A Gathering of Queens

The call had been sent out a fortnight ago. The Cardinal queen was dead. A new queen from her realm would be chosen and a sixth queen would take her place. The banners had been changed to black for mourning and the mysterious king had yet to give the orders to change them back.
Arliss Ravenclaw stared at the stone wall in front of her and made a face at the banner still waving there. She'd been tossing rocks at it for days to no avail. It was never going to come down. Not without the king's guard. Another rock wouldn't do any harm...
Silently she shoved the mass ebony curls over her shoulder and heaved the jagged rock at the banner, wincing as she finally heard a loud rip. It should have been more than a little satisfying if her guard and handmaidens and even her mother were not standing nearby. 
It took no more than a second for her mother to turn around, fury, blazing in violet eyes that matched Arliss' own. Her luck was not getting better it seemed.

“Have you lost your tiny little mind?!” Arliss’ mother hissed, catching the younger girl’s wrist before she could hurl another rock. “If word gets back to the king that you disrespect the deceased, there will be no hope of you being chosen to replace the Queen!”
The elder woman was every inch the proud noble mother... and just as pushy. She wanted the power and status that her otherwise useless daughter could bring. “All we have going for us is that you are beautiful! Count you blessings your are my daughter!”

It didn't help when the banner came fluttering down on the two women. It probably only got worse when Arliss began to snicker and then erupt into gales of laughter. 
"What is the meaning of this?" The voice that boomed from the other side of the black fabric was decidedly male. It was one that Arliss had never heard in her entire life.

Unfortunately for Arliss, her mother had. The elder woman was quick to peel the banner back and force her daughter to her knees before falling to her own. “Forgive my child, please... She is young and not yet trained.” She grovelled, not daring to look up and meet his gaze. “I have only the best tutors busy instructing her in the ways of the court.”

"You are far from the towers she should be studying in, Lady Ravenclaw. The king would be furious if he knew." The king's guard who spoke was dressed in glimmering golden armor, his ice colored eyes locked on the young woman still giggling as she struggled with the ruined cloth. "The Cardinal queen's death has left all six kingdoms at a disadvantage." He added, his hand on his sword. "Where are the guards his majesty commissioned for his future queen to have? It would seem to me that the two of you are alone out here. He would have both of your heads for a thing like this."

The elder woman nodded without lifting her gaze. “The girl... she required fresh air and I foolishly permitted it.” She breathed, silently cursing Arliss with every breath she took. “Would it be rude of me to ask for an escort back to the tower?” She added a sideways glance assuring her that it was indeed only herself and the handmaiden out here with her daughter.

The guardsman shook his head though he was striding toward Arliss, pulling the banner off of her and inspecting her for injury. The slender girl gave him a wide eyed stare and all at once yanked herself away from his grasp. It was clear the very sight of him made her wary. She was no longer so much as smiling. "Touch me again, sir, and I will gut you." She hissed.
The guard narrowed ice colored eyes at her, not knowing he was being watched closely by the handmaiden. She was not who she appeared to be any more than he was. She would send word to the king should this particular soldier receive so much as a scratch. Even from the woman he was interested in taking as a future queen. In fact, it may very well change her fate.

“Arliss!” The young woman's Mother barked. “He is if the kings guard, you will treat him as such!” Again the elder woman was avoiding lifting her gaze, as though afraid to offend the lean soldier before her. She paid little attention to any of the handmaidens, treating them as no more than dogs. That would cost her, if her daughter didn’t cause them to lose both their heads.
“Lady Ravenclaw... perhaps I should fetch the guard you dismissed earlier?” The handmaiden finally dared to breathe, she she too kept her head bowed, face obscured by the hood of the flowing cloak she wore. Such was the will of her mistress; all handmaidens must make themselves as invisible as possible around her and her daughter.

"For the gods sake no." Arliss sighed, sweeping past the guard to slid her arm into that of her handmaiden. Her mother hated it when she did that and she knew it. "All they ever do is tell me not to do things because I might get hurt. It's so boring. Come on. I guess we have to go back now anyway. No sense in making people go back and forth." She pulled the other woman along with her, leaving her mother behind with the guard. 
"She is willful. The king doesn't care for willful girls. Have you or her teachers done nothing to break this?" The guardsman asked, his lips setting into a thin line.

