A Matter of Succession [Concluded]

[The Jenn]

After a restful night's sleep in an unfamiliar bed, Donnie felt ready to face the world... and this morning, the world would be encompassed in the body of one woman. Today, the Queen of Spades could make or break her ambitions for a job in the palace. She'd wanted to work in the Court for years now, and judging by what Mia and Vessatha had told her last night, there wouldn't be many barriers to entry. With as much work as needed doing, she was hopefully guaranteed a title as Lysaras's King.

She assumed her human form and adjusted her jewelry, the sapphires glinting in the slight spilling through the window. It wasn't an especially bright day, with a slight overcast, but the sky wasn't by any means a leaden gray. Taking a slow, measured breath, she squared her shoulders and exited the room in search of two things: breakfast and the Queen.

The kitchens were active and she swiped a piece of sausage sitting on a plate to cool, blowing on it hastily so that she didn't burn her mouth when she shoved it in whole. She covered the lower half of her face with a hand while her cheeks bulged and she chewed it quickly, grabbing another one and asking for tea. Thankfully, they had jasmine. Thus armed, she left the kitchens in search of a man she assumed to be one of the palace guard. When she asked to be directed towards Queen Lysaras, he gave her a quick glance and nodded. Not many men would sit and chat overmuch with a Yarrow mix, she'd found, and it was appreciated this morning.

When she arrived at the appropriate door, she waved the man away before he could 'introduce' her and knocked on the wood herself. Then she stood, waiting.

[Nathalia]

Lysaras had been sitting quietly, chin in hand as she poured over a letter from the Court of Hearts. Apparently this was where her King had been. Forcing himself onto the King of Hearts in his own bedchambers. She was so embarrassed she could cry. Her ears were folded back against her head, her tail tucking up further under her dress with each sentence that she read. The Jack who had sent the letter, by the name of her Excellence, Heilyn, was quite a blunt writer and the Queen of Spades felt more awful...and more responsible the further she got down the page.

How could she have ignored this for so long? How could she have not known? Lysaras felt blind, there were so many things popping up in her Court that she had been unaware of...and it was driving her mad. When she found him again, she wasn't going to stand for his games; his little smiles, the way he walked lightly around you as he spoke, she would put her foot down and tell him that he was banished from the palace of Hearts. That ought to satisfy this Jack, Heilyn, The King of Hearts she simply must send him an apology gift later, and her overeager King. Worse than caring for a child, Varestes...

She had just finished scrawling out the punishment and her permission for the banishment when there was a knock at the door. She looked up in puzzlement, nearly spilling her half-empty cup of tea in surprise. She hadn't been expecting anyone, had she? Oh gods...she had better not have been!

"Come in?" She said hesitantly, rearranging a few things on the desk and putting on a bright smile, she would hold onto her Biped form in case it was an easily intimidated person. When the door opened and the person behind it strode in, however...she thought it might have been better had she taken her Human. The woman who stood before her may not have been overly tall, but she made up for it with appearance. Obviously a Villa/Yarrow mix, Lysaras wondered if there was Highland in there too. Good heavens!

"Oh! Good morning...I'm sorry, you were unannounced to me. I'm Queen Lysaras, who might I have the pleasure of addressing?" Her tail gave a hesitant wag as she stood to shake the stranger's hand. She was beautiful, for all that her bright colors made her look intimidating. "How can I help you?"

[The Jenn]

A biped? Really? Donnie hears the woman had her human form. Maybe she was just more comfortable in the furry form... but for politics? Well, if she was secure enough in her power then she supposed that made sense. The woman stepped forward, offering a short bow and a friendly smile. She very much had to make a good impression on the woman she wanted to be her Queen.

"Good morning, your Majesty, and thank you for meeting me. I apologize for arriving unannounced, but one of your palace guards kindly directed me to your office in hopes of a meeting. My name is Donnie, a King... a King hopeful, if my meaning is to be plain." She held out her hand and shook the gloved one offered, her grip firm. The woman was a pretty enough sort, even if she was a Torque. They just tended to be so wispy and not in the delicately attractive way of a Yarrow girl. Still, not bad. The hair was interesting.

