Who is Jessica x? QUEEN of The Dusty

IN THE BEGINNINGS

I can't say with all honesty that I fully approved of my King's approach as it pertained to destroying Cynthia G and her cohorts. She had definitely taken a stranglehold on the minds of the downtrodden females who dwelled in Saranac Province.

While each and every word she preached was toxic to King Doth's thinking, I on the other hand, understood that within her diatribes lurked kernels of truth. For instance, some men in Saranac Province did abuse their wives, their concubines, their daughters even. In some extreme cases, they abused their own mothers and sisters. Such facts couldn't, In my opinion, be ignored. For ignoring such facts helped fuel Queen Cynthia's overall message.

But King Doth didn't see things that way. No. He inevitably saw things this way:

"Wunderling," King Doth whispered to me, barely looking in my direction. His weatherbeaten face was sharp angles amidst the shadows brought upon his features due to his oversized black hood.

I often thought of a feline of some sort when he wore it that way; a feline lying in wait in some dark cave--only its eyes visible like two tiny rings of flame. I shuddered in spite of myself, hoping he didn't notice.

"Yes, my King," I replied, turning my body slightly towards him. "Have you reached a decision?"

"A decision," he echoed. The mirth was clear in his voice. "I've reached a decision on that foul creature months ago. She can't be allowed to spread such hatred among the wenches. Soon, our men and even the boys, will have to resort to sleeping with dunblades beneath their pillows!"

Exhaling, the twin rings of flame seemed to size me up. "Females are not to be trusted as it is; but with her rhetoric, how can we trust them making our food? Serving us wine? Drawing our baths? Her evil tongue simply cannot be allowed any more traction on those slow feminist minds!"

I shrugged before I could stop the act. "I agree sire, but her speech has been bolstered by the foolhardy ways of too many of our male population. In the beginning it was just wild talk. But now, the men are bringing weight to her complaints."

King Doth withdrew deeper into his jet black hood. He exhaled again. "Weight?" he said. "What is that? So a few of our soldiers are a bit rough with the wenches. What of it? Does that mean these foolish whores should turn to treason?"

I looked out the window King Doth sat before. The sun was just rising and rosy rays of sunlight slowly filled the huge chamber, yet none touched the sharp angles of his face enough to reveal him.

The soldiers standing strategically about the room, making any attempt on his life a general waste of time, were as still as stone statues. In fact, one would be hard pressed to know which figure was artificial and which was of flesh and blood.

Only I knew (well, me and King Doth, of course) which was which. Six statues surrounded his throne In a perfect circle, and none knew that an actual man stood at every other post. The actual statues were really magically contrived defense mechanisms. Imbued with a powerful force field of electricity, should an attack come in this room, the King would be encased in a triangle of emerald light.

The armor worn by the soldiers allowed them the freedom to pass back and forth beyond the triangular force field unencumbered. But a potential foe unaware of this fact, would fall swiftly at the hands of the Volki Cept. This was a name King Doth had personally bestowed upon them. Rumor claimed the Cept weren't human at all. But we're men borne of the Three Twins of Laurelton. A dark and dangerous land where some parents sent their eldest sons to be trained in the way of the Realm. The Three Twins were vicious sirens who despised all men but those they handpicked and raised to the militaristic level befitting the defense of the royalty of the Province.

I personally didn't like them very much. They rarely spoke and never moved unless told to move by King Doth. Or if they sensed danger suddenly enter the First Chamber. As for now, they simply stood there like the statues they were emulating. A comfort in these times of warfare, but less of one than one would think.

"Wunderling?" King Doth whispered. "Why has she come to this foolishness? Who has hurt her so terribly that she feel it necessary to disparage us all?" He glanced out the window again. "Was it her father? Her husband?"

"She has no husband," I said. "And her father died before she was born. Perhaps, that might explain some if it, but I doubt it be the main source of her angst."

"Then what!" King Doth slammed one fist into one cloak covered knee. "The foul way she describes her own brethren. To wish death upon us all as if we hail from the very lava pits of Ciddia!"