Chapter 21: Death of the monarch

It wasn't long before she had found the queen; she stood panting with three men dead at her feet. She looked up at Kim with a wide eyed stare of amazement. Kim stared in shock as Dion's massive frame rise up behind her. Kim ran to protect her but was a moment too late. The queen turned to see Dion drop his sword. With one swing of his sword the queen had fallen. Kim stopped in her tracks at the sight; the whole world seemed to slow down. She had to crane her neck upward just to see Dion's war torn face. She let out a terrible scream that seemed to stop the battle all together. Everyone turned to see the queen lying in the grass with Dion glaring down at her. The air was suddenly filled with the shrieks and screams of every woman on the battle field.

Kim was now paralyzed by shock, as Dion stepped over the queen and approached her. He grasped her by the neck and lifted her to eye level. He smiled and turned back to glance at the fallen queen. "I think you will make an excellent concubine." He said in a wicked tone. Kim could hardly breathe now as her body became numb.

"Hey." Someone called. Dion turned his attention to Shego angrily throwing her sword aside. "I believe you have something of mine." She ignited her hands. "Put her down before I take your hand along with her."

Dion laughed, enclosing his hand around Kim's neck. Shego cocked her head to the side a smile curled the corners of her lips. In the blink of an eye, Kim fell to the ground gasping for air while Dion looked at the charred remains of his wrist. Shego had kept to her word and was now preparing for another attack. Dion held back a look of shock and glared at Shego, who only smiled at him in return. Dion began a slow walk toward her which quickly turned to a full charge.

Shego stood in her place until he thrust his sword out. She dropped to ground and swept his legs out from under him. He fell to the ground with a thud that shook the ground. Shego wasted no time taking his sword; she stepped back and allowed him to stand. "You wouldn't kill an unarmed man." Dion said as he struggled to his feet.

Shego nodded. "Your right, I wouldn't kill an unarmed man." She threw his sword aside. "But I don't know about them." She said jerking her thumb behind her toward the palace wall. In a moment dozens of arrows cut through the air whizzing past Shego's head all hitting their mark without fail. Shego turned away at the sight of Dion falling. She helped Kim to her feet hurried to where the queen still lay. The battle was slowly dying down around them as the last few men were defeated.

Reality had hit and now they were left to deal with the loss of the queen. Soon a group had formed around them and the queen, Ariel placed her bow in the queen's hands and helped carry her, the long distance back to the palace. Kim and Shego were left alone as the women marched behind the funeral procession. Kim whipped the sweat from her face and stared down at Dion.

"You did good princess." Shego said resting a gentle hand on Kim's shoulder.

"War isn't something I wanted to be good at." Kim said with a sigh.

"What do you want to with him?" Shego asked.

"Get a horse."

888

Kim and Shego rode through the doors to see the town filled with soldiers. As they made their way through the crowd made a wide path for them to pass. Many of them paying their respects while others; turned their attention to the cart behind them.

"This feels wrong, even for me." Shego whispered, glancing back at Dion.

Kim shook her head. "He killed one of the best queens this nation has ever seen. We have to let them have their retribution."

They stopped in the middle of town. Kim and Shego dropped to the ground. Kim addressed the crowd while Shego stood uneasily off to the side. "This is the man responsible for taking the queen's life."

Kim turned and quietly led Shego into the palace, as the crowd surrounded the cart. They walked quietly to the throne room where Melanippe and Antiope stood over the queen.

"We have to elect a new queen." Antiope said in a harsh tone.

"This isn't the time for that." Melanippe said pushing the tears from her eyes.

"Melanippe is right. We have a lot to do before we can elect a new queen." Kim said nervously fidgeting with her hands before finally crossing her arms over her chest.

They all stared at one another before Antiope spoke up. "We need to delegate the tasks. Melanippe, you see to the funeral. General, you and I will escort the citizens back to the town. Shego, I want you to hunt down that trader Bana. See to it she comes back alive and in one piece. It'll be easier to bring her back that way."

Everyone accepted their tasks without argument. Shego was the first to leave the room; she searched the palace until she found Ariel leaning against the railing of a balcony. Her eyes filled with tears as she looked down at the soldiers in the town.

"You and I have to find Bana." Shego said after a long moment. Ariel jumped slightly and turned to face Shego.

"What?" She asked drying her eyes.

"I've been given the job of finding Bana. She disappeared during the battle. I have to find her and bring her back." Shego said looking over the railing at the crowd below.

"She couldn't have gotten too far. The general had done quite a bit of damage to her. I just hope she can stand trial in her state." Ariel said in an unsympathetic tone.

"Well we have to bring her back alive. Now let's go, every minute we spend standing around is another step that gets her further away from us."