The Santina army gathered just east of the Black River. All eyes were on the grassy hill beyond the clearing—The Kingdom of Remno.

"Over there!" a Santina soldier shouted as a rider on horseback came into view. She raced towards the river and crossed the wooden bridge, not stopping until she reached Valentina.

"Do you have news?"

"Yes, a Remno carriage, just five minutes behind me. Two passengers, I believe."

"Two passengers?" Valentina's face glowed, "Gain. He did it!"

As the carriage approached, Valentina ran to the bridge. The carriage stopped, and Claudia rushed out of the door. Mother and daughter embraced.

"Valentina, I've missed you so much! I never knew for sure..."

"Mother!" Tears ran down Valentina's face. She looked toward the carriage and then her mother—she paused, Where's Clarissa!"

"She..."

"Where is my sister!" Valentina's voice turned panicked and shrill, "The scout said there were two passengers!"

Valentina pulled open the carriage door, and a body fell to the ground…

*****

Once again Gain stormed the halls of Castle Lykos on the way to his father's office. Ignoring the guards he slammed open the massive double doors to find his father sitting at his desk, reading a paper.

Excitedly he shouted, "Father, Valentina is alive! "

"Who?" The King's puzzlement was genuine.

"Valentina, your other daughter. My sister..."

Still not looking up from his paper, the King recalled nonchalantly, "Oh, yes—the first one. We never did find a body. What, did slavers pick her up somewhere?"

"No, she is in Santina, she is the Queen now."

"Hah!" The King finally threw down his paper, exposing a malicious grin, "So she escaped to Santina! Well, that is convenient! It is about time that we lay claim to the rest of that shithole!"

"Valentina is not going to just surrender Santina to Remno."

"Well, I suppose not. But, now that we've secured supplies from that idiot Princess—it's time to go on an adventure! Guards! Find Bernardo. Call him in here!"

As the guards scampered away, Gain pleaded with the King.

"Father, we don't have to do this..."

As soon as the guards left, Clarissa entered the office.

"You stupid girl. I didn't call you in here!"

"Your Majesty, I have just met with the Council..."

"That really doesn't matter anymore. This charade is finally over. You no longer need to show your face to the council. Your brother and I have matters to discuss. Now, go help your mother with dinner."

"As I was saying, Your Majes—Father, I spoke to the Council. They wish to congratulate you on your retirement."

"Retirement! You idiot girl!"

Clarissa stared her father straight in the eye,

"It is over Father. All of it. You cannot hurt me anymore."

"Ha ha! I can't hurt you!"

The King rose from his desk with his fist flying— Clarissa made no attempt to move, her eyes did not blink. You cannot hurt me any more—it was a declaration—whatever happened—she was finally free of him.

Crack. His fist landed, but Clarissa was not the recipient of the King's fury. Gain had attempted to restrain his father, but received a fist in the jaw for his efforts. Had Clarissa received the full weight of the King's blow, she would have surely died.

Yet, Gain stood, blood streaming down from his mouth, his face just inches from the King's.

"You will not hurt her. It is over."

"Hah, Gain you treasonous piece of shit. So, this is your doing!"

Retirement—ha! You should have given me a dagger to the back when you had the chance. Fool! You will probably demand a duel—your sense of "honor" probably demands it! Stupid boy—you have never killed before— I have killed hundreds with my own hand.

The King took three steps back. "So, you think you can best me..."

Gain did not hesitate in his response, "I have no doubt." He then waited for another strike, which did not come.

The King silently measured the man that stood before him. At least his equal in size and strength, but younger—and no longer the broken husk that he observed just days prior. The King hesitated.

If I go for my sword, he will discover who the better man is. But... there is no reason to take the risk. Bernardo is on his way. I just need to stall for a little while...

"So, what is your plan Gain?"

"Well, my plan was for Mother and Clarissa to escape to Santina, just as Valentina did. But, Clarissa refused..."

"Ahh, so the girl was afraid I would hunt her down? She needn't worry. She isn't worth the time... just go! Take your mother with you.."

Clarissa answered with a resolve that matched her brother's, "I already told you, father, you can no longer hurt me, I have no need to escape."

"You stupid girl. Do you think your brother can protect you? You are both dead! Even if you somehow manage to kill me, the Council, the generals, they would never submit to a fool like him! The two of you should just run away to Santina while you have the chance!"

