"Madyson, I can't find my shoes!" whined a young woman who was pacing around barefoot in the common room of her castle. Her hair was a jet black that contrasted greatly to her pale skin. She occasionally moved an unreasonable piece of furniture, such as a lamp, in an attempt to locate the missing footwear.

     "Scarlett hon, you don't wear shoes" called a quiet but sweet voice from another room. The other woman giggled a bit as she got up from her chair, setting her book down on the table beside her. Her long, golden hair swayed as she moved. She met up with her wife, who was now searching under their couch.

     "I know, I know, but I still have a pair somewhere, don't I?" Scarlett asked, giving up her search. She fell back dramatically on the couch, and Madyson sat down beside her.

     "Just borrow a pair of mine," she suggested, placing a kiss on Scarlett's cheek. She had to stretch up a little due to her much smaller stature. "What's the occasion?"

     "Rye wanted us to visit later today, something about a negotiation, I don't know," Scarlett tried to explain. "It's definitely about ruling her own colony. She even got Mike to bother me about it the other day."

     "Maybe it's time you let her," Madyson said. "France is kind of falling apart right now. You think she likes croissants?"

     Scarlett shook her head and chuckled. "I don't know, but she does like penguins, which is why she should be thriving in the East Village. I just don't think she's ready to handle a whole country on her own yet."

     "Maybe you're right," Madyson said with a sigh, leaning into her beloved wife. She closed her eyes as Scarlett began to play with her hair.

     "Have you been to the village lately?" Scarlett asked. Madyson shook her head slightly. "It's pure chaos. They just built a giant trumpet statue in the center of town by the well, and apparently they're going to throw shit in it and light it on fire on special occasions."

     "She gets her chaos from you, you know," Madyson reminded. "Remember the time you lit our marriage certificate on fire?"

    Scarlett began to laugh. "'You can't return me without the receipt!'" she quoted. "Yeah, I remember. I got that from the internet. But it wasn't chaotic, it was intelligent!"

    "You are the definition of chaos, Scarlett Letra," Madyson teased, shaking her head and giving her wife a warm smile.

     "And that's why you love me," Scarlett replied. She cupped Madyson's face with her pale hands and for a second, the two just smiled at each other. Then, Scarlett kissed her, slow and with love, and the two melted into the kiss for a long moment. Scarlett pulled Madyson on top of her, running her fingers through her wife's golden hair.

     "S-So sorry to interrupt, your majesties" came a small voice from doorway. Into the room trotted a shy young centaur, his hoofs clicking against the hardwood floors. His fur was a beautiful caramel brown and his eyes shone the most brilliant green. His gray-furred, human-like hands nervously played with the bow-tie he always wore and his tail twitched every now and then as he stood.

     "Charles, what do you want?!?" Scarlett hissed, instantly regretting snapping at the poor soul. Charles was perhaps the most innocent member of the castle, having been created on a whim by the Royal Scientist, who enjoyed ancient mythology. After finding a fossilized centaur in the depths of Antarctica's ice caves, he extracted the DNA and attempted to create a clone. He succeeded, creating a centaur foal who absolutely loved flowers. But he had nowhere else to live but in the castle, since he clearly had no survival skills and people would likely attack him for being different. People have a tendency to do that, and the Royal scientist knew that well.

     Charles was always the one to brighten everyone's day, whether through compliments, homemade baked goods, or his own prized flowers he grew in the personal greenhouse Scarlett had built for him. He became kind of like a son to the Queens as soon as he emerged as a small, helpless foal from the scientist's test chambers.  His name, as Scarlett explained, was that of great kings of the past. Charles was basically royalty, and many believed he would even take over the throne himself someday.  In truth, the Queens had not officially named an heir to the throne yet. Scarlett didn't want Madyson to worry about it because they were both still young, and they had plenty of time to pick someone when they got older, since they did not plan to have biological children.

     "It's an emergency," he replied quietly, his deer-like ears back out of fear. "Cassidy needs you in the meeting room."

     Madyson got off of Scarlett, blushing violently, and Scarlett sighed. "I'm gonna kill him," she muttered. 

     "I'll be there in a second," she told Charles in a much sweeter tone than before, trying to subtly apologize to him. He was one of the few people (if he could even be called that) the sharp-tongued queen ever felt bad for snapping at. She began to head towards the kitchen, but Madyson grabbed her arm.

     "Where are you going?" she asked

     "For the knife, clearly." 

     "No you're not," the smaller queen stated, pulling her wife in the opposite direction. "Come on."

                                 ~ 

     "France has fallen into the hands of the rebellion!" shrieked a young boy clad in a lab coat. His blonde hair was a mess and his glasses were on crooked, but his coat somehow remained meticulously clean. He was pointing at a projection in the center of the room, a digital table in which Scarlett had all of her live events, media coverage, and video feeds organized. Currently a local French news station was playing alongside her live feed from the capital. A young girl with thick hair stood on a pedestal, splattered in blood and surrounded by bodies, as well as a crowd of admirers. Standing beside her was a tall, semi-muscular man, and behind them, another, smaller man and two women. The one woman looked vaguely familiar to Scarlett, but she only recognized her as the rebel leader. She eyed the screens carefully for a few more moments, then shook her head.

     "Let them have it," she decided, getting up to leave the room. Cassidy looked at her, stunned, and Madyson grasped her hand to stop her from leaving.

    "What??? Are you insane?" Madyson asked incredulously. Scarlett looked at the feed again, and then to her wife.

     "We really don't need France. We didn't have any government set up there, and those snooty French people don't really like us all that much, so why not let the rebellion have it?" Madyson stared at her, dumbfounded.

     "The more power you give to the rebellion, the more of a threat they become," Cassidy stated, gesturing towards the screen. "They already have the United States."

     "Cyren and I could easily handle it. They don't look that strong," Noel chimed in, emerging from a corner no one had seen her in. She was always the most mysterious of the castle, as her bangs were always in her eyes and wore a dark purple cloak to encase herself in constant shadows.

     "No, no, it's not worth it, trust me, I've heard things about their assassin" Scarlett said with a sigh. "Although unfortunately that means they'll stop shipping me those amazing baguettes. But I guess I could get Clarisse to make them..." Scarlett began muttering to herself as Cassidy and Madyson exchanged anxious glances. After a moment, Scarlett spoke up again.

     "Then it's settled," she stated. "France is no longer under the control of the Monarchy, but instead by the rebellion. They can have their fun, but I assure you, we will take back France and the United States in due time."