"I arrived yesterday evening, unfortunately too late to arrange a meeting. Your King Mia showed me around, however, and he and Vessatha were able to provide me with a meal and a bit of information. I've been looking forward to meeting you for quite some time now, Your Majesty. According to your nobles, you may have a place for someone who's willing to put some time and effort into your Court?" She ended on the note of a question, but the words were a hopeful statement.

[Nathalia]

The words were nearly enough to make Lysaras melt in gratitude. Not only was this lovely woman not here to complain about something, she was here to help!

"Your meaning is made quite plain, my dear. Donnie, was it? Wonderful! We are in desperate need of assistance, I must say, though it pains me. My current King, Varestes seems to have...run out on me. It's been a bit of a disaster, really." She wiped the look off of her face and replaced it with a smile again. "If I could just ask you a few questions, perhaps over tea? I'll make your King's quest a simple affair. I just need to get an idea, then we can, if I interpreted your meaning plainly, move on to your Queen's quest tomorrow, perhaps?"

The woman looked like just the thing. Tall enough, forbidding in expression and posture if it hadn't been for her presentation of herself, Lysaras would have been petrified, and strong in voice, she looked like the kind of person who could easily bully the Court where Lysaras couldn't. Perfect!

The Canine clapped her hands lightly, watching as the portly Terrier outside stuck his head around the door. "Gustav? Tea and some lunch, please."

"Right away, Marm." The Morganberry/Selkie mix trotted off, his hands wringing lightly for lack of anything else to do, unable to wipe the vision of the new woman from his mind.

Tea was a lovely affair. This Donnie, a Wolverine Lysaras now knew, was very adept and intelligent, precise and quick to the punch, Lysaras couldn't help but delight over her, she hoped it didn't show too heavily, and she was so pleasant to talk to. A bit blunt, but since that was what she needed, Lysaras ignored some of the things that, coming from anyone other than Vessie, would normally make her wince.

The woman had agreed to be her King on the spot, as she had expected and she couldn't wait to hear what she thought about the Queen's quest. An easy enough thing to do, without looking too easy; simply gather together the Court and issue a few new proclamations as King and she would deliver her Queenship to her. The proclamations were easy, if a little harsh, Donnie had helped her develop them over tea.

She felt so much better than she had this morning. If she was lucky, perhaps this woman would chew Varestes out for her too, once he reappeared.

[The Jenn]

In all her imaginings of the situation, Donnie would never have expected things to move along so quickly! Lysaras accepted her application for Kingship immediately, and further instructed her on how to acquire her Queenship. Now if that wasn't the most convenient thing she'd ever heard of... absolutely perfect.

She was more than happy to throw around a little weight with the staff on behalf of Queen Lysaras and received her rank the next day, something she wouldn't have believed possible even a month ago. With the new, oh-so-significant mark on her chest, she felt completely justified in finding one of the servants - what had his name been, Gustav? - and half-asking, half-ordering him to show her around. She wanted an idea of the premises if she was going to be expected to attend meetings and do work in various parts of palace. She needed to know which which was which, where all of the significant locations were, and what the grounds looked like.

What she saw... well, it appalled her. The servants appeared either entirely demoralized or as timid as mice, supposedly not to scare their delicately mannered Queen. The few who didn't suffer from either a disspirited or meek outlook on life had taken advantage of the lack of real authority and lorded over parts of the palace they had no business controlling. From all she could tell, Lysaras had no idea what went on in half of the palace she ruled! About a week into her stay at the Court, after being introduced to quite the stack of paperwork, officials, and jobs that were neglected due to a lack of manpower, the shit hit the fan.

Donnie had been taking a quick walk through the gardens in an effort not to just shred the stack of paper she was working through - and the snide little thing who kept delivering more with a slightly mocking smirk on its face - and stumbled across a gathering of gardeners. Mindful of the suggestion she'd received earlier to be nice to the garden staff, since they were a helpful lot, she hung back. It was the most curious thing. They weren't gardening. They weren't paying any attention at all to the plants. That was when she realized what they were doing.

Checkmate.