"Run away to Santina? If I did that, nothing would change. I would much rather die here and have sister invade..."

"Sister invade? You are insane! Santina doesn't have an army..."

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

Gain interrupted, "Santina has an army, they have Valentina—and she wants your head."

Clarissa smiled, "But, there is really no need for that—we have the Great Sage of the Empire."

On cue, Mia, Abel, and Anne entered the office. As Gain shut the doors, Mia laughed, "Oh, Clarissa! Again with that Great Sage thing... I am not even that bright..."

"The Princess! I should have known! No one is stupid enough to give away food during a famine! It was all a lie! There was never going to be any wheat...

"Your Majesty, if there is one thing you should know about me, it is that I detest lies! The food I promised is on the way. But you don't hate lies, do you, Your Majesty? As I have been trying to explain to your lovely daughter, I am a lousy sage—I believed it all—delegating so much work to your children, putting Clarissa in charge of new ministry appointments, the mushroom stew! Your Highness, you seemed so sincere!

"So, you are an idiot princess!"

"That's a little harsh, but when I learned about the game you were playing, I did feel a little silly. Your children couldn't believe that I was so easily fooled. I even laughed with these three. But I explained to them that Your Majesty had been doing everything that the Emperor had done for years to prepare me to take over the Throne. I really thought you were planning to retire. When I said that—these three stared at me a little while, and I guess they just sort of ran with it."

Abel proudly stood by his love, "Ha! Mia pretending to be fooled. But you did make a marvelous point—from the outside, father's actions for the last month have been so out of character that announcing his retirement would actually seem plausible."

"So, I will be 'retired' and Gain will be King..."

Gain almost seemed amused with the suggestion. He looked his demon in the eye and calmly responded, "Well, you did train me for the Throne my entire life, so I figure there is no one less qualified to lead than I! So, no, I will not be King."

"So, it's Abel then... your woman has you hunting for the crown. I know you haven't the balls to do this on your own!"

"Gosh! I hope those aren't a requirement for the job!"

"Clarissa?"

"Ha! Now you know my name! But, really you should address me as Queen Clarissa... or King if it makes you feel better. But, now that I think about it, Remno hasn't had much luck with Kings..."

"You stupid girl! You think because you can fool those idiots on the Council, you can claim the throne! You have no idea where the power in this kingdom lies." The King's eyes shifted away from his daughter to the unguarded door.

As if to justify their inane existence for a single moment, the two ridiculously large double doors of the King's office burst open to reveal a perfectly framed Adamantine Spear in full battle armor—with his namesake in hand.

The King commanded, "Bernardo! Kill them all!" But then the King directed his eyes at Mia, "Well... leave that idiot princess from Tearmoon. If that Emperor loves that stupid girl of his so much, we will still get our wheat! Hell, maybe she will be my next queen–the brood the last one sired appears to be rotten!"

As quickly as the King completed his command, Bernardo was standing in front of Clarissa. Dispelling any confusion about where his allegiance lie, he removed his helmet, and with head bowed, he knelt, "My Queen."

Clarissa smiled and nodded, "Please rise."

Bernardo stepped to Queen Clarissa's side and then took a half step back.

"Betrayed! Why!"

Bernardo's answer was understood by every person in the room— everyone, except for the king.

"I have five daughters."

"I am sorry you have five daughters. But what does that have to do with me?"

"I love my daughters, you idiot king! I would do anything for them. I want them to grow up in a world where they have something to look forward to!"

"Awwww! How sweet," Anne cooed, "Such a good daddy!"

Mia casually agreed, "He is a good father," her eyes then shifted towards the king, "and while I may not be much of a sage, I occasionally come up with a good idea of my own. Recruiting Bernardo to the cause was my idea—he is a good man, surviving in a rotten kingdom—so the decision was pretty obvious."

Queen Clarissa continued on Mia's lead, "With Bernardo, we have the army, and I have been working with the council for the past month on agriculture reforms. Water projects and rye seed distribution have already begun. If the cool weather persists, we will be prepared. It's funny though—While the council appears to be pleased with its new direction, I was surprised when so few questioned your abdication."

