“Everly, I said to let her go,” Caleb repeated. “I won’t ask again.

“But you’re not asking, are you?” Everly replied as she felt a familiar sensation beginning to spread across her face. Anyone who saw it would have mistaken it for a smile. It bore many similarities to one; her lips were curling upward, and she was showing a lot of her teeth. At a casual glance, she would have appeared almost friendly.

A feral dog would have understood the danger and immediately backed down. In fact, any sort of sensible being would have quickly surmised the situation that Caleb had mired himself in and taken off for a long vacation.

Some people you just had to give a wide berth. Your life could depend on it.

“I won’t let you hurt her,” Caleb said, determinedly.

Caleb wasn't being sensible.

“Let,” Everly said, sounding the word out as if tasting it and finding the flavor wasn’t to her liking. “As in permit. Grant. Allow. You won’t allow me to do as I please? Well, well. I can’t say I like what you’re implying, brother.”

Everly pushed Seraphine away and paid no mind when the queen stumbled back and fell painfully to the floor. Her eyes were fixated solely on her sibling.

“I know we haven’t interacted very often in the past, Caleb, but I feel obligated to remind you that this is my home and you’re a guest,” she told him. “Perhaps you should reconsider your tone when addressing your true liege.”

“I’ve sworn no oaths to you,” Caleb said calmly.

“You will,” Everly replied with equal calm. “Winstead is mine. Everything within its borders is also…mine. Everything that sweet Seraphine over here has ever had, belongs to me now, which includes you. That means that upsetting me when I’m having a bit of fun is now a capital offense, brother.”

“You had no right to treat her that way,” Caleb said.

“There’s no sin in tormenting the wicked, brother,” Everly replied. “Can’t you see that your precious queen has a black heart? I could tell at a glance! As they say, game recognizes game.”

“Everly, our family is intertwined with hers. Our father and the former king were practically brothers. Your mistreatment of her shames us all,” Caleb said, now beginning to show the barest hint of anger in his voice.

“The dead king,” Everly said bluntly. “Gone to his grave and relevant no longer.”

“You said that death meant nothing in your empire,” Caleb said pointedly.

“Well—I mean, yes, it doesn’t! But his killers took his body with them, so…hey, don’t look at me like that! I need the correct materials to work with, okay?” Everly said defensively, as she felt the audience watching her grow slightly skeptical.

“So, you’re all-powerful but only within favorable circumstances?” Caleb asked her.

“Be silent, Prince Caleb!” Carter suddenly cut in, as he stepped forth to point an accusatory finger at Everly’s brother. “The disrespect you’ve shown will not go unanswered!”

‘Why did you call me prince?” Caleb asked in confusion.

“Isn’t it obvious? Your stature has risen alongside her majesty’s. But your new station will not protect you from reprisal if you insist on this pointless argument,” Carter warned him. “Silence yourself and reconsider what words you’ll speak next.”

“I’ve done nothing wrong,” Caleb insisted. “If my sister is a just ruler, then she’ll find no fault in me defending the one I’ve sworn myself to.”

In response, Everly gave a sharp whistle and pointed a finger at her brother. “Boys, break his legs and drag him into the Rat Room for a session with Matty. I’ve had enough of this.”

“What?” Caleb asked in sudden alarm, as a trio of black knights began striding towards him in unison with menacingly casual steps. "Why are you doing this?"

“You implied I should believe in justice,” Everly said to him sternly. “You’re clearly not paying attention to my brand and that hurts my feelings.”

“His highness really doesn’t know when to plug his cakehole, huh?” one of the knights asked as they neared him.

“The rich are all entitled,” said another one. “Especially the ones who inherit their wealth instead of earning it themselves.”

“Warren Buffet says he won’t leave his kids anything,” said the first one. “He doesn’t want money ruining them as people.”

“Warren Buffet’s a fucking liar,” snorted the third one.

“Nah uh! He cut off his granddaughter, didn’t he?”

“Yeah, but she was dumb. Doing talk shows talking about his family life when he told her not to. Needy little attention seeker,” said the second knight dismissively. “Besides, she was adopted.”

“Heeey, don’t say anything bad about adoption. Family is family,” the first one said before springing forward and knocking the wind from Caleb with an uppercut to his belly.

“Yeah, Wes, it doesn’t matter where you come from as long as someone loves you enough to raise you,” the third knight said, before kicking Caleb in the head with as much force as he could deliver.

