I have been occupied with the shutdown thus my hobbies and usual activities have taken a backseat as I have done damage control at work. Nuff said.

I own nothing. All characters, places, things, belong to Kristen Britain. Completely a piece of AU that she would never write because it is all fluff with a sprinkling of gravity and action.

Almost done. I tore off this chunk to just publish something but I am trying to finish the story before I do more.

Thank you, those who read and review loyally.

Brienne turned to look at Karigan over her shoulder with a mournful expression, 'I am sorry, Your Majesty.'

The queen's hands immediately came up to hold her expanding girth but her steadfast gaze did not waver from the unearthly creature that regarded the two women with a measure of amusement. He raised his arm and waved the fingers of his hand in a forward motion, prompting a trio of rough looking soldiers to come through the door frame.

One held the arm of Karigan's maid, Sara, firmly in his grip as the young woman stumbled forward. She raised a tear streaked face to her queen's and began to sob anew. With an expression of distaste, the soldier pushed her forcefully in front of him, causing her to land in a heap at the feet of Brienne and Karigan.

Karigan awkwardly knelt down and grasped Sara's elbow, whispering assurances under her breath as they both got to their feet. Brienne's hand ghosted over the pommel of her blade as her body once more shifted in front of her queen, the planes of her face tensed for what was to come.

Amberhill raised an eyebrow as he watched her actions, 'You do not plan to be a nuisance, do you my dear?'

Brienne bristled and lifted her chin, 'You will have to come for her over my cold, lifeless body.'

He nodded pleasantly, as if they were discussing the weather, 'An acceptable course of action.'

In the space it took one to blink and draw in a breath, he had swiftly moved forward and snapped Brienne's neck in a sickening crunch. Her body dropped to the ground with a heavy thud as he stood back nonchalantly. Sara wailed and shut her eyes, burrowing closer to her charge who stared at the body in shocked disbelief.

Karigan felt the air in her lungs almost halt as she regarded her friend and protector lying in a crumpled heap, her head lolling at an unnatural angle. Shaking with rage, she lifted her gaze to Amberhill's relatively unconcerned visage. He seemed to then adopt an expression of disappointment as he too, regarded Brienne's body.

'Tis a shame, really,' he commented, 'This makes for number . . . twenty five personal guards and soldiers that have failed to safeguard their queen and heir. After my many years of struggle and hardship, this seems almost too easy, does it not?'

Karigan bared her teeth and hissed, 'Very easy to cut others down in cold blood.'

Amberhill looked almost affronted but just shrugged.

Karigan pushed Sara away and knelt down at Brienne's body to close the glassy eyes that stared up at the ceiling. Blinking rapidly to hold back the building tears, she swallowed and looked back up at her captor, asking bitterly, 'And now, my lord? What shall we do to pass the time?'

He grinned, showing his rows of filed and blackened teeth. 'We, my darling, will wait for the news of your captivity to reach your lord and husband, thus speeding him home to rescue his fair queen,' he paused to draw his sword and place the tip underneath Karigan's unwavering chin, '- and then sweeping into the room in time to see her opened from nose to navel.'

'Why-,' she rasped out, 'Why do you still persist after all this time?'

Amberhill cocked his head to the side, 'Why not?'

Her eyes flashed sapphire, 'Your armies are finished, you have but a handful of soldiers left to you, and cannot possibly think the other monarchs on this continent will allow you to sit on a false throne.'

He tsked and dipped the blade down to her stomach, 'Ah, but you forget that this particular host has a very valid claim to the Sacoridian throne. With my cousin's prospective heir meeting such a unfortunate end, he very likely will come to the same fate.'

Karigan eyed the sword as she carefully chose her next words, 'Regicide is frowned upon in most societies, and it usually only begets more, my lord. I would be vigilant if I were you.'

Amberhill began to chuckle as he lowered the blade and turned to casually toss it to one of the soldiers, 'As vigilant as I have always been, my dear. But there is no shortage of those who oppose the current regime, and who would gladly serve one such as myself with the right sort of persuasion.'

Sara had regained enough of her composure by that point to gently assist Karigan back to her feet. With a small smile of reassurance for her maid, the queen turned back to Amberhill and lifted her chin. 'And for the rest of the country? Those who will not live under the oppressive rule of a tyrant?'

Amberhill gave her a droll look, 'Most will not know the difference. They will continue their lives of drudgery, thankful that some semblance of order exists, regardless of who leads it.'

'And so you get what you always wanted,' she bit out with a small measure of derision. 'You will live out the rest of your days in that body, until what? You find another or you beget an heir?'

'My bloodline is essentially dead, I will merely find another suitable host,' he said flippantly, turning an appraising eye upon her form. 'Unless of course, you are suggesting that I inhabit the Hillander that you are carrying now?'

Karigan crossed her arms over her middle protectively and glared, prompting an amused guffaw from Amberhill as he crossed over to the large four poster bed. With exaggerated ease, he leaned back onto the stack of pillows and smiled, 'Until your king arrives, how do you think we should spend our time?

Laren, with Mara in tow, found Donal talking furtively with five Weapons, all with grim and determined faces as they regarded their leader. Many of those who had been informed were in the council antechambers, far enough from court as to not raise alarm or panic within the castle, but close enough to contain the intruders in the upper levels.

Groups of Sacoridian soldiers, lead by a Weapon counterpart, had scoured the servant passageways from the ground up and were still maintaining vigilance around the levels where the Queen was being held. They had taken care of their fallen brothers and sisters, along with the unfortunate servants who had been in the path of the captors.

Donal dismissed the five, who immediately disappeared into corridor out of sight. He turned to Laren with a weary countenance, 'This is a wretched day for those who wear the black. Such occasions have occurred more than I would have wished in the last twenty years.'

'We know she is still alive,' Laren reminded him gently, 'The captors perhaps will hold her for ransom.'

He rubbed his face with both hands, 'Let us hope it is that simple, and all they want is money. Have you sent a message to the King?'

Laren shook her head and gestured to Mara, 'I have a dispatch drafted that Mara will see to, to be sent by messenger hawk, but I wanted to see if there had been any change.'

Donal frowned, 'There has been no word, and no sight of the intruders. There have been no survivors left in their wake. We just know that the Queen, Brienne, and her maid are shut up in their room. The five I just dispatched are now headed for the secret passageways through-out the castle, but unfortunately there is only one that leads exclusively from the King's chamber to a specific set of tunnels.'

Laren cocked her head to the side, 'I have been in those tunnels, as have you and a few others.'

'But-,' he pressed, '-do you think we can navigate them in time to save her? Or is a rescue even possible?'

She looked at him with a thoughtful expression, 'Do you recall what the king said regarding that particular tunnel and the Eletians?'