The Dark Queen

Two

  What's the worst thing that could ever happen to you?    Just stop and think about it. Got an answer? Great, now imagine that one thing actually happening.

  My protector is dying. One of the seven prisoners must have had Rinella seeds in their system before Jeremiah ate them. In the first few days passing the execution, Jeremiah became incredibly sick.

  His body began to lose its shape shriveling into a small version of what once was a beast. In the weeks after he began to act out in ways that weren't typical for him.

  At the moment his body lays on the cold tiles of the castle, as he slowly takes in jagged breaths of air. He has stopped eating, preying on other animals, and doesn't even respond to his own name anymore.

  The effects of the seeds must be spreading to his brain, because when I place my hands on his head I can't reach his mind. The only way I can even tell he is still alive is from the growls of pain he lets out. He's dying.

The seeds contain toxic chemicals that slowly kill off the cells in the body. They are forbidden from the kingdom. This a rule that was made even before I was made queen.

Rinella seeds are just about one of the easiest ways to kill off anyone in a royal line. Typically the Earth works to protect the royals, but Rinella seeds are grown off the grounds of Hoyisha. Meaning the seeds are just as deadly to me as they are to any mundane. 

  One of the seven prisoners must have swallowed the seeds before they were caught. Perhaps to speed up the process of their death before we could get to them.

  If they swallowed the seeds, then that means there is a supply being sold in the kingdom. Which also means that Jeremiah will die soon.

" Papi," I call. He unlatches the door for me letting me back into the hallway. The room holding Jeremiah has sixteen different bolts keeping him locked in.

  We don't know when aggression or hysteria will hit him. If it comes to it I will have to have him killed, then find a new protector. Which according to our medical unit is beginning to look like our best option.

  I'll just have to leave him to suffer I suppose. Well, until I find something else to take his place. But for the meantime I need to get rid of the Rinella seeds out of his system, and the kingdom.

" Papi, round the guards and do an emergency search in the kingdom. Rinella seeds are being sold and I want to know by who." My heels clink against the ground in angry echoes.

  His beefy structure struggles to catch up with me. " My queen Rinella seeds wouldn't make it past the walls of Hoyisha. It's impossible for it to be here."

" I don't care that it seems impossible for them to be here. The seeds are here in the kingdom and you will find them." We turn the corner moving towards the catchers corridors.

" What do we do with the sellers?" He pushes the doors open for me. All eyes in the room flicker onto the both of us.

  My catchers begin to assemble into thirteen lines with twenty lining each row. Their chins lift high and eyes stare forward as they wait for my instruction. Not a single muscle twitches in the bodies of my catchers. As far as I know we have the best attack system in all of the surrounding countries. If there is a job that needs to be done we can count on them to handle it.

" There are traces of Rinella seeds in Jeremiah's system." My tongue hits the top of my mouth carefully wrapping itself around every word. " You will do an emergency search in the kingdom at once to find out who is bringing it in."

  The walls surrounding us flip over revealing weapon upon weapons. Not one space on any of the four walls are left uncovered. If you can think it then you can bet we have it. My catchers march to the walls picking up the weapons they desire. We switch out the weapons every few months constantly bringing in new ones.