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"Imperial Order troops appeared right before dawn. They're flooding into the city as I speak, into the grounds of the castle. There are thousands of them—tens of thousands of them—maybe hundreds of thousands of them for all I know."
Violet looked confused, not wanting to believe what she was hearing as she searched for words. "But that can't be. The message you sent said that he was locked up, just as I instructed, locked up in the cell where he hurt me."
" 'Was' is the operative word. We arrived in the night and I locked him up just as you wished. Then I sent you the message and saw to a few things, waiting for morning.
"I was bringing him with me, just now. I was bringing him to face you when we encountered the occupying soldiers. It's one of those massive advance columns of reinforcements. Their purpose is not a slaughter and rampage; they want to establish a staging area in Tamarang for other supply trains coming up from the Old World. They were open to my offers of—"
"What about Richard!"
Six heaved a sigh. "I was too late. There was nothing I could do. The troops were pouring in from every direction. Our men had no chance to stop them. Those who tried were swept aside. I thought that it was best to deal with the Order's men myself, to try to find a way to secure safety for you, and your staff, while I had the chance.
"While I was speaking to the commander, insuring favorable terms for us in return for help in what they want to do with establishing supply routes, all of a sudden Richard came up with a sword."
Violet planted her fists on her hips. "What do you mean, he 'came up with a sword'?" Her temper, along with her voice, was rising by the moment. "You saw to it that he doesn't have his sword."
"No, it wasn't the Sword of Truth. It was another sword. Just a plain sword. He must have grabbed it from a soldier when no one was looking. Plain though it may have been, he knew how to use it. All of a sudden a war broke out. Richard was like death itself unleashed. He was killing Imperial Order troops by the dozens. It was madness. The men thought they were facing a major battle. Everyone went into combat without even knowing what they were up against. Things just went crazy in an instant.
"I can't control pandemonium on that level. There were too many men, there was too much violence. I would have needed some time to gain control and there was no time. Richard made it out through the wall—"
"He escaped! After all this, he escaped!"
"No. Outside the wall waited hundreds of archers. They had him trapped. He was captured."
Violet sighed in relief. "Good. For a moment I thought—"
"No, not good. The commander would not release him. Because Richard had killed so many of his men, the commander wanted Richard as a prisoner. They probably intend to execute him. I doubt he will live to see tomorrow.
"Once in the castle, on the way up here, I looked out a window and saw them put Richard in an iron box in a wagon. They took him away with the column of troops heading north."
Violet blinked indignation. "You let him get away? You let those filthy nobodies take him—take my prize?"
In the sudden quiet, Rachel saw Six's glare darken. She had never seen the witch woman give the queen such a look before, and she thought that Violet would do well to be a little more prudent.
"I had no choice," Six said with an icy inflection to her words. "There were hundreds of archers pointing arrows at me. They left me no choice in the matter. It's not like I wanted to give Richard over to them. A lot of work has gone into this."
"You should have stopped it! You have powers!"
"Not enough for—"
"You boneheaded moron! You stupid, stupid, worthless, no-good dim-witted jackass! I trust you with an important task and you don't even see it through for me! I'll have you whipped to within an inch of your life for this! You're no better than the rest of my worthless, no-good advisors! I'll have you whipped in Richard's place to teach you yours!"
Rachel flinched at the resounding sound of the slap. It knocked Violet from her feet. She landed on her bottom on the floor.
"How dare you touch me in that way," Violet said, comforting her cheek. "I'll have you beheaded for this. Guards! I need you!"
Almost immediately there was a knock at the double doors.
Six opened one of them. Two men with pikes looked at the queen sitting on the floor, and then up into the blanched blue eyes of the woman holding the door handle.
"If you dare to knock on this door again," Six hissed, "I will eat your raw livers for my breakfast and wash it down with your blood."
The two men turned as white as Six. "Sorry to bother you, Mistress," one said. "Yes, sorry," the other said as they turned tail and ran off down the hall.
With a growl of rage Six grabbed Violet by her hair and lifted her to her feet. The witch woman unleashed a blow that sent Violet tumbling across the floor, leaving strings of blood across the carpets in her wake.
"You ungrateful little brat. I've had about all I can stomach of you. I've endured it long enough. From now on, you will keep that tongue still or I will rip out what I gave you back."
Her long, bony fingers seized Violet by the hair and pulled her up again, then slammed the queen against the wall. Rachel could see Violet's arms hanging limp. She made no move to defend herself as Six struck her time after time. Blood ran from Violet's nose, from her mouth, and was splattered across the wall. A bib of blood stood out against the white satin of Violet's dress.
When the tall witch woman released the queen, she dropped into a heap on the floor and fell to helpless sobbing.
"Shut up!" Six roared, her anger building. "Stand! Stand up this instant or never stand again!"
Violet struggled to her feet, finally standing before Six, looking up at her, her eyes filled not only with tears, but terror.
Violet lifted her chin. She visibly pushed her fear aside and grasped at indignation, instead. "How dare you touch your queen in such a fashion. I will—"
"Queen?" Six sneered. "You were never anything more than a puppet queen. Now, you are no longer even that. You are no longer queen. As of this moment, you resign.
"I am the queen, now. Not like you, a pompous little twit who thinks herself important because of the extravagance of her tantrums, but a real queen. A queen with real power. Queen Six. Got it?"
When Violet started crying in angry resentment, Six slapped her hard enough to toss her head aside and throw yet more blood against the lacy, powder blue designs stenciled on the wall. Again, faced with an angry witch woman, Violet didn't respond, even to ward the assault.
Six rested her fists on her knobby hips as she leaned down toward Violet. "I asked if you got it."
Violet, on the edge of ragged panic at hearing the deadly threat in Six's voice, nodded.
"Say it!" Six slapped her again. "Answer your queen properly!"
Violet's sobs grew louder, as if that alone would save her throne.
"Say it or I'll have you boiled alive, chopped up, and fed to the hogs."
"Yes… Queen Six."
"Very good," Six hissed with a venomous smile. She straightened. "Now, what good can you be to me?" She looked up at the ceiling, touching a finger to her chin in royal contemplation. "Should I even bother to keep you alive? Yes, I know—you will be the court artist. A petty member of my staff. Do your job properly and you live. Fail me in any way, and you will be boiled and fed to the hogs. Got it?"
Violet nodded at the glare that focused on her. "Yes, Queen Six."
Six smiled with grim pride at how quickly she had brought Violet to task. She seized the former queen's collar behind her neck.
"Now, we have urgent business. We can still save this mess."
"But how?" Violet whined. "Without Richard—"
"I've clipped his fangs. His gift is mine for now and he will remain cut off from it. I will decide when the time is right to deal with him.
"As for the rest of it, there is another way, but it is, unfortunately, more difficult. I only used Richard in the first place because certain aspects of it were less complicated. It also kept you quiet and working without complaint while I pulled your strings. The other way is far more complex because, unlike Richard, a number of other people are involved, so we must get started at once."
"What other way?"
Six flashed an affected smile. "You will draw some more pictures for me." She opened the door with one hand and with the other dragged Violet out into the hall. "I need you to draw a woman. A woman with an iron collar around her neck."
"What woman are you talking about?" Violet asked in a trembling voice.
Rachel could just barely see them out in the hallway as Six reached for the doorknob. "You don't remember her. It will be harder to do because of that, but I can instruct you in how to accomplish the elements that I will need. Still, it will be more difficult than anything you've done before. I'm afraid that it will test not only your ability, but your strength and endurance. If you don't want to end up in the trough as hog slop, you will put your all into it. Got it?"
