Something Extraordinary

Chapter Nine - Chaos in the Palace

Renée could not believe her eyes when she witnessed what General Arthur was doing to Alden. She had trusted him. After leaving her slave girl with Alden, she had immediately headed for the dungeons to interrogate her Head General, hoping that it had been a misunderstanding. To say that she was surprised when she realized he had escaped was an understatement.

"Guards!" The Queen demanded. "What is the meaning of this?!"

The two guards' - who had been instructed to take the General down to the dungeons - eyes bulged when they saw the empty cell. "Your majesty, we did take him down here and lock him in!"

"Did you first remove the set of master keys that he possesses?" The Queen hissed venomously at her clearly incompetent staff.

The guards paled and fell silent. One fell to his knees under the Queen's gaze. "Your majesty, we beg your mercy!"

Renée laughed coldly before waving her hand and making the guards fall to the floor lifelessly in a flash of purple light. Before she could do anything else, she heard a loud gasp of horror from behind her. She immediately spun around in a predatory stance, ready to attack.

Azalea had watched in horror and stumbled backwards when her majesty caught her in the act. Her mouth opened and closed rapidly like a fish in water and she could not make herself talk or even move her legs.

"What were you doing?" The Queen hissed at her, and she shrank backwards even more.

"I-I-I'm-" she opened her mouth but no words came out.

Renée growled angrily and raised her hand to magically suspend the girl in the air. "What. Were. You. Doing." She hissed. If there was anything that she absolutely despised, it was being forced to repeat herself.

"I-I was going back to my cell!" Azalea finally stuttered.

Renée froze at the girl's words, accidentally dropping her to the ground as her concentration broke. Azalea cried out in pain as she landed on her ankle, a burning pain shooting up her leg.

Before she realized what she was doing Renée immediately crouched down to examine the girl's leg. Azalea froze in shock and she didn't move until the Queen appeared to come to her senses and stood up quickly.

"Nothing is broken." She muttered in irritation, avoiding looking at the confusing girl. She cleared her throat before speaking again. "You expect me to believe that you were returning to you cell voluntarily?" She snarled. "Do you perceive me as an imbecile?!"

Azalea flinched at the Queen's tone. Her mood seemed to flip faster than a light switch. She shook her head silently but could not bring herself to speak. She was going back to her cell. She didn't have anywhere else to go and it was not as if she had any way to get home. She felt frustrated that the Queen refused to believe her, despite the fact that she had never attempted to escape during her entire time here.

Before she could stop herself, she spoke in a small and hurt voice. "I was going back to my cell. It's not like I have any other place to go."

Renée stared at the girl blankly. The more she interacted with her, the more that she suspected she was not right in the head. She did not attempt to escape, nor did she appear to be afraid of Renée - intimidated, maybe. She debated following the girl to lock her back into her cell before remembering the real issue at hand. "Guards!"

Azalea flinched at her tone. Two guards appeared almost instantly and balked at the sight before them - two of their men laying lifeless on the ground. "Y-your majesty, how may we be of use?" One finally stuttered.

"Find General Arthur and bring him to me, or you will share their fate!" The guards immediately jumped into action and left the room. She turned and gave Azalea one final glance before following them and slamming the door shut behind her.