Island Running (Closed)

The waitress smiled as she took down Lilth's order. She looked at Elerra.

"And you ma'am?"

"I'll have an omelet and some mead. And bring the same as hers for my other lady."

Alyca blushed but smiled at the attention of being ordered for. Realizing she still had her mask on, she placed it in her lap as well. The waitress took the order and left. The queen took each of her pets' hands in hers for a moment, holding as she looked between them.

"No matter what happens tonight, I am sure things will turn out for the best for us. No need to fret."

For Lilith it seemed like it took forever for the food to come out. Did everything in her power to stay in the conversation her queen and Alyca was having. Tried even harder to get her nerves under some sort of control. Kylia had been quiet for sometime, she too knew how Lilith's father got when he was upset with her, there wasn't much she could do comfort that.

"What kind of mark are you wanting for us?"

The thought of having her queen's mark brought on some comfort, liking the idea of actually belonging to someone that actually wanted her. Lilith had made herself a loner, having her nose stuck in a book for the better part of her life.

"It makes me happy that you want to have me by your side. It is truly the best thing that has happened to me yet."

Lilith only picked at her food mostly, however, did manage to eat more than she expected.

The queen gave a little smile to Lilth at her question of a mark.

"I said that would be a surprise. And I am happy you are the one who found me and let me have a second chance pet."

She ate her breakfast slowly, while Alyca was in a bit of a rush in eating hers. The young elf was famished for a some reason, and she ordered a second helping, after a nod from Elerra, of course.

Finishing her own meal, the queen sat back as she watched her pets eat their breakfast. Making sure no one was observing, she reached down and ran a hand along her smooth crotch. It felt a little odd without anything between her legs, but the beautiful dress wouldn't have worked so well otherwise. She smiled as she laid some gold on the table for the waitress.

"I am ready to go when you are my pets."

Lilith was in no hurry, but stood up and straightened out her dress while waiting for her queen. Time just seem to be moving in slow motion for her today, the unknowing of things always drove Lilith insane. Didn't know where to put her mask, so she just put it back on for now, it also made her feel more comfortable anyway. She was also not the only one wearing a mask.

She went to go stand by her queen, waiting patiently for them to leave. Lilith couldn't wait to see what kind of mark her queen had planned for them.

Alyca continued to hold doors open for Elerra and Lilth as the two walked arm and arm down the street. The elf walked behind them, smiling happily as she felt this was where she belonged.

It seemed the whole town was treating the day like a holiday, dressed in dresses, gowns, and suits as they went about their daily routine. Well, almost daily, as most of the shops were closed and everyone was wearing their masks. The queen went along with it, donning her mask as well.

They soon arrived at the tattoo parlor where the masked artist was already working on another woman, a human. She motioned for the girls to sit while she went and whispered in the tattoo artist ear for a few moments. The young man had great skill, being able to talk to the queen while still working. It was a little bit before he was done with the woman.

Lilith waited patiently for her turn, the sounds and how it looked frightened her some and excited her at the same time. She couldn't wait to see what her queen had in mind.

After some time the man went to his drawing board and asked who was first, her queen pointed to Lilith and he called Lilith over to the chair. He had her tilt her head so her left side of the neck was exposed. Preparing her neck and lining up the tattoo, asking her queen if it was in a good spot, after getting her approval he began to work on the tattoo.

At first Lilith shrinked away from the pain, it wasn't bad, just shocked her at first. Soon it began to tickle in certain areas. Kylia was loving it however, it was getting her a little excited but remained in the back ground of it all. After all, this was basically Lilith's day in a sense and Kylia couldn't come out to play today.

Lilith remained seated the whole time, behaving in the chair so he wouldn't mess anything up and she won't get hurt in the process.

After everything was in place. the queen sat back to watch the little show. She didn't realize how long it would take, but they had time. The tattoo was done to her exact specifications, with purple petals and a dark green stem. The artist smiled as he sat back so that Elerra could see it.

"How is it ma'am?"

The queen smiled as the man picked up a mirror so that Lilth/Kylia could see it as well.

"It's perfect. You did an excellent job. Now Alyca."

The elf smiled in anticipation as she waited for Kylia to get up from the chair. The elf relaxed a bit while the man adjusted her face and neck before placing the pattern against her soft skin. Like Lilth, it tickled a bit, causing her to giggle a little. She tried not to wiggle s that her tattoo wouldn't be ruined.

