Taking the Initiative [Dark]

[Dark]

Minh had spotted the decrepit badger, as well, and sneered. She would make the woman rue the day she'd discovered to make such delicious soup.

"I heartedly support that notion, but first we need to deal with a more pressing matter."

Minh curled up on herself, trying to distant herself as far as she was able from the flames that had crept up and begun to lick at her paws. They had obviously doused the wood in some sort of accelerator, because there was no other way to explain how the flames had become so hot, so quickly, otherwise. Damn smart villagers.

Hot. Hot. Hot.

"Yes! Burn them! Burn the witches!" chanted the crowd, rather too enthusiastically for people who were going to shortly be witness blackened fur and bubbling flesh. Because--ew.

She shuddered, coughing from smoke and the smell of her own burning fur.

So hot...

[Bee]

Mnem was choking on smoke and her eyes were beginning to water something fierce. She was trying to left her legs to keep them from being immoliated as she struggled against the ropes, but it appeared that they were destined to be burned alive.

Then there was panic in the crowd, people shrieking and running like frightened mice, slamming into each other and wailing, but one familiar noise rang about above the din--an unholy demon shriek, one that Mnem had never been so happy to hear.

Monty was running through the crowd with a pair of very badly mauled jail gaurds on hir tail, but Monty was significantly faster. And when she got close enough, the little bander took a flying leap towards them, skirting the flames and sinking her claws into the rope that bound them. She chewed viciously at the bindings until they fell in frayed, snake-like tatters into the flames, and Mnem quickly distanced herself from the terrible heat.

It was then that she realized she still had the little golden trinket on her wrist, the one the badger had been using and that Mnem had stolen, and a brilliant, terrible idea sprang to mind. Mnem focused her concentration on changing herself, imagining herself as a higher rank, a different suit, and she hoped to hell that that was how the bracelet worked.

Apparently it was. When Mnem looked down at her chest, where once had been a Ten and a Diamond were now a Q and a Heart.

She smiled, widely, malevolently, and straightened her posture.

"SILENCE, you loathesome little idiots!"

The people of the crowd stared.

"I've no idea what lies that wretched little badger has been feeding you, but I can assure that you will all be extremely sorry to have treated a Queen and her loyal attendants in such a manner!"

A different kind of panic, now. The day had just taken an immensely fun turn.

[Dark]

The fact that Mnem had somehow gone from sporting a Ten of Diamonds to suddenly being a Queen of Hearts really should have been more shocking. Minh was busy with more important things at that moment, though--Stop. Drop. Roll.--and really couldn't find it in herself to be dutifully surprised.

Instead, she snarled at the nearest villager, and took up a protective stance in front of "Her Highness." Being referred to as an attendant, though, was really too much, and Minh planned to have words with Mnem as soon as this whole ordeal was over.

The villagers seemed quelled, for the moments, but the badger had a rather insane gleam in her eyes as she pushed her way to the front of the mob.

"Lies! Slander! Tis but a trick of the light! She is no more a Queen than I," the woman frothed.

Minh took a certain amount of delight in backhanding her, "Such insolence will cost your life, witch."

[Bee]

Mnem smiled indulgently at Minh. She really was going a good job at this. But then, Minh liked violence, so this was probably right up her alley. Seeing her smack the old badger had been thoroughly delightful.

She stepped forward, addressing the people in a very loud, authoritative voice. "This vile creature," she said, pointing at the badger, "attempted to do me and my companions greivous harm. We thought we had disposed of her properly, but it seems that she has escaped, and tried to have us killed by speaking falsehoods about us. I would not abide her trickery, humble villagers, especially if that means incurring the wrath of a Queen. You have already seen what my ferocious royal pet is capable of. Do not make me rain destruction on your fair village. Seize that woman! She must pay the ultimate price for her deception!"

The same oxen that had such a short time ago been ready to burn Mnem and Minh alive now grabbed the old woman and held her tight as she screamed.

"So," she said, quietly, to Minh. "How should we have her executed?"

[Dark]

Minh watched the old woman kick and scream, and turned to Mnem with an entirely wicked grin, "What do people do when they catch a witch, Your Highness? They burn her."

It was fitting, really, considering that the old crone had tried to have them barbecued alive. It was poetic justice at its finest.

With unrestrained maliciousness, Minh directed the villagers to erect a new burn-pile and strap the badger, stilling struggling and cursing, to the central pillar. She smiled saucily up at the old crone, and couldn't resist goading her--just a bit.

