchants, and all the minor nobles which prevented your son's crimes from coming to light, but you should have educated him better. He tried to defile one of my dolls. If you had thrown him away right then and there I wouldn't be here. And I wouldn't have found out about your little secret," Quinn says, watching the blood drain from Viscount Coleman's face. "You have only one chance to extend your life, Viscount Coleman, so answer this question honestly. From whom did you acquire a beastkin from?" Quinn asked.
Viscount Coleman stares at Quinn slightly horrified by the question but he had managed to weasel his way out of situations before, and if he could just delay, "Spare my—"
"This isn't a negotiation," Quinn interrupts rudely, as she approaches Viscount Coleman's son Josh and extends her hand, taking the thin dagger from one of her sparrows. In one swift motion she slices off his ear, her irritation growing as his filthy blood splashes onto her, and the poor boy screams into what is now a blood soaked gag. Quinn turns to look at Sara, "I need information, once I have that he is yours to do with as you wish. I personally wouldn't use this knife, it's very sharp. I think that something duller would do the trick, but again he is yours once we get the information we require." When Sara nods her thanks, Quinn returns her attention to the Coleman household raising her voice so that everyone can hear her. "Someone in this room knows the information that I am seeking. I suggest that you find your voice quickly, it'll save you an extended visit with my sparrows." Quinn turns to Nyssa and points to the blood on her clothes waving the bloody knife around. "Nyssa."
Nyssa takes the blade from Quinn carefully, "That was your spare change of clothes, your highness."
Quinn blanched at this, before sighing. "Well, I'd rather Rachel complain about the stench of blood, then be angry that my clothes smell of another woman's perfume," Quinn decides, she could at least blame the blood on assassination attempt, but at this point she was certain that Rachel was becoming suspicious of all the attempts on her life. "Nyssa, when you're done extracting all our new guests, erase this house from existence. He's ruined one of my favorite shirts."
Nyssa inhaled sharply, Quinn's mood had taken a turn for the worse and this message would be felt by the entire aristocracy. "I will make sure it's done." She exchanges a look with Natasha, who nodded calmly, before she follows after Quinn. Not bothering to spare a glance at the fallen household as she heads towards the exit.
~ O ~
A black tail danced in the air as a rather large panther stared at the bovine delegation that had just arrived in the great hall. They were easy to spot, the bovine delegation had rather intricately designed septum piercings that would grow when they shifted. With a bit of effort the large panther gets to its feet and begins to skulk in the shadows, following the delegation quietly.
The head of the delegation suddenly stops and turns to the direction of the panther, an unimpressed look on her features. "Santana, this is not the time for your games."
The panther stops for a second, before a sigh erupts from it's lips and it leaves the shadows and jumps down transforming in the process as she lands in front of Xena, her eyes glued to her rather large chest, "I think you're asking for the impossible dear Xena, how can I take my eyes of what I'm sure will be—delectable prey."
Xena rolled her eyes, used to the disrespect. It had taken quite a bit of effort to change the perceptions of their clan, and she was aware how the carnivorous clans viewed her own. But before she can snap back at the wayward panther, her daughter is pushing her way in between them.
"Do not make me gouge out your disrespectful eyes!"
Santana tilts her head, and grins at Eve, while her chest was nowhere as impressive as her mothers, there was still quite a bit of heft to them and she would love to get her hands on them. The stories she had heard from Maze about having sex with bovines made her curious. "Well if you're offering to take your mothers place in my bed how could I possibly say—" Santana dodges the sword swing from Eve and lets out a laugh as her claws come out.
"Enough," Xena said, taking her daughter by the arm and pulling her towards the great hall. "You would do well to remember where we are and why we have all gathered. It is quite possible that we have just received confirmation that another prime has been taken and killed by the humans."
"If that bear was to stupid to realize that a honey pot is a bloody trap, I do not see why the rest of us need to go to war on his behalf. The last time we went to war with the humans they wiped out entire clans of birds, and many of our fish people. The elephant clan no longer has a prime, and their numbers are dwindling."
"The humans have broken the agreement, one that our ancestors fought so hard for. And how long is it until they come after the cat clan?"
