Starbound

Mercy

Melisende was beginning to understand why her father had married two people. She was also starting to see the reason consorts had as much authority as they did. Being queen was not an easy task, especially not after the assassination of her three parents. An heir taking the crown at age 15 was unheard of in the kingdom's history. None of the nobles had been thrilled to see her in power.

With a sigh, she leaned back on her throne. "Well, at least I had time for my wedding with Catherine... Even if things got a lot worse immediately after, but I should've expected the nobility and clergy to be against me disbanding them all..."

"Are you feeling okay, Mel?" the new queen's consort asked, standing to her right.

"Yeah, just thinking. About... everything that's happened."

Lying down to the left of the throne was Ischys, no longer bound to the norms of high society. In front of it and to the side was Cyrah, assigned to guard the important people behind her alongside Ischys. In the very corner of the room, Inara waited to be called upon as the traditionally required servant in the room. This, evidently, had been carefully arranged to keep them all together so they could support Melisende and Catherine through the burden of ruling.

The high ceiling helped the queen not feel trapped, and plenty of light came in from the large windows in the room, but it didn't mean the ornate decoration stopped feeling oppressive. She'd spent the day holding court to hear the people's concerns, as she had been doing for weeks already. Needless to say, when a pair of guards came in dragging a chained up child after them, she straightened up in her seat. This, was new.

Both guards forced the child onto his knees; he must have been only 10 years old or so. He had long brown hair, matted in some areas. Despite the scarcely-washed hair, his eyes were a vibrant emerald green. He wore dirty rags, beneath which it was obvious he was full of cuts and bruises, bleeding where he'd been stabbed. Noticeably, the gold hue of a Mark of Greed glowed from his left elbow to his wrist. By the terror in his eyes alone, Melisende knew what approach to take. The question was whether or not a marked one deserved it, him being her subject aside.

"Ironic... I can't exactly claim to be better than him in any way."

"Your Majesty, we found this little monster stealing from the canteen. Under your father's rule, we would've executed him on the spot, but since you've been making so many changes, our captain ordered us to take him to you directly," one of the guards explained.

"You did well."

The guard bowed. "Your decision, ma'am?"

Catherine leaned in to whisper in her ear.

"Mel. A child that is not embraced by the village..."

"... will burn it down to feel its warmth. Right," she completed, taking a deep breath before she responded. "Treat the child as a guest. Assign to him a room and send servants to care for him. I will need some time to come up with an elaborate enough plan. Until then, he is to be supervised heavily at all times. Guarantee his rights as a citizen."

The guards bowed again, one of them prodding the child. "Anything to say, worm?"

She raised her hand before more could be said. "You will treat the boy with respect. What he did does not make him deserving of mistreatment. Another bad word and you shall face the consequences. Do speak if you wish, little one."

"T-thank you, Your Majesty," the child said, clearly on the verge of tears. "I owe you my life."

Something twisted in Melisende's stomach when those words left his mouth, and she watched as the guards pulled him to his feet and escorted him away. At least they were not being as brutish as they had been before she spoke.