It was just after noon when they were finished with the tattoos. Knowing the journey would take a little while by ferry and then whatever transportation had been arranged to go to the castle, Elerra picked up three sack lunches of fruit and meat sandwiches to eat on the way.

After a while everything started to fascinate Lilith, the slight pain from the tattoo seemed to have relieved quite a bit of tension. She has never been on the outside, has never noticed what everyday people went through to go to her fathers parties. People were happy, dressed their best, all the masks were awesome to look at. Lilith even recognized quite a few dresses from the shop and they looked wonderful on the women that wore them.

The ferry ride took a while, it ended up being a little tour of the island for those that have never got away from town and never seen the view of the islands from the water. The ferry didn't do this all the time, just on rare occasions like this.

By the time they did dock and everyone was getting off, there was a line of carriages waiting to take people to the castle. The one the trio got into had two beautiful horses with very long mane and tails. It didn't take Lilith long at all to recognize one of them as being her horse, black and white clysdale, a very proud looking horse.

"He isn't meant to pull these things... Drago isn't a working horse!!"

Lilith wanted to scream and go to her horse, but her queen held her back lightly, telling her everything will be ok. Lilith wanted to argue with her, instead quieted down and got into the carriage reluctantly. She did have to admit her horse looked really good out there, but it wasn't what she raised him to do.

"I am sorry M'Queen, it's just he's been my only friend till you came into my life. I hate seeing him working like this."

Lilith took a few deep breaths and calmed down the anger. Before they knew it, they were entering the castle gates, that is when Lilith's anger turned back into fear all over again, she did her best to keep it hidden though. To top things off, it felt like something was wrong, a few things were out of place as they entered. Her fathers banners were next to the human kings banners, it was as if they became allies or something. There were other little things that she would notice and not many others would.

Lilith kept silent though, confusion was setting in slowly replacing her fear. None the less she didn't want to worry her queen, keeping the little things to herself was for the best.

Before they left the carriage, Elerra touched the tattoos on both of her pets' neck. She spoke a few soft words in drow as she cast a pair of simple spells on them. The first spell was a locating spell which would tug the queen a tug at the speaking of a keyword, guiding her in the direction where the girls were. It might take a little while to find them that way, but she would eventually. A second spell was laid on Lilth's tattoo, turning it invisble.

Although she did want others to know she was hers, she had another plan she didn't want to let the princess know about. She had planned on taking care of things with the king once and for all, with the princess as the bait. As she pulled her hands away from both of them, she gave each a soft kiss.

"Enjoy yourselves my pet. It is a special night."

She lead them into the castle, following the flow of guests into the ballroom. The lavishly decorated ballroom was filled with both commoners and royalty, mingling together. Alyca smiled as she spotted her best friend, asking for permission to go to her. The queen smiled and nodded watching the elf hurry to her friend. The queen turned to Lilth.

"IS there anyone you want to see before the dancing starts?"

Lilith didn't know what to think, her actions back at the carriage almost gave her away, chances are that was why they used her horse, to see who will react. None of this felt right to her, the more she looked around, the more it felt like her father had nothing to do with this at all. To many things were out of place.

"No, M'Queen, there is no one I wish to see."

It was a lie, there was someone that was kind of a friend but Lilith didn't wish for anyone to know she was here just yet. They were always kind to her though, were there when her father was angry with her.

"I think I will just stay by your side for a moment longer. I do not wish to make myself to obvious just yet. If that is ok with you M'Queen?"

Smiled at her queen. Lilith even noticed a few of her fathers servants were not acting as they normally do, she was aching to go find out what was going on, that too would just give herself away.

She has been to many of her fathers parties to know when things are not right.

"Something doesn't feel right though, things are not how my father normally has them for his parties."

Reluctantly spoke to her queen finally about how she felt and told her about the things that she has been observing.

She gave a smile and nod at Lilth's request to stay near her.

"Of course pet. You can stay with me, but it wouldn't surprise me if some young man will want to dance with you."

She smiled and put an arm around her gently as she spoke of her feelings about what was going on around them. The queen was no strange to the subterfuge of the court politics. She had noticed how some of the servants were being a little more suspicious than usual.

She moved among the crowd of attendees, greeting everyone she knew and those she didn't know. They had only gone through one side of the room when the music started up and couples started moving to the dance floor.

