9
The Queen filled their glasses with raspberry juice once more, causing Kathrine’s stomach to tighten. She despised the sweet-and-sour liquid she’d been forced to drink ever since she could remember.
Kathrine lifted her eyes to the tall mouldings and heavy scarlet drapes that blocked the view of the city.
Perhaps the Queen insisted on the raspberry juice because it was her favourite colour – red.
The curtains weren’t the only detail in the meeting room that bore the colour of fresh blood.
It was everywhere – on the soft carpet under the table, the chair upholstery, intertwined in the complex ornaments on the cutlery.
Today, even the Queen’s lips were blood-red.
Despite his brief stay on Antambazi, the Queen’s new pet also seemed to have developed a disdain towards the mandatory drink. He was curled up in his chair in a desperate attempt to leave some space between his lips and the glass the Queen was shoving in his face.
“Drink, Baron. It’s good for your health. Especially for your human kind,” she hissed.
The young man traced the approaching raspberry juice with his bloodshot eyes and pressed his lips together, smacking his shiny shoes against the carpet under the chair.
Kathrine glanced at the wall clock. Sevar was late. He’d left for the earthly realm to fetch the new Oracle – a simple task, given the girl’s inexperience. But what was the source of this inexplicable inner impulse that made Kathrine count every minute until his return?
She turned her head just in time to spot the blood-red drops flying towards her face. Pink trails of juice dripped down Baron’s chin and clothes, colouring his immaculate white shirt. The front part of the Queen’s dress had an enormous smear of raspberry juice.
“Bad boy! Why did you spit the juice out?” The Queen grabbed a napkin from the table and wiped away the drops off her face, then Baron’s.
“Perhaps he just doesn’t enjoy raspberry juice.” Kathrine reached out for a tissue for herself and added, “Your Majesty.”
“Nonsense, daughter. Everybody loves raspberry juice. And, you know well that when we are alone, you don’t need to be so formal.”
“All right, Mother.”
The Queen reached out and grabbed the handset of the communication system hanging on the wall. “Come take Baron and bring me a clean dress, dear!” she instructed someone – likely one of the new Chosen responsible for her personal needs.
Soon, a young girl appeared, holding a hanger with a simple black dress. “Thank you. Here” –the Queen pushed Baron’s leash into the girl’s hand– “take this naughty boy to the Educator. He still lacks some basic table manners.”
The Chosen gently tugged on the leash, coaxing the human to rise from the table, which he did with apparent eagerness.
Kathrine had heard rumours about the Educator’s special psychological techniques for human brainwashing.
According to rumours, he created an illusion of divine authority while stripping the brain of its most precious faculties, effectively reducing it to the cognitive level of a pet.
No wonder Baron seemed so eager to return to his subdued state.
Kathrine knew these methods were supposedly effective only on humans, but recent doubts had begun to cloud her certainty.
When Baron departed, she was gripped by the fear of one day being reduced to a similar fate.
But she was already performing her duties with obedience, so why would the Queen ever need to resort to brainwashing her?
“Shall we return to our previous conversation?” The Queen slipped out of the dirty dress.
The fine fabric slid down her hips and gathered around her bare feet in a little pool of silk.
She began fiddling with the zipper of her new dress, unbothered by her nakedness.
“Marriage requires not only loyalty to your partner, but also trust in his loyalty to you.” She stepped into the new dress.
“I have never doubted Sevar’s loyalty to me.” Kathrine braced herself for yet another lecture on relationships and love. Since the death of the King of Antambazi, the Queen had never taken another consort, yet she relished giving advice on romantic matters.
“And you mustn’t, Kathrine. After all, only an unfaithful partner expects unfaithfulness, right?
But remember this, daughter. Intrigue births jealousy, and jealousy…
In that regard, it’s much like monarchs and their people.
Take me, for example. Sure, I inherited the title of Queen from my now-deceased husband.
But it’s not a position I take for granted.
Which is why it’s important I keep everyone on their toes and provide for their needs.
” The Queen relaxed in her chair. “But, back to what I was saying about partners. Jealousy, Kathrine, is fire! Maintain a man’s jealousy and you will maintain the passion in the marriage.
This is the secret to a good marital game.
Set your husband’s blood on fire regularly, but stay forever loyal to him. ”
“I’ve always thought that marriage is based mainly on an honest and faithful relationship,” Kathrine said.
“Of course, dear. Be honest, but provoke. Be a temptress. An actress!”
“Mother, you know I am neither of those things. I am a soldier.”
“A soldier on the battlefield. In a family home, there is no place for war.” The Queen’s laughter echoed through the room.
Kathrine threw a worried glance at the door. Where was Sevar?
The Queen pursed her lips. “What did I tell you just now about trust, daughter? Have faith in your fiancé. He will be here shortly.”
Kathrine lifted the glass of raspberry juice to her lips out of habit. “Have you received word of him, Mother?”
“Yes, I know he is on his way back.”
