Shareese Tarn was quiet only a moment. "Considering that he thinks I'm some kind of loose tart, I'd have to say that he's crazy," she said scornfully, glaring at Damon Eram. "I swear before the High Priest that I believe that he's unfit to rule."
Damon Eram's fur stood almost straight up. "This is treason! Treason!" he screamed at the top of his lungs. "Guards, kill my treacherous daughter!"
The Royal guard surrounding him took one look at him, one look at Keritanima, they looked at each other, then they simply walked away, leaving Damon Eram alone and unprotected in the hall. He stood there with his crown, robes, and sceptre, staring at them in absolute shock, jaw hanging and eyes bulging. The sashka barked a single command in the Vendari language, a command both Keritanima and Damon Eram understood. "Seize him!" he ordered.
Damon Eram managed to turn around before huge Vendari hands grabbed him. The crown was yanked from his head, the sceptre wrested from his hand, the robe literally stripped off of him by rough Vendari hands. One Vendari female held onto the former king steadfastly in the middle of the Hall as the other Vendari warriors delivered the crown, sceptre, and robe up to the High Priest of Kikkali.
The relief that flowed through Keritanima was indescribable. Everything she had worked for for months had finally come to pass, and the satisfaction and joy she felt that she had succeeded filled her with a warm sweetness. There were still the duties of the crown to tackle, but for now, she had to revel in the moment.
She had won.
"By the power of Kikkali, Wavemistress, I uphold the passage of the crown to the Crown Princess Keritanima," the High Priest intoned sonorously. Keritanima gaped at him blankly as the big bull Wikuni took a vial of holy oil from his elaborate blue robes. He intended to coronate her right then and there!
He knew what was going to happen!
Keritanima stared at him as he approached her holding the crown, and two of his underpriests held the sceptre and robe. She knelt before him before she realized what she was doing, and she was only vaguely aware that the rest of the Hall had also knelt. The smell of the oil was spicy, warm in her nose as he unstoppered the vial and dabbed a bit on his fingers, then pressed it to her brow. He then placed the crown gently yet firmly on her head. "Arise, Keritanima-Chan Eram, Lady of the Heartland, Mistress of the wind, and Overlady of the Twenty Seas. Arise and hail Keritanima-Chan Eram, Queen of Wikuna."
Keritanima got to her feet as the Vendari raised their weapons as one and boomed in a combined voice that rocked the Hall, "all hail Keritanima-Chan Eram, Queen of Wikuna! Long live the Queen!"
She just had to stand there for a moment, completely stunned. She looked down at the smiling, cherubic face of Miranda, looked into her blue eyes and saw the pride exploding inside her. What reason would she have to be proud? She looked into the warm eyes of Azakar, who had his sword drawn and was saluting her, looked at the calm, ever-present presence of Binter and Sisska, looked at them hailing her with their brothers and sister. Too fast, it happened too fast! The High Priest had been ready to coronate her on the spot, much faster than she dreamed he'd be ready to do such a thing! But the hardest part was over, and for the first time since she had come back to Wikuna, she felt safe. For the moment, right now, she was the new Queen of Wikuna, and nobody would raise a hand against her. She was safe from the machinations of her father, safe from any possible second attempt against her or Miranda by Jenawalani., safe from the plots of the nobles. It was only for the moment, but that moment was like the sweetest wine for her.
She let someone drape the royal robe over her, and accepted the sceptre. Then, with the High Priest leading her, she was led to the throne. It was a large throne, made of a single piece of stone with that sun design over the back, and with deep, plush cushions to protect the royal posterior from the unyielding stone beneath it. She turned around, tucked her tail up against her side, then lowered herself into that throne, feeling the cushion give way to her, leaning back against the throne and relaxing out all the tension that had been knotting her inside.
She had won, but there were a few loose ends to tie up. And some vengeance to exact.