Caleb tried to struggle but all three knights were on him now, mercilessly stomping the will to resist from him, leaving him bloodied and battered before long.

“All right, boss,” said the first knight. “You want us to give him a couple of clean breaks or are we gonna make his kneecaps double jointed?”

“Well, that’s really going to depend on how quickly he apologizes,” Everly replied. She’d been lounging on the throne, watching her sibling being brutalized while taking note of the reactions of her gathered prisoners. Most were looking away, unable to bear the sight of the beating.

Everly sighed inwardly at their cowardice. Were these really the people whose families had run the kingdom for centuries? They were so soft! How could anyone send soldiers to kill, or sentence criminals to hang without being able to view the consequences of violence with their own eyes?

It bothered her that people could be so dependent upon the savagery of others without building up a tolerance for it themselves. In fact, it was pathetic! Did she really want such cowards controlling the lands that she ruled? She was tempted at that moment to give her knights the order to purge the rest of them.

Just as she opened her mouth to deliver the command, the entryway was suddenly slammed opened and a tall, thickly muscled figure dressed in scarlet red entered the throne room. All eyes were drawn to him at once, due to the imposing manner with which he carried himself. At the sight of him, Everly felt a genuine smile quirk on her lips.

“Grail! I wondered where you were,” she giggled. “I feel like you’ve been avoiding me lately.”

“Avoiding you? Never,” her favorite knight and the first and greatest of her personal creations answered casually, as he strolled past the assembled nobles without sparing them a single glance. He stopped before Caleb and clicked his tongue in disapproval. “The point’s been made, lads. Release him,” he ordered the black knights.

“No can do, General,” said one of the knights. “Orders from up top says we have to cripple this kid. No offense.”

“Yeah, no offense,” said another with a smug tone of voice. “You know how it is. Whatever Everly says, goes.”

“I understand. No offense was taken,” Grail said mildly. Then he backhanded the first knight who’d spoken back to him. He did so with such terrible force that the knight’s helmet caved in at the point of impact as he crashed to the floor. He laid there where he fell, as limply as a broken, discarded doll.

When Grail turned his eyes to the remaining knights, they quickly helped Caleb to his feet and stepped back.

“Tch. Not a very good showing, boys,” Everly tutted from her throne.

“Sorry, boss,” one of them said quietly.

“We’ll talk about it later, Mikey,” Everly said ominously.

Mikey slunk his shoulders.

“Everly, stop picking on Mikey and the others. They made an earnest effort,” Grail said as he walked to the throne, half-carrying the limping Caleb at his side. “Stop picking on your brother too! He’s the only one you have left.”

“I can’t help it! He's pissing me off,” Everly said.

“He’s a good person,” Grail said.

“Yeah, I think that's what's pissing me off,” she said grumpily.

“Send him to your father’s estate. Let him recuperate from your discipline and reconsider his behavior. Family should be a source of strength for a confident ruler, not a source of aggrievement.”

Everly stood from her throne and stared haughtily down at Grail. In response, he immediately dropped to one knee and lowered his head to avoid her gaze, his body language communicating no challenge to her authority. She continued to stare at him for several long moments before walking to him. Then, with one hand on either side of his face, she raised his head and peered silently into his eyes.

They looked at each other for what seemed an eternity of tension before Everly’s smile returned to her lips. “Fine. I can never say no to that face, can I? Do what you feel is right.”

“Your kindness is an example to us all,” Grail replied humbly.

“Let Seraphine come with me,” requested the injured Caleb.

An annoyed expression immediately returned to Everly’s face. “No,” she said curtly.

“Why not?” he asked her.

“Because it pleases me to deny you,” she said with vicious honesty. “Carter, I’ve lost interest in these proceedings. The former queen and I will continue discussing terms in my chambers. Do whatever else is required here with my full authority.”

“Of course, great one!” Carter said with a deep bow. “I shall see to everything.”

“Appreciated,” Everly said, as she gestured for Seraphine to follow her through the portal that opened before them. Together they both stepped through it, as the two remaining black knights lifted the unconscious body of their comrade and set forth to get him medical treatment.

__

“Wasn't all of that unnecessarily dramatic?” Everly asked Seraphine as she sunk into a large, stuffy recliner modeled after the one that her father from Earth used to keep in their living room.

