One Minute After Midnight

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Irid"]

"ANSWER ME!"

Again the Queen screeched. It was almost a bit too well planned really. The woman was a fool beyond anything that Vrak had ever known. He could hear it in the tone of her voice, the way she spoke, she was already losing control.

Her own insecurities were pushing her towards a quick fall. She knew that others within her court saw her as weak. She knew and feared that they would overthrow her. The way that she moved, the expression that she gave as she rose from her throne, it was almost like Vrak had painted this entire scene. It had happened so quickly too. Perhaps it was simply the right time for all of this, perhaps she had been filled with so much pressure already that this was just the final push. It didn't matter.

"Your Ma-" Vrak began before she screeched again.

"SILENCE!"

The Queen rose from her throat as she screeched at Vrak, stomping down the steps and heading straight for Irid.

Vrak could barely keep himself from smiling

 

[Irid]

Another flinch, as if the girl had been struck across the face by her demands. The Queen was incensed, screeching pure fury that forced Irid's mouth ajar, as if she were to give in and speak. Eyebrows furrowed, face betraying her and laying her fear bear for all to see. She trembled upon the spot.

Even Lord Nashar couldn't interject, couldn't halt the flow of her rage.

The Queen stormed towards them, towards her. The grip upon the lightsaber hilt became white-knuckled. Was she going to be struck? Was she going to be killed, right there by the ruler of this world?

The calm of the crimson man sat in direct conflict with her frantic terror, and finally Irid lifted her head, not to look at the Zygerrian royalty that was bearing down upon them but to look to the man that had promised her freedom, strength and power. The girl looked to him for an escape, for a solution, for anything that might have saved her.

Still she didn't speak.

---

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Irid"]

"WHY WON'T YOU SPEAK?"

She was getting petulant now.

Excellent.

Vrak glanced around the room, watching some of the Zygerrians as they looked at each other, caution on their features. They knew what was happening, they knew what their Queen was. She was a fake. Oh she ruled over them, but her mother had been the why. They all respected the memory of their now dead Queen too much to dethrone this little brat. Vrak could see it in the way that they moved, in the way their discomfort grew. The Queen's mother would have simply executed Irid, but this girl? This stupid little fool playing at Royalty? She had to have her answer.

"I AM YOUR QUEEN!"

The screech rang through the room, several of the Zygerrians even flinched as she yelled, the shrill sound of her voice enough to break glass. Vrak couldn't help but smile as she began to yell at Irid, berating the slave and getting in her face much like a toddler would to someone who wasn't cooperating with what they wanted. It was pathetic, sad beyond all measure. Finally it got to the point where the noise was enough to annoy him.

He slowly turned to Irid and said two words. "Kill her."

Vrak didn't know if Irid would go through with it. He didn't know if she would do it, but there was opportunity, beautiful opportunity.

 

[Irid]

In that moment Irid felt rooted to the spot.

The girl felt all the eyes of the room now definitely burning upon both her and the Queen, however it seemed that the slave was the only one of the two aware of this fact. The Zygerrian didn't seem aware of much beyond her own fury.

At this point she was in her face. Brown eyes were wide, fearful and now torn away from Lord Nashor and directly focused upon the Queen. The slave felt her heart pound within her chest, the beat forgoing rhythm and simply increasing in tempo the further this fracas continued.

Then the crimson man asked her to...

...to...

No. That was too far. A guard was far enough. Kill the Queen? It was hard to really argue the matter when the woman was still in her face like a predator in the face of small prey. Even still, eyes glanced downwards at the weapon clutched in her hand, grip upon it loosening as her body considered the act of regicide while her mind desperately tried to avoid it.

Yet still, Irid did not speak but could only offer a frantic shake of the head.

---

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Irid"]

Vrak watched in silence after that. The Queen had seemingly not heard his comment as she continued her tirade on against the young slave girl. By now everyone else in the room was watching with utter fascination. Just how far would she take this? What would she do? Had she gone completely and utterly made? Was this right?

It was an odd series of questions that one might not have expected from the people of Zygerria. Vrak only watched in silence, his eyes slowly following the Queen as she screeched and screeched at the little slave girl. It was fascinating really, to watch a Monarch lower herself to such things. He himself would have kill Irid the moment she hadn't answered the question. He supposed it was that which made the difference, those who deserved to rule, and those who had simply fallen into the situation.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK THAT IS? THAT'S NOT YOURS! YOU STOLE IT"

With one quick grasp the Queen snatched the lightsaber from Irid's hand.

The movement was remarkably quick, faster than Vrak would have guessed the Queen was even capable of. Yet the Zygerrian would grasped the weapon and pulled it away from Irid in an instant, tugging it free and back.

The Sith Pureblood took half a step forward, prepared to defend what was his.

 

[Irid]

Irid was surprised to say the least. Surprised that the petulant and furious Queen was even capable of noticing the weapon in her hand. Screeching like a feline banshee one might have thought that her mental faculties were otherwise preoccupied, mostly with the shouting in the slave's face.

