Fatal Oath

Alisha let this abuse continue for a few moments before she raised her hand again, a clear signal to her guards to stop punishing a man impertinent enough to disagree with a Queen. As the man moaned, she announced imperiously, "Go ahead and regurgitate whatever slander that your soon-to-be ex-king sent you here to spew, and make it quick because the heir is restive and I tire of dealing with traitors and fools."

Bleeding freely from his nose and mouth, Prince Aaron painfully looked up to see only a hatred-filled face looking down upon him. He swallowed a mouthful of blood before he began to deliver the speech that their father had sent him to Vvaria to share. "Alisha, your father..." but he got no further into his speech as the kicking began once again.

Alisha was tired however and she quickly signaled for the guards to stop abusing their victim, "O.K. Prince Aaron," she said dismissively, "I've signaled for the guards to delay their fun until after you are finished with your speech. It seems that if I am to allow them to kick you every time that you say something stupid, we will be here all day. I'll have them kick you more when we are done; how does that sound?"

Looking blearily at the woman whom he remembered as his sister, the Prince had a difficult time making out her features. One of his eyes was now swollen closed, while the other was tearing profusely, and he had begun to realize the extent of his peril. His sister had changed since their father had traded her to Zander for peace. Neither Aaron, nor his father had counted upon this. While they had expected some minor changes in her, they had not anticipated this fierce woman who sat, imperiously, before him.

"Queen Alisha," he hazarded... "My father has sent me to beg you to reconsider your threat to kill yourself..."

Alisha interrupted, "That problem has been resolved," she replied somewhat stonily.

Aaron had never been known when to quit when he was ahead though, so he continued onward somewhat hopefully, "...or to allow King Zander to stand in your place to fulfill his Vvarian oath. My father believes that you two have everything to live for, and furthermore, if both of you remain alive, you will bring great stability and peace to every life within our lands.

Alisha exploded in anger, causing her stoutest guards to tremble as she began to shriek... "You mean, like when that traitorous bastard traded his only daughter to a madman to be raped nightly?"

Then, with obvious effort, she paused to calm herself before she continued onward, and with honey in her voice, she said, "Is that what he meant?"

Now stammering, her former brother continued, "But, but Alisha, you were married to the strongest warrior-king that the world has ever seen, and your marriage has saved all of our people from death or slavery."

"...at only the cost of my life, my virginity, and my self-worth," Alisha replied as if prompting Aaron to continue.

"But sister, that is how it is when you are born into royalty. We all have our duties to the land; we have to make sacrifices for our people."

"...and just which sacrifices have you made, you worm? Did you get sent in thrall to a sociopathic madman who raped you nightly until you fell pregnant? What hardship did you have to endure so that your father could maintain his crown?"

Long having abandoned his prepared remarks, Aaron began to speak on his own. He wasn't clever enough to understand just how much worse he was making things for himself, "But I had to marry as well, sister. I had to marry Princess Thoris..."

"Who is... not only a lovely young woman, but who was also lucky enough to be torn away from the land of her birth and sent to a man who openly prefers to bed prostitutes and courtesans? Does she know about all of your mistresses, brother dear? Does she know that the Prince Aaron of Vichy cares nothing for her?"

"But Alisha, men have that privilege, even though your own husband chose a different path for himself," Aaron's broken mouth replied before his lackluster brain could prevent the words from spilling into the room.

Alisha paused for a moment to let his words resonate, but when she replied, her eyes were blazing, "So... a man can molest as many women as he can afford, while his sister can be sold as a plaything for a madman?"

Then the Queen watched as her brother's face began to show that he was finally realizing what his words had implied. To his credit though, fear showed on his beaten face as he tried vainly to back away from his earlier words, "No, that isn't what I meant. You were honorably betrothed to Zander..."

"...after he fucking stole me in the dead of night?" she shrieked. "After he let me know that he'd kill every single person that I'd ever loved if I didn't accept his name and his seed. After he told me that he'd sell my former people into slavery and kill any who resisted. Brother, I think you left those things out during your kind explanation of our situations."

