The Queen's Rise

Travel Trouble

The next morning me, my group and my carriages ride off to the dark kingdom. We were just about out of town when the three demons from last night stop us. "Where ye heading? " The woman asked. "Oh just up to this dark kingdom then to the lost kingdom. " She nods. "Mind if we join? " I laugh and nod. "Get in here you asses. " She laughs as she hurls herself in, along side her two male buddies. She looks around my rather roomy carriage, she laughs. "Damn Nettie, never knew you had this much style. " I shrug and laugh. "You know I never got your guys' names. " She slaps her knees and chuckles. "Dammit! Forgot all about that! " She points at the demon to her left. "This is Ikram. " She turns to the right. "And this is Ghadir. " She then points to herself. "I'm Olufunke. " I nod, smiling. Ikram was long and skinny with black hair and a black beard. He was tannish, he had round brown eyes. He wore rustic clothing, some I've never seen before. Ghadir was also long and skinny. He wore similar clothes to Ikram but had zero facial hair. His hair was long and black, his eyes were small and brown too. He had a huge scar going from his forehead to his chin, in a zig zag line. He was a bit lighter than Ikram too. Olufunke was shorter but still tall, she has smooth brown skin, looked like velvet. She had tattoos on her left shoulder and her eyes were a deep brown. Her hair was a long brown-orange tint. She was a sharp woman, her edges were sharp but not much. But what would throw you off most was the unhuman features they bared. Ikram had sharp teeth and scales along his face. Ghadir had long nails and sharp teeth, along side that was feline pupils. Olufunke had huge horns coming from her head, her pupils were goat like and she had hooves instead of feet.

"Nettie! Who the hell did you just let into your carriage?! " Modesty sounded concerned. So I opened the door and held on as I spoke to her, the carriage and her horse were still moving. "These are some drinking buddies and the people who finished off Barry. " Her eyes widen at the last part about Barry. "Was it fun to kill him? " She looked at the three who were silent. "Hell yeah it was! He screamed and cried like a little bitch! " Ikram smirked. Modesty smiles. "I think I like these three. " They smile at her words. I climb back into the carriage and close the door shut. We ride for a few hours when suddenly it comes to an irrupt stop. I get a bit pissed when my drink spilled. "What is going on out there?! " Charlie replies. "Some bandits and shit, stay inside the carriage my queen. " I sigh. Then I hear screaming and things clanging, blood was spilled. I growl and throw the door open, finding a battle scene from a movie happening. "Get the hell back in the carriage! " Charlie screamed. I jump down, the three behind me watching. Almost light lightning I'm charged at by one of the bandits. "I bet you'd go up for a shit ton! " He swings, nearly cutting my arm. I grab his arm, pull the blade from his side and shove it threw his fore arm. He screams and goes to bite me, I pull the knife out quickly and shove it threw his eye, then going for the next. I knee him from me as he screams, dropping his weapon and all his defenses. I pull my bow and fire, killing him. I draw three more arrows and fire, killing three more men. I grab the bandit's sword from before and charge, slicing through any and all bandits who think they'd capture me. Finally it's over, leaving only one of my men dead. Charlie walks up and throws me around, ready to tell at me as he noticed I was drenched in blood. "What did I-" His eyes look me up and down. "Oh my Lord, Nettie you're a mess. " I throw the bloodied sword to the side as I push from him. "They were going to take me, next time don't tell me to stay in the damn carriage. " He turns and is very quick to apologize. "Yes, alright. Next time I'll tell you to come Slaughter each one of the opposing foe. " I chuckle as I climb back into the carriage, the three still there watching as my bloodied dress slops about. I rip my dress down to the undergarments beneath. "Modesty, mind getting me a fresh change of clothes, no dresses please. " I throw the ripped and blood covered dress out the door onto the soil next to the carriage. Modesty hands me a white and brown tunic and a pair of ankle banded pants. I slip them on and manage my dress undergarments off after the fact. I tie up my high leather boots and fix my hair into a lace braided bun. I slide my crown onto my head once more and look at the three as we continue on. "Not gonna lie, that was kinda hot. " Olufunke smiled. "Thanks, I wasn't letting a few bandits ruin this trip. " She nods. Finally we make it to the very first allied kingdom we have, the kingdom of water. It was near the largest river in the lands, the river of Renhet (Purity). We roll in and are actually greeted by a few cheers by townspeople and when the carriage comes to a complete stop I throw the door open and jump out, helping my three joyful guests out of the carriage.  "Welcome to the kingdom of water! " I was rather excited, I love this kingdom, some times more than my own. It was a glorious place, the street was made of beautiful stone. Everyone looked and sounded so elegant, regardless if they were a noble or peasant. I walk around with my friends and buds and show them around. I turn and I'm faced with a hug. It was the queen, Queen Katrina Alexander. She was like me, a queen without a king. She was also three years older than me, she was 20. She looked younger than her age, she was short with a pale skin tone. She had long blonde hair that she always had in a Dutch braid. She had almond blue eyes and her face was so round. She loves to show her body, so much so almost all of her dresses have slits or showy necklines. She has a body worth showing, plus the climate here is much warmer than at the forest realm. "Queen Nettie! What's up with the surprise visit? " I laugh and hug her again. "I'm on my way to the lost kingdom, a kingdom who says it's an empire and broke from it wants me to come and break it apart. " She smiles happily and nods. "Understandable, I also have one of the safest kingdoms to stay at for the night. " I nod. "Plus, don't tell anyone but I think your kingdom is my favorite. " She gasps and goes awww. I giggle. "Well have your men bring your carriages and horses and supplies and such to my castle, we shall house you guys for however long. " I smile. "Thank you Katrina. " She nods. My friends and family walk up, making themselves known. "Ah, Charlie, modesty, Morris. It's nice to see you three again. " She hugs the three of them. "Jovan, Kaisa. Nice to see you two once more. " She pulls away from my friends and moves to them to hug. Then she faces the three new faces. "And they are? " I smile and introduce them. "Kat, these are my three drinking buddies. Olufunke, Ikram and Ghadir. " She nods. "You brought drinkers, great. " She smiles and shakes their hands.

