The Kingdom of Scribbles

The Queen is a Dangerous Person

Just as the sun began to set, Queen Sabrina arrived at the camp. This time she was wearing a purple dress covered in rust colored stains, and in her hand she clutched a knife. No one dared to approach her, for they had heard the stories of the Demon Queen, and her presence made them tremble in fear.

When she entered the tent, Jackson scrambled to kneel, and her knight gave a small bow. General Bradley only stared at her in terror. She was small, but her eyes held a kind of crazy he had never seen and her mouth was curved into an unnaturally wide smile. He felt like he was gazing upon death herself.

"Jackson rise this is no time to play leap frog," she said with a giggle, but the laugh and everything about her carried a dark air of insanity. She glanced at the plans littering the table. "So, you were planning to attack me. Thank you, this gives me a good reason to kill you."

"Guards!" Bradley cried out.

The guards stationed outside rushed in. Sabrina acted quickly, and the guards were on the floor, dead. Her blade glinted red in the candle light.

"Keep the general here, and make sure he sees the show." She commanded. "Don't worry I'll be back for you." She pointed her knife straight at him then skipped outside.

The soldiers only stared at her dress that had a new coat of red painted onto it. Truthfully, if someone had led a charge, they could have killed her, but their fear led to their downfall. She was but a blur moving from one man to the next only leaving death in her path. Those who ran died, and those who fought died. Those who escaped were captured by her Slightly Pathetic Guard that had surrounded the camp.

Soon, there was only one soldier left standing guard at the opening of a tent. The Queen stopped in front of him with her head cocked to the side.

"Please, there are women and children inside. You have to spare them." The lone soldier begged.

"You are brave." She commented as she put her knife back in its sheath. When she did this her dark aura almost completely vanished. "I can respect that. Let me see them." The soldier shook his head. "I just want to make sure you are not lying. If you are not, I will let them live."

He was very uncertain about trusting her after watching her kill so many men. None the less, he let her see, and sure enough she gazed upon women holding children protectively.

"I promise no harm will come to them as you have kept your word I will keep mine, but they will not be permitted to leave my kingdom until I say so." The Queen explained.

"Thank you, thank you." He said relieved that he was able to save them.

"As for you, you can either choose to join them or join your fallen comrades."

"Wish to protect them."

"Stay here. I will send my captain to retrieve you." She commanded. "You will be kept as prisoners of war until I can send you safely home. I will make sure all of them are cared for."

She pulled out her knife, the aura returned, and left to speak to her captain. When she reached them she told Captain Brian of the people he was to take in as prisoners of war that were to be cared for. She retrieved the captured men that had escaped from her slaughter and killed each one. Then, she went to get General Bradley.

"Did you like my show?" She asked Bradley, if he was scarred of her before he was terrified of her now. "Come on back to the castle we go; that includes you Jackson."

"Captain Brian, this is General Bradley, the coward in charge, and Jackson, our guest." She explained.

"Wait, how do you know my name?" Jackson asked realising he had never told her.

"The voices told me."

***

After a few days Queen Sabrina, a few Ladies of the Court, her knight, Jackson, and the prisoners left for Venad. After a few more, they arrived in the king's throne room.

"So, you tried to attack my kingdom." Queen Sabrina addressed King Lloyd. They were sitting in the dining room as the king had invited them to dinner when he had heard of their arrival.

"I did no such thing." Came his reply with a hint of annoyance. "I simply commanded him to arrange a deal with you, so my kingdom could build a military base on your land."

"Well, your general was a coward. He didn't even have the nerve to talk to me himself." She aggressively stabbed her steak with her fork. King Lloyd noticed that one of her ladies had taken the queen's steak knife away from her. "If he had not done that, I might of not killed them all."

"You had them all killed." King Lloyd's anger increased.

"Except, the women and children and the soldier who defended them, I'll be releasing them back to you, the general and Jackson." She corrected not noticing his mounting anger.

The king opened his mouth, preparing to say some not so nice things when Jackson stopped him. "Sire, I wish to make something clear."

"What?" Lloyd snapped.

"She killed all of them all personally; by herself." Jackson explained.

"General Bradley?" The king looked at his general, who was standing at the corner of the table.

"It is true." He said shaking at the thought. "She killed each one without mercy."

This scared the king. "I sincerely apologize, for my subordinate's mistake. I will be sure to punish him appropriately." He promised with a false smile.

"No, he is my prisoner, and I have already decided upon his punishment." Queen Sabrina informed him.

Suddenly, she lunged across the table grabbing the knife out of King Lloyd's hand. She threw the knife at Bradley. It went blade first into his forehead, killing him. The room was silent as his body crumbled onto the floor.

"Queen Sabrina, you know it's rude to kill someone while people are eating." Lady Jessica scolded her like you would scold a little kid. "Apologize."

"Sorry," Sabrina said just like a kid does when they don't actually mean it; pouting with her arms crossed.

"I-it's fine," Lloyd stuttered both terrified and confused about the events that had just unfolded.

"Anyways," the queen stated acting like nothing out of the ordinary had happened. "I refuse to have a military base on my land."

"I will respect that." The king promised.

"I guess that's everything." She said. "Oh Jackson, he is the last prisoner. Can I keep him?"

"What?" Both King Lloyd and Jackson asked at the same time.

"You do not have any family, do you?" Queen Sabrina asked Jackson.

"No, but-" the queen cut him off.

"Then he can be my apology gift." She looked at the king.

The king wasn't sure how to react to her request, but he didn't want to refuse her. He agreed to let her take Jackson. Jackson was unsure how to feel about the situation. Sure, he didn't have any real family or friends, but it was strange to be forced to go live in another kingdom; especially one ruled by the Queen of Homicide. In the end he had no say in the matter, and from then on Scribbles would be his home. The rest of the dinner went by uneventfuly; not counting when Queen Sabrina decided it would be a good idea to stand on top of the table.