One old codger was distributing checkmate amongst the palace staff. With all the righteous fury of a Yarrow, a region that despised all drugs it didn't produce itself, she swooped in and snatched up a handful of the stuff, backhanding the old gardener in the process. It sent him sprawling, but she didn't care. She snarled at the rest of them and they scattered in a most satisfying way, most of them more than capable of movement, before she turned and stalked towards the palace proper. The bag was still clutched tightly in her hand, knuckles almost white beneath the fur.

"Lysaras!" she bellowed as she neared the woman's office. She banged open the door and stomped in, nearly throwing the sack of powder on the woman's desk. "Drugs. Checkmate. Your staff is shooting checkmate in the gardens! What the hell are you going to do about this?!"

[Nathalia]

Lysaras nearly shot through the roof when the door banged open. Her tail tried to shoot between her legs as she was sitting down, causing her to give a surprised yelp and leap awkwardly out of her chair.

Heavens above! If there was one thing she didn't like about her new Queen, it was when she burst like this! Dear Donnie had a small, well...no, not small, a habit; of exploding on occasion. A habit that had nearly given Lysaras heart failure twice already.

"D-Donnie! You...you scared me!" There was nothing else she could force herself to say at the moment as her heart rate calmed and she stroked at her tail for a few seconds to stop the stabbing pain. Re seating herself, she shook her head and looked a little sheepish. "I...I know they do. It's just the gardeners, Donnie. Murlow claims it's one of the only things left that keeps him going, and I just want to make sure they're happy. They were such miserable things before I let them in here, and now they're doing much better." She stared down at her hands, trying to stop them shaking by pressing them into her lap.

"It's just the gardeners...Donnie..." Her voice faded a little as she waited for Donnie to cool off. The Wolverine also had the curious habit of cooling off, by yelling. Her ears flattened in preparation without her noticing.

Lysaras watched as Donnie gesticulated...holding a full satchel of Checkmate. How had she gotten that? She hoped Donnie hadn't hurt the gardeners by accident. Why today? She had heard that Varestes was around and had hoped so desperately to catch Donnie in a good mood today...

[The Jenn]

She knew. The woman knew. And then she practically cowered, ears going back and shoulders hunching in preparation for Donnie's anger. The wolverine saw red.

Damn straight she was angry! "These drugs are illegal for a reason, woman!" she shouted, pointing at the bag. "They rot brains and ruin lives. If you were acting in any way like a responsible monarch, you would have dealt with this problem years ago! How could you let these idiots go on injuring themselves for who knows how long, looking the other way and excusing it?! That's the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard!"

She was getting herself worked up, but this wasn't the first time. In only a week, she'd already blown up at the woman on five separate occasions. Struggling against her apathy was exhausting! This was one of the biggest reasons she couldn't stand Torques! They never did anything! This woman had no excuse. She had been steadily destroying their Court, year by year, and no one had done anything to stop her. No one had done anything!

...maybe it was time?

"I swear, you are the most ineffective Queen I've ever heard of. You're sitting here right now, while your Court crumbles around your ears, arguing for the rights of checkmate addicts on your staff! This is ridiculous. It's beyond ridiculous - it's criminal! You were charged as protector and guardian of this kingdom, and what have you done? Do you know that a man laughed at me two days ago when I mentioned that I worked in the Court of Spades? That is what you have done to this suit, and I, for one, have had enough. Lysaras, I am challenging you for Queenship of this Court."

[Nathalia]

Lysaras sank further into the back of her seat as the Wolverine did as she had thought she would.

Bellow.

She took it, she knew it was rightly deserved but...she couldn't help but think this was a bit much. "Yes, I know it does, Donnie. Please. They were already addicted when they got here, they couldn't find jobs and I just-"

She felt her nose wrinkle a little as the Wolverine cut her off. The delicate pinks of her face flushing under her pale fur to a near crimson as she shouted.

As she shouted...

What?

She stared at Donnie as the last thing she had ever expected to hear from anyone flew contemptuously from her companion's mouth. Laughed? Ridiculous? Challenge?

She stood slowly, not quite aware that she was doing it, it took all of her power not to run as fast as she could for the door. It helped that Donnie's bulk was there to block it.

