Draconic Ascendance: The King Selection

The Mad Queen

"The thief had escaped!"

Soldiers were mobilized upon their General's cry after his body was mercilessly slashed into ribbons by a notorious criminal. Thick, fresh blood leaked before his meaty and worn skin whilst his vision continued to fade. The soldiers quickly came to his aid whilst the other soldiers panicked to search for the escapee.

"Find him! Don't let him reach the Gates! If the Queen learns about this, she will have our heads!"

Panic rose in the dispatched soldiers' chests as the General mentioned their Queen. One would never dream of witnessing the Queen's wretched wrath. Her schemes of punishments and never-ending quench of lunacy could not be compared to other Kings. Everything she says is absolute, and if she is to command them to take their own lives, they will not be able to turn away from her command.

For the Queen is cursed with the Wyvern's Cry.

Her power is unfathomable, and Her High Radiance, Maximillia Eurydice was feared by other nations. She has conquered the continent by the time of her reign, surpassing both her grandfather and father, respectively, in greatness. She is intelligent, swift, and strong.

Fontana, their homeland, is the Queen's domain. She oversees dominion over her continent and carries the sins of her people in her body, which from time to time, has tainted her heart in pitch black. One would not find light in the Queen's eyes and one would not hear emotion and compassion in her words.

If there was anything they could comprehend, it would be the Queen's excitement when she draws blood and puts her enemies into a deep slumber.

Even her people were torn between two decisions. Was she a demon for her tyrannical and merciless reign over Fontana? Or was she a savior for killing her father, the former King- who was much worse and unreasonable than her?

No one would dare to answer.

"Find him... we cannot disappoint her."

"Disappoint whom?" an austere tone turned the atmosphere frosty. Distinct footsteps of high, powerful heels as well as the clanking of trinkets whilst the soldiers petrified like stone.

"Y-Your Radiance!" the guards quickly stumbled onto their knees and knelt down while pressing their foreheads into the dusty ground. They did not want to dare meet the Queen's eyes. It was rumored that the Queen's curse would be inlaid upon the descendants of those who disgrace her.

"W-What took you here, Your Radiance?" a guard substituted for their incapacitated General.

But Queen Eurydice was not pleased with the soldier's tone and hesitance. She raised her arm in the air, to which her servants responded by giving their Queen her trusted crossbow. She stationed her arm at level with their throats ready to purge them of existence.

"My Queen," her servant gently spoke beside her. "It is not necessary."

The Queen suppressed a half-laugh and moved her weapon away. "I was merely kidding. I am in a good mood today, breathe easy, Icarai."

"But-"

All of a sudden, Queen Eurydice shifted her head to hers. Icarai, her servant, quickly lowered his head- avoiding her gaze in complete fear. The Queen's lips curled into a smile as she triumphantly shrugged her shoulders.

"I felt the General's life force decreased," she straightforwardly told them. "He is going to die."

"We have to take him to the infirmary, My Queen!"

"Where are your manners?" the Queen's bodyguards raised their voices at the petrified guard. "You are not to lift your head and look at the Queen unless told to do so!"

Queen Eurydice swirled her fingers in the air and a magical glowing globe materialized. "The petty criminal should be at the farthest village in the South. The least you inefficient and unreliable louts can do is to seize him and bring him to me."

The soldiers quickly stood up. "We are most thankful to be bestowed by your wisdom, Your Radiance!"

"Whatever, just go and leave."

The guards and soldiers quickly left to pursue the commoner who took the General's life. The Queen stared at his corpse, his eyebrow slowly raising.

"Why do you think is he dead?" she asked, out of the blue. Her loyal servant and right hand immediately took a step closer to whisper the information he had taken from the crowd.

"It is rumored that the General hoarded goods from a village. Aside from this issue, he also has a list of doubtful agendas that suggest corruption. Apparently, he sent a few thugs to terrorize the village captain's daughter the other day."

Queen Eurydice smirked and pressed her heels against the general's face. "Ah, he deserves every bit of what happened to him then. What a scum. Are there any other people who stood by him and idled whilst he took advantage of my people?"

"Many of the officials did idle by, My Queen. They feared the General's reputation and proceeded to turn a blind eye."

"I must say, this assassin of his peaked my interest. A man driven by rage because of injustice, and takes matters into his own hands. This lowly commoner... ah... it certainly does meet the criteria of becoming King, yes?"

The queen flipped her short, azure hair and giggled unstably. Her manic, crimson eyes whose irises were made of endless spirals, squinted, as her rosy lips spreads an arc across her small face. Her odd features were not of a human's but of a demonic wyvern.

"What do you think so, Icarai?"

Icarai, her trusted servant, and her right hand- who also takes care of the Queen's dirty business and messes, lowered his head. "I think so, too, My Queen."

"I hope you have not forgotten, too, My Queen. The King Selection is fast approaching. Do you have eyes for a certain individual?"

Queen Eurydice's smile faded. "Oh, I do not wish to pick a King from this year's participants."