Santana turns to look at the person who had joined in on the conversation, her nose crinkling in irritation as she looks at the head of the reptile clan, a Prime Komodo dragon by the name of Hunter. "No one in the cat clan is going to be captured by humans, we aren't stupid. If the goal is to prevent our numbers from dwindling further, we should send one of the diplomats over and demand reparations." The reptiles being out for blood made sense, they enjoyed humans and were generally effective at dealing with them, but the bovine delegation was a surprise. They were usually far more level headed than this.
"Who would think that a young panther would be such a coward," Hunter scoffs as he shakes his head.
Santana scowled, her tail swishing angrily at the insult. "If we vote and we decide to go to war then I fight if it is required of me, but I think that this is a terrible idea."
"We should save this for the discussion hall, will you be attending and voting? Or are you simply going to prowl around attempting to bed any woman who catches your eye," Xena asks, looking at Santana who shrugs. She was least offended by Santana's behavior, young Primes who didn't have a mate, were constantly getting into trouble, and despite her nonchalant attitude, Santana was one of the better fighters that they had. It was a relief to hear that she would at least join the battle if it was required of her.
Santana glanced back at the great hall, she could smell the bloodlust from here. Shannon of the bear clan was angry but it had been her son that had been missing for weeks. There was no doubt in her mind that all the Primes in attendance would vote for war, her one vote against it would lead to questions, and she really didn't want to have to fight everyone who called her a coward, simply because she would prefer to simply lay about and wait until the rabbit delegation arrived. She wondered if Elaine would be up to play with her during the meeting. She takes a deep breath and smirks. "The bunny delegation just arrived, perhaps I'll try my luck with them."
With that Santana transforms into her panther form, and decides to find a better place for her to watch the delegations coming in. It wasn't as if she cared for the humans, she simply didn't care much for the other clans. If it wasn't the humans then they would simply be fighting each other, and on and on it went. As far as she could tell the humans hadn't even changed their laws, it was still very much illegal to hunt and sell beastkin, perhaps asking for reparations would be enough. She should be spending her days searching for her mate, not trying to survive a silly pointless war that would just decimate more of their numbers.
~ O ~
The thing about drake breath was that it always smelled like rotting flesh, and waking up to a heavy pressure on your chest and the smell of decaying rotting fish, was more than enough to cause Charlie's eyes to snap open and begin to water at the exact same time as she looked into the big dopey eyes of her drake, she was covered in his drool and she groans and tries to push his head away. "Oh god, I think I'm going to be sick," she groans, feeling the familiar sensation of her stomach flipping as she drags herself away and into a corner and starts to dry heave.
It's at this moment her drake decides that he wants to be affectionate again and gently nudges her with his snout. Unfortunately it was still enough force to knock her off over and cause her to roll onto her back, as she reaches for her mount and scratches behind it's scales hoping that her small action appeases him for now, as she struggles to remember what she had gotten up to last night. And there was a little itch at the back of her brain, that was letting her know that she was forgetting something, but her brain hurt, and she was certain she smelled awful. "Are we in a barn? Which barn?" Charlie questions covering her eyes.
Still with the steady beat in her head right behind her eyes, Charlie immediately starts to do a haphazard check. She starts at her hip and feels her sword still sheathed and by her side. Good she hadn't gotten so drunk that she had gambled her sword away. She reaches for her coin purse and pats her side and groans, she had been robbed again. Probably by the urchins, the little shits were always bullying her and taking her things! They certainly didn't seem to care that they were robbing a royal! One day she'd be sober and catch them and send them off to the gallows. That had been all her money for the month, and she doubted her mother would give her more. She'd have to ask one of her sisters.
She sits up and looks down at herself, her clothes were in disarray and she grins at the thought, wondering who the lucky lady is when she suddenly gets splashed by a bucket of water and she sputters and coughs as her drake begins to lick her as if trying to get as much water as possible. Charlie immediately shoves his face away and glares at the person who had dared, but her anger dissipates at the sight of one of the maids, who jumps back in fright as her drakes tail starts to thump against the ground.
"You're still here?"