"But you've become the Empress of the entire known world," Aaron replied defensively.

"And raped every single night by a man who knew every trick to bend and break my body and my mind to his will... while you got to keep your harlots, and our cursed parents got to keep their crowns?"

"You have to understand..." he started anew, but the Queen raised a single finger and her guards began brutally kicking the bloody man once again. They punished him for some time, but they were extremely careful not to kick the moaning man into unconsciousness as the Queen had not yet passed sentence upon him."

Eventually, she raised her hand to stop her brother's torture and she said, "Brother, can you still hear me?"

Unable to speak through a mouth full of broken teeth, he could only nod.

Then she said without emotion, "Take what's left of him to the headsman. After it is done, strap his body to his horse and send it back to Vichy. Then take his head and place it on a pike so he can observe what's to happen in the stadium three days hence."

When Aaron began to gargle words that must have been a plea for his life, the larger of the guardsmen thrust an apple into the man's mouth and tied it into place tightly. The other guard asked, "My Queen, what do we do with the rest of the delegation?"

"Brand them and send them to the mines. Soft men won't last long there, but maybe they'll provide some benefit to the empire before they die or go mad.

"Yes my Queen."

~~~

(Present)

~~~

Her brother's head looked lifelessly down upon the proceedings, and while the crow-ravaged eye sockets had unsettled the high priest, King Zander was made of much stronger stuff. He recognized this husk for what it was; it was a statement of how seriously his Queen was taking their encounter here today. The rotting head told him that Alisha considered all of her debts paid and that she would no longer suffer for those who would not do the same for her. Zander no longer held anything that she cared for.

The King had always believed that giving her a child would be the factor that would finally allow him to control his recalcitrant wife, but he was now seeing that it was unlikely that the babe would mean any more to her than her late brother had. Evidently, she believed that the child was merely one more sign that all choice had been taken away from her.

He gazed directly into Alisha's eyes and all he could think was that she was magnificent... and even staring death into the eye, all he could think was how badly he wanted her. Although... he was beginning to think that he may have miscalculated the depth of her hatred for him.

"Speak your piece," Alisha prompted, her face still set into hard lines. "This is your last chance to make things right."

Zander took a mighty breath before he began again, "Alisha... I seriously underestimated you. I understand that now. In my defense, I was suffering from the arrogance of Kings. When I met you, I thought your reluctance to accept me was merely a ruse and that any woman would be glad to be the empress of the known world."

"Later, I began to see how fierce that you really were, but I still believed that women were to be tamed. Indeed, I believed that women wanted to be tamed by strong men who would walk through fire to conquer the women that they couldn't live without. That's when I dissolved my harem and sent all of my concubines away, but then I found that I was wrong yet again."

The crowd had gone deathly quiet, striving to catch every word that was being spoken. All the men, and most of the women, believed in the natural right of Kings; not to mention the fact that men deserved to rule over their women. Those in the crowd who could clearly see her face tried to read her expression, but she showed no emotion at Zander's words.

King Zander, like his subjects, could read nothing in her expression, so he was forced to continue blindly, "Recently, I've come to realize that I was wrong to do and believe these things, and that's why I am here today. If I were to allow you to face the blade when I'm the one who is in the wrong, it would be an evil before God. It would be to allow a grave injustice... even if I hadn't fallen in love with you, and I have fallen in love with you. You have brought me to my knees before you."

"Can't we begin again? If you trade places with me, and promise not to kill yourself, you will be granted equal will to my own. Go wherever you want, travel to any part of the land and I'll come to you. I'll court you like I should have done in the first place. There will be no pressure; I will have no power over you. Give it a month. Give it a year. I will wait as long as it takes and if I can't convince you that my beliefs have changed, I will return to this platform and finish what we've begun today."

Zander stopped talking and when it became clear that he was done, Alisha stood with some difficulty- wobbling as so many pregnant women do- and she slowly began to approach him. Ever-so-slowly, she descended the steps of her platform down to the dirt floor of the stadium.

