Queen's Peace

Tori looked up when Daxia escorted the queen in through the door of the room the rebels had claimed as command central in their attempts to overthrow the queen and establish a new government, one that properly accommodated for all of its people.

She had expected the queen would come, because after kidnapping the king, they'd demanded the queen's presence.  She hadn't expected the queen to come in full regalia, an ocean of petticoats, a crown of pearls to hold back her halo of curls, a gem-encrusted corset to make an elegant curve of her waist, while simultaneously highlighting the soft roundness of her arms, bared underneath with wisps of fabric trailing over top.

Tori and the others, Rhia, the fae, barely as tall as Tori's face, and sitting on a small chair on the table Tori was at because of it, her wings slowly fluttering, Daxia, the dwarf, shifting her heavy mithril hammer away from the queen and the rest of the party, and Elie, the elf, next to the captured, tied and gagged king, gesturing at Rhia with his legs, were all in pants and plain, simple garb, assuming the queen wouldn't take them seriously, even though they had her king in custody.

Rhia stood, her wings whirring as she began to take flight, then she stopped and dropped back to the table, her wings slowing as she folded her arms and observed the approaching human.  Daxia hovered at the door, her hammer lightly thumping as she rested it on the floor, and Elie put the king's legs back on the table, well away from him, taking care not to chip the expensive porcelain.  The queen had come to them as if they were foreign dignitaries, rather than treasonous subjects making noises of secession and threats of overthrowing her rule, and they were all just a bit embarrassed by this unexpected fact.

She took a long moment to look at each of their faces, even turning back for a look at Daxia, who averted her eyes and pretended to be very busy with the handle of her hammer, before dropping into a low curtsy, so far down that her hair entirely obscured her head for a moment, again surprising the gathered rebel leaders.

When she arose, her expression and demeanor were serious, her voice calm and collected, "I apologize.  I have sorely neglected the Hridale Province, which is the crossroads of so many species, and unfairly under human control.  I incorrectly assumed that, if I avoided interfering, Hridale would prosper.  Please forgive me for my oversight and allow me to begin making amends."

So this was the queen who negotiated alone with hungry dragons and came out the better for it.  Tori could suddenly see why.  The queen radiated sincerity and earnestness, her voice calm enough to not make a fuss, but passionate enough to convey deep emotion.  Tori was no match for her, she already knew.

Elie, however, apparently had no such compunctions, because she brandished the king's legs at the queen, causing them to rattle threateningly as she used them to punctuate her points, "Why should we?  For years, not months or weeks or days, years, you have left us, abandoned us, failed to protect us, failed to protect our rights, and turned a blind eye to our trials and suffering!  We want absolutely no more to do with you!"

Daxia gave Elie an anxious look, "It....Elie, it doesn't have to be like tha--"

"But it should be!"

"I agree," murmured Rhia, her voice quietly resonant.  Elie smugly subsided, to await Rhia's next words, and Daxia turned her anxious stare to Rhia.  Tori remained silent.  As a human in Hridale Province, she'd been the recipient of very little discrimination, though as an innkeeper, she'd seen plenty of it.  She was here because she wanted to help her friends, but it was not her place to say what they needed.

Rhia remained on the table, forcing the queen to come down to her level, rather than flying up to the queen's level, her voice just as cool and sincere, "As you yourself said, we have been sorely neglected, but not just in Hridale, all throughout Coris, and you, in your unwillingness to make changes that would help us, are directly to blame.  We want a government with no monarchy, and equal representation of all species in Coris, including fae, including elves, including dwarves, humans, trolls, giants, all of us.  We have an action plan, ready to implement, and we will hold your king until you implement the first step of it."

"Surely," countered the queen, "You can appreciate why I might wish for my king back and how difficult it is to enact any such policy change over the whole of the kingdom."

"I do, but you have no choice.  Tori, if you would?"

The plan was sized for humans, elves, and dwarves, as Rhia had decided that since she was giving it to a human, it needed to be that large.  Unfortunately, this meant that Rhia could not physically lift it, as it was almost as big as her, so Tori picked up the documents, and stood, handing them to the queen, who began to look through them, her expression remaining static as she did so.

"You may take your time with those, look them over carefully.  Daxia?"

Daxia hefted her hammer again and moved to the queen's side, careful not to touch the queen's superlative garb, and trying to look smaller than head and shoulder's shorter than the queen, "I-If you could...?"  The queen looked frustrated for a brief moment, but she schooled her face before allowing herself to be led out.

"Do you think she'll really do it?" asked Elie, poking at the magical sensors in the king's legs, making them twitch and move.

"Stop that," scolded Rhia.  She'd already been uncomfortable about taking the king's legs as is, but Elie and Daxia only had his spare pair, the ones he was currently wearing weighted with magic-killing iron.  "And no, I don't think she will.  You know humans."

Tori felt a familiar stab, but she brushed it off.  She knew that Rhia wasn't speaking of her specifically, but it still hurt, still ached, to hear that sort of thing, and to know she could do no more to make it so that Rhia wouldn't have reason to say it.  She held her silence as Elie shrugged, "Yeah, but we DO have her king.  He's got to be worth something to her.  She came in full regalia."

"Intimidation tactic," replied Rhia, her voice decisive as she went back to her seat, "To remind us just how much power she has, and how much we don't."

Daxia came in just as Rhia said that, and she mumbled, "I...I think she was just...trying to give us full respect, you know?"

"I'm with Rhia," said Elie, pointing at the fae in question, "She was just trying to intimidate us into backing down."

"Well, I'm definitely intimidated," said Tori, with a light laugh, "It's amazing she could even reach the door in all of that."

Daxia grinned, "She couldn't."

Tori glanced at the king, who seemed to have resigned himself to his fate, while he watched the four women talk and interact.  He noticed her watching him watching the rest of them, and he shrugged.  Tori felt for him, but justice had to be done.  For all the species humans oppressed.