"I don't know where here is, but if you're here to nurse me back to health, I would be very grateful," Charlie says, flashing the woman one of her most charming smiles, but she's met with a rather unimpressed look.
"I don't have any change to spare for you, and the madam was very annoyed that you caused a ruckus last night. You're lucky she didn't call for the guards, you would have spent the night in a cell. But if she catches you in our stables, scaring away our customers she'll call for the guards immediately."
Charlie opens her mouth to remind this woman that she is indeed a princess, but decides against it. She really did have nothing on her that would prove her claims. She was going to have a word with those urchins the next time she saw them. For whatever reason she was the only royal to not have access to a budget, it was maddening, but her family seemed to enjoy treating her like a child. All because she had gambled away a small fortune when drunk one time, they acted like she was an irresponsible child! "Hiccup. Let's go home."
Hiccup the drake grabs the front of Charlie's shirt with his teeth and drops her onto his back, like she was a sack of potatoes, before he gets up and begins to walk through the streets after leaving the barnhouse. Charlie immediately sits up, muttering under her breath. When Hiccup suddenly veers to the left, Charlie looks around and her eyes widen. "Hiccup. No. I don't have any money! You let me get robbed by street urchins!" Charlie said, trying to pull on his reins, but her drake is determined to follow the scent of fish and starts to pick up speed, sending people hurtling out of the way as they try to avoid the hungry drake.
"Bad Hiccup! No. I said home! We need to go back to the palace!" Charlie grunted trying to force her drake to listen to her, but he was hungry and the best that she could do was direct him towards the ocean so he could go hunting for his own food instead of destroying half the fish markets again. Her father would not be pleased if they needed to rebuild the entire market again. She grips the leash tightly and takes a sharp left nearly falling off Hiccup. But with a bit of force she manages to lead him towards the docks and he almost doubles his speed as he sees the large body of water. "Okay just let me off—wait, no wait—" Charlie says as Hiccup launches himself off the decks and into the ocean, sending her flying into the water. As he takes off hunting for his breakfast.
Charlie spits out water and swims to the dock getting helped up by a few dock workers, as she watches Hiccup prancing in the water and attacking the fish with such zeal. She groaned, after he finished eating he would find somewhere to curl up and sleep. Which meant that she could either walk back to the palace which would take hours, and she wasn't sure who was guarding the front gate, if it was someone new then she was definitely not going to be let in. She looks around and most of the dockwalkers seem nonplussed at her drake basically creating a scene in the harbor and sighs. At least one of the royal brothels was nearby, she was sure that one of Quinn's dolls would be working and she could arrange for a ride back to the palace, and possibly clean clothes. Maybe she could even get a meal. "I'm going home Hiccup!" Charlie calls out for her drake, but when he ignores her she simply turns around and starts walking, wincing at the sound of her wet boots squeaking with every movement. She can feel curious eyes on her and she's certain she spots a fishmonger laughing at her. The whole thing was rather embarrassing.
Still it doesn't take her long to reach one of the royal brothels, and nods at the two security guards who glance over at her and step aside when they realize who she is. She immediately waves down the madam who raises a brow at her. "Food, and a ride," Charlie orders, flashing the woman a smile. She gets a slap for her troubles, and she scowls. "I meant a ride back to the palace!"
"Hmph," the madam says, but motions for Charlie to head up the stairs. "We will prepare you something, but you must bathe first, seeing you will drive away our customers. We'll bring you some clean clothes. Do not try your luck with one of the dolls. Or you will be out on your ear, do you understand?"
Charlie nods after a moment, she was going to start her own brothel and that would show Quinn. And they'd all want to be with her, because she was amazing. She was one of the kingdom's sword masters after all! The youngest ever, she was unparalleled on the battlefield, and no one could touch her when she was there. So why didn't she have a line of women who wanted to have some fun with her! This was all Quinn's fault! "Oh shit. Quinn!" It suddenly dawns on her what she had forgotten and for a moment Charlie is stunned before she shrugs her shoulders. Quinn was quite capable of cleaning up after herself. It probably wasn't that important, or one of her sparrows would have kidnapped her. It wouldn't be the first time and it certainly wouldn't be the last.