Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom, Stargate SG-1, Reign, or anything else I reference.
Chapter Twenty-Two: Cruel Decision
(Royal Castle, France)
He walked with a smile on his face until he ran into Henry's valet.
"Hello." Danny said. "How is your day going?"
Bontemps hated him so much that just looking at him made the valet mad. He should be happy. The Catholics and Protestants were finally agreeing about something. He should enjoy it while it lasts.
"The royal family requires your presence." Bontemps said with a scowl.
"I was looking for Queen Catherine but if the whole royal family wants to talk, I will listen." Danny said as he started following his guide.
As they walked past, the nobles walking through the castle he could feel their anger at him as well. Now that there was no drink, drugs, or food to occupy their attention they focused back on him. They wished that something horrible would happen to him so that he was out of their lives, and they could try and restore the country from the chaos they considered it in now. Too bad for them. He also remembered all of their faces. Soon they would be sent to the mines to dig naquadah for him.
They could be more useful that way than what they were doing now.
"I heard that the lot of you wished to speak with me?" Danny asked as he looked around the room.
Waiting in the room with King Henry was Queen Catherine, Prince/King Francis, and Queen Mary. The guards around them were frowning at the sight of him but knew that they would not accomplish anything by complaining.
"Leave and make sure that no one comes in." King Henry said looking at his guards.
They looked reluctant but complied all the same.
"My king I do not believe that this is wise." Bontemps said.
"I said I wanted you and the guards to block the entrances to this room." King Henry said.
Bontemps just gave a dutiful nod and walked out of the room.
"What do you want?" Danny asked as he pulled a chair towards him that he could sit on.
It went flying from the side of the wall and landed smoothly in his hand.
"I have received this letter from the Pope." King Henry said sliding the letter towards him.
"Well, this is something." Danny said once he finished reading the letter.
"Do you not see how serious this letter is? I have been excommunicated." King Henry said raising his voice only to quiet down when he glanced at him.
"I can read perfectly well. I just do not see how it matters." Danny said.
The royal family no longer followed the Christian faith and he supplied them with gold. Whatever Rome thought about them did not matter.
"There is worse news." Prince/King Francis said.
"What do you mean?" Danny asked.
"He means there are whispers that there is an alliance to build an army to attack France." King Henry said. "My spies are reporting that King Phillip, King Antoine, Queen Elizabeth, and Prince Louis were gathering the soldiers to invade when spring comes."
'At least they are going to have a beautiful time before they die.' Danny thought.
"I warned you of this a month ago and now it seemed that my fears are coming true." King Henry said.
"How many men can you bring together?" Danny asked turning to the king.
"Hopefully thirty thousand and that is only if the nobles that are still waiting to pick a side decided to help him and send some soldiers." King Henry replied. "Many of the peasants and commoners in France would probably be joining Louis's army given that you had told me to send soldiers to destroy and plunder their churches."
"Do you believe they will let someone use their special weapons?" Danny asked.
"I doubt it. They refuse to even let the weapons leave the Vatican." King Henry said.
"I have doubts about this time though." Queen Catherine said. "The servants are talking about the sorcerer that was manipulating the king and if word of that reached the Vatican, then they might arm someone with it as proof of their support."
"Either way I will have them in the end." Danny said.
It would make his museum even more impressive.
"Getting allies is going to cost money though." King Henry said. "We are going to need plenty of soldiers."
"That is no problem. For now, let's keep everything calm and enjoy the feast." Danny said.
He had collected plenty of it since he had arrived. He would also need to send his B.I.R.D.S. to see what the enemy was planning.
0-0-0-0-0-0
Archduchess Cecilia was picking out the clothes she would wear for the feast in two hours. After she picked the perfect dress, she would call in her servants to help her get out of her current dress bathe and be placed into the new one.
"Hello Archduchess." Danny said as he turned visible in her room.
"What are you doing here? How did you get in here?" Archduchess Cecilia asked.
She was afraid as the two of them were alone in her quarters. Her ladies and guards were waiting outside the room so there was no way he should have been able to get in here unannounced.
"The how is kind of too complicated to explain but I am here to save your life." Danny said pulling out a bio-tube.
"What is that supposed to be?" Archduchess Cecilia asked as she started backing away and trying to reach the door where the others were.
"I am afraid I cannot allow you to do that." Danny said as he pulled her back towards him.
"What manner of monster are you?" Archduchess Cecilia asked terrified of him.
"That is hurtful. I am here to save your life after all." Danny said putting her feet on the ground again but kept his hold on her preventing her from moving.
"Help!" Archduchess Cecilia yelled out hoping someone would come in and see what was happening.
