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Chapter Two

The clack of slow, methodical footsteps against stone echoed through the corridors of the Castle Nirole as Reema Morgan made her way toward the western mezzanine. It was late—later than expected or proper for a queen to be out and about—but special circumstances called for special treatment. Word had come that the trappers had been sighted returning to the castle grounds, and she intended to give them a proper greeting and thanks when they reached the main fortress.

Besides, it was important she introduce herself to the new guests that would undoubtedly be in tow. Reema felt a smile slip onto her face, but it was short lived.

No, it just wouldn't do to stroke the trappers' egos with an actual smile.

When the sounds of her heels on the stone floor came to a pause, she was standing before the castle's great arched mahogany double doors, poised and ready to speak. On either side of the entrance stood two armored black bears, each with a large mace in their paws. They remained silent and motionless in spite of the queen's wandering gaze. Ordinarily, it was these two who would have opened the doors, but as tonight was a special night, Reema twirled one hand and simply magicked the doors open instead.

The cool night air shifted the few stray hairs that had dared to escape the queen's French-braided locks, but she paid them no mind. Tonight, the air was a refreshment, a reminder of the good things to come. The trappers never returned empty handed, after all.

"Gulliver!"

The form of a third bear, this one with red fur and much larger than the guards, climbed the steps to the mezzanine and paused just long enough to drop his head in a respectful bow.

"My queen."

Behind him, the other members of the trapper group materialized, reaching the top of the stairs and each of them—all of them apes—offered their own forms of a bow.

"What have you brought me this evening Gulliver?" Her eyes, dark as the night sky itself, flashed in excitement as she waited to hear her second-in-command's reply. "And..." Here the queen took pause, shifting her head this way and that as she scanned the crowd of trappers. "Where is Delgra?"

The bear wasted no time in his reply.

"Delgra is dead, my queen. Slain by the princess and her leige."

The queen sucked in a breath through her teeth, her blood beginning to boil. This time when her eyes flashed, it was indicative of a growing frustration. She turned her back to the trappers, taking several steps away before spinning 'round again and sending a stream of magic to tighten around the bear's neck and lift him off his feet.

"How does this woman keep destroying all my soldiers?" raged the queen, her voice low and sharp and deadly. Gulliver struggled against the magic. The apes behind him shifted and grew nervous. Reema smirked at their fear. This would be a good example for them. She stepped closer to the bear, who ceased to struggle and instead looked down at the queen who had begun to speak. "That's three of my best killed in just over a month, dear Gulliver. I'm starting to suspect there is a...common denominator."

The bear started to choke out a reply, but the queen stole his voice with a twist of her other hand.

"I'm not done." The red bear began to struggle again as Reema turned her back and walked a small circle to collect her thoughts. When she had returned to look at him, she tilted her head. "I'll give you another chance, Gulliver. One more chance. This princess has done enough damage. We mustn't allow her to get cocky. It just won't do."

Reema released her second-in-command, who crashed to the stone floor, gasping and coughing. She looked down her nose at him, disgusted, until he managed to rise to his feet again.

"Of course, my queen," Gulliver sputtered, his voice hoarse.

Reema raised her eyebrows.

"Now that that's taken care of...it is time for you to answer my first question. What have you brought me tonight?"

The bear, having regained some of his composure, stood at attention on just two feet this time. He stepped to the side and made a sweeping gesture to the apes in the back. The apes in the front stepped aside, and two humans were brought forward—one man and one woman. The pair resisted the holds of their captors, but it was obvious they were weakened. Both wore shirts saturated in dried blood, and their faces were smudged with dirt and soot.

"Two more descendants, milady."

The queen's eyes brightened, just for a moment, and she approached the pair with the same slow, calculated walk she used anytime she wished to intimidate. When she came to stand before the pair, she twisted her hand so that the back was to the floor, and extended her index finger.

"Kneel before your queen."

Her hand lowered, and the man and woman were forced to the ground. The ape guards released them and stepped back into the line. Reema stood just a few feet from the captors now, her eyes cast down upon them as theirs looked up. She raised a brow.

"You poor, poor things," she cooed, beginning to pace before them. "You've no idea why you're here. No idea who you are or what you mean to me." She paused, looking at them again and offering a smile, revealing the perfect teeth hidden behind the hot pink lipstick. "I'll fill you in." Leaning down to place her face almost between them, the queen whispered into their ears, "You are here because your ancestor made the wrong choice. And now, you will join her in imprisonment."

Straightening, Reema looked to the guards and opened her mouth to speak, only to be cut off by the voice of the woman on the floor.

"We did not make the same choice!"

Again, the dark eyebrows raised and the sugar-sweet smile came.

"Yes..." She rubbed her chin with delicate, manicured fingertips. "It's unfortunate, isn't it? How the bad decisions of one can impact the lives of so many others. In some cases, you might even say those decisions can...cost...lives."

Brown, nearly black eyes snapped up to guards again.

"Take them to the oubliette."

She locked eyes with the woman now, and the corner of her lip twitched.

"I've no interest in keeping any...mouthy...pets."

The apes swarmed the pair, grabbing hold of them as Reema turned her back and began to walk away. Just a few seconds later, though, she halted, and turned back.

"On second thought," she said, the words directed at Gulliver, "take only the female to the oubliette." Reema's eyes swept up and down the form of the man, who was staring daggers at her perhaps even more severe than the woman. "It'd be a shame to let such a fine specimen go entirely to waste. Perhaps we can work out a deal, huh?"

The man spat in her face.

"I'd rather die."

With only the slightest outward indication that his actions had bothered her, the queen regally wiped at her cheek and then cocked her hear just a bit.

"That can, of course, be arranged, but I think you'll come to see that there are many benefits to be had by choosing one side over the other."

Reema looked back at Gulliver.

"He can think about his situation in the dungeon. Take him there. Oh, and, Gulliver?"

The bear stood at attention.

"Milady?"

"I want that princess. Alive. And...if you lose another soul on this attempt...I'll kill you myself, Gulliver."

The red bear dropped to all fours, nodding his head and dipping into a long bow.

"Of course, my queen. So it shall be."