"You? You challenge me for...?" She looked as though she might faint, her eyes unfocused. "Very...very well, Donnie. I-I guess we should go and... Tell the others, maybe find Varestes."

Varestes, she had forgotten all about yelling at the man now, she needed him close by. This was...horrible.

Or was it? Her expression cleared slightly as she stood a little taller and faced her other Queen. "We'll go down to the great hall, the gardens are too crowded and I don't want the gardeners to be hurt, I'll see you in half an hour." She spoke quietly, but with renewed determination.

Donnie wanted the Queenship? She could have it! She had seen the loophole, she was finally going to get out.

[The Jenn]

Donnie let the woman go and stalked off to her own room, shifting to her animal form so that she could pace and attempt to calm down. What was she doing? Challenging Lysaras for the Queenship... had she just done something foolish? Reckless, yes, she was sure of that. But... maybe it just needed to happen. Maybe it really was time for a changing of the guard.

Her sharp yellow eyes narrowed. Even more than a change, maybe it was time for a lesson, for Lysaras if no one else. The woman seemed as though she had never fought for anything in her entire life. It seemed time for her to life up to the gender life had given her and the rank she'd either been born with or worked for.

The next half hour was spent in deep thought. Before she left her room, she changed to her human form and summoned her slithey to curl around her neck in a comforting gesture. Silly little Trudy. Hopefully she'd come in handy as more than a companion today. With a few deep breaths, followed by a growl - an odd sound to work its way from a human throat, to be sure - she headed out to meet Lysaras in the great hall.

It seemed like the walk took forever, but then in a flash she found herself standing in the hall, staring at the woman she was about to fight.

[Nathalia]

Lysaras had been down in the main hall for the past ten minutes. Almost directly after Donnie had left her chambers, her King had stalked in. She had broken down a bit and explained her idea.

Forfeit. It was the best thing she could think of, and on this woman, who wanted the title, maybe it would help her in more ways than one. Varestes had agreed with her, she had hoped he would, though he looked nervous about it. She tried to ignore that fact. She didn't need to know that her King was as worried as she should be. She felt like her nerves were taking awhile to catch up with her brain.

Varestes had insisted she take her Human form. She had done so reluctantly, she didn't like the feel of it, and wanted to be as comfortable with herself as she could be while fighting. Though it did seem to give her King's ability a nice boost. She rubbed her arms constantly and awkwardly.

Waiting.

The sounds of the other woman's purple boots echoed as Donnie entered, her summon, a Slithey wrapped around her neck. Lysaras could feel her own little Mika pricking at the back of her mind. Not yet, soon.

Many of the servants had gathered around, standing back from the two Queens, with their backs to the walls, or partially behind large pillars or decorative statues, waiting.

The King of Spades stepped forward. Varestes's face was set, his jawline tight as he looked Donnie over. He had never seen someone like her before, the air she had about her didn't bode well. He glanced over at his own Queen and felt his heart sink further. He should have come back earlier, he should have made this job a bit more of a priority... Still, should's wouldn't get anyone anywhere, he would try to make certain this was at least fair.

"Will the Queens please step forward." He said, even though his tone was soft and even, it rang out in the echo inducing hall, the silent onlookers gave each other meaningful looks. "No outside assistance, no outside weapons that are not presented now. Please present your outside weapons." He waited as Lysaras simply shook her head and kept her hands clutched together. The other woman gave him a cold stare and shook her head slightly. "Then would the two of you please stand to the center, one on either side."

A small ball of blue light that Gustav had cast, hovered above a large, sprawling mark on the stone floor. The Spades symbol, spread out over the granite. Varestes watched as Lysaras closed her eyes and moved forward. His mouth tightening into a grim line, lips white as he bit the insides.

"Face one another, once I have finished and signaled, you will state your names and anything you may wish to grace the opponent with before the fight begins. Now!"

There was a sickening cracking noise as the ball of light vanished.

Lysaras stepped toward the line, she lifted her face slowly and walked up to the other woman. As the current Queen, she went first. Reaching down to her side, she brought up a small, purple handkerchief.

"I am Lysaras Goroupen. I am here because you challenged me and-" She handed the kerchief to the other Queen. "And I forfeit."