The Queen of Arabeth

Chapter 5: Retribution

*Eight months prior*

Sweat drips down Harrison's forehead, stinging his eyes. A hard kick to his legs propels him forward. He squints against the sudden flood of light.

For a moment, he can't see.

Rage curls his fingers into fists.

How dare she.

How dare Celestia order a Prince to be treated this way. Worse than cattle, worse than a bloodbag. He had been held in an underground dungeon for days. No blood, no light, his body bound so tightly he was forced to sit in a puddle of his own piss and rot.

He shakes his stringy hair from his eyes, his hands still bound tightly behind his back. The chains binding his ankles grate against the cobblestone as he shuffles forward.

The crowd is deafening on either side of him.

He grimaces as the brightness adjusts and shapes solidify. Harrison knows exactly where he is. He's been here countless times before as a buyer.

Half a dozen others are already on the stage, chained in kneeling positions, their wrists bound to the mountainheart posts behind them.

He used to buy his humans here. Fuck, he tried to buy his sister's pet human here.

The guards shove him through the crowd and up creaking wooden steps.

One of the chained vampires, Beatrice, moves toward with a plea as he passes by. He jerks away, repulsed. Her dark hair is wild and matted, her skin rotted away from days of mountainheart. He spits. Disgusting.

A wild thought flits through his mind. He could die here, today in this square.

All at once the roaring crowd hushes. A reverent silence falls over the square. She's here.

Harrison lifts his chin, meeting Celestia's gaze head on. He squares his jaw, letting red rip through the silver coating his eyes. He wants her to know much he hates her. He wants her to feel how badly he wants the life to drain from her eyes.

If Celestia is bothered by any of it, she does not show it.

All in the square drop to one knee. Harrison manages to stand defiantly for a moment before guards shove him down. He bites back a cry as they yank his arms backward, anchoring him to a pole.

Celestia strides through the crowds, stepping smoothly up on the viewing platform. She inhales deeply.

The masses had shown up in the hundreds. Vampires and humans alike knelt before her to witness the execution of a royal. In their entire history, it has only happened once before.

"Rise," she commands, her voice clear, strong. "Those before you have committed treason." She clasps the rail in front of her, unflinching as she stares down the convicted. "As you know, several weeks ago we made a pact with the free humans of the forest. A treaty of protection in exchange for their secrets of the tunnels connecting our lands. This alliance has already won us one battle, with many more to come.

"Those before you have threatened that alliance. They have abused, raped, and murdered those under my rule, threatening our peace, and risking our success in this war. And today, I sentence them to die."

She gestures broadly to the rows of gleaming silver arrows by her side, a single arched bow hanging ready for use.

"All those who have been affected by the convicted may right their wrongs with a single arrow. When all blood debts have been paid, any left alive will die by my hand. Let it be known– treason will be paid with blood."