Lilith could feel Kylia getting antsy, the smells, the music, the beautiful people it was driving her insane. Lilith held her back and Kylia did have to obey no matter what.

"I do not care to dance with some young man. I am far too distracted to be dancing right now."

and she was. Was looking for her father, as normal, he was no where to be found. Lilith did however see the human king she was suppose to marry. Sitting up there in her dad's throne like that is where he belonged. However, he did have an intense look on his face, as if he was looking and watching 'his' people. Someone Lilith didn't know came up to him and spoke something in his ear. That's when he looked in their direction, wasn't sure if he was looking at them or past them or what.

It was then someone had asked her to dance and she declined, started to watch Alyca dance with her friend, trying to not pay attention to the king.

"Looks like Alyca is having fun though!"

Smiled while watching her dance and laugh, something she needed very much.

The queen wasn't sure what Lilth's father looked like, but she assumed the human who was sitting on the throne wasn't him. She turned her attention from him to Alyca when Lilth said the elf was having fun. Elerra laughed softly.

"Yes she is. You should as well pet. Have a drink or something."

She smiled and led her over to the food tables, pouring a goblet of wine for Lilth and handing it to her before turning back to the table. She hmmed softly as she looked over the large line of fine food, not quite sure what she wanted to try.

Lilith tried to relax a little, having that King's eyes following her though didn't help much. She made very subtle movements while keeping an eye on the king, it appeared that he was following her every move. Lilith did have to admit that he was dressed better than what she remembered him last. He was sitting on the throne in his finest leather and furs, his white hair was braided back, clean white beard. Last time she saw him, a long time ago, he was pretty ragged looking like he didn't care about his appearance. Now he didn't look half bad, in the end he still scared her to death knowing what he is capable of doing.

"I think I will go roam around a little, maybe try and figure out where my father is hiding."

Lilith really didn't want to leave her queen's side, however it would be silly to stay by her side for the entire night. Also, it would give her queen a chance to have a little fun herself. She could tell her queen wanted to go and dance and few men did ask her to as well.

"Go and have fun M'Queen, I will be alright, no need to worry about me."

Smiled at her queen, gave a little curtsy while kissing her hand before leaving her, all the while glancing back at the king. It was starting to feel more and more like a trap and she couldn't figure out why. Worse part was, she couldn't figure out how he would know it was her, she was wearing a mask like everyone else here, yet it appeared he knew. This last time she stole a glance in his direction, he was gone from the throne.

The queen smiled as her pet decided to leave to go off on her own. She licked her lips for a moment at the kiss on her hand, nodding.

"Of course pet. Enjoy yourself as much as you can."

Watching the princess move away to join a small group of ladies, she knew it might be only a matter of time before something would happen. She took a sip of some wine before a young man came up and asked her to dance. Holding her hand out to the man, she allowed him to lead her to the dance floor.

The man did his best to flirt a bit as they danced, but the queen politely rebuffed him. She was enjoying the dancing, but she couldn't let it go beyond that just yet. She danced with two more partners through two more songs before she made her way back to the buffet table where Alyca was drinking with her best friend.

"Have you seen Kylia little one?"

The elf frowned and shook her head.

"No m'lady."

Lilith stayed and watched her queen and Alyca have their fun for a few moments. Her thoughts were far to frazzled to really focus on any one thing in particular. Eventually decided to creep up to her old room, perhaps to grab a couple things before she leaves this place behind for good.

On her way up, she peeked into her fathers room slightly hoping to at least make sure he was ok. Once more, he was no where to be seen. When she asked a few of his servants about the king, they acted terrified and said they knew nothing of where he was. One said that the human was the king now.

Lilith didn't know she was being followed by King Wynwulf and when she finally got to her room, he waited a moment before rushing in and closing the door behind her.

"I knew you would come back little princess...."

Wynwulf growled at her as he began to approach her. Lilith didn't know where to run to, her voice was caught in her throat, next thing she knew her world went black. Wynwulf tossed her up over his shoulder and carried her to the room he had taken over and slapped a collar around her neck chaining her to the wall that his bed was up against.

He went back towards the ball room as if nothing was wrong and announced

"The Princess has been found and is safe once again!"

Wynwulf motioned at the band to begin to play again

"Let us celebrate her safe return"

The music began again and he sat down at the throne smiling, thinking of his conquest and how it was far easier than he expected. He knew she wouldn't be able to resist looking for her father though.