"Well, no one likes to starve," Mia laughed, as she once again explained the obvious, "and everyone was very impressed when I testified about how tirelessly Clarissa worked to obtain food for the Kingdom."

The king could feel his grasp on power slipping through his fingers. "But, you were planning to give Remno the food even before you arrived in the Kingdom!"

"Oh, that's right! I must have forgotten to mention that part—well these things happen," a malicious grin took over her face, "I am an idiot princess after all."

"You lied!"

"Again, I detest lies. Every word I spoke to the Army and the Council is true. I am impressed with the new Queen, what she has accomplished with the Council in such a short time is brilliant, and while Tearmoon will be providing some assistance in the short term, we look forward to receiving rye from Remno in the near future."

The king bowed his head. He quietly directed his last words to Mia, "So, this is how it ends. Is there anything else, Princess?"

"Oh well, since you asked... I am awfully fond of Prince Abel, and I was sort of hoping to get your blessing for our engagement..."

That must have been a little too much for the recently retired king to bear. So, in typical evil sore loser fashion, he pulled out his sword and started running towards Mia.

Of course, he didn't go far before the back of his head was greeted by the flat of Abel's sword, knocking him out cold.

With the former king lying unconscious on the royal carpet, the six co-conspirators just looked at each other, not sure about what to do next. No one even noticed as a confused Claudia entered the room.

"What is everyone doing here? What did I miss?" Then she looked down at the body on the floor, "Oh my!"

*****

Valentina pulled open the carriage door, and a body fell to the ground... bound and gagged, and now squirming in the dirt.

"What... is that?" Valentina asked while making no attempt at hiding her disgust.

"Your father, dear," Claudia answered in an almost neutral tone—a fruitless attempt at hiding her pure giddiness at the situation.

"What is he doing here? And where is Clarissa?"

"Oh, she is still in Remno. She had things to do."

"And that?"

"That? Oh, you mean your father. We have decided to retire in Santina."

"Retire?"

"Yes, retire, dear. I never liked being a queen very much," and then Claudia began to whisper as if keeping a secret, "and, your father was really never very good at being a king."

"Retirement, huh," her voice seemed to move from disgust to skeptical approval, "and what does he have to say about all this?”

"Your father? Oh not much. Well, at first it didn't seem to take to the idea..."

"Antonia, could you please remove the gag from...that," Valentina flicked her hand in her father's direction.

Antonia nodded and removed the gag from the (retired) king.

"Claudia, you witch! Untie me right now!" The king wriggled his body, so he could see his daughter's face, "Valentina, tell your mother..."

The disgusted tone returned to Valentina's voice, as she looked down on the retired king,

"My name is Queen Artemis, and if you want any hope of a response from me, you shall address me by my name."

"But your mother just called you Valentina..."

"She is my Mother, she can call me anything she wishes."

"But I am your father..."

"Exactly!"

"Valentina!"

"You seem to be a little slow, so let me phrase it another way. Address me as Queen Artemis, or I will have your tongue ripped out on the spot."

At that point, the king decided to exercise his right to remain silent.

Claudia smiled, "Now, why didn't I think of that? You were always the smart one!"

"So, I think I understand why father is here, but what is keeping Clarissa in Remno?"

"As I was trying to say, she has work to do. At least she has Gain helping her out. I think she will be a marvelous Queen!"

"Clarissa, Queen? How did that happen? If Clarissa is Queen, then who is King?"

"There is no King, well, except for your father, and as you can see, he's retired."

"What about the nobles! The council. My bother!"

"Brother? Oh, you mean Gain. It was really his idea—well his and the Princess's. "

"Gain? Really! I didn't really think... well, good for him!"

"So, Clarissa is Queen, and you and father are retiring here in Satina..."

"Something like that."

"So, you will be living with father?"

"Oh, Lord no! Though, if he can be civil, I may visit him someday. Would you be able to find a place for him dear?"

"Dungeon?"

"No."

"Unmarked grave?"

"No, I was thinking of a house in the country somewhere. "

"It's much more than he deserves."

"Yes, but he can't really do any more damage, and if you gave him what he deserves, you might feel bad about it one day....or not.“

Either way, I've decided to let go of the pain. I still have a lot of life to live, and I will not let him mess that up! Now, where is Mother and Father? It's been too long!"