"Sorry to dash your hopes but no one can hear what is happening inside this room. It is all thanks to a little device I have hidden somewhere in here." Danny said as he walked closer to her. He turned the cloth on her arm intangible so he could inject her in the arm.
"What manner of poison have you put in me?" Archduchess Cecilia asked in a horrified tone of voice.
"Debatable but this is going to save your life later." Danny said pulling another device out of his other pocket. "This will make it so that you forget this event ever happened."
The device was pen-shaped and encased in silver steel except for the red button at the top. When the red button was pressed the person facing the camera would have their memories deleted. Depending on which way the dial was pointed when the button was pushed determined how recent the memories would be.
He was just going to erase the past five minutes.
0-0-0-0-0-0
"Have you seen Lady Greer?" Danny asked as he watched how the lords and ladies of the court danced around.
King Henry had decided to throw a masquerade party before the feast to celebrate the peace treaty and had given people the masks of the ancient gods and goddesses. People were wearing masks of Zeus, Apollo, Ares, Hera, Artemis, Aphrodite, and so on. King Henry had offered him the Zeus mask, but he declined letting him wear it. Kenna was wearing a purple and blue dress wearing a mask of Aphrodite. He had one for Apollo but had yet to put it on. Hanging from the walls were the symbol of Nirrti.
The Jaffa growled at their "blasphemy" and so he let them stay in Kleak for the party.
The alcohol being served for the party was a stronger type than they were used to. It was from Dinai and usually served to Jaffa. It would certainly give them a hangover especially with the other substances that the nobles were selling and giving to each other. He believed that it was a mix of aphrodisiacs and opiates.
"Did you want something from her?" Kenna asked.
"I wanted to tell her something." Danny said.
He had an entire story for what was going to happen to Leith.
"She should be somewhere around here." Kenna said as the two of them walked through the castle.
"King Danny." Greer said as she curtsied in front of him.
0-0-0-0-0-0
He had a smile on his face as he took a seat at the large table in the dining room. The table was full of foods like chicken, duck, and geese. Cheeses, fruits, and cakes were there as well. He had been placed far away from the King and Queen near the end but that was alright. If this night continued as planned, he would get what he wanted. From both inside the castle and outside it as well.
Now it was time for the music.
"I want to appreciate the amazing feast that King Henry and Queen Catherine through for the archduke and I thought that this celebration of peace should have great music to go with it." Danny said snapping his fingers as the room darkened to the point that no one could see their forks.
When the lights came back the original band was replaced with holograms of Jaffa along with musical instruments.
Unless they were touched none of the nobles would know that these were not real people.
"What in the world is this?" The nobles around them asked in fear but also just a bit of wonder mixed with amazement.
"This is a song that I thought was perfect for the times that we are in." Danny said as the hologram Jaffa began to play Step by Step I'm falling under your spell. He would have liked to have brought lights and fog machines to really mess with their minds but that was not the time for this.
"Amazing." He heard the archduke say as they song played and felt a smile on his face. King Henry's feeling of annoyance and agitation only helped in such matters.
The Archduke had no idea the tragedy awaiting his sister.
0-0-0-0-0
Danny walked alone through the castle and headed to the training ground to practice some archery.
"Do you mind if I join you?" Kenna asked as she walked up to him.
"I would never deny the chance to enjoy your company." Danny said as he turned to her.
"What did you do to the Archduchess?" Kenna asked him.
"What do you mean?" Danny asked as he hid a smile on his face.
"You know very well what I mean. During the feast we went walking and you said you had dealt with the archduchess." Kenna said.
"I think we should have this conversation somewhere more private." Danny said as he saw the servants around them no doubt listening either for Catherine or for gossip.
He was not feeling like letting this secret out so he walked Kenna to the lake so they could talk in private. The Jaffa that are travelling with him as guards would make sure that no one would come to the area where they were having their conversation.
"Very well." Kenna said as she allowed him to take the lead as she held on to his arm.
'Kiol I want you to bring the picnic supplies to the archery yard.' Danny thought to his servant as they left the castle walls and headed outside.
Kiol arrived ten minutes later and placed the blanket on the ground for them along with the metal boxes and went to stand at his position a bit away from them.
"What has you so worried?" Danny asked as he placed his arrows down.
"I have been listening to nobles talk and they say the archduchess is sick and will not be leaving her room today." Kenna said.
"That is sort of true." Danny said as he started thinking on the memories that he absorbed from the duplicate when he teleported back to his rooms in the castle.