Alyca gasped softly at the annoucement of the princess's capture, moving closer to the queen. She whispered softly.

"My queen.."

The queen placed a finger on the elf's lips quieting her.

"Everything will be fine. Just go back to the party and have fun. I shall take care of this."

Her other hand laid on the small bag at her right hip, making sure it was there. The bag was actually a bag of holding, and had all of her weapons and jewelry in it. This was what she had prepared for. She spoke a single word softly, feeling two tugs of an unseen force.

"D'tih."

One was towards the elf, while the second was of in another direction. The queen excused herself from another invitation to dance, making her way through the crowd. It wouldn't have surprised her if her movement caught the attention of the "king", but she would deal with that later.

It didn't take her long to find the room her princess was stashed in, but the door was locked. Speaking a few words, she laid her hand against the door. After a moment the door exploded inward, chunks of wood flying in a few feet.

"I'm here pet."

Lilith woke up from the noise of the door and realized she was chained to a bed. She tried to pull on the chain to break it from the wall, clawed at the collar wrapped around her neck. Elerra noticed that Lilith had a big bruise along side her face where Wynwulf smacked her.

"You should leave.... He'll find you here... I don't want you to get hurt M'Queen."

Lilith was crying now in fear for herself and her queen.

King Wynwulf knew the princess had of come with another, he suspected it was the drow woman. He didn't know who she was, nor did he care, he watched as she appeared to be searching for something....... or someone.

Wynwulf motioned for someone to follow her, let him know what she was up to. Wynwulf smiled to himself though, knowing that even if she did find the princess, she wouldn't be able free her from the chain. The spell he had put on it only works for him and no other, it doesn't matter what spells she tried, it was made for the sole purpose of holding his slaves so they can't not escape till they are trained.

Eventually the man that had followed Elerra came back and reported that she had found the princess. Wynwulf grinned as he stood up and left the room. Sat in the doorway for a moment before speaking, noticing how the door was busted into pieces, gave a little smirk knowing now that she is a caster of some kind.

"So.... You are the one that stole the princess from me"

His voice growled as he spoke, leaning up against the door frame.

"As you can see, she belongs to me now so you can either take your leave peacefully or I can toss you in the dungeons along with that weak father of hers."

Wynwulf smiled thinking that this drow women would be a nice addition to collection of slaves, she was a beauty that was for sure.

"Course, I should toss you in chains anyway for kidnapping the princess."

The queen smiled as she walked over to the princess, despite her warning to run. The queen was not one to back from a fight, so she wasn't planning on doing so now. She kissed the princess softly as she released the spell hiding her tattoo. She stepped back as she heard the voice of Wynwulf behind her.

She grinned at the princess for a moment before she turned around slowly, chanting softly under her breathe. Her right hand flickered towards the wall of the bedroom, the wood exploding outward as a clear wall of force appeared where the wooden wall had stood. Her grey eyes glimmered for a moment as she caught sight of several guards stuck behind the wall, away from helping their Master. She spoke, a soft and mesmerizing purr beneath her words.

"It's time for a history lesson, "King." You are only king because you either imprisoned her father or killed him. I shall figure out which soon. And your petty words do not frighten me."

She walked closer to him, seeing the anger in his eyes. She lifted a finger and pointed towards the princess for a moment.

"You are the one who stole from me. She has a brand on her neck. My brand."

The finger came back around and pressed lightly on the large man's chin before she backed away, still showing no fear of him.

"I am the Bloody Queen Elerra Hunzrin, of the former drow kingdom Silvamore. I say former because cowardly men as yourself decided to ambush me and strip me of my rightfully place. I am the Bloody Queen because I have face hundreds of humans like yourself and cut each and everyone of the down like the dogs they are."

She leaned against the bedpost that the chain was attached to.

"You have two choices here. You can either release the princess and leave this kingdom, or you can die by my hand. And the spell you have on the collar is rather simple, you just have to release her or die. It is one that was used over three centuries ago."

She smiled sweetly to him.

"Your choice."

Lilith had her head lowered at this point, she wasn't one to submit so easily, but in this case she already knew it was submit or die with Wynwulf.

Wynwulf allowed this relic of a queen spew off her speech and smirked when she finished. Watched her the whole time as she used her hands to cast her child's play spells, they were subtle but it told him more than enough.

