Chapter Fifteen-Onwards
With only one day of rest, to cut down trees to make long sharp pikes, Amber's army closed in on the capital. They were tired and their feet ached but their morale was high.Rather then fighting with them, the patrols who policed the towns had retreated or even come over to their side. Amber had given strict instructions only to fight in self defence or if a major battle happened, and not to loot or destroy houses.Of course there were a few embittered people who had disobeyed Amber's orders. Two had been hanged as a warning to the others, one because he committed a rape, and the other for murdering a civilian, and the rest had been flogged publicly for lesser crimes.
Princess Amber had dressed in her full royal regalia at the gallows, a jeweled sword at her side, a golden orb in one hand and a silver sceptre in the other. "You may be wondering why these men have to hang.One murdered an unarmed man and the other raped a fifteen year old girl. Crimes like these will turn the population against us and drive them into Queen Yocasta's arms. I have no stomach for a long hard war. War slays the innocent,causes a lot of harm and grief,and can bankrupt entire countries.I don't want to rule Vallermoore, I just want to end the threat Queen Yocasta is to us all and to the entire region, and go home to rule my own country." She signaled to the hangman and he pulled the lever, and the two criminals hung lifeless on the end of their ropes.
***
Queen Yocasta sat at the table in her hall with her decaying daughter by her side. Nobody dared to look her directly in the eyes as she chatted to the real Princess Chrysta. "I'm dreadfully sorry that you ended up buried alive by mistake. Tomorrow I'll take you to meet the ambassador from Karnivahl..."
Outside it's tomb, in the warmer air of the rest of the palace, the body had begun to stink even more.The embalming had never been intended to stop the body from rotting, only as a stopgap so that the body could be viewed for a couple of days. Now maggots squirmed around within it and inside the eye sockets, chewing up the eyeballs, and the flesh had turned blue-green.
A messenger rushed in and bowed, kissing the Queen's hand as was the custom. "Kiss my daughter's hand as well," said the Queen. He grimaced and did what he was told, and then, fighting down the urge to retch, he announced "Vandersil has fallen to the traitor Amber, and Amber's army is just half a day's march away from the capital."
The Queen's mouth dropped open and she pulled herself to her feet in shock. "I want every soldier in the capital to present himself in the main square. We march tomorrow. I was never one to shirk a fight.We will destroy them and then Vandersil for this outrage."
With only one day of rest, to cut down trees to make long sharp pikes, Amber's army closed in on the capital. They were tired and their feet ached but their morale was high.Rather then fighting with them, the patrols who policed the towns had retreated or even come over to their side. Amber had given strict instructions only to fight in self defence or if a major battle happened, and not to loot or destroy houses.Of course there were a few embittered people who had disobeyed Amber's orders. Two had been hanged as a warning to the others, one because he committed a rape, and the other for murdering a civilian, and the rest had been flogged publicly for lesser crimes.
Princess Amber had dressed in her full royal regalia at the gallows, a jeweled sword at her side, a golden orb in one hand and a silver sceptre in the other. "You may be wondering why these men have to hang.One murdered an unarmed man and the other raped a fifteen year old girl. Crimes like these will turn the population against us and drive them into Queen Yocasta's arms. I have no stomach for a long hard war. War slays the innocent,causes a lot of harm and grief,and can bankrupt entire countries.I don't want to rule Vallermoore, I just want to end the threat Queen Yocasta is to us all and to the entire region, and go home to rule my own country." She signaled to the hangman and he pulled the lever, and the two criminals hung lifeless on the end of their ropes.
***
Queen Yocasta sat at the table in her hall with her decaying daughter by her side. Nobody dared to look her directly in the eyes as she chatted to the real Princess Chrysta. "I'm dreadfully sorry that you ended up buried alive by mistake. Tomorrow I'll take you to meet the ambassador from Karnivahl..."
Outside it's tomb, in the warmer air of the rest of the palace, the body had begun to stink even more.The embalming had never been intended to stop the body from rotting, only as a stopgap so that the body could be viewed for a couple of days. Now maggots squirmed around within it and inside the eye sockets, chewing up the eyeballs, and the flesh had turned blue-green.
A messenger rushed in and bowed, kissing the Queen's hand as was the custom. "Kiss my daughter's hand as well," said the Queen. He grimaced and did what he was told, and then, fighting down the urge to retch, he announced "Vandersil has fallen to the traitor Amber, and Amber's army is just half a day's march away from the capital."
The Queen's mouth dropped open and she pulled herself to her feet in shock. "I want every soldier in the capital to present himself in the main square. We march tomorrow. I was never one to shirk a fight.We will destroy them and then Vandersil for this outrage."