"Anyways, how about you guys come along and come back to the castle with me. " We all nod. Following her we walk back to her absolutely gorgeous castle, you could definitely see the beautiful work her people put into it. It was like a Disney castle except less cartoonish and more regal. It was mostly white with light bonus colors like blue and gold. It had beautiful oval windows and alluring doors. It showed the true passion of the water realm, it showed the love and heartbreak the kings and queens before Kat had faced. Katrina's guards opened the doors and inside, that theme of charm stuck with the interior of the castle. Velvet blue rugs with designs of fish laid upon the floors. Murals of water along each wall. Paintings of the Royal Family were present and very abundant. Chandlers in shapes of coral and seaweed hung from ceilings, all in gold and shown with just natural light. It was like a dream, it was so pretty and so captivating that only an artist could imagine. Deep blues and greens and even purples were placed so delicately in the castle, each room you'd enter had a personality. "Welcome to the water kingdom's castle my dears! Only the finest everything is placed here! " Kat loves her home, she's always happily bragging about nearly everything here. But she's very greatful, she doesn't ask for what she doesn't need and never gives more than minimum. She's not like me, she doesn't give her people everything they want, just what they need. She's also one with every person here, she's so calm with her gentle people. She only knows what her people are like, she doesn't know her people personally like me. I wish I could be so well kept with my people but I don't have the time to be. She's also been in the kingdom since she was born, not from twelve like me. She has more experience, with war, with neglect with nearly everything I have such little knowledge about. I have also never put my kingdom at risk, I only risk myself and never my people. I don't know what it means to have an entire kingdom revert on me, take me down to hell. But I guess that's just things I will learn surely and I'm happy as hell to whenever that does happen, she'll be there on my side to aid my wounds.