Sadly Sings Destiny

11

It was hours after Andretti was captured that the battle finally ended, prolonged by the sheer confusion caused by both forces swarming a castle like ants in a kicked hill. By the time that the last of Andretti’s forces had surrendered, Verona was asleep in the queen’s bed with armed guards protecting her. Andretti was stripped from her armor and had her bullet wound dressed in an unceremonious and rough fashion before being carted to the dungeon. Andretti sat on the floor of the dark room, a room lit only by a torch on the other side of the hall from her barred door. She was alone for an hour before the battered form of Vixen was shoved in with her.

“Vixen!” Andretti started, jumping to her feet to tend to the half-breed who couldn’t stand under her own power.

“I’m sorry, Nikki,” the slight form said in a voice that was tired and weak. The dethroned Queen cradled her faithful servant, doing her best to not hurt the battered creature any more than she already was.

“Don’t be. You did everything you could.” Nikki said, feeling herself tear up once more, but once more, she couldn’t allow herself to cry. Vixen tried to reply, but all she could do was shudder. Andretti spent as much time as she could calling for help, but the only person on this level of the dungeons, or at least in this passage, was a single Sabbistahni mercenary who couldn’t speak the language and did his best to ignore the screaming queen. Andretti’s voice was horse from trying, and she could tell that the sixteen-year-old soldier’s nerves were frayed when Vixen shuddered one last time before letting go of her final breath.

It was only then that Andretti let herself cry. The Queen, still with her gallium hair and her gallium war paint let tears fall freely down her gilded cheeks. She cried for her little Vixen, she cried for the honor guard who had first fallen, for all the men who had tried to hold her castle, and finally, she cried for herself. She had done everything she could to hold onto her throne, everything she could to hold onto the nation, but it was all for nothing. She didn’t remember falling asleep, but the next thing she could remember was Verona Conroy waking her.

“Andretti, would you join me for a walk?” the girl asked. Andretti looked at Verona for the first time in their campaign, the first time she could get a good look at the girl that had undone her. She was in an elegant dress, and her hair was brushed, and she looked as if she had cleaned herself up from the battle she had fought.

“I don’t have a choice, do I?” Nikki said, pushing her stiff body into a standing position. Verona didn’t answer, but Nikki didn’t press the matter either. She simply stood and stepped back to allow Verona to unlock the door. Verona beckoned for her to follow, and she led the dethroned through the dungeon and back up to her old chambers. Through this walk, Verona said nothing, and Andretti did not seek to start a conversation with the woman who had ruined her. Nikki had learned everything she needed to know about her rival when she was shot. If Verona didn’t have the gall to fight her woman to woman, then she didn’t have the heart to lead the nation, nor did she have the respect to evoke conversation, even from a dethroned queen. Even though Andretti had faltered in her own actions, deferring to tradition when strategy would have been more useful, she felt she had done what she could. Andretti had been trained in one on one swordplay, but never in battle tactics. That had been left to her guards and defense minister. For a moment she regretted not taking a more hands on approach, but the more sensible part of her mind reminded her she would have been groping blindly.

Nikki Andretti the Silver was led to her old chambers where one of the other maids of the castle was instructed to prepare the former ruler for a public appearance. Andretti took her time in washing, letting the warm water soothe her aching body. By her request, she was redressed in the angelic armor she had worn when she had fallen. She took a moment to inspect the point where the bullet had hit her, and it had gone through the leaf and the chainmail underneath. She knew this already from the hole in her chest, but she was still curious to see how the armor fared. She finished her preparation with her usual gallium alloy hair combing, and with her typical flower pattern on her cheek instead of the war paint she favored when in armor.

When she was finished preparing herself, she rejoined Verona in the hallway, and the newcomer led the way to the grand balcony where the Queen had threatened her only a couple weeks before. Andretti was forced to shield her eyes against the natural light, even if it was twilight, when she stepped onto the balcony. She was both surprised and not surprised to see that most of the city’s population was gathered in the common. When Andretti and Verona took the balcony, there was no cheering. There was no triumph of a victorious conquest, and there weren’t the jeers of a defeated populace voicing distaste for a new ruler.

Verona stepped forward to the same point on the balustrade where Andretti had given so many of her speeches. Verona started her speech with her background, and Andretti listened, feeling numb as the newcomer did her best to gain the sympathy of the people. Andretti’s attention faltered as Verona went through a never-ending showing of the evidence that she had found of the various crimes that had been committed by Andretti and her top leaders. Verona had even found the proof that Andretti had hired the assassin through a trail of paperwork on obtaining Sabbistahni coins and had seen the reports of the Sabbistahni bankers and of Andretti’s personal inspectors. Nikki slightly regretted not burning the evidence, but it didn’t matter now. She had done what she felt was right. She had done everything in the name of her people, and she was glad Verona had been smart enough to not burn half the nation to get to her. Under other circumstances, Andretti could appreciate the strategy, but for now, the usurper was calling for her attention

“Nikki Andretti the Silver, You are sentenced to death for treason, conspiracy to murder, and murder. Do you have anything to say?” Verona said, her voice both firm but somehow caring. Andretti looked around, she had lost track of time, become lost in her thoughts, and she couldn’t even remember a quarter of the thoughts she had.

“Go ahead and curse my name on these blood-stained pages of misery.” she said, not surprised to hear her voice amplified across the common as she addressed the people, not the new-comer, “Let her call me a tyrant so cruel. Let her curse my name, but please. Remember the truth.” Andretti finished and looked at Verona, “One final request. I want you to do it, and I want you to do it now.”

Verona paled at the request, but she knew the gathered crowd had heard it. Verona’s hands shook as she motioned for a nearby Sabbistahni officer to hand her their service revolver. Andretti kept a straight face as she watched the other girl take the weapon. She saw everything she needed to in the eyes of her soon to be killer. Verona’s hand shook as she raised the revolver and pulled back the hammer. Andretti calmly raised a stately hand, staying the execution for a moment. She briefly adjusted her posture and bent a couple of metal coated strands of hair back into place. She finally lowered her hand and gave a regal nod. Her brown eyes stayed locked on Verona’s as the hammer fell. The last thing Queen Nikki Andretti the Silver saw was the fear in her killer’s eyes.