I duck, nails and teeth unsheathed. I don't want to kill this witch - that would just back up her 'our Queen hates Crochan's' point - and I don't want to injure her too badly either. Actually, that's a lie. I want her to die in pain, but I can't kill her in front of a crowd of Crochan's.
For now, all I need to do is make sure she, and everyone watching, knows I'm the Queen, and they better respect that. The one problem in this method - my pregnancy.
In two moves, I grab the witch's arm, slamming her onto the ground. She's up again quickly, lunging for me, fury on her face, but she's sloppy. I step out of her way, sending her careening past me.
We circle, she with a sword, me with no weapon but myself. She snarls at me, and I laugh, lip curling. She has no hope of beating me - her fighting is some of the worst I've seen, and I'm stronger, pregnancy or no. I just need to be careful of the bump.
Expectedly, the witch lunges forward again, and I stay still until the last moment. She trips over my foot as I twirl gracefully away.
Suddenly, nausea hits me, with very unhelpful timing. I gag, turning away. Stupid pregnancy. Though I keep my stomach down, it's obvious to everyone I would have been sick.
"Ha," she says in a low voice, back on her feet though covered in mud. "Can't keep your stomach down after a few minutes of fighting? I guess our fearsome Queen isn't as deadly as she looks." She nods towards my stomach, the small but evident bump. "Being Queen has made you fat and lazy, bitch!"
I stare at her incredulously, anger bubbling up inside. "Are your senses as useless as your fighting?" The witch hisses. "I'm not fat, you imbecile - I'm pregnant. Wanna know where I was? Securing relationships with Adarlan, because it just so happens, it's also their King's child. He could start a war." Though, of course, he won't.
I let what I've just said sink into the witch, sink into all of them. Their faces are slack with shock, and the Crochan who fought me is just staring. While she's distracted, I grab her arm, slamming into the ground.
I twist it behind her, breaking it with more force than was perhaps necessary. I want to kill her, though I won't. "Never," I hiss in her ear, "Question me again, or next time, I will kill you."