Chapter 201

Revenge is as common as fire in war. When the peasants on the wall tormented and executed the captive nobles and officials en masse and tossed them dead or screaming to their deaths down off of the wall, the soldiers of the Royal Army were incensed beyond reason.

The very next morning before the break of dawn, a general assault on the whole city took place, the magic casters shot balls of flame or strikes of lightning at the defenders, the onagers hit walls and towers and fired indiscriminately.

The crashing noise and thunderous echo of destruction covered the screams of the dying, and smothered even the roar of battle mania from the massed army of the Holy Queen. A ram with twenty soldiers was crushed by heavy rocks brought up just for that purpose, only for soldiers on tall ladders to take the position, the spray of blood and the toppling of severed limbs rendered the act futile when the gatehouse fell and the groaning chain of the portcullis coming up allowed the infantry and cavalry alike to charge into the breach.

The leaders of the mob rallied their resistance again and again… only for the heavily armored knights to charge into the massed ranks with lowered lances and skewer several like shishkabobs on the wooden stakes and to shatter the limbs of those who were too close to the flanks of the heavy armored horses.

Butchery followed, and through it walked the Holy Queen. She followed her soldiers on foot under the shields and security of the commander of the royal guard, Gotsa Hadin, his soldiers, and Kelart Custodio. The bodies of the dead required her to step over those in her path, but bit by bit, block by block, she drew ever closer to her palace. Here and there a knot of people surrendered and were bound by knights, but her orders on the whole, were followed.

Sword bearing peasants or those who carried the plunder of fallen soldiers from before, were executed out of hand. The once loving eyes of the Queen were turned to ice, and as an inexorable force of nature, her army rolled forward, capturing one building, one block and one square intersection at a time.

Until at last, she reached the palace and before her eyes, Gustav Montagnés charged into the doors as soon as they splintered open. The smell of feces, innards and blood was thick on the once white stones of the pavilion before the palace, but the memory of the torturous ends the mob subjected her followers to kept the sickness of the slaughter at bay.

'I was only velvet before… Now I must be an iron fist in a velvet glove… I can never allow this to happen again. I can still love my country… but it must learn never to rebel against me again…' Even days later, that thought lingered at the back of her mind.

As did her recollection of sitting on her throne again and looking out at the last corpses of those who fell trying to keep her from her rightful place.

Now… weeks later…

The peasants watched something else take place.

The city's population was dramatically depleted, but to ease resentment and deflect blame, both from herself and the survivors, she laid it at the feet of the corrupt officials. Standing on the dais before people she was still sure must have been with the mob at least in name for a time, she looked down where the nooses swayed back and forth and shivering officials jibbered mindless protests.

"The crimes against the Royal family were great, but would not have taken place were it not for the corrupting influences of those who forgot that they served me and that they served you! Therefore all common folk currently held on charges of treason, are pardoned… and the true guilty will now be punished!" Calca called out to the crowd, which stood stunned as the captives held in the dungeon awaiting execution… were brought out, had their fetters removed, and simply… walked away free.

But before they could cheer, she leveled a hand down from on high at the former officials, including minor nobles.

"For the crime of accepting bribes for the judgement of cases… you are sentenced to be hanged. For the crime of extortion for protection, you are sentenced to be hanged. For the crime of treason against the crown by way of the abuse of your office, you are sentenced to be hanged. For the crime of…"

The death sentence pronouncements went on as gibbering officials were marched up to the scaffold, had the nooses put around their necks, and then were kicked off the little stools on which they stood a moment later.

Necks snapped, bodies swayed, and one by one, two by two, eight by eight… The purges continued.

Only when, in the Queen's judgement, every official in the capital was either cleared or hanged, did she call her remaining council together into a private office.

She folded her hands together on top of the smooth polished dark wooden table as Kelart, Gotsa, Remedios, and Gustav shifted with discomfort in their seats. Her smile was seemingly sweet, small, and polite.

But a hard edge lay beneath, evident by the tension in her hands. "The corruption that crippled the capital is removed, new officials are being trained from the survivors, and things are improving." The Queen said but her ice filled eyes did not show any sense of relief.

"But the reality is that our nobles failed us severely, the Southern nobles failed to provide both the aid and the taxes we needed, and this poses a serious threat to everyone and everything. The corruption of our officials, includes our nobles. Therefore I intend to send out an order for every noble household head or firstborn son to present themselves here in Hoburns along with seven years of financial accounting from their estates. Any failure to appear will be considered treason. Am I clear?" The Queen said it with the quiet calm of resolve that was more common among veteran warriors, and it left the table briefly struck dumb.

"My Queen-" Remedios began.

"Good, no questions." Queen Calca cut Remedios off without mercy. "Keep the army ready, if the South rises, we will have to go and deal with them. Every failing noble will be utterly purged, every disloyal element, purged. The nobility of North and South failed the Kingdom completely, and that failure reached its tendrils all the way to this very table!" Queen Calca pressed her forefinger against the wooden surface, pointing down at it and glaring at her assembled council.

"What lies ahead will not be easy, but it will be a renewal of our Kingdom when it is over. You are now dismissed. Prepare your armies and offices for fighting, I intend to end this quickly, at any cost." The Queen said and stood up, inviting no further words from any of them.

They rose, one and all, mute, humbled, hopeful, horrified, all at the same time.

They swallowed involuntarily, and bowed to her as she made to leave. "My Queen."

They said as one, holding the bow until she left them behind.