The handmaiden cast a glance over her shoulder at the guard and her mistress, then allowed Arliss to sweep her away. “My lady, it isn’t safe for two women to walk alone...” As she spoke the words, she almost seemed to choke on them, like they went against everything she felt.
Now they were alone, the elder brunette seemed to act much differently. “You think I haven’t tried?” She huffed. “The girl simply will not listen. Perhaps I should threaten to cut the hair she loves so much?”

"I'm only afraid of the dark." Arliss said with a warm smile. "Besides, I happen to know you carry a knife under all those robes and a whip around your waist." She added, poking out her tongue. 
"I think you love the hair more than she does." The guard pointed out. "You have two days before the king shows up and I wouldn't recommend cutting the hair. He's a very vain man. He cares very much for looks."

“That you know of...” The handmaiden replied with a smirk no one but Arliss had seen since she was assigned to their family. “But this is the cardinal city, it isn’t the home you left behind, you need to be more careful.”
The Lady snorted at this and looked the guardsman over. “Clearly. Is all that gold to distract from your poor sword skills?” She remarked with a sniff. “I know your king will only employ men to protect him. Which begs the question... is that because he believes a woman’s only place is on her back?”

"Mother always talks about the cardinal city but what's the difference?" Arliss asked, smoothing down the front of her dress in a useless attempt to get rid of the grass stains. "Can we just avoid it and go home? I have no interest in marrying the king anyway." 
The guardsman actually laughed at the lady as he turned back to where his horse had fled. "Isn't that the case?" He asked, adjusting the saddle and preparing to remounting. "The king has never been wrong before."

“Unfortunately for you, that matters little.” The handmaiden replied. “In the cardinal city, all that matters is the wish of the king. He doesn’t like your hair? He has someone cut it. He doesn’t like the sound of your voice? His man removes your tongue. Consider that the next time you toss rocks at his banner.”
Lady Ravenclaw merely smiled thinly. “So easy for a man to think that way. Why, I doubt you would even know what to do with a woman once you have her on her back!”

"As if he cares anymore for that banner than I do." Arliss muttered. "That thing has been up for a fortnight. As long as the body of his last wife and he has seen neither." She snorted, though she did reach up to pull at a curl that had fallen over her shoulder. "The queen has long since begun to stink. No amount of flowers and oinments will save her now." 
"Perhaps she has a point." The voice that spoke then was no more than a low whisper. It was like the purr of a coming thunderstorm that was still miles away. "Now what has become of my banner?"

The guardsman laughed darkly, the sound little more than a cruel growl. "If you had not been mounted by one of the king's guard, you would know even less than I, old crow. You speak highly now only because you think you have the favor of the king. But trust me, he is fickle man and grows bored quickly. Your bubble headed child will never be enough to quench his lusts. You will both be tossed aside like the whores he visits weekly."

The handmaiden felt her body stiffen at the sound of that voice. This noble really did have a big mouth, and the worst luck. She was quick to kneel, as was expected if everyone within the city walls. “It was an accident, sire. The girl.:. She is young, she doesn’t know any better.” She found herself making the same excuse Arliss’ mother had, despite the younger noble being the same age as her handmaiden.

The dark dark haired woman smiled, patting the nose of the guard’s horse. “You know less than you think, child.” She purred. “You assume it is he who will bore... A woman’s heart is a far more fickle creature than a boy like you can ever know.”

"A lie if I've ever heard one. Look at her clothing. She is a noblewoman." The king said, stepping closer to them. The lean man narrowed ice colored eyes at the kneeling handmaiden and shook his head. "Where is her accompaniment? It cannot be just the two of you. You know that I do not approve of such things." 
Arliss had not bothered to bow. She did not recognize the king and didn't even seem to care. Her violet eyes swept over him and then dismissed him, not at all taken by how handsome he was. She was already moving away, more interested in the climbing ivy on the tower wall.

