The Changeling Queen

Chapter Two-Updated

My "step daughter" is beautiful. She stands at the perfectly average height of 5' 5", with a head full of golden hair and bright green eyes that seem to be made of emeralds. Her skin was a pale, creamy white, like porcelin. She clearly never had to work or go outside without proper attire. My stomach flips. I had thought that she was beautiful when I was just playing the game, but now, standing with her in front of me, I realize just how gorgeous she is. I couldn't compare, well, the real me couldn't compare, but as the Queen, I did rival her looks. In this body, I am gorgeous too.

Smiling softly, I fold my hands in front of me, but before I can speak, two little red boxes appear in front of me. One says Greet her warmly and the other says Greet her coldly. I look at the choices, but my eyes linger over "Greet her coldly". Then, without even realizing, I say, "Good morning, child. What would you like to bother me with so early in the morning?" My eyes drop to a half-lidded position as my hands fold themselves in front of me.

She stiffens, looking a bit embarassed. "Oh, well, I'm sorry, Mother. I just wanted to ask if you were avaiable to join me for breakfast this morning."

"You know that I have a meeting this morning," I say, tilting my chin up as I looked down at her. "It has been rescheduled mulitple times. You would want me to miss it to... have eggs with you?" I ask, my heart pounding in my chest. I can't control the words coming from out of my mouth.

"N-no ma'am, I just thought," her voice becomes high as she looks down at her hands. "You're right. I'm sorry. Please, accept my apology."

I give her a curt nod, then the boxes come up again. Offer to meet her for lunch instead or tell her that she needs to schedule a visit next time. This time, my eyes linger on the first option, and before I know it, I'm saying, "There, there, child. Don't look so distraught. As long as the meeting ends on time, we will have lunch together. If it ends late, we will meet for afternoon tea. How does that sound?"

She lights up, though it's clearly fake. Something about her is just... off. She is playing me, and everyone around her. "Thank you, Your Highness. I look forward to it."

"As do I," I say. She curtsies, then bows slightly before walking away from my room. "Now, I need to finish getting ready," I turn back to the two women who had been helping me get ready before. They both nod, starting to grab things like my makeup as the other sits me down at a vanity.

***

"All rise in the prescence of the Queen of Ire, Queen Cahya," a young man says as he introduces me before he bows, stepping aside for me to walk in.

I walk in to a room full of men. A few look afraid, but it's harder to read the expressions of the others. They must be fearful due to my represenation. I pause, running through what I know about the game, trying to think of what this could be, when I remember that the Queen was supposed to go to a meeting with a group of noblemen to discuss taxes. After the pause, the man that introduced me, runs forward to pull my chair away from the table, and when I sit down, he pushes it back in. He apologizes, though I wave him off.

"Hello, Your Majesty," all the men say in unison. Yeah, just like a game. Of course everyone is talking in the same time.

"Now that I'm here, tell me what you need," I say to no one in particular, my eyes scanning over the room. I feel like this is how I should be acting, based on what little I know about the Queen. I hadn't been able to see much of her in the game.

There is a moment of silence before one man stands, saying, "We are very sorry to take up so much of your time, Your Highness. We just wanted to discuss taxes." He looks around at the other men, as if for moral support, though they don't say anything.

"What about them?" I ask, tilting my head slightly as I look up at him.

"Well," he looks nervous, biting his lower lip before saying, "We feel like we are not recieving enough from the citizens."

There are two options again: ask him what they need more taxes for and ask him if he would rather have more money for a little while and have citizens that can't eat, or have citizens that can eat and pay their taxes for years. The choice to me is obvious, so I let my eyes linger.

"Well, Lord Striker," the words are coming out of my mouth again without me being the actual one speaking. "Would you rather have citizens that pay you extra for a year and starve to death, or citizens that pay their taxes for a decade and can eat?" I ask, my face netural as I observe his posture.

His face goes pale as he sputters out, "W-well, Your Highness, I wasn't trying to-."

