Chapter 274

Queen Draudillon could have been happier. 'I can't believe the Theocracy refused to provide an honor guard. How petty can you be? Oh sure you can pass through our country, but the gods forbid we should exercise some diplomatic etiquette.' She stewed on that while she dipped her bread into the broth. 'I should have asked the Allfather for an escort just to spite the Theocracy.'

That was a thought that kept her warm several nights in a row. The tent in which she now stewed and ate was large and round in the fashion of Draconic Kingdom royalty, just like the rest of her kingdom, everything was extremely mobile. The rods that held the tent into place, as far as Draudillon knew, were used nowhere else in the world. Rather than separate pieces held together by rope, each one was held together by linchpins that allowed it to be folded or secured, and the tent itself was one large piece that was held into place against the rods by only a few leather strips.

For furnishings, the Draconic Queen looked, by her own estimation, far more spartan than any of her fellow royals, except for perhaps the newest Royal house to appear to the west. She had a simple wardrobe which held a single enchanted gown meant for formal occasions, and the rest were clothes meant for travel, and even one enchanted for combat. 'Using that would not end well for me, but it's better than nothing.' She thought, and drummed her fingers on the table.

Even her table, while expensive, was a modular design intended to allow it to be quickly broken down and moved. It was little more than stakes secured to polished wood in enough places to hold it up, with each metal stake able to be folded up underneath the surface, which itself could then be folded in half and loaded into a wagon.

'A culture of retreat… the shame of it all…' Draudillon despaired, 'All my efforts, even being willing to sleep with that disgusting monster of a man, and in the end my nation is on the brink of salvation because of a foreign ruler taking a liking to me. Though I have no idea what his letter of gratitude was about…' Draudillon took a bite of bread, that at least was kept fresh and warm through magic, the flavor of the broth blended with the soft interior and the crunch of the crust was enough that she held it in her mouth rather than simply chew and swallow.

And while she savored the meal, she turned her problem over and over in her head. 'The Theocracy is as powerful as ever, but the new ruler to their north, the Allfather, makes them look like a petty tribe of goblins. The power of the Kingdom of Nazarick spreads like spilled milk over a table, and I'm in their ruler's good graces… somehow.'

"He married the Holy Queen…" She muttered under her breath and glanced around, she was alone in this private space at least, with guards outside, and gave voice to her thoughts, "...but he's taken a different one to rule, if I 'had' to, I suppose I could offer myself as a third… my Kingdom is basically hostage to his good will. He has already shown a willingness to negotiate a vassal status… but what secures the most benefits? Competing with the Allmother and the Holy Queen wouldn't… no, no I will not do that!" She shook her head.

'Joining the Allfather as if I were some harem girl supplicant instead of a Queen is unthinkable!' The Draconic Queen set the idea aside, the assault on her Royal dignity seemed ever more distasteful, regardless of all other factors at play. "I will represent my domain as a peer, with dignity, and if we succeed in joining lands, it won't be that way." Her private resolve stiffened and steeled, the man's letters were all business, and as such, it was hard to find out much about him from that. Which only left her more curious at least, 'What will it be like to meet face to face? For that matter… the same goes for the rest.'

Except for a Cardinal or two, Draudillon never met the royals of the other Kingdoms, and as such, going to see them face to face was a first which the lonely monarch was eager to have.

This train of quiet thought left her distracted in the extreme, which was why the voice seemed so distant at first.

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty you've got to run for it! We're under attack!" A male voice shouted, his wild, panicked face lit up by the stones that glowed from where they hung in the tent, casting shadows about the isolated royal quarters.

"Attack?! Beastmen, here?!" She cried out and shot to her feet.

"No! No your majesty! It's elves!" He shouted, his mouth was still open when an arrow appeared in his mouth, it pierced the back of his head and came out between his teeth, shattering them and sending the little white calcium bits flying in all directions. The barbed head of the arrow lodged a handspan out of his mouth, its tip directly pointed at the Queen herself.

His eyes went wide with shock, he stood for a moment, his halberd fell from his hand to land with a soft thud, and for just a moment he tried to reach up and grab the arrow as if he could pull it free.