"There is one way to redeem your soul, witch. Tell Her Highness the recipe for the soup you fed us--minus the Kava--and all shall be forgiven."

An utterly ridiculous proposal, but Minh had really liked that soup. If she could have the recipe and the badger dead, the day would have turned out almost perfect.

[Bee]

It really was just like Minh to take a dramatic moment and kill it by following her stomach, but she was right; it had been excellent soup. Even the kava she had put in it must have been above-par; it had taken out Minh and Monty quite rapidly.

The badger pursed her lips, looking for all the world like she was considering the offer, and then she spit in Minh's face. There was renewed frenzy in the crowd, villagers screaming about the audacity of heaping such an insult on a Queen's attendant, and the "Burn the witch!" chant began anew.

"Minh," said Mnem, with all due regality. "When we return to the Court we shall feast on the finest soup this world has to offer. Now is the time to deliver unto this unworthy, slanderous cretin her reward. Villagers! Let this be a lesson to you." She turned back to Minh. "Perhaps you would like to do the honor of tossing the match?"

[Dark]

Hell, yes.

Minh selected a log from The(ir) fire--a sturdy branch, singed half-way down, with a red-hot glow pulsing at the very end. It would work nicely for the task at hand.

The villagers finished pouring the kerosene around the base of the witch's deathbed as she approached it, branch held out in front of her like a torch. Up there, on the pile, she hadn't been able to understand how the villagers could take such delight in seeing a person burned. In that moment, Minh sort of got it. She felt sick in her stomach, still smelling the burnt aroma of her own scorched fur, but her heart was singing a different sort of tune--blood lust; the best sort of aphrodisiac.

She was looking straight at the woman when she tossed the branch in. Watched the kerosene catch fire, and crawl up wood. Watched the fire curl around delicate ankles. Higher. Watched until the woman's unholy shrieks stopped, body jerking one last time before going still.

Burn, baby, burn.

[Bee]

The scent of toasted fur and seared flesh was unpleasant but oddly satisfying. They kept the fire going, but now it was a funeral prye, rendering muscle and skin and bone to nothing but ashes. The process took a little while, but when it was done, Mnem delighted her new subjects by telling them that they were more than welcome to dance on the charred remains of the witch.

This really was terribly fun.

"Kind villagers," said Mnem. "My attendants and I will need lodging for the evening, and a suitable meal. I trust you will be able to procure such things for a visiting Queen." And it was only right that they did, really. She was the Queen of Hearts. Pretending to be the Queen of Hearts. As far as they knew.

Anyway, she was Queen.

The villagers rushed to obey, and soon Mnem and Minh and Monty were placed in the finest house in the village--there was no proper inn, and the residents of the house went next door to stay with the neighbors. It was an honor, after all, to be putting their home at a Queen's disposal.

"Fetch me your finest ale," Mnem commanded, and kicked back in the living room. What a wonderful day this was shaping up to be.

[Dark]

Minh took a long pull from her mug of ale, bidding her time until they were truly alone. While they were waiting, Monty snuffled through the bowl of assorted nuts.

As soon as the door swung shut, giving them privacy, she gave a slightly hysterical cackle and leaned forward.

"Well, isn't this a turn of events. I could get use to this. Though, the whole being burned at the stake thing? Let's not do that again. Some of my fur melted together."

She swatted at Monty, who'd started to gnaw on the furniture, and eyed Mnem speculatively. Something seemed...off. Minh couldn't put her finger on it, though, and chalked up to the stress of their experience.

"So, how did you do it? Is it that bracelet you picked up from the old brood?"

She reached forward to finger it in question.

[Bee]

Mnem jerked her hand away, glaring at Minh. She didn't want anyone to touch it. She couldn't quite articulate why--she just didn't.

"Yes," she said. "It's the one I got off the old woman. It's just a trinket, really. It looks pretty." Thoughtfully, she added, "A suitable ornament for a queen, I think, though eventually I might want to get some more ornate jewels if I want to look truly impressive."

While being pampered by the villagers was certainly nice (and definitely a welcome change from attempted burning at the stake, which was no way to treat royalty), Mnem felt the sudden desire to return to the Courts--she needed to perform her duties, after all. It wouldn't do for a queen to be errant for so long.

Except...except what? Nothing.

She just needed to take her mind off the stress. Being a queen was so taxing.

"We should have them entertain us," she said decisively. "Servants! I would like some music."