The Fire Queen

Chapter 41

I decided that I wouldn't do anything serious until Uraia and the others returned. I told Ferland to begin making preparations for my coronation and that he should send word to the Dranii ambassador informing him of our victory and King Anua's death.

"And send a message to Galand, tell everyone that fled there that it's safe for them to return home."

Galand was what I believed would be the best place for the dwarves to live. The town wasn't quite big enough to support the number of dwarves that we were expecting but with just a little expansion it would meet their needs just fine.

Aside from helping the dwarves get settled in the kingdom there were three other major priorities that I needed to get done. There was my coronation and proclamations, Esmeralda's punishment, and the thing I was dreading most, telling Uraia how I felt about her. I could no longer deny that the love that I felt for Uraia was anything other than the deepest possible love, the kind that made you feel as if the worst thing imaginable was not being able to spend every moment possible together with that person. I didn't know if Uraia felt the same way; if I confessed to her and she didn't then we would no longer be able to be together, and that, more than the thought of her rejecting me, was what I feared most.

Two days after I had Ferland deliver the news of the Volstaff army's defeat to the Dranii ambassador he came to the palace seeking an audience. We held the audience in the throne room, which, Ferland told me, I needed to get more comfortable in and make my own.

"I wanted to be the first to congratulate you on your outstanding victory," he said obsequiously.

"Thank you Wilhelm, that's very nice of you."

"I must admit that when I heard that you had repelled the Volstaff invasion and routed their army in just one day I thought that I was having my leg pulled, but then I remembered that phoenix of yours and it made perfect sense that it would only take you a day to do away with them."

"Actually it was the soldiers that won the battle, I didn't use Myra at all, except to chase after King Anua when he tried to flee."

"I see. I'm surprised to hear that because we had agreed to cooperate with you believing that you would be using that beast of yours to deliver a guaranteed victory. If your army had been found wanting and you'd lost we would have been placed in a very awkward position."

"Be that as it may, the judgment that I made was that it was in the best interests of my kingdom for it to be known that our army is strong enough to stand up to and defeat any army that marches on our kingdom."

"Yes, this victory certainly will accomplish that."

"And how we managed to achieve this victory makes no difference to you and your ability to achieve your objectives."

"That's true, we've already sent a 'diplomatic delegation' accompanied by a large 'security detail' to Volstaff, they'll have the capital city in their grasp in no time."

"So we're all square then?"

"Yes, we're all square, and if I may congratulate you one more time on your victory."

"Thank you again, and if I may say that of all the kingdoms that pose a threat to us, yours is the one that I'll be keeping an eye on the most."

"Likewise, Queen Alegra."

The easiest item to take care of on my to do list was the issue of Esmeralda's punishment. Ever since we had seized the palace and locked her up in the dungeon I had been thinking about what would be an appropriate punishment for her and I believed I had come up with something that would leave me feeling that she had been made to suffer a punishment that was commensurate with her many crimes. Of course no punishment would ever be enough to pay her back for what she had done to my father and the others; I would just have to content myself with the knowledge that I had been able to subject her to some suffering for it.

When Uraia and the others returned to the capital I let them have a few days to rest and recharge and then I rode on Lucy to the outskirts of the city where the Okwari were camping before they made their trip home.

"I need you to do something for me," I said to Bandor.

"What is it?"

"I need you to transport a prisoner to the north for me, to where the settlement used to be."

"Is that all?"

"Yes, just take her there and guard her until I arrive."

"Okay."

Esmeralda was taken out of the dungeon and handed over to Bandor to take north with him. Riding the teewahs it would take them two days to reach the ruins of the settlement. I left with Myra three days after they'd left and arrived at the settlement to find Esmeralda tied to a post with Bandor guarding her personally along with five other Okwari.

"Do you know where we are?" I walked over to Esmeralda and asked her after thanking Bandor and the others for bringing her here.

She didn't answer me, she just looked at me with an expression of fear and disbelief.

"This is the settlement that we established after you exiled us, after you sent us here to get killed by hunger and the cold. With help from the Okwari we were able to survive and build a life for ourselves here. We were living here quietly and peacefully until you decided that we were a threat to your rule and you sent soldiers here to kill everyone and burn everything to the ground. I survived because I wasn't here when the massacre happened, and ever since the day when I returned to find everyone dead I promised myself that one day I would make you pay for what you did to all of the people here that I cared about so much, one of whom was my father. Today is finally that day."

This was all that I wished to say to her, and having said it I turned away from her and walked back to Myra. She pleaded for me to spare her, telling me that she knew nothing of what happened here, that VanBilt had orchestrated the whole thing behind her back. I paid no attention to her pleas and the more I ignored her the more desperate she became.

"Please, you have to believe me, I had nothing to do with what happened here, please, you don't need to do this!"

Myra was standing a few meters away from Esmeralda and Esmeralda quickly came to understand why. I told Myra to get ready and her ruff swelled and started to glow.

"NO! NO! PLEASE! I DID NOTHING! PLEASE BELIEVE ME! DON'T..."

The heat of Myra's flames turned Esmeralda to ash almost instantly. This was the only cruelty that I would permit myself. Esmeralda was uniquely deserving of the cruelty that I had inflicted upon her and for that reason my conscience was unaffected by what I had done to her.