He never got the chance to try, he toppled forward, his armor clattering for an instant, the cries and screams of her guards rushing to defend themselves from the enemy in the darkness was so heartrendingly familiar. 'Just like the attack when I was touring the front… fear, death…' The smell of blood was as thick in her nose as her thoughts were in her head.

She let out a bloodcurdling scream of her own in shock and rushed to her dresser. Just like almost everything, the Queen's daily wear was modular too. She yanked two strings at the shoulders and the whole dress fell instantly away.

'Got to hurry, got to hurry! What are elves doing here?! Why are elves attacking us?! The Draconic Queen wailed, enemies at home, enemies abroad, 'Is there nowhere in the world that is safe for us?!' She screamed her frustration and yanked up the pants, slipped on the boots which immediately laced themselves, and flung on her shirt, its laces secured themselves as well, and then she snatched up her enchanted dagger and ran for the exit from her tent.

Outside, all was chaos, fires rose from a dozen tents, and arrows cast shadows that vanished in an eyeblink, coming out of the darkness and striking human warriors dead where they stood. The sound of ladies in waiting screaming and the noise of crying horses was matched by the voices of calm direction as those who could walk through war like common people walked through parks, gave their orders and brought order to the madness.

"Aim where the arrow that killed your kin came from!" The stark order carried to the archers, and every time a human fell, more arrows went toward where the arrow came from. The darkness was so great outside that Draudillon couldn't see ten feet beyond the fires, but her quick mind noticed that at least sometimes, an arrow didn't come back from the same place. 'We're getting a few…' She thought and rushed toward her horse.

'Running away? Coward.' She cursed herself and watched as an elven warrior came in close and began to fight with a human warrior. More and more of the long eared warriors were making their way into her encampment, the difference between them was such that they were almost like different races of elves. Some were large, towering, muscular and broad. Others were the finer, slighter sort who looked like sprinters.

Being so far away, she only heard a little about the Elf King, but his habit of raping women to produce children was widely known, and the brutish description she had, however vague, fit those larger elves to perfection. 'His children… if they're here… oh gods above… no… no! No! No! No! No!'

The realization struck the Draconic Queen with abject horror, 'This was no accident, they found us, they probably realized who we were… and he's… after me…'

The assault on the Slane Theocracy's trump card was a story she'd heard once before, during a meeting with Cardinal Berenice over the issue of aid against the beastmen, and in that meeting she learned that a powerful warrior was born as a result. The Cardinal's promise that humanity's trump card was far from gone…

Meant nothing to her at that moment except to tell the Queen what was intended for her.

Her feet raced over the ground, the grass bending beneath, occasionally she jumped over a body while trying to ignore the screams that decreased in number with every passing deadly minute. An arrow whizzed past her ear, cutting off a lock of her white hair and piercing the rump of a horse, it toppled over, neighing and kicking its legs as it told the world of its pain.

"Got you!" A voice behind her said and she felt a hand on her shoulder, but the Queen grabbed the dagger at her side and thrust it behind her, she felt the soft resistance of flesh then the wetness of blood on her fingers, she lost her grip and the blade fell away. She instinctively looked back and saw the slight looking elf staring at her with dismay on his face as he went to his knees and toppled over.

'I need a horse!' She cried, then shrieked as she saw the danger too late, diving to the damp grass, a charging horse showed no care that she was even there. The rider, if he saw her, didn't recognize his Queen or didn't care.

An arrow pierced his throat out of the darkness, and the horse ran on without him.

The cries of her people were almost gone, 'I've got no way out… there's no way I can escape on foot…' The Queen realized, and did the only thing she could think of.

She shifted her form to be that of a child, her enchanted clothing shifted with her, and with that, she rushed to the nearest tent, ran inside, and hid herself, holding her knees to her chest, she hugged them against herself and prayed. 'Gods, please don't let him know about me, please don't let this be how I end up… please, protect us all…' It was far too late for that.

And when she heard the draw of a bow behind her, she felt another prayer go unanswered.

"I know you're there. Come on out. You can't hide from my ears, I can hear you breathing." The voice of the elf was lyrical rather than cruel, and if she had to put any word to it, the Queen would have said he sounded… pitying.

'Damn the gods… damn them all.' The Queen thought, and raising her hands, she stood up and turned around to face her captor.