She stood up against and stepped to the edge of the dais. "Bring my father here," she commanded, and the Vendari holding him literally picked up the thrashing lion and carried him bodily towards the dais. The female stopped some ten feet from her and set him down, keeping on hand on his shoulder with two fingers looped around his neck, ready to kill him should he do anything foolish. Someone had tied his hands, which were before him, and the look he gave her promised a thousand slow deaths for her if he could only get free and reach her before someone stopped him.
She looked down at him, fully aware that he was totally defeated. It felt good, but it didn't feel as good as she thought it would have. She realized that the time in Wikuna had changed her, made her realize that there were more important things for her to do with her crown than torment her father. He had lost, and that was that. But he still wasn't going to get off that easy.
"I told you once before that if you ever lost your crown, you would be mine," she reminded him with a savage hiss. "And now here you are. Don't worry, father, I'm not going to kill you, because you're not in your right mind. I hereby decree that Damon Eram be isolated in a sanitarium until his madness is cured, or until he dies," she called so people could hear her. "I hereby strip Damon Eram of his title, his lands, his fortunes, and the house name. He will be known simply as Damon. I also decree that any noble found to be fraternizing or conspiring with Damon will be charged with high treason, and if found guilty by trial, will be executed." Keritanima looked down at him calmly, taking in everything about him, remembering that one moment. "Take him away."
"I'll get you for this, witch!" Damon shrieked. "I know you used your magic to make people think I was crazy! I'll prove it and I'll see you burned at the stake! This isn't over, do you hear me? Do you hear!"
Keritanima watched the Vendari drag her father out, then turned her attention to other matters. "Jenawalani! Veranika!"
Her two sisters shuffled out of the pack hesitantly and presented themselves before her, curtsying deeply to her. The terror on their faces was unmistakable. "I have a long list of grievances against the two of you," Keritanima began in a low tone, her displeasure plain on her face. "I kept a list of every slight you made against me, every little plot both of you tried to use on me, and I can list every person around me that died because of the two of you. I intend to pay you back for your long years of wonderful love and support of me and my position," she said in a voice that nearly made Veranika faint.
"Jenawalani. You are hereby stripped of your title, your lands, your fortunes, and your house name. You will now be known simply as Jenawalani, and you will be put out of the Palace with nothing more than the clothes on your back and a purse with one hundred gold crowns. Any noble found to be fraternizing or soncpiring with Jenawalani will be charged with high treason, and if found guilty by trial, will be executed." She stared down at Jenawalani's shuddering body emotionlessly. "Be lucky I don't arrest you for treason. I've given you a new chance at life, Jenawalani. What you make of it is now up to you."
"No!" Jenawalani wailed pitifully, falling to her knees, prostrating herself before the dais. "I'll be a faithful daughter of the house! I'll obey you, I'll do anything you want! Please don't put me out! I'll serve you!"
Keritanima waited a moment, waited for her shuddering sobs to ease. "I'll change my mind if you swear before the High Priest that you renounce any claim you have on the throne, and renounce any future possibility of taking the throne. Any possibility. You will no longer be a princess."
"Anything! Anything! I'll do it! I hereby swear to Kikkali that I renounce any claim on the throne of Wikuna! I won't ever be queen! I give up my title as Princess!"
"Good enough, but I could never have you in my house," Keritanima said seethingly. "I hereby grant you the barony of Wildwater, and all lands and properties it contains. You may keep your personal fo
rtunes, but you still lose all your house titles, lands, and the house name. You are Baroness Jenawalani Wildwater now, and be very glad I'm feeling merciful today. Now get out of my sight before I change my mind."
Jenawalani was blubbering uncontrollably, and all the arrogance was gone. She was now the baroness of the most remote fief in Wikuna, all the way across the continent, a small, poor holding that would forever remove her from the hustle and grandeur of the capital city. But even that voluntary exile was better to Jenawalani than the horrific possibility of losing everything. She got to her feet quickly, curtsied so deeply that she nearly fell over, then ran crying from the Hall. Veranika watched it all in a kind of morbid fascination, then glanced at Keritanima fearfully. She couldn't bring herself to look Keritanima in the eye.
