ɬɧɛ ɱąɖ ƙıŋɠ//℘ʝɱʄʄ

•46•

"Queen Sandra"

Her dried throat ached as she hoarsely called out in mass confusion and the headache was causing more annoyance to the General. She stopped tugging on her chains and froze with her shaky orbs glued to the elegant figure under the shimmers of sunlight. Mind blank and heartbeat dropped at the sight of the queen who her husband had just claimed dead. After being hallucinated, Xena refused to trust her eyes yet she silently prayed that this wasn't a game of power but reality instead. 

"Lovely to see you again, General. Though I wish we could meet under a better circumstance instead of....this", Queen Sandra motioned her hands around the dark dusty environment they were in before walking closer to the chained General and patted her head. "It's alright, dear. All of this will end soon, I promise", the queen comforted the General with small strokes on her head just like she used to do back when Xena was a kid in military.

The queen of Fern never failed to provide her the motherly warmth that she never felt before. Even after following her husband footsteps in utilizing the General like a war dog, the queen still hold a great love over the girl and now she finally established a plan for the better of everyone which involved Xena being chained up. 

"I thought you're-", before Xena's shaky voice could make a sentence, another set of footsteps were heard but these sounded more agitated and impatient as if they were in a rush. Xena shifted her gaze towards the footsteps only to have her breath hitched for the second time. "Enough with your lovey dovey crap. Where are they? When are they coming?", there in the shadows stood the Queen of Inferno with her crimson red gown and gold ruby crown. Shoulders opened, chin up and nose in the air, the fiery Queen was still elegant and arrogant as always. 

"Calm down, Mera. They'll be here soon. You know how obsessed your son is with Xena. He'll be here in a flash", Queen Sandra shook her head at the fiery queen who rolled her eyes as she paced around impatiently. Queen Sandra chuckled at Xena's confused face and eyes averting between both the queens as if she was going insane herself. Again, the queen gently caressed her head to calm her down.

"I know this look crazy to you but I promise everything will be fine. Long story short, the lines of kings have been going mad over powers and wars and it's getting out of hand. Which is why Queen Mera of Inferno and I decided to form an alliance and bring them down once and for all. And I believe you feel the same, don't you? Having a mad king at your heels must be exhausting"

Queen Sandra's words rung in Xena's ears like tons of buzzy bees as her mind swirled in mass thoughts and confusion while she tried to piece everything together. The expansion of Inferno, the downfall of Fern, the sudden alliance between the two kings.....They planned this. These two queen planned all of this because their son and husband are getting out of control. 

"Wait...did you plan your death too?", Xena whispered weakly and earning a slow shake of the queen's head. Sandra's smile turned into a straight line as she stared into space, expression emptied of joy and eyes void of emotions. "Sadly....I became a worthless being in the eyes of my own lover and he decided to raise his sword at me. But Queen Mera saved me and we found out that we've been after the same thing....power in peace. I wanted Uriel to mend the bond with Inferno but he strayed off from there and Mera wanted her son to be...well....under her control and honestly....that kid really need some mother beating, you know?"

Xena had her mouth hung open like a goldfish and stared at Queen Sandra. She was clear that Queen Sandra only wanted the best for her people and might be left no choice but to join force with Queen Mera especially after what King Uriel did. However, the General was skeptical about the vague intention of Queen Mera. After watching her going through a mental breakout at the training camp and yelling at her son, wanting 'peace' would be the last thing on her mind.