Walking slowly, as if considering his words, she traveled across the dirt to the steps of the scaffold. When she reached them, she daintily extended her hand to one of the guards and allowed the man to assist her in climbing the steps leading to her husband.

Reaching the top of the scaffold, she nodded her thanks to the soldier and approached the stage where Zander waited on his knees for her response. She slowly dropped to her own knees, putting herself at eye level. She gently trailed her hand along the side of his face tenderly before leaning forward and brushing his lips with a soft kiss.

After pulling away from him, she reached into her robes and removed the jeweled dagger with which she had intended to end her own life. "Here husband... use this," she said without any trace of emotion. "It's sharper than your half-sword and it will slice true."

Then she stood and began to walk back to her throne. She had turned her back and never saw the shocked expression that appeared on Zander's face as the reality of her crushing refusal hit him. He only managed to gasp one word... "Why?"

"Why?" she replied as she spun on her heel to face him again, her stomach swinging around and throwing her off balance in the process. "You actually have the nerve to ask me why?"

Stunned, Zander looked upon her fierce expression. He was not familiar with the woman that stood before him. This must be the part of her that he'd never been able to reach.

"You... no one else, you ripped me away from everything that I knew. I won't say everyone that I knew," she said meaningfully, as she glanced at what remained of her brother, "for evidently I did not know them as well as I thought that I did... but never mind about that. You tore away my self-respect and then you did the same for my virginity, and now you say that you have changed? You have learned something? You will court me? You say that you love me... after you've saddled me with this," she said, pointing to her belly.

"If I took you up on your offer, then once again, you will have gotten every single thing that you've ever wanted, and never mind all of those poor bastards that you've hurt or killed along the way! I will not be your dog. You've penned me, you've beaten me, and you've forced me to do all of your bidding. But I'm not going to be released from my kennel only to then slobber my thanks all over you, hoping you won't start abusing me again."

"Zander, I will die before I spend one more day with you. I've given you my sharpest knife, now... end my suffering! Be a man for once and kill yourself. Save the world from one more rapist. If you don't have the balls to do it, then hand me the knife and I'll end myself. Either way, this ends today!"

She then gave him one last withering look before she turned to make her way back to her box. Arriving there, she gently descended into her throne and looked back to Zander. "Proceed," she hissed in a voice that was barely above a whisper.

Later, those in the audience who'd been near enough to hear the royal conversation agreed on very little. The only thing that everyone agreed about was that the Queen sat silently and never once flinched as King Zander brought the edge of the glittering knife to his throat and tore through it with one sharp tug.

His life's blood spurted out for a moment or maybe two... but after his body had collapsed face forward into the wooden planks and his heart had stopped, the blood slowed into a slow trickle. Eventually, it stopped flowing altogether. This was attested to by the royal physician who was the very same man who had delivered the then, Prince Zander so many years before. The doctor expertly checked for any remaining signs of life in his former King before pronouncing that Zander had passed from this world and into the next.

Alisha waited for the physician's final proclamation before she rose and slowly exited the stadium without speaking another word. She saw none of the fear and awe that were written across the faces of the people who she had left behind in her wake. Not that it would have mattered much to her, she didn't care what any of them thought about her; all of them were merely her subjects now.

It took her some time to reach the north tower where the Royal residence was located. As always, Martha awaited her return and was on hand to greet her Queen. She said nothing as Alisha began to rip the rich royal robes from her body. Buttons snapped and belts separated as Alisha destroyed the robes in an effort to tear the stifling clothes from her abused flesh. She didn't care one whit; she knew that she'd never deign to wear the hated things again.

"Burn those, and burn every other garment that he ever gave me," she stormed.

"But Alisha, you'll be left naked. You know that he had all of your old clothes hauled away."

"So I'll remain here until the dress maker finishes her first creation. I need new maternity clothes anyway."

"Yes, my Queen, I'll alert her right away."

"Did you get rid of the scented powder yet?"