"Veranika," Keritanima began, and just saying her name made the fourteen year old fall to her knees. "Of all my treacherous sisters, you were probably the least treacherous. Your games and plots were more to annoy me than anything else, and because of that, I'm going to be a little bit more lenient on you. You will therefore be taken from here and be made to strip naked, then you will be paddled. You will be paddled once a day for ten days, receiving fifty strikes at each paddling. One spanking for each of your little plots that annoyed me. After that, you will be shipped off to the Cabottshire School, where you will learn what it takes to be a good merchant. And you will be the best in your class, Veranika," Keritanima warned dangerously. "You will make me proud, or I'll strip you of your title and name so fast you won't know what happened. After you finish school, you'll return to the house and take up your rightful place in it.
" But," she said sharply, "in order to get such lenient treatment, you have to do the same thing Jenawalani did. You have to renounce any claim on the throne, and any possibility that you will ever be queen. You must give up your title as Princess."
"Anything! I swear by Kikkali that I renounce my title of Princess! I swear that I'll never sit on the throne of Wikuna! I give up the title of Princess!"
"Good enough. Now get out of here, and remember that keeping your position depends entirely on how well you do."
"I'll make you proud, your Majesty!" she blubbered through teary sniffles.
"Now get out of my sight. Shan, pick someone suitable to spank my sister. Hard enough to make her regret crossing me, but don't do her any permanent harm."
"I will tend to it personally, your Majesty," Shan replied with a bow. He walked over and grabbed Veranika by the wrist, and then after making her curtsy to Keritanima, he dragged her out of the Hall.
Her going easy on her sisters had been more or less necessary. Stripping Jenawalani and Veranika of their titles didn't make them any less in line for the throne. Even without their titles, they would still be princesses, and that made them dangerous, because all it would take would be Keritanima's death to put them right back in the Palace. This way, by giving a little bit, she wrested formal oaths out of them that ensured they could never hold the throne. And since they would both be too busy-and too frightened-to try anything to get back at her, she was content that their threat to her life and position were effectively neutralized.
Keritanima sighed slightly and returned to the throne. "My first act as Queen is to decree that I hereby repeal all decrees of law made by my father concerning me and himself over the last three months. The Queen is again subject to common law, and as most of you realize, the law I used to get here is again repealed. I'm not leaving that out there for any of you to try," she snorted. "The technical jargon of the decree will be written and inscribed into law by tomorrow, for any who wish to read it. My first act is to dismiss the entirety of my father's staff except for the Lord Chamberlain, the Clerk of Law, and Master Jervis, chief of intelligence. I appoint Miranda Longtail to the position of Prime Advisor, who will now have the power to hire the remainder of my staff as she sees fit. Binter and Sisska of Vendaka and Azakar Kanash are hereby appointed as the personal Royal Bodyguards, who answer only to me.
"I think that's enough excitement for one day. I call this audience to be concluded. Everyone go home and keep calm. Lord Chamberlain, have the announcement posted that Damon Eram has abdicated the throne, and that I have taken his place as Queen."
"It will be done, your Majesty," he said in a calm voice and a slight smile.
The process hadn't been without wrinkles, and her father had managed to provide them.
Things had been quiet and they had been tense that first night, because her father, her good old conniving, cunning father, had set up an escape route for himself before coming into the Hall. It explained why it took him so long to act on the information that the Vendari had marched into the city. The two Vendari guards that were taking him to a hospital were attacked by a full company of army regulars just outside the Palace. Both Vendari survived the assault, but not before being seriously wounded and killing about thirty of the soldiers that attacked them. Riding on the heels of his retreating men, Damon Eram had escaped.
