Rewritten

***

In the throne room, there were five champions, excluding Amara, and four guards when the queen walked in. Cyra assumed one guard was Sherwood. The one who requested to recruit two other participants from Losej.

Amara had taken her seat on the chair next to the throne, almost as mighty as the one it accompanied.

The second Cyra Thornis stepped into the room, everyone turned around to kneel. Save for two Champions wrapped in chains and shackles. They both remained standing behind their guard, Sherwood, not even turning to look at who entered.

Their hair, black as ravens was as tangled as their nest. Their prisoner's outfit--

They were prisoners.

Cyra had never imagined someone would make a prisoner a participant, let alone two. It had slipped her mind, so she did not make a rule banning criminals.

She gritted her teeth but quickly stopped. "At ease."

She made her way and sat on her throne as everyone stood from their kneeling positions. When she looked at the chained pair, she noticed a rod in their gut. No wonder they hadn't been able to move.

She smirked. "Welcome, Champions of Freyillie, Losej, Rivetar, and Soleressa. Pleasure making your acquaintance." The tension in the room did not stop her from speaking. "I hope you know you've been chosen for an honorable role," she said. The sentence was aimed at the raven-haired pair.

Their heads remained looking at the floor. She wanted to see their face, so she commanded Sherwood to show it to her.

Both their faces were swollen, but she could tell they were twins. The female was the taller of the two, and the male seemed to be shorter than everyone in the room. She guessed he stood at five and a half feet and the female almost three inches taller than him.

The male's eyes fluttered open then closed upon looking at the light coming from the window. They were both unconscious but remained standing.

Funny, or interesting. She couldn't decide.

"Wake them up," she commanded. When no one moved, she said, "Now!"

Sherwood removed the rods in their guts and they slowly sputtered to life. The hole in their torso disappeared as if rapidly healing itself.

Then Cyra focused her gaze on the pair's temples and saw a blue dot on the male's head and a golden dot on the female's. They were Rares, and she was probably the only one in the room who could see it.

The pair fell to the ground and stood back up with wobbly legs, blood dripping from their rags from the wound that no longer graced their bodies.

"Speak your names, Champions," Cyra ordered.

"Amon Dera," said the first one.

"Lyon Versailles."

"Joll Spara."

Then the female twin spoke. "Dara Nisela VeLila."

Then the male. "Drayce Nisela VeLila."

Cyra placed her hands in her lap as she leaned back farther into her chair. She glanced at Amara briefly before speaking once again. "Well, I imagine you all know why you are here. You are here for the competition that is to take place two weeks from now. Then, for sixteen weeks, you will hone your abilities to use in a variety of ways. I am sure all of you know how to use your power within the limits of the law, correct?"

A chorus of "Yes, Your Majesty" echoed in the room. The only people that weren't participating were the twins.

She stood and approached the prisoners. She whispered in their ears. "You are prisoners from the Immortal Zone, correct?"

"Yes," mumbled Dara.

"What about you, Drayce?"

"Yes."

It sounded like it hurt both of them to speak. Pain caused by ego or physical pain?

"Do you know how to activate your powers?" A shake of their heads told her what she needed to know. "I will speak to you two later." She faced Sherwood, the guard who was insane enough to recruit the two biggest criminals in Carrallizian history. "Get them out of here. And fix them up. They look like rats in the sewers."

Sherwood was about to say "Yes, Your Majesty" but she moved her hand, telling them to get lost...quickly.

Once they left the room, leaving drops of blood behind, she tapped each of the remaining Champions on the head. Then she placed two fingers on their wrists, memorizing their pulses. It would come in handy later on.

Cyra then began explaining the rules of the competition. She could see excitement leaking out of the Champions. Not excited for saving their continent, excited for the glory that would come alongside saving the continent.

"You are not to come on the second floor unless I invite you personally. There is to be no going in the kitchen and you are to follow a strict schedule that will be in your bedrooms. In rotations, all fifty of the Champions will be training.

"There will also be no special treatment. If you are rich, poor, tall, short, male, or female, you will be treated the same. Do not expect better treatment just because you hold more power in your home. In this castle, you are Champions. Nothing more, nothing less.

"You are to listen to your sponsors, the guard who recruited you, and me. There will be no trading items you receive throughout the competition.

"Moving onto the tasks. It will be different compared to twenty-five years ago. You will find out what the task is three hours before it takes place. If you are seen bribing people to find out the next task, you will be executed on the spot and replaced by a new Champion. You may cheat to your heart's content, but if you are caught, be ready to say goodbye to everyone you knew. Are we clear so far?"

All three Champions in the room nodded.

She kept speaking and speaking until all of the important information got out of the way. She asked the guards to take their Champions to their assigned rooms and familiarize them with the layout of the castle.

All she had to do now was speak to Sherwood and the twins. She sent a servant to get them in the throne room.

Once the room was empty of servants, guards, and Champions, Amara spoke. "Cyra, what are you going to do with the prisoners?"

"You'll see."

The twins and Sherwood entered the room, the guard the only one to bow.

"Sherwood," Cyra said, resting her face in her palm, "what made you so reckless?"

"I'm not sure I understand."

