Juliette IX

PA 0

She’d been forced to stay in the Red Capital for the next four days. Four days of sitting in the throne room under guard, being introduced to all the local people and forced to watch as they celebrated her downfall.

It was… frustrating. For a number of reasons.

She wanted to get back to her own people, to figure out what and who had been lost during the war. She needed to tend to her own funerals and her own rebuilding and her own celebrations. But no~ she had to be stuck in this stone fucking castle getting shown off as Billy-boy’s newest arm candy.

It was stressful and infuriating and terrifying, but thankfully it was finally over.

There was just one last thing to do before she left.

--

That morning found two God-Queens sitting around a table in their room. Billy didn’t have any spare rooms ready for her, so she’d been bunking with Saanvi every night which was… awkward was not the correct word for it, but it was the only one that fit.

A servant arrived with a wooden tray of drinks, placing it down on the table before bowing and leaving the room.

Juliette side-eyed the retreating woman, before glancing down at the cups before her. “That’s a lot of fancy presentation for plain old water.”

“I think it’s fun,” Saanvi replied, grabbing one of the cups. They were ornately carved pottery, which didn’t change the fact that all they were filled with was lukewarm water.

“Whatever,” she shook her head. “I didn’t call you here to complain about the needless pomp and pageantry you people constantly put on.”

“Really? Because it sounds like that’s exactly what you’ve called me here for.”

“Saanvi.”

“Yes yes,” Saanvi rolled her eyes, before taking a sip from her fancy water bottle. “I know, you’re leaving today. You need to unwind a bit. Destress. Frowning gives you wrinkles, you know!”

“If you were in my shoes, you wouldn’t be quite so relaxed either,” Juliette grumbled, grabbing her own cup. She stared down at it dubiously, before sighing and taking a sip.

Hm. Yep, that’s crappy water all right.

“Maybe,” Saanvi hummed. “Maybe not. Would you like some chicken wings?”

“Wait what? Where did that come from? Wait, chicken wings!? You have chickens here!?”

“Pú rén!” she called, opening the door, “would you mind grabbing us some more refreshments?”

The servant on the other side of the door bowed low. “Of course, Duchess. Your usual?”

“You know me so well~” Saanvi tittered, sending the servant off with a smile. Then, turning back to the newer duchess, she told her, “Okay, now that the servants are gone, we can discuss what we need to without prying ears.”

Juliette, meanwhile, was distracted once more by the servants. “How in the world does he have enough people to waste on so many on servants?”

“Hm? Oh, he doesn’t,” Saanvi shrugged. “I keep trying to tell him, but he’s so in love with the idea of being a king that he blinds himself to problems of his own creation.”

Juliette stared at her for a moment, before groaning and burying her face in her hands. “I cannot believe I lost to this idiot.”

“There there,” Saanvi said, patting her head patronizingly. “If it makes you feel better, he’s an insanely lucky idiot. From what I heard, he won his first city completely by accident. Apparently, the man who ruled it attacked him only to lose half his army in the swamps, letting Billy-boy mop him up easily. Then he attacked me, and I’m a coward, so I folded instantly! And then suddenly he was the most powerful king in the region, and it sort of snowballed from there.”

“I hate my life,” she grumbled into her hands.

“Don’t we all~”

“Fine, whatever,” Juliette sighed, lifting her head from her hands. “Earlier you said you got rid of any prying ears, yeah? That means you must have it on you, right?”

“Of course, of course,” Saanvi hummed, taking another sip of her water.

Juliette glared at her.

“Fine, fine,” she sighed, putting her cup down. “You’re no fun, you know that?”

“Trust me, I’d be more fun when my soul isn’t in the middle of enemy territory. Now, hurry up.”

“Hm,” Saanvi leaned close, narrowing her eyes. “You know, with everything I know about you, I somehow doubt that.”

“Saanvi.”

“Yes yes,” she reached into one of her many cloaks. “Here you go, one Queen’s Soul, fresh off the barbie!”

And then she pulled out a small orb, with blues and whites and reds swirling around within it.

“You know,” Juliette grumbled as she snatched the orb out of the other Duchess’s hands, “I thought you’d be more tolerable when you aren’t doing your vapid idiot impression. But now you’re just being insufferable.”