The handmaiden saw Arliss move and sighed heavily. “Forgive me, sire, but she has all the protection she needs.” She assured the king, her own violet eyes finally looking up at him. “She may be a noble, but she is not a cardinal city noble. Adjusting to your laws takes... patience.”

The king shook his head. "That isn't something I have and you well know it." He hissed. "My Cardinal Queen didn't simply die of old age. She was murdered. That you were informed of as well." He reached out, long fingers grabbing for Arliss' arm before she could get too far away. "I'll ask again. Where is the rest of her guard?"

The cloaked handmaiden reached out for Arliss before the king could get there, her gloved fingers pulling the other woman behind her. “As I said before, she has protection.” Her tone was wavering, clearly struggling to remain submissive to this king. “I was tasked with her protection, and I take that job very seriously. As I would have, had I been protecting your previous Queen. Perhaps you are the one who need ensure your guard are up to the task?”

The king snorted at this, his icy eyes sweeping over the handmaiden. "What is your name, girl?" He asked gruffly. "Who trained you?"

“My name is Neb, and I don’t know what you mean... sire.” My only duty is to protect house Ravenclaw.” She added, violet eyes daring to look out from beneath the hood that covered her head.

"Neb?" the king was quick to dismiss this name as a lie. He shook his head, his long silver hair sliding free of the binding he'd used that morning. "That's no name for a woman or a warrior. Do not lie to me if you wish to keep that hooded head of yours." He was so busy trying to discover a lie, he'd yet to see that the other woman had wandered off.

“I doubt you know much of either, sire.” Neb replied with a smirk that the king wouldn’t see. “For one, you don’t believe a woman can be a warrior anyway.”
Neb was so busy berating the king and stepping closer to losing her head to the axe that she missed the sound of muffled whimpers and tearing cloth in the direction Arliss had wandered.

"Women are only capable of looking after children and one another." The king snorted. Icy eyes narrowed in a warning. "Those of you that are trained to protect their more fair and far more breakable counterparts are taught your place. Could it be that you never learned yours, Neb my dear?" Her name was spoken in little more than a hiss. The famously cool and collected king was losing his temper. 

Arliss wasn't sure what happened until she felt enormous hands yanking at her skirt. She tried to shout out to her handmaid but got out no more than a whimper before one of those hands slapped across her mouth. She tasted dirt. She smelled something sharp and metallic and that was when she began to panic.

Neb couldn’t conceal her grin when she heard the king begin to lose his famous cool. “I’m a slow learner, sire.” She mused, violet eyes dancing. “Perhaps you could teach this... less than fair, insolent, savage, her place?”

“Easy, kitten...” A gruff voice growled. It was low, gravelly from infrequent use. “Wouldn’t want that pretty face finding itself marred, it would you?”

"Watch yourself." The king hissed. "You are already on my last nerve. You are alone with my future queen and that does not give me much comfort. The six kingdoms have already lost one queen recently. I do not have time for another." 

This one made Arliss fight harder. The voice was male. She'd gone her entire life without hearing one, only to hear three in one day. This was a sign from the gods. She was sure of it. She was going to meet the god of death that night.

“Funny, seems that all you have time for lately.” Neb purred. “What else does King of the cardinal city do?” She added, apparently enjoying stripping the king of his control.

This earned Arliss a guttural growl from her kidnapper. “I was to bring you alive... you would be surprised what a person can survive... even an annoying, pathetic little flower like yourself.” He warned, pausing to slam Arliss against the harbour wall with a black dagger to her throat.

The king snorted at her and waved her off. "Don't be foolish, woman. Information like that is way above your intelligence."

Arliss' violet eye glittered with warning. She was not going to let that insult go lightly.

One side of Neb’s lips quirked up as she smirked in response to the King’s comment. “And yet, somehow you manage to comprehend it just fine.”

“What’s the matter, flower, did I offend her highness?” The gravel voiced man purred, the knife still flush to her throat. “Maybe... I should have myself a little taste first...” He added, the hand bit holding the knife reaching down to left the skirt of her dress up.