"Oh, you understand well. What gave you the right to recruit these prisoners? Prisoners from the Immortal Zone at that."

"I received permission from Duke Ambrosia. I then asked General Mickeal's son, Keir, who in turn asked you."

"I can not recall being told they were prisoners at any point in time. But since there was no rule against it, I believe I cannot dismiss these two."

A cold silence fell in the room, deepening the tension.

Amara rose from her chair and left the room, not wanting to be part of the conversation.

"However, I am sure I would be able to punish them some other way. If they are not spending time in a prison cell and rules forbid me from harming them as they are Champions, I am sure I will have to get creative."

Sherwood, stuck in his spot, did not know how to reply.

"Shall I make both of them work like mules? Shall I increase their training times to the point where standing seems to be a chore? Shall I make them a punching bag for other Champions to train with? Or shall I merely embarrass them over and over again in front of large crowds? It is your choice."

The male twin, Drayce, finally moved. "You may do all of them if you truly wish. But that won't stop us from winning this atrocious competition."

Cyra, ignoring Drayce, turned to Sherwood. "What did you promise them?"

"I don't know--"

"You know well. Stop acting empty-minded and tell me what you promised them in exchange for being a part of this competition."

"I promised their freedom and promised them they would be able to live on an estate on the Western Wells of Carralliz."

"Excuse me? Who permitted you?"

"Duke Ambrosia."

"That old weasel. He always messes up my plans. Sherwood, you are a pesky little insect, remember that." Then she smirked, a plan stirring up in her mind. "If I am not mistaken, your wife is bearing a child and works as a servant in this castle, does she not?"

The guard stiffened in his stance. He had no idea how she knew. Did she know everything that happened in the castle? Or was it a wild guess? "That would be correct, Your Majesty."

"It would be a shame if I were to make her work in the kitchens for over fifteen hours a day. It would be a bigger shame if I made you work when your wife is not and made her work when you are not. An even bigger shame if I ordered you to live in the barracks and forbade you from visiting your wife in the kitchens or your home, wouldn't it."

"Yes. It would be quite a shame."

"Tell me. What is the name this kingdom calls me by?"

"The...the Cruel Queen."

"And why do they call me that?"

"Because you are merciless...and unforgiving."

"How about you tell me if this is a time to be unforgiving. I am sure going against common sense and asking Duke Ambrosia for permission when I am the authoritative figure is what you would call a mistake. A blunder, rather."

"This would be a time to be unforgiving, Your Majesty."

"Then, will you accept any punishment I place on you?"

He bowed as a way to say yes.

"You are to work from sundown to sunup, and you are to work whenever you are required to assist your Champions in training for the competition. Your wife is to work from sunup to sundown. She will work in the kitchens and she will work as a servant. She will do as I see fit. Do you accept this?"

"Yes," he said, trembling at his knees.

"Oh, and one more thing. Your child, once born, will be raised by a handmaiden of my choosing. I do not see how you will make a good father in any sort of way. And if your wife was stupid enough to marry you, she will not make a fine mother. Your child shall be raised by quality people, not rule-bending and loophole-finding scum such as yourself. Are we clear?"

He bowed once again.

"Now get lost. I will speak to these two now."

He did as the queen asked. His face betrayed no emotion, but his clenched fists did.

She truly was the Cruel Queen. Merciless and unforgiving ever since the day she committed her first murder.

"Dara and Drayce," she said, "a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"I am sure I cannot say the same," said Drayce.

"I believe I should explain the rules to you. If you miss something, there is a rule book assigned to each Champion."

After the queen spoke for almost half an hour of the rules, Drayce took a step closer to the queen. "Why would you ruin that guard's life like that?"

Taken aback by the irrelevant question, she shrugged. "He brought it upon himself, but that is not important. First of all, show me what you can do, Rares." She spoke the word just as though it were the embodiment of poison. A title suited for vermin.

"We do not know how to use our powers."

"Well, that is a shame. I'll simply have to teach you, but that day will have to wait. Until then, scurry along. Find your guard and ask him to take you to your rooms."

Drayce raced for the door as fast as he could. He could not bear being in her presence any longer. She bit the back of his neck, made his arms and legs tremble in fear and rage, and he did not like it. He had never once been scared in the Immortal Zone. Why would fear take over him now? What about the queen made her so intimidating? What about her made her a monster?

No wonder she was called the Cruel Queen.

Dara, on the other hand, remained where she stood and said, "I have once dreamed of you, Queen Thornis. In that dream, I saw you smile as bright as the sun. I saw you running around in a field of green grass with an animal by your side. You were nothing like how you are now."

"I am sorry to have disappointed you. Perhaps one day I will run around in green grass again. But that day will have to wait, Dara. Once I have removed all my enemies, I will learn how to smile again."

Dara moved her hands, making her chains and shackles play a small song. "I hope one day you will see my brother and me as something more than criminals."

Cyra laughed darkly as if she couldn't believe what she heard. How funny that a criminal said such a line. Running a hand through her chocolate brown hair, she said, "I hope one day I will see everyone--anyone as something more than a criminal."

***
Thank you for taking the time to read "The Cruel Queen." Don't forget to vote and add this book to a public reading list and/or library to be notified when I update.

Word Count: 2277