He wasted no time organizing an armed attempt to recover his crown. Most of the army was still loyal to Damon Eram, so he had little trouble rallying the entirety of the army presence in Wikuna on the wide plain north of the city, preparing to march in and attack those forces loyal to Keritanima. But the Vendari formed up and marched to meet them, outraged over the assault on their own, before Keritanima could so much as issue a single command.
The day after her coronation was marked with severe violence, and not a little bit of chaos and strife. The day after her coronation, fifty thousand Wikuni army soldiers were challenged by ten thousand Vendari warriors on the Plain of Wikuna. They issued their challenge at sunrise, and before most Wikuni woke up for breakfast, nearly ten thousand dead bodies littered the field. The Vendari met the vastly larger force head on, in classic Vendari style, and had utterly crushed them. There had only been four hundred casualties among sashka 's forces, causing more than thirty casualties to the rebel forces for every casualty they suffered. Damon Eram had to be truly insane to attempt to fight a Vendari army without artillery or cavalry support. He had literally formed them up with nothing but muskets and sent them to their doom! Most of the casualties suffered by the Vendari had been in the initial volley, and the Vendari had closed the distance and engaged the Wikuni hand to hand before they had the chance to reload. The reserves were ordered to fire into the throng holding their own soldiers by Damon Eram, and by that time the generals had realized that Damon Eram was going to get them all killed. They took him prisoner and tried to parlay for surrender, but by then it was too late. The Vendari were incensed at the attack, and they were there to crush the rebellion. The generals, wise Wikuni they were, ordered a full retreat, then ran with their tails between their legs.
The battle pained Keritanima. She had been personally responsible for a great many deaths, and it gave her a small idea of how Tarrin felt when he struggled with his own demons. It wouldn't have been as many if the Vendari wouldn't have been so adamant about punishing Damon Eram for the wounding of Vendari, if she had been there to reign them in once an attempt to surrender had been offered. But sashka hadn't even told her of his intent to challenge the rebel forces alone. She had been rallying the soldiers loyal to her and the armies of the noble houses to face Damon Eram's men with a vastly superior force to try to intimidate them into surrender. And that sneaky Vendari had simply walked out after insisting she go to bed and marched his Vendari to face her father! That made her nearly as angry as the idea that her subjects had shed each other's blood over her pained her.
But in the end, she had to admit that it could have been worse. Sashka 's charge had prevented Damon Eram from escaping and gathering even more men, making her succession a real civil war. She still absolutely could not fathom what insanity her father had been under to think that his soldiers could stand a chance against Vendari without artillery or cavalry. Maybe he really did go crazy. Or maybe he had been willing to throw away all their lives to attempt to break u
p the alliance that Keritanima had forged among the noble houses. Such brutal disregard for life was something for which Damon Eram was notorious.
In the end, she didn't know, and she doubted she ever would, because if she ever faced her father again, she would kill him. They had locked him up in the sanitarium, and as far as she was concerned, he could sit there and rot until time withered him to nothing, raging with the memories of what he had once been, and knowing that he had brought it all upon himself.
The battle had sent Wikuna into a panic. Keritanima had been forced to bring out the army loyal to her to restore order, to ensure the people that someone was still in charge, that the threat was over. It forced her to wait for nearly three days before making her first public appearance, to let the people calm down over the frightening war that had taken place only miles from the edge of the city. She had to give the people time to let the shock of the War of the Morning dissipate.
Things returned to a rather tense state of newness. The people knew they had a new Queen, but she was very much a mystery to them. They had seen her-naked!-in the city, and her reputation contrasted heavily with the image that people painted of her now. Many of them still told stories of the Brat, wild tales of Keritanima's extravagance and immaturity, of her stunts and her exploits that had leaked out of the Palace with the help of her father and her enemies to poison public perception of her. But the more learned citizens could see past that image, knew it had been an act, and could see the intelligent woman that had perpetrated that fraud. But this was something of a minority. She knew that she had to soothe the people, to give them an idea of what to expect from her and from her rule.
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