He and Kenna had been dancing and enjoying the feast when he had seen King Henry sneak out with the Archduchess leaving a few minutes later. Seeing that he created his own invisible duplicate that waited outside the castle near King Henry's chambers for the Archduchess to be thrown from the balcony to the rooms a few feet below. The duplicate revealed itself to King Henry before he took her away to an empty room to rest while the transition took place.
"What do you mean sort of true? You said that you were going to make sure that the archduchess lived." Kenna said to him.
"I did save her. It is why she is not taking any visitors to her room right now." Danny said.
The moment she woke up she was going to drink human blood and complete the transformation.
"I am making sure that she lives. It just required her to not feel well today." Danny said lying.
The person that most assumed was the Archduchess was actually one of his Jaffa under a holographic disguise. It was just to last for today until the actual Archduchess could return.
"You promise that she will be, okay?" Kenna asked.
"By tomorrow she should be able to lift a horse." Danny said as he held her hands in his.
"So, what else is in the basket?" Kenna asked as she started opening it.
"Chilled fruits, sour candies, cheeses, and many types of bread. I have other things in here, but it is still early after all." Danny said.
0-0-0-0-0-0
"Where are we going?" Leith asked confused.
"A new friend of mine is not feeling well. We are going to help her." Danny said as he walked in front of the cook.
It was sad what was going to happen to the cook. Leith was another character Vlad felt sorry for during the show but that was not going to stop him from what was happening. The original had already decided that Leith was going to die. The Original could gain more through the Archduchess then the cook.
"My lord I am not sure how much help I can be." Leith said with a nervous look in his eyes. His heart was beating faster as the seconds passed.
"Do not worry you will be just fine. Just follow my instructions." Danny said as they appeared before his chambers.
"My lord what are we going to do? We have no tools or medicine?" Leith asked.
"We have everything we need with us Leith. Do not worry." Danny said as he opened the doors to his chambers and walked inside to the closet where Archduchess Sisilia was being stored.
"What is going on?" Leith asked trying to back up only to find out that the doors were locked.
Even if they were not locked there were Jaffa guards waiting for an order.
"You are about to do me a grand favor." Danny said as he pressed a button on the stasis chamber and watched as Archduchess Cecillia began to rise from it dazed and confused.
"What is going on? Why do I feel so strange?" Archduchess Cecilia asked as she started stretching.
"You feel strange because you are halfway between the living and the dead." Danny said.
"What are you talking about?" Archduchess Cecilia asked.
He could also hear Leith's heart beginning to beat faster like he had just return from a long run. He did not know what was going on, but he knew that he would not like it. He began to try and turn the doorknob even harder as if that would magically cause it to unlock.
"You were killed last night but that was not your end because I had given you blood from my vampire. Now you have to feed on this servant to complete the process." Danny said puling Leith back to face Archduchess Cecillia.
"You cannot do this." Leith cried out as he was placed in front of what would be the end of him.
"I cannot do this." Archduchess Cecillia cried out as she struggled to fight the urge to attack the man in front of her.
"You have already changed Archduchess if you do not complete the change, you will be stuck in purgatory. All alone for the rest of eternity." Danny said explaining the Other Side to her in terms that she would understand.
"This cannot be happening." Archduchess Cecillia said falling to her knees and crying.
Alright this seemed like it was going to take all day so he might as well cut to the chase.
"Cecillia look." Danny said as he walked to a desk and picked up a knife and a cup. He held the bowl in his hands and used the knife to cut Leith's face. With the blood flowing down he floated it into the bowl.
"I do not understand. Why do I crave it so?" Archduchess Cecillia asked.
"That is because you want to live, and your instincts tell you that all you need is one sip." Danny said lifting the cup to Cecillia's mouth.
She took a sip of the blood, and he watched as the final changes set in.
"I feel so good." Archduchess Cecillia said.
"How do you feel?" Danny asked taking a seat on a chair and watching his newest asset.
"It was like electricity coursing through my body- a million stars exploding in my mind all at once. It's like nothing I've ever felt before. It was amazing. And all I can think now is... I want to do it again." Archduchess Cecillia said with a dark smile on her face.
"Good for you that you now have an entire human body waiting for you to drain." Danny said as she turned to face Leith whose eyes were wide with terror.
"My lady you do not have to do this. You are a good person." Leith pleaded but there was no stopping Cecilia now.
She charged right at him with her fangs extended and took a deep drink. Eventually the light dimmed from his eyes as the minutes passed.
"I want more." Archduchess Cecillia said in a ravenous tone.
She charged at him in tending to drink him dry as well.
"You get one chance because I know that you are newly turned. Attack me again and you will not walk away." Danny said his irises glowing as he held on to her neck. "I am your king not your lunch."