"You are not the one who decides that, My Queen."

"Why bother? Everyone who participates in the King Selection is going to die anyway. Those cowards can't even fulfill the final test. If so, how can they prove themselves that they are fitting to be the king of this nation? I did not wish to take a weak, insolent, fool as my husband. The very thought of it, makes me irk."

"I know you do not wish to be wedded by a stranger, milady. But you have delayed far too long," Icarai braved to tell her. "Two years, and if you do not pick someone, your own people will cast you away. You do not wish that, do you?"

Queen Eurydice became silent.

"Haha!" she giggled. "You've given me another idea, Icarai. You're brilliant!"

Icarai palmed his face. He knew where this was going. The Queen is going to formulate another ridiculous plan to fuel her entertainment like a mad man. "My Queen, that's not-"

"Once the commoner is seized, allow him to skip the trials and into the three games. I shall provide him with everything he needs. Think of it as a special treatment for making my job easier."

"W-What? Ugh..." Icarai heaved a deep sigh. "Alright. Consider it done, My Queen."

The Queen smiled brightly and left the cold General's body on the stony ground without remorse.

_______________

In the village of the commoners, in the South, the physician was dumbfounded to find Ares being surrounded by a dozen soldiers. Ares showed no fear as he looked back at his master, who was clueless too.

But it was true.

There were bloodstains in his clothes. Crusted blood that camouflaged 

"A-Ares, good heavens. What have you done?"

The guards leaped towards Ares with their spears to capture him, but the male was swifter than their refined moves. In a matter of seconds, the soldiers dropped down into the mud of crops, their arms twisted more than Sunday.

"You bastard!".

The remaining guard challenged the measly farmer but found himself at a great disadvantage. Not only was Ares skilled enough to assassinate the General, but also, the guards did not see the day would come for them to raise their spears to fight.

"Ares, stop!" His master interfered, but the boy was adamant to dismember them. They came to strike first.

"Y-You!" the defeated guard gasped for air. "You intruded in his chambers with a mask and beaten him with the leg of a chair! How could you!"

More guards came to back-up the fallen, but now, they were carrying pistols. Ares behaved.

"He died after that? Are you sure he's a General? From what I heard, he smuggled half of our harvest and left the others to starve during winter."

"You dare lisp lies?! Arrest him! Shoot him if he resists!"

Ares tries to escape them, but the royal guards have him surrounded. As their triggers are near to getting pulled, a carriage of nobility speeds through and the voice of a higher-up halts their operation.

"Stop, in the command of the Queen."

A lad descends the vehicle wearing a crisp tunic bearing the sigil of the Palace. It was Icarai, the Queen's loyal dogman. The soldiers, and the villagers who were gathered around in the scene all had their ears and eyes at him.

Icarai pulls a script and shows it to the people around. In the parchment, were words handwritten neatly by their beloved Queen: 'Arrest the man, uninjured, and bring him to the Palace. I shall see him in the courtroom, uncuffed, and without a single scratch. All of those who negate will be fed to the alligators in the moat. Signed, Queen Maximillia Eurydice von Kranel'

Ares furrowed his brows, unaware that his actions had been brought attention by the Queen. Was she going to punish him? He has heard of the dark stories surfacing from the people in the castle. He would not want to get on the Queen's bad side.

"What does she want with me?"

Icarai shrugged his shoulders and opened the door of his carriage. "Hell, I'd know."

The soldiers watched in awe as the man they attacked entered the carriage without a fight. The physician reached over to his foster son, his stomach churning at the foul premonition. Ares looked over to him and flashed him a gentle smile.

"I'll be okay," he told him with a mellow voice.

But he was worried.

How can he fight so raggedly and so furiously like a beast and then smile like a kitten?

Ares remained a mystery to him even after he had left.

"The Queen wishes to see you."

Ares did not reply and kept his hands to himself. He was not nervous, nor feeling guilt. If anything, the male seemed contented and was not at any circumstance, beguiled of the fact that the Queen unknowingly invites him to her castle.

"How old are you?"

Ares ignored Icarai and closed his eyes.

"You are to participate in the King Selection and is favored by the Queen. Do you have anything to say about this?" It was Icarai's turn to sound nonchalant while lighting a piece of cigar. "You can become King and help everyone in the village. Isn't that the reason why you killed the General?"

The silent male's eyes opened slightly, signifying that he was somehow intrigued.

"He was a sinful man," was only Ares's reply.

"The Queen is a sinful woman too," Icarai reminded him and tapped his cigar on an ash pot. "It's rare for her to have a candidate. Are you willing to participate in the games? Are you married or such?"

Ares shook his head.

"Ah, you would've been a participant anyway. Well, you're lucky to be exempted from the Trials. That's where most of the bloodshed takes place."

"I don't care where I am placed," Ares whispered. "All I have to do is win, right?"

Icarai grinned. "Maybe you're the lucky man this nation is begging for?"