"I am King of these lands by my own right, I do not need to answer to you as to how I became King. I am already bored of you."

Walked right up to her, like she did him, stared in her eyes and before she could respond, he back handed her hard just as he did with Lilith. It didn't surprise him that she didn't black out from it, some do, some don't, it did stun her enough for him to grab her by her hair very roughly and tossed her to the guards.

"Bind her hands and arms so she can't cast any spells, then escort this relic of a queen out of the castle. If she comes back, kill her."

Wynwulf took one last look at the relic queen, shook his head casters are always tough to break...

"Such a waste.."

He knew she would be back though, hell she might not even leave this castle after seeing the fire he saw in her eyes when the guards took her. Wynwulf could see she wasn't goin to go that easy. For the moment she was out of the way, more guards were already filling the ball room and working their way up the stairs to guard their king. She'll need to fight her way back this time.

He wasn't a spell caster himself, however her magic didn't phase him much, so far they were just tricks to him. He watched as the guards took the struggling queen from at least his sight, what happens to her now he didn't care. Wynwulf then looked at Lilith, grabbed her chin roughly and looked at the mark on her neck, then smirked.

"A rose, go figure.. That's not a branding.. I should give you a real branding little princess"

Grabbed the chain, releasing it from the post and dragged her off to another room since this one was now destroyed. To Lilith's surprise they ended up in her father's room. He looked at her good and long and grinned.

"Think it is time to get you properly dressed."

He took out a very sharp dagger from his boot and started to slowly cut into Lilith's dress, laughing as she stood frozen in place not wanting to get cut.

The queen just smirked as she was dragged away, since the "King" just showed himself how much of a coward he was in her eyes. She waited a few moments till the three were out of earshot of the man when she spoke, in a very sultry voice.

"Now why are you throwing me out when you have a perfectly helpless drow at your mercy to fuck boys."

She could almost laugh if they really knew what she was. The younger of the two guards piped up, as they had dragged her into a darkened hallway away from the ballroom and the bedrooms, pinning her against the wall.

"Yeah, the lord didn't say we couldn't have fun before we throw you out, right Thomas?"

The older guard, a grey-hair old human growled at the younger one.

"Keep it in your pants, boy."

They had her wrists firmly in one hand, the other on their weapons. She judged their clothing, seeing they only had on leather pants and a dress shirt, along with a steel helmet.

"But I'm such a treat to go to waste."

Even though the older guard was trying to ignore her, she could see the bulge very clearly at his crotch as she looked down.

"Fine. Be quick about it."

The younger guard grinned as he released her wrist to undoing his pants. Since they were behind her, the queen kicked back with her left leg. The heel of her boot caught the younger guard square in the crotch, doubling him over in agony. The older guard cried out in alarm.

"What-"

He was cut off as she pivoted on her other foot, her knee catching the older guy in the crotch as well. He groaned and doubled over as well. Taking a second to refocus, she laid a hand on both guards.

"Sleep now."

Both men slumped off a moment later into a deep sleep. Her blood was boiling, but these men were not the ones to take it out on. Standing up once more, she opened her bag, pulling out two weapons. One was a dagger with a ruby-encrusted hilt with deep holes in it. The second was a four foot long sword. Both weapons were ancestral weapons, passed down through her families for many generations. She held the dagger tight in her left hand for a moment, letting tiny needles pierce the palm of her hand. As the blood slid down channels that had been carved in the hilt, it hit a black diamond hidden inside. The blade of the dagger flared up, becoming completely invisible. It was a vorpal blade.

The hilt of the sword was on the same build, her blood needed to activate the sword's ability. Holding the sword in her right hand, she squeezed to draw her blood. It took a moment before flames and lightning crackled along the sword's surface.

As she moved along the hallway back towards the bedrooms, more guard came after her. She raised her hand and waved in front of them, putting them to sleep. Locating Lilth through her tattoo, she foundt herself before another door. Instead of blasting the door apart, she slashed through the wood with her sword. Kicking the door open, she stepped through with a grin.

"I said leave or die little King."

King Wynwulf gave a little smirk when he heard the relic queens voice again.

"I expected you sooner"

Gave her a little grin while chaining Lilith to the bed and pushed her naked body onto the bed. Watching her curl up towards the pillows. Deep down he knew he didn't have much of a chance with a caster, but he didn't show any signs of defeat.