"Not yet, my Queen, I'll do that now."

"Why haven't you done it yet?" Alisa replied, her eyes narrowing.

"I thought that you might change your mind, Alisha. He did love you, you know."

Alisha snapped, "Like a possession! I was but a toy that he could abuse whenever he was bored with his others."

Then the Queen's eyes glittered as a thought occurred to her, "You wanted me to change my mind, didn't you?"

"My Queen... I'm sorry, but unlike you, I was born here, and I accept the way of life here. This nation's God is my God. I know that you see our way of life as being overly harsh for women, but I believe that God has ordained it as such. So... yes, I had hoped that you would change your mind and accept him as your rightful husband and lord."

"...and now that I haven't, what do you believe now?"

"Alisha, you are now the unquestioned Queen of Vvaria. King Zander swore an oath before God and the people of our land, so no one will question him or oppose his oath. Our people... your people now, are an honorable people. They respect the ways of God, even if they are surprised by them."

"A people who believe in slavery... a people who believe in conquering one's enemies... a people who believe in forcing a woman into marriage against her wishes are an honorable people? You are claiming that these things are honorable?"

"Yes, my Queen."

Alisha became quiet upon hearing this. The woman's words had not truly shocked her, she had long suspected that Martha believed in this way of life, but hearing that her only friend in the world believed such things gave her pause. She found the old woman's acceptance of this life hard to swallow."

Alisha continued to ruminate upon this as she remained in her room while Martha left momentarily to send for refreshments and the royal dressmaker.

Upon Martha's return, the old woman said, "My Queen, I have a question."

"Ask," Alisha replied listlessly.

"What do you intend to do now? How will you raise the heir?"

Alisha turned her head and gazed Martha squarely in the eye before responding, "Are you sure that you want to know? I'm reasonably certain that you won't like any of my answers."

A fearful look washed across the old woman's face, but she had to know what Alisha intended, so she nodded and said, "If I am to serve you, I will have to know what you will do. It is the only way that I can understand what my role will be."

Alisha closed her eyes briefly before she stonily replied, "Then you will have to swear an oath to me. Will you swear before God that you will put yourself to death before you oppose any of my plans in either word or deed? Will you swear to hold your tongue about my plans and not share them with anyone?"

Martha was stunned into silence by this. Swear a Vvarian oath? Promise to kill herself before opposing Alisha on this thing? What on Earth was the Queen planning?

When her shock had ended, Martha gathered herself and looked to the heavens before reciting the oath that every citizen knew. Upon completing her oath, she looked back to Alisha and waited.

Her face a mask of stone, Alisha absently rubbed her rounded abdomen and began woodenly, "If the child is male... I will strangle him in his crib."

Martha openly gasped before managing to stammer out, "and if it is a girl?"

"If the child is female, then I will teach her to hate. She will learn to hate men who abuse women; to hate those who believe in slavery; to hate the Gods of this godforsaken land and most especially, to hate the clergy who subject women to this vile system. She will be taught that she must eventually bring this kingdom down, just as this kingdom has destroyed so many others, and just as it has destroyed any dreams that I ever had for myself."

Martha gasped again, but she'd seen how her Queen had dealt with Zander, and she now realized that Alisha's will was unshakable. She'd suspected that the Queen would never change her mind about King Zander, but until today, she still had possessed some hope that things would end well. The old woman slowly rose from her comfortable chair, strode without uncertainty to the open tower window, and without speaking another word, she threw herself through the window and to her death.

If Alisha was upset about the loss of her only friend, her face never showed it. She dispassionately looked from the tower to the scene below where a flurry of activity was taking place around Martha's broken body. Not pausing to mourn, she instead called for the general of her Army; she had a war to plan.

She knew that she had plenty of time however; the dressmaker had plenty of time to finish her new wardrobe by the time Alisha would ride into the conquered kingdom of Vichy. She'd make sure that the woman created something truly regal in black; it wouldn't do to attend her parents' coming funeral wearing anything else.