The girl didn't have a chance to keep a grip on the weapon, her weapon. The Queen moved with speed that she hadn't expected and wrenched the weapon straight out of her hands, accusing her of stealing it.

That scared look changed, brows still furrowed but transforming into a mask more akin to hurt. The lightsaber was hers. It was given to her. The first possession she had ever owned. It was what marked her as free. She hadn't stolen it.

“That's mine,” the voice of a mouse said, likely too quietly to be heard or acknowledged by the Queen.

The expression upon the girl's face began to shift, from fear to hurt and then to anger. As a slave Irid had never been given anything before. She had never owned anything, not even herself. That lightsaber was hers! The crimson man had given it to her!

“Give it back!”

---

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Irid"]

Vrak smiled at the outburst. It was just too perfect. Wonderful.

"YOURS?!"

The Queen screeched.

"YOURS!? YOU DON'T HAVE POSESSIONS! YOU'RE A SLAVE! A THING!"

Vrak could hardly look away, neither could anyone else in the room. It was a circus now, something wondrous unfolding. The Pureblood watched in silence, saying nothing, doing nothing. His foot landed but he moved no further.

"YOU ARE NOTHING! A SLAVE! A SOMETHING! THIS IS MINE, EVERYTHING YOU OWN, EVERYTHING YOU ARE IS MINE!"

 

[Irid]

Strange, really.

That sudden shift. Before her lightsaber was taken the girl would have taken the Queen's venomous and fury-ridden howls in silence. She would have kept silent as she was asked and would have let Lord Nashar deal with the situation as intended.

However, somewhere a line was crossed.

Hard to say where. It wasn't as if anything about this day had been clear. Viyers, the crimson man, the lightsaber, the guard, the bath, the Queen. It would likely take her a long time to fully process and understand the events of today, assuming that she was going to survive it all.

She kept shouting. Words that dehumanised her. Words that she knew. Slave. Thing. Nothing. Irid knew all this, that all that her life was...

Anger crept up her spine.

Before Irid knew it her fists were clenched, wishing for nothing more than for her lightsaber to be back in her hands. She hadn't stolen it. It hadn't belonged to any of the guards, or the Queen herself. It was hers. It had been given to her. And she wanted it back.

Rage came from a simmer up to a boil, the young woman felt it in the gut, her head a deafening roar. She wanted it back! She had no right to take it! She stepped forward, face for the first time steeped in twisted rage. It was hers!

You are free.

“NO! I AM FREE!”

It burst forth from out of nowhere. Impossible to describe, it was like an invisible wave that suddenly and violently threw the Queen of Zygerria backwards and towards the steps.

We are free.

---

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Irid"]

The Queen practically went soaring through the air, tossed half way across the throne room by the force of the wave. A field of sorts appeared around Vrak, a thin bubble that was seemingly forged from nothing but the air itself. The wave struck the bubble, passed over it, and then struck the people behind him. Several of the Zygerrians stumbled, a few even fell over, but only the Queen was tossed into the air like a ragdoll. Vrak watched her for a moment more, and then there was a loud thud.

Her Majesty landed a crack quickly following as her head slammed against the ornate stairs in front of her throne.

The lightsaber that she had been holding was released, her grip limp as the weapon went rolling across the floor of the Throne room and back towards Irid.

Silence ruled over the throne room, complete and total nothingness. No one said a word, no one moved an inch. They were all either too shocked or too terrified to truly comprehend what had just happened. Most of them had never seen a force user before, or rather, most of them had never seen one in action. They were all completely stunned, startled beyond all comprehension and belief. Vrak only stood there, a prideful smile pulling at his lips.

"Well." His voice echoed in the silence.

"It appears you require a new Monarch." He slowly strolled into the center of the room, a smile on his face. "I'll allow you to figure that out on your own."

He put a hand on Irid's shoulder.

 

[Irid]

It had all happened so quickly.

The Queen went through the air in what seemed like slow motion from the unknown burst that had emerged from the young woman. Eyes widened, mouth sat agape. Then came the harsh crack that echoed throughout the chamber. The unmistakable sound of an impacted skull. Massive head trauma. Death.

Frozen.

This wasn't really happening.

Oh Viyers' death had been part and parcel of the unexpected cruelty of their life and her killing of the guard had been the exceptional circumstance, but there was no way in Chaos that the Queen was dead by her hand. No. That was not real. It was not real.

It couldn't have been.

The lightsaber rolled towards her, but she remained too petrified to actually move and retrieve it. It wasn't until a hand clasped upon her shoulder that the girl actually moved again, time unfreezing as the crimson man allowed it to.

“I....I....”

No words.

---

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Irid"]

"Take your lightsaber." Vrak told the girl.

There wasn't really much else to do here. The Queen was dead, The Zygerrians knew who was at fault but would never try to stop him. They had to figure out this new problem and Vrak...well Vrak didn't have a care in the world.

"Go one." He told her. "This world does not want you."

That much was clear. "But that is alright."

He turned to face the crowd.

"For this world does not deserve you." He looked a them all, staring. "Then they will see their folly."