A pile of wood and a pile of flesh

"To say that I expected to meet again with you, your majesty, so soon, would be no less than an outright lie."

Even if Etaria requested us to drop the formalities when we talked the day before, right now we were surrounded by way too many of her soldiers to allow such convenience to pass. 

"You asked me to bring you a head on a silver platter, didn't you?" Etaria replied as soon as her entourage reached a comfortable distance for us to talk in a normal voice. She then turned sideways and beckoned at one of the two men that accompanied her. 

"You will have to forgive me for the lack of the platter thought. Silverware is not the kind of luxury I tend to bring to the field of battle," Etaria spoke outright as one of her men approached the wooden table and placed a small chest he held in his hands right on top of it. 

"And that's…?" I started a question only to turn my eyes to the princess and give her a questioning look.