They did not see her at first, because Lady Farante was brought out to her, and the wait that followed, albeit very short in reality, seemed almost longer, heavy with the knowledge that their Lady might be tortured right now.

Then they returned.

The Lady went first, and Lavinia noted with relief that there were no visible wounds, and her expression, while hard to read, was not one of pain. There was a trace of steel around her eyes, however, that had never been there, hardening her pretty face.

The a woman stepped out behind her and Lavinias thoughts turned to pure awe.

The fourth Queen was tall and broad, as if made from the mountains she ruled over, with dark skin peeking out between pieces of bronze, dark hair cascading down her side in a strict braid. Most of her face was covered by a helmet, or lathered in paint, yet her eyes stood out like burning coal. She moved with subtle grace, muscles dancing in a complex rhythm under her skin, and when she spoke her voice was deep and full, like no woman Lavinia had ever heard before.

„First of all I would like to thank you, Mister Farante, for having us here. And of course, it was quite generous of Lady Farante, to agree to give her testimony in front of everyone, to avoid misconceptions.“

Her clear enunciation of their language was a surprise in itself, but it was the blatant sarcasm of her words that left them speechless. She did not seem to notice, or care, for she crossed the room in a few steps, to stand right in front of their Lady.

„Now, shall we begin? Would you state your name for everyone.“

„Miria Farante“

Some of the warriors shook their heads, the Commander even going so far to spit onto the ground in contempt.

„Oh, no you must have misunderstood. I meant your real name.“

This time their Lady hesitated. The she threw her shiny black hair back, looked her captor directly in the eyes and smiled. It was the smile of a person who had no fear, and nothing to lose and it sent chills down Lavinias spine.

„Emi Tooka, soldier in the service of her divine majesty, the Queen-Oracle, may she rule the first kingdom and all of the known lands wisely and in peace.“

If someone had, in this very moment, dropped a feather, you, dear reader would have heard it hit the ground.

The servants and family of the estate were made into stone for a moment, motionless and cold, with heavy limbs and an empty heart. The Queen‘s warriors were mainly shocked by the brazenness of her statement, the audacity to praise another Queen, while standing in front of theirs.

Only the monarch in question seemed undisturbed, showing gleaming sharp teeth for the first time.

„Ah, Mairo truly has always had the most loyal pawns. Someday I wish to inspire this kind of mindless loyalty in people. She really knows how to make you poor girls give up any instinct of self preservation. Say, have you ever met her, or was her little lap dog enough to make you this obedient?“

The spy paled with rage. „You will not speak about the Queen-Oracle and the High Priestess like that for long! Just wait, fate will make sure regret this.“

„So that‘s a no then? Well, never mind that. I‘m sure you‘ll meet her in the afterlife at some point. Until then, would you care to state exactly what your goals were, what you did to reach them and how your identity as Lady Farante played into your successes? We don‘t want your husband to miss you too much, after all, and this will surely be a good cure for any leftover feelings he might still have.“

Emi Tooka seemed to have regained her composure during those last few words, standing up straight now and looking around the room with unmistakable pride.

„With pleasure.“, she hissed. „I prepared many years for my role as Miria Soleyn, learning this dreadful language and writing to the old Miss Soleyn, convincing her that I was a distant relative, until she caved and invited me to stay with her. Then I just needed to slowly poison her, while pretending to take care of her to make sure I was included in her testament. It worked out for quite a while, and since she lived so close to the border it was easy to collect intel and send it back home. You were probably quite surprised at first, when the local militia started to catch onto your strategies, weren‘t you? I told them. I trained them. I had my contacts bring them equipment. But then the local authorities got suspicious, and I had to quickly seduce this idiot here“, she pointed a finger at her stunned husband, „to get away from the town, and landed here, far out of your reach, but not so far that I could not provide my militias with names and places, to make sure they would do you some more damage. In fact, the Farante money made it easier to stir things up on the political level as well, and to get my men out of jail, whenever they overstepped their limits.“

„Oh yes, I can imagine.“, the Queen agreed politely. „Bribery does get you far in these parts. I would know. Well, that was all interesting, but I fear our time together is over. Maybe you‘ll be allowed to write a last letter back home, if I‘m feeling generous. We‘ll see.“

She stomped her foot and the spy was taken away by her soldiers.

„Are we done here then?“

She seemed ready to leave, and they were all about to relax, but then the Commander went up to her, and whispered something while motioning in their direction, and the Queen turned to look at them, asking something in her own language, which somehow made her voice even more intense.

The came over, passing a few people and then stopping directly in front of Lavinia.

Her heart stopped for a moment, when the Queen crouched down-she had to, to get on eye-level- and stared at her.

„My Commander said she needed to show me something. So what‘s so special about you?“

„Nothing.“, she stammered, voice breaking slightly. „Nothing is special about me. My Queen.“

The Commander hissed at her, and she flinched, when long fingers wrapped around her right wrist, holding her hand up for the Queen to see.

Of course! The plants. Grass was growing from her palms, slightly shiny with sweat, plain for everyone to see. She wanted to punch herself, for not remembering it. Would she be executed now, for lying to the Queen? What if they thought her a witch? Were they superstitious, maybe?

Her thoughts were interrupted by the Queen, who grabbed her arm excitedly, bringing it close to her face and then letting go, pumping her fist up in the air and screaming joyfully.

Red prints decorated Lavinias arm were she had held it, but complaining was the last thing on her mind. A series of rapid-fire orders were given, and before she could even blink her bounds were removed, and the replaced with different bounds, made from a softer material, and one of the warriors simply took her, and threw her across her shoulders like a sack of rice. The whole cohort was getting ready to leave now, moving to the doors when Mr Farante raised his voice from behind them.

„My Queen! Please, this girl has been a servant in this household since I was little. I do not know what she has done, but I can assure you, it was not her intention to offend you. Please, I beg you, don‘t take her. You have already taken my wife today. Is that not enough?“

He was trying to save her. An uncharacteristic warmth shot through her. He had never been a bad master, but she was not as close with him as she had been with his mother and she had not expected him to find the courage after all that had happened.

What stunned her even more, however, was the Queen‘s reaction. She laughed, and laughed, until her dark eyes were shimmering with unshed tears.

„You silly man!“, she rumbled. „What she has done? She has not done anything. This is not punishment.“ She was still smiling, but her voice turned serious. „This girl is special. She is more special that you and your lot could ever dream of being, no, could ever dream of understanding. And she is coming with us.“

And so they left.