I hold my hand up, silencing him. After he goes quiet, I stare at him until he sits down. Then, and only then, I stand up to say, "You are asking me to raise taxes on people who are already starving, and you are living in luxury. You are willing to risk not only your household's stability for a year or two of extra luxury, then fall to ruins, but also that of the entire Kingdom's. Without farmers and those you so look down on, then would all perish. We need thse people to keep our Kingdom going, and they are already suffering. We are about to have to dip into the grain reserves just to keep my people from starving, and you want to take more from them?" I demand, the words coming out with barely any time for me to process what I'm saying.

The silence in the room is deafening, with all of the men refusing to look even in my general direction. Suddenly, the door bursts open, and a young man steps through. He has short, curly coffee colored hair with eyes like amber, that burn in anger. His olive skin glints in the mix of candle and sunlight that lights the room. A snarl is curling his upper lip as he walks up to me. He towers over me, and when I take a step back, he takes a step forward.

"Who are you?" I demand, not breaking his gaze. I refuse to be the one seen as weak, or a push over. I can't afford it.

The man scoffs before taking a step back, finally breaking our eye contact. "As if you don't know, Your Highness," he says mockingly before walking around the side of the table to sit at an empty chair.

I glare at him, which he returns, before I begin pacing around the table. I decide not to mention that the man was late, deciding to play nice for now. "As I was saying, asking me to raise the taxes on starving people is not only ridiculous and poorly thought out," I pointedly look at Lord Striker, who looks away from me. "But will cause riots, a revolution, even. Dying people have nothing to lose. They will turn on the government that turned its back on them," I finally come back to the head of the table, tilting my chin up to better look down my nose at the men sitting around the table. "I will not be raising taxes, and I will be releasing grain from the Kingdom's storage. Does anyone have anything to say about my decision?"

When no one responds, it annoys me. I know that it's just a game, but these men really came here to try to raise taxes, and are now not saying anything. It's cowardly. "No one has anything to say?" I raise my voice, but still, no one says anything. A few look down at the table, as if in shame. "So, you are either selfish, or cowards. Which is it?" I demand. Again, no one responds. "A selfish man I can reason with. I can at least buy loyalty from a selfish man. Money, power, I can give that. I can give a position, promise riches and lands. A coward is worthless," these words are not mine, making me realize that this must be a cut scene. "A coward cannot be loyal, regardless of what is given or whose side it is, because they have no loyalty to anyone besides themself. Which are you? Are you selfish, like Lord Striker who would rather live in luxury for a year then bring the downfall of the Kingdom than suffer even one slight inconvience? Or are you too cowardly to even tell me that your selfishness is the reason you came?"

No one says anything still, but the man that just came in looks shocked, but then he returns to glare at me. "You are one to speak on selfishness and cowardness, Majesty."

The chat boxes appear once again. Tell him he needs to leave or Tell him why he is wrong about you.

"Ah, Prince Claudius, of course. I recognize your conclusion jumping now," I say as the man, the Prince's, face flushes with embarrassment. "My apologies for not recongizing you sooner. It has been a few years," I walk over to him, a smile spreading across my face. "You see, you might not realize this since your Kingdom has been blessed with never having been struck by famine, but when the common people's lives are at stake, it doesn't matter if you care about them as individuals or not. They are the backbone of any Kingdom. Without them, the Kingdom falls. I will do anything to keep my people alive and thriving, because if they are alive, and they are content, the Kingdom will never fall, and they will never revolt."

I come to a stop right beside him. His face is still flushed, but no one else seems to notice since no one dares to look at me as I'm lecturing him. "My noblemen are selfish, and cowards, but that does not mean I am. When I married my late husband, Gods rest his soul, I promised to ensure his nobles would keep their place," I lean down, whispering near his ear. "I keep my word."

He swallows, though his face has contorted with anger now. "So you are thinking of these people as commodities?" he shouts. The man next to him flinches.

A laugh escapes my lips as I fold my hands in front of me, smiling widely. "Everything and everyone is a commodity. I am a commodity. If I was not useful, the people would overthrow me, would they not?" His glare doesn't wane, and he refuses to break eye contact. "You are a commodity, my Prince. That is why your parents promised you to my step daughter, is it not?"

He flinches, and it makes me feel bad, but I don't have control over my words. "You are a vile woman."