As if summoned by the Queen’s voice, Sevar barged into the room.
Kathrine nearly spilt the juice all over her clothes. Sevar’s suit was hanging around his torso, torn to bits. He had one trouser leg missing, and the remaining one was in shreds past his knee.
With a few furious strides, he crossed the room and collapsed onto an empty chair. “Damned manticore!” He gritted through his teeth, reaching for Kathrine’s glass.
“Have I not taught you that such rude behaviour is unbecoming in front of ladies?” The Queen scrutinised Sevar with narrowed eyes.
“I had no idea the manticore and the Oracle were together! As a couple!” Sevar slammed his glass onto the table. The porcelain shattered into dozens of small pieces.
The Queen’s gaze remained fixed on his. “What would have changed if you had known?”
“I would have been more careful. I could have…”
The Queen raised her hand to cut him off. “Your trip to Earth had no consequences, besides you barely scratching the manticore. A reliable source informed me that he is recovering already from the emergency surgery.”
“He fought as if it were his last battle…”
“Next time, parade less, and act more.”
“With a damn source like that, why weren’t you informed that the manticore is in love with the Oracle? Or did you know but chose not to tell me?”
“Sevar, please, calm down.” Kathrine tried to grasp his hand, but he pushed her away.
His eyes locked fiercely onto the Queen’s. “You knew, did you not?”
The Queen laughed. “The manticore, in love with the Oracle? The manticore in his essence is an animal! He does not feel love, only primal needs.”
Kathrine made another attempt to calm her fiancé. “Sevar, you need a rest.”
The Queen turned to her. “Dear, would you leave us for a moment?”
Kathrine glanced at Sevar, hoping to meet his eyes, but he refused to look away from the Queen.
Anger had twisted his features, turning the man she knew into an insipid forgery.
She didn’t want to leave him, but she had no choice.
Sevar was, after all, the Queen’s favourite, Katherine reminded herself. She would never be too harsh with him.
“Don’t worry, child. You will be together again soon enough,” the Queen said.
Despite everything, the words soothed Kathrine.
***
The Queen surveyed the creature before her. Oh, if that poor servant had any idea how much she could perceive just from his pathetic appearance. But no one suspected she was a lot more than a girl who her ex-husband, King Arius, had chosen from the crowd. And it better stay that way.
Sevar’s clothes, once neatly lined with graphite threads in precise perpendicular patterns, now lay in tatters.
Stains of blood mingled with traces of wounded pride and unspent rage, and something else – an unfamiliar, potent energy undoubtedly from the manticore.
Beneath these superficial scars, the faint outline of Sevar’s reptilian nature was barely visible.
“I asked your fiancée to leave because I do not wish for you to lose her respect. A weak man repulses a woman,” she said.
Sevar’s eyes burned with emotions – unresolved emotions that should have been discarded long ago. “I am not weak. I am furious. And I don’t care what Kathrine thinks of me.”
The Queen rose, her black dress wrapping her body with a thousand soft tendrils that interlaced and enveloped her.
Approaching Sevar, she could sense a foreign energy mingling with his own, more pronounced now.
Sevar was an extraordinary specimen, yet the other man’s trace reminded her of her brother.
The man who had betrayed her. It was crude, brute force.
The Queen slapped Sevar across the face. He remained motionless but failed to conceal his surprise. A red imprint of her hand began to darken on Sevar’s cheek.
“I want Kathrine to be in love with you,” she said.
Sevar’s heartbeat sped up – an exquisite reaction. His blood surged, responding to her touch and command, flowing as she willed it.
“Both your mortal and immortal forms are intact, yet your ego boils over. You have failed.”
Sevar took a deep breath. “I would not have if I’d known about the Oracle’s relationship with the manticore.”
“You were warned he would protect her.”
“But not that he was in love with her. An immortal in love, especially those beasts, would die rather than let her be taken.”
The Queen placed her hands on her hips. “Then why didn’t you kill him?”
Sevar straightened his spine. “I intend to do so at the next opportunity.”
“Bring me the Oracle, Sevar. Do not make me regret choosing you to command the army with which I will conquer the earthly realm.”
His jaw clenched. “You chose me because you know I never give up until I complete the task, no matter how daunting it may be. This time is no different.”
“You are mistaken, Sevar. I chose you because, of all the filthy children from the suburbs, you were the proudest. Everyone wanted to be chosen – they were ready to do the impossible to catch my attention. But not you. You stood aside, seemingly uninterested. Yet your desire to stand out and to secure the position, which even then you felt belonged to you, was obvious to me. You are an arrogant egotist with no scruples or limits – qualities I value in you. But never forget that I pulled you out of misery and gave you the name and story that makes you who you are. And if I so decide it, you will not be the first creation of mine that I destroy.”
As any creator, she knew which of her creations’ pain points to push. She was sure she had pulled the right strings this time.
Sevar bowed his head. “I never forget.”