Picked up his sword that was leaning against the bed

"If you want this little princess, come and get her relic queen!"

He would let her make the first move as he stood guard over the princess, ready to strike.

Elerra didn't say anything at Wynwulf's challenge, only grinning at him. She took a moment to take in the room to study her surroundings. The bed Lilth was one was a large one, and the princess was curled up among the pillows near the wall. A dresser against the wall, opposite the door. A large wardrobe was directly behind her, and Wynwulf stood between her and the bed.

She flipped the dagger in her hand so she was holding it with the point down. That would be the blade she would cut off this barbarian's head with. Her sword could easily cut through his, if they were edge to edge on striking. She couldn't make it easy on this one, so she decided to play for a bit.

She rushed at the man, her weapons angled out towards the side some. She leapt at him, swinging around with her sword. He grinned as he blocked the attack, but her knee shot forward, catching him beneath the chin. He stagger backwards a foot as her boot pressed against his large chest. She pushed backwards with her foot, the end of his sword just missing her other leg.

She landed on her right foot, her left leg stretched out for balance. He roared with rage as he brought his sword forward in an overhead strike. She rolled to the left quickly, his sword crashed into the wooden floorboards. Spinning around to face him, she brought her sword up to fend off another blow from the barbarian, the tip of his sword nicking her right cheek. He was a little faster than she thought he would be with his massive size.

It had been a long time since she did any real fighting, and she was already feeling the effects. The barbarian grinned as he saw her start to pant, readying himself for a final charge.

"Look away Lilth!"

She was needing to end the fight now, and she had only one chance. Angling her sword out towards the right, she began channeling her magic through he sword. She screamed out her spell as she swung her sword in an arc towards the ceiling, at the same moment the barbarian charged.

"G'lithe!"

The drow queen closed her eyes against the bright light that erupted from the tip of her sword in a arc in front of her. The barbarian had no time to act as he was completely blindly by the light. His swing went wide as she stumbled past The queen. The brilliance pasted a moment later as the queen spun around towards the barbarian's back. The dagger came around in the same motion, slicing cleanly through his neck.

Wynwulf's head fell to the floor with a thump, followed by a loud thud from his body.

There were eyes watching the whole scene unfold at the doorway, once they saw that Wynwulf had fallen, they did as ordered. Before anyone could sense that he was at the door, he ran straight for the dungeons and killed Lilith's father, then ran out of the castle before anyone could figure him out. It was his personal order that if his king should fall for any reason in this castle, that the real king needed to fall as well for revenging his death. There were no words spoken, it was a quick and easy task since all the guards were now in the ball room and most were running up to the room to see what the noise was about.

Lilith had never looked up from the pillows, she was in a tight ball with her face buried in the pillow. She didn't like how Wynwulf was touching her before her queen came in, she was too afraid to watch the fight. Lilith was never one to watch fights, not even the tournaments.

She even shrieked a little in shock at the touch of her queen, not registering right away that it was her instead of Wynwulf touching her.

"Shh...Don't fret little one."

Her touch was soft on Lilth's shoulder for a moment. She moved her fingers down to the collar, easily removing it once the magic dissipated. She lifted the princess's face and kissed her softly for a moment.

"Go and get dressed quickly. It's time for your queen to take her rightful place again."

She grinned for a moment before she moved to the former king's body. She leaned down and picked up Wynwulf's head by his hair, blood dripping on the floor. She stepped out into the hallway, releasing the sleep spell on the guards as she moved along slowly.

She dispatched a small group to search for the king, waiting just outside the ballroom. She smiled as the princess soon joined her, redressed. She frowned at the news of the death of Lilth's father, steeling herself. AS she walked out into the ballroom, people gasped softly, parted in front of the queen as she made her way to the throne.

Stopping in front of the throne, she turned to face the crowd, holding up the severed head. Her voice was loud as she spoke, though she noticed Alyca pushing her way to the front of the crowd.

"The right king and the ursuper king are dead, leaving a void in power. By rightful succession of the sword, I, Elerra Hunzrin, am the rightful Queen to the throne. If there are any who wish to challenge my claim, please step forward."

She was quiet for a moment, waiting for any takers. When none came forward, she smiled.

"Then a wedding shall be held in one week to seal my power, to the princess Lilth."