Queen Yavara Ch. 40

"Yes." Sofia whimpered.

"That's not what you fear, Sofia." I whispered, "What you truly fear, is that you could be just as wild. It seems impossible, and yet, all it takes is one little barrier within your mind to break, and you'll become a beast. That, my dearest Sofia, is the change. I did not change those men. I simply facilitated their own change. Tomorrow, they will leave here thinking that the night was an isolated moment in their lives. They'll soon realize when they look upon another man's beauty, that they were wrong. In time, they will be very glad that they were wrong."

"And me?"

I crinkled my nose adoringly. "What you call trauma, I call growth. There can be no growth without pain, and your mind was shattered tonight by what you witnessed. But feel my touch; is it not gentle? Maybe I am a wild beast, but to you, I'll always be Elena." I booped her nose, and grinned, "Until you're ready to be as savage as I know you can be."

She smiled then. "Perhaps you should be careful what you wish for, Elena Straltaira."

I laughed, and hugged her. "You're fucking awesome, Sofia."

"You were amazing tonight." She whispered back, "I came five times just watching you." She nibbled on my ear, "You can be my goddess whenever you want."

I grinned against her ear. "The sun's not yet up."

A booming knock on my door caused my head to snap around. The male revelers in the pile groaned sleepily, and shifted. Sofia and I exchanged a look. Another booming knock sounded.

"My lady!" The guard shouted through the door, "The queen's guard is here! They have the house surrounded!"

"What?!" Sofia hissed.

I held up my hand for silence, then shuffled to the window, flattened myself against the wall, and peered out the glass. Fifty men in full plate stood outside my house, their swords unsheathed and naked in the moonlight.

"Sir Tanial," I called to my door man, "do you know why they're here?"

"You're under arrest, my lady, for the charges of high treason." He replied, "They have given you ten minutes to prepare yourself and surrender, or they will extract you by force."

BROCK

I was accustomed to the terrible realization every time I woke. I would open my eyes, and Sherok would be beside me. Only I wouldn't feel her warmth, or smell her morning skin, and that's when it came back to me. When I awoke that night with Destiny asleep in my arms, the realization didn't hit me like it usually did. I acknowledged it, but there was none of the heart-wrenching pain. There was nothing. I carefully rolled out of the furs, and felt the chill fall air on my bare flesh. It was uncomfortable, but it wasn't terrible. So I walked naked from my tent, and into the depths of the night.

The torches and bonfires lit the sprawling encampment, casting long shadows on the looming cliffside of the Rift. The fires twinkled from the slotted windows of Mid Fort above, bathing the narrow causeway in orange. The walls that had fallen time and time again to the stone of my catapults and trebuchets had been rebuilt by the mages nearly as quickly, and now they stood mockingly atop the Rift, fifty feet of stone and mortar jutting from the cliff like a middle finger to us all. It seemed so close. It would take me barely thirty seconds to charge up the two-hundred yards of ramp. I knew every inch of it was covered in spells, and pre-sited with range weapons, but in the darkness, it seemed little more than a loading dock.

"Chief?" Fwelok asked, approaching me cautiously.

"Rouse the first and second divisions." I said.

"Right now?"

"Right now. We're taking that fucking fort."