CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE: Source of Evil

POOF!

The instant Arwen's puckered lips brushed the cool, moist skin of the frog's back, Ling Kray the pirate was back in his bodily form. The hard-muscled pirate immediately crushed the tall elf-maiden to him and returned her kiss with passion.

For a moment the two of them were oblivious to everything.

"All right," Ling Kray finally said, ending the kiss with a suddenness that left Arwen gasping. "Let's go find that evil Queen Zuleika and get rid of her once and for all!"

"No, wait!" Arwen clutched his arm. "We can't just rush into the banquet hall. The queen is surrounded by armed guards, and she has magic protection as well. We need to think of a plan!"

Ling Kray gave her a crooked smile. His black eyes where shining in the dim light of the chamber. "Devise a plan, and I will follow. I trust you with body and soul, Arwen Evenstar."

"Thank you, captain." For a moment Arwen felt almost shy. The two of them had come a long way from the days when Arwen was a slave who hated her pirate kidnaper.

"I'm in charge here," Fat little Prince Kassim interrupted. "Queen Zuleika killed my father, and stole my throne. I want it back, and if we follow any plan, it should be my plan!"

"Being a king can be dangerous, little prince," Captain Tamara said softly. "Do you really want to lead the way?"

"I want to be the nastiest surprise Zuleika's ever gotten," Kassim said stubbornly.

"That gives me an idea . . ." Arwen drew her friends close, and began outlining a desperate plan.

"Well, that was a square meal, old girl!" Evil Captain Gwenna slapped Queen Zuleika on the back, totally disregarding the proper protocol of the court. After getting rid of the queen's most deadly enemies, the woman warrior clearly saw herself as holding all the cards. "What's for dessert?"

"I haven't the slightest idea," the queen replied coldly. Already the hefty older woman was regretting the decision to make blonde Gwenna the new captain of the guard. But with Margo lost in the catacombs, what choice did she have? Getting rid of Ling Kray the pirate and that idiot elf-girl had been a necessity, but the price had been high. Already the queen sensed she might have to get rid of Gwenna too. But it wouldn't be so easy this time. If only cheerful, laughing, red-haired Captain Margo would come back to her alive . . .

Just then there was a great clamor at the door of the banquet hall. Captain Margo was back from the caverns, all dressed in shining armor and banging on a pair of cymbals!

"Have you returned in triumph, Captain Margo?" the queen asked, inwardly rejoicing that she hadn't lost her favorite captain after all. Not that she trusted the girl. Zuleika trusted no-one. But it would be easy to turn Margo and Gwenna against each other, and so preserve her own power.

"Yes, Your Majesty! The loathsome frog creatures have been utterly destroyed – and we have fried up a whole platter of frog legs for you and your loyal companions!"

Queen Zuleika saw that it was true. A couple of beaten-down female slaves were already wheeling in a giant covered platter on a great rolling table. The slaves wore veils, but they kept their eyes on the floor, so that they looked totally conquered and afraid. Zuleika felt a little thrill of pleasure, anticipating what she might do to make them even more submissive and obedient.

"Wait, Your Majesty!" Gwenna half-rose from her seat at the table, reaching for her sword. "How do we know this isn't a trick? Margo could never have defeated all the frog creatures on her own."

"I didn't," the red-head said easily, sauntering up to the table. "When my girls and I killed the first few, the rest dove into the deep underground pools and vanished. They won't be back."

"I trust Captain Margo," Queen Zuleika said grandly. She wanted to make Gwenna jealous. Besides, the sight of the covered platter under her nose was making her hungry.

Greedily, the fat wicked queen uncovered the platter. And then all at once a pair of small hands shot out and seized her by the throat!

"Ha ha! Vengeance is mine!" Little Kassim had been hidden away under the covered platter. He jerked the pendant of power off the queen's neck, and tossed it back over his shoulder.

"Treachery!" Shouted evil Captain Gwenna. The blonde went for her sword, but immediately Captain Margo whipped out her blade and the two woman warriors began fighting. Chaos erupted in the banquet hall, as half the queen's guard sided with blonde Gwenna and half with red-headed Margo.

Amidst the screams and the clashing of swords, Arwen managed to get her hands on the queen's pendant of power. She had been disguised as one of the slave girls who were wheeling in the covered platter. Now, kneeling on the floor with Ling Kray shielding her with his big body, she threw aside her veil and chanted the spell she had learned from the secret scrolls in the queen's study.

"Be all revealed as it truly is, and be all weapons pointed at the source of evil!"

There was a sizzling flash of light, and a few cries of surprise and dismay from the female warriors. Yet all at once the fighting was over, as the panting antagonists found themselves drawn into a rough circle, their shining blades yanking them forward like dowsing rods.

Queen Zuleika was at the center of the circle. At first the cruel, painted face of the corrupt older woman was a sneering mask of defiance. But when she saw that all the swords pointed at her were held by young women, her expression softened. Tears came into her crafty brown eyes.

"Wait, my sisters, wait," she cried softly. "Don't you remember how it used to be? I set you free from your weak husbands, from your drunken fathers. I freed you from the beatings, and the forced marriages, and the unwanted children. Strike me down and you run the risk of falling right back into slavery."

A few of the young women hesitated, their shining swords drooping towards the marble floor. The queen smiled a wicked little smile, preparing to launch a counter-spell that would cloud their minds once again. Just then someone spoke.

"You talk well when you stand up for women, Zuleika." It was Arwen who spoke, her voice deep and low and full of magic. "But what are you standing on?"

"Eh?" The wicked queen turned towards the deep female voice, finally recognizing the power of Arwen Evenstar. But it was too late. The elf-maid's voice had opened everyone's eyes, and they saw clearly.

There on the floor, beneath the queen's feet, Prince Kassim lay dying. The queen had stabbed the little boy savagely in the confusion, and now his blood was spreading like a crimson pool.

"He was in my way!" Zuleika snarled. "I never wanted to bear a son. I was never anything but a slave in the royal bed. All my evil acts were forced on me! That dying slug is not my child. I'm the victim here! I am a victim, a victim . . ."

It was Ling Kray, the pirate, who struck her head clean off with a single blow.