Saanvi simply stared at Juliette for a long moment. “…you didn’t have many friends growing up, did you?”

“The fuck’s that supposed to mean!?”

--

Less than an hour later, Juliette found herself on a boat, sailing back towards her home. For the first time in days, she almost felt herself relax. Almost.

The two foreign men sitting in the boat with her kind of ruined that prospect.

It all came back to how the King was trying to control her. At first, she had wondered how King William was going to be keeping her in line from all the way in his capital. Would he force her to stay with him, ruling her own people from afar? Or would he send his army down to occupy her lands until he was sure he could trust her?

In the end, it was something much simpler than that.

Instead of sending down a whole army, he instead sent down only two of his most loyal soldiers. They’d keep an eye on her for him, periodically cycling back to give reports. If she did anything suspicious, the King would know about it in days. There was no way to stop them either, since killing them would stop the constant reports back to the capital, which would in turn summon the king’s army back to her doorstep.

For some reason, this pissed her off more than the other options. It was like he didn’t think her enough of a threat to send more than some token watchers. It was like he didn’t take her seriously at all.

Which was a good thing! Yes, a good thing! It gave her more room to plan, of course. It still pissed her the hell off, though.

She decided she wasn’t going to learn their names. Thing 1 and Thing 2, you are now the court jesters of King’s End, make sure you present yourself accordingly.

They didn’t respond to her mental insults, and instead continued to quietly chat with each other, seemingly ignoring her.

Well, if they were going to be like that.

Huffing and pointedly ignoring them as well, she turned to look out over the water, going over what she’d need to do to plan for the future.

She hadn’t been resting on her laurels the entire time she was in the capital. She’d lost the war because of an undeniable technological advantage. And now, she was going to correct that.

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In those four days, she’d managed to figure out how he’d made that catapult.

It was both more and less complicated than she’d expected. The structure was pretty simple—it used a wooden triangle as a base, and then placed another log as a lever on top. A net was placed on the end of that lever, and they used coiled rope to wind up the tension, before releasing to launch the boulder in whatever direction they needed it to go in.

It was basic, designed by someone who obviously knew very little about engineering but through trial and error had managed to work out how to make a working catapult.

Which made it obvious in retrospect that it was Saanvi who had invented it, rather than Billy. Well, okay, Billy-boy came up with the idea, but Saanvi was the one who actually managed to get it to work.

It wasn’t as good as she might have been tricked into thinking it was—it had a range of only a couple dozen meters max, and probably wouldn’t be able to break down a more modern stone wall. The only reason it had worked on hers was the fact that her walls were just wood logs tied together. When it hit, it didn’t so much break the logs as it did snap the ropes holding them together, causing the whole thing to come tumbling down.

What all that rambling about catapults meant, though, was that Billy wasn’t that much more technologically advanced than her. He’d just worked out one specific area that gave him an immediate advantage over her, and then pressed that advantage until she lost.

Which is now what she needed to do.

Previously, she’d worked more on immediate issues, working to better the here and now rather than coming up with insane ‘modern’ tech. But maybe that was the wrong way to go about it? She hadn’t even considered the idea of a catapult when building her walls, because to her, catapults were ‘medieval’ tech, not stone age tech.

But this world didn’t work like that. Someone who knew how to build a car might not immediately be able to recreate one here, but they still had all the underlying knowledge of the physics that went into creating a car. And that could be applied in a million different ways.

She’d gone to college for an organic chemistry major—she admittedly only got two years of education, but she still knew more about how chemistry worked than most other people. And now, she needed to leverage that knowledge.

So, on the boat ride back, she began to brainstorm. Idea after idea swirled in her head. Some she considered briefly, before disposing of them for being too flashy. Others she set aside, to work on once she got back. Others were just dumb and would never work.

But she plotted and planned, preparing for the day she’d get to kill that damned King once and for all.

--

She arrived back into King’s End by nightfall.

Rather than make a scene returning to the city, she instead tried to sneak in quietly. Tried.

“Huh? Who goes there!?”

Unfortunately, the big oafs behind her either didn’t understand the meaning of subtly or didn’t care, because they just walked right up to the gates of the city. And, of course, got caught by her guards.

Actually, you know what? She wasn’t going to give these idiots credit for anything. It was obviously her insanely talented guards who caught them