“Caleb is my personal knight, sworn to my defense,” Seraphine said in a tight but controlled voice, as she stared around at Everly’s messy room. Clothes were scattered on the floor, as were books, comics, watercolors, and drawing paper. There were also empty plates and glasses everywhere.

“Sorry for the mess,” Everly said without embarrassment. “I keep telling Carter I’ll let him clean up for me one of these days, but I never get around to it. Even if I did let him straighten things up, it’ll only become messy again within a week, so why bother? So long as I know where everything is, who cares what this place looks like?”

“You’re the monarch of a powerful nation,” said Seraphine. “You have your dignity to think of. Rumors of this sort of undisciplined slovenliness can easily spread to the ears of your rivals.”

“Oh?” Everly asked in an amused tone of voice. “Does that mean you’re going to tell on me?”

“What?” asked Seraphine in surprise. “No. No, I wouldn’t dream of doing such a thing.”

“Because you’re going to be a loyal subject of my empire, right?” asked Everly. “So loyal that you wouldn’t dare dream of intentionally betraying me.”

“Of course,” Seraphine said immediately. “I’ve seen what you’re capable of. I can only hope that my sincerity and genuine desire to prove myself worthy of your grace and good will is apparent to you through my words.”

“Yeah, you do sound pretty smooth,” Everly nodded. “You look pretty good too. Come here,” she said as she slapped her lap. “Take a seat.”

“What?” Seraphine said, as her skin flushed red in embarrassment. “I thought you invited me here to continue discussing your terms.”

“Nah, Carter can take care of all that. He might have some papers for you to sign later, too. He’s a very industrious little goblin,” replied Everly. Then she crooked a finger. The floor beneath Seraphine’s feet lurched suddenly, sending her tumbling towards Everly’s chair and causing her to fall onto it, straddling Everly’s body.

“Heeeey,” Everly said amiably.

“What are you doing?” Seraphine asked angrily.

“I dunno. What are you doing?” Everly smirked.

Now both of Everly’s hands were at the former queen’s waist and slowly trailing themselves down her hips and towards her exposed thighs.

“What makes you think I have the slightest interest in your games?” Seraphine asked her while not removing her hands.

“The aroused expression on your face while you watched Caleb being beaten,” Everly said with a knowing look.

“You were watching me?”

“How could I not? You stepped before my throne like you owned the room. I liked that. I enjoy arrogant people,” Everly purred.

“You’re mistaking that for self-confidence,” Seraphine said.

“I know what I saw,” Everly said.

“So, the all-conquering Empress beheld me and approved of what she saw, eh?” Seraphine leaned forward until her lips were close to Everly’s face. Then she ran her tongue across the tip of Everly’s nose.

“She did indeed,” Everly confirmed. “I wonder, though. I thought you liked Caleb.”

“I love him,” Seraphine corrected her.

“Then why did you enjoy watching him be humiliated?” Everly wondered.

“Caleb is beautiful,” Seraphine said as she began peppering Everly’s faces with quick, hard kisses. “So beautiful. I love beautiful things, I really do; but I also love watching beautiful things be broken.”

“Ah,” Everly said as she nodded to herself. “So, it’s just as I thought. You’re a rotten little thing on the inside.”

“You think you’re so much better than me?” Seraphine suddenly asked her, anger now apparent in her voice. “You think you can judge me?”

“Was I not making it obvious enough?” Everly asked with false confusion.

With a furious expression on her face, Seraphine began to pull away from her. “You’re one to talk. You saw how I looked at Caleb, but I saw how you looked at your precious General Grail.”

“Hmm?” Everly asked with slowly narrowing eyes.

Seraphine sneered at her expression and said, “I could hardly miss it. It appears I’m not the only one who enjoys toying with the men in her life—AHH!” she gasped as Everly grabbed her hair.

Their positions were quickly reversed with Everly now on top, with Seraphine’s hair coiled tightly in her fist. “Don’t ever speak salaciously of my relationship with Grail, little girl. Our bond is none of your fucking business,” Everly said to her, icily. “In fact, if I were you, I would never bring up the subject again.”

To emphasize her point, Everly tightened her grip on Seraphine’s hair.

“That hurts,” Seraphine moaned with her eyes tightly shut.

“Yes, I expect it does,” Everly said with a cruel smile.

“Keep doing it,” Seraphine begged her. “Don’t stop.”

A quiet moment passed between the two of them.

“Oh, dear,” Everly said to herself.