Shoutouts to Arkatekt and Vergil1989 Crossover King for successfully planting this idea in two posts.


Queen's Favor


Oh, why did I do this to myself?

It made so much sense at the time when I suggested it to Khaytala. If being around her is one of the safest places in all the continent, and I'm supposed to be around her all the time, then we can just have the orc girl Talavar… Niko… that he brought back stay around me! She'll be doubly protected with me and Khaytala here, and Khaytala won't have to split time between us or reallocate another pack of guards if we're in the same space!

Except I forgot I'm the Witch Queen of Kovora.

Having him suddenly find her was enough of a shock, I'm sure. The emissary of the Witch Queen, stumbling across you doing something that would upset Melca? Heavens, the girl was probably ready to faint in terror. And then here I come along, trying to just be nice, little old Lily by inviting her into a huge fortress whose ground space is almost as big as her whole village with all this finery and I'm supposed to be the supreme authority of the land and Chosen by Melca and…

Gods. I'm lucky I was even able to get a name by the end of such a disastrous first meeting.

I glance up from the parchment on my desk detailing some war camp complaint – I'm so sick of these – and eye the little girl sitting in the office. She's stock still, curled up in a ball balanced atop the chair she's chosen to occupy, not even willing to turn her head and look anywhere but straight ahead for fear of… displeasing me.

"Say, Juri?"

The words tumble out before I can stop them. Her head snaps in my direction, eyes wide open and spooked. At the same time a strange rumbly feeling jitters through my head as the room suddenly gets noticeably colder. Melca.

A drop of instinctive, icy terror scrapes down my spine, and I wince. I did not think this through. But I'm already here. Just think of it as… interacting with a subject.

And I swear, if I have to go through another second of reading some dreary report or another right now, I'll need Kelissa to chop off my hair before I yank it out.

"Y-y'know, um…" I trail off, wiping off the nib of my quill before slotting it back into its stand. Come on, stop stalling for time, just… think of the convent! Right! Think of… think of Ceilyn, and all the others. What did we used to do all the time? There was praying, chores, singing hymns, lessons on scripture… "I'm curious to know something."

Juri, somehow, gets even more stiff. "M-my queen?" she barely utters.

… Oh forget it.

With a small sigh, I reach up to pull the iron circlet off my head. It's a startlingly heavy thing, and it hits my desk with a heavy thud. I also reach up to undo the leather thong holding up my hair, shaking it out as its full length falls unbound. That done, I step out around the desk and approach Juri. She doesn't move from her seat, only keeping her eyes locked on me. I stay a few feet away with my hands behind my back, lean over so she's closer to eye level with me, and do my best to project a winning smile.

"Just Lily is fine," I say, completely forgoing the stupid name I've been given. She doesn't respond, so I continue. "I wanted to ask you… what kinds of games do you play with your friends?"

Juri again doesn't respond at first, but I can feel that she's a little less afraid and a little more confused, so I wait. She takes a moment to swallow, before hesitantly saying, "G-games, my que- um. Q-Queen Lily?"

I will gladly take that victory. And if that rumbling in my chest means Melca is displeased about her Chosen victim not being addressed properly?

Good. Maybe I'll wake up tomorrow and realize this was a bad idea, but I do not care right now.

"Yes, games!" I respond cheerily. I take a couple steps closer to her again so we're roughly an arm's length apart, and this time I squat with my knees together so I'm looking up at Juri instead of the other way around. I'm lucky I didn't overbalance from these stupid, huge robes, but I don't let that show. "What did you play with your friends? Could you tell me?"

There's a little less fear in her face now. Yes, it's working! She takes a moment, eyes actually darting away from me instead of staring. Then she looks down a bit sadly. "I-I don't have any."

"Any…?"

"Friends."

Oh now that won't do. "I'm sure you had at least one?" Juri thinks a little more… then nods very slightly. Great! "And what games did you play with them?"

She's all confusion now, wondering why a queen is taking so much interest in a little girl like her. It's at this point that the sudden chill in the room lets up. Melca's probably tired of watching 'such insipid childishness' or so I would imagine. Good. I don't let up on my interest, but I keep quiet while Juri figures out her answer. Eventually she looks down at the floor and mutters… something.

"I'm sorry, could you repeat that?" I ask gently.

"… W-wood counting."

"And how do you play wood counting?

A moment of silence passes before Juri finally moves in her seat. She doesn't uncurl herself, but she does twist and shift so she's sitting sideways in her chair, facing me more directly. Shakily, tentatively, she holds out both her hands each with a single finger extended. She doesn't say anything, but does fix me with a guarded look. I shift so my elbows rest on my knees, hands out towards her, one finger out each.

"Y-you want… stacks of five," Juri quietly, hesitantly explains. One hand very slowly reaches out, like Millicent used to when she was inching closer to something she wanted to knock off a table, and pokes one of my extended fingers. She jerks back the instant she makes contact, eyeing me warily. I smile, assuring her she isn't going to burst into fl- I mean, get struck by lightning for touching me, and wait patiently. Once she seems sure of her own safety, she raises her voice. "I a-added one to you."

"Ah, I'm starting to get it now," I say, extending a finger on my touched hand. I take my own slow approach, returning a poke. She flinches, but less sharply. Now we're both two and one. After some thought, Juri touches her two to my two, giving me four and one. I make a bit of a show of faux-thoughtfulness, before touching my one to her two. This time, with much less hesitation, she touches her three to my four, and I gasp. "Now I have too many! What happens?"

She looks at me almost dumbly before answering in an almost normal voice. "I-it's too big to carry, so you give away five."

"I see," I nod in understanding, dropping from four to two. My smile widens at her. "This is fun!"

She flushes a bit in surprise, then looks back down at my hands as though to focus on the game. But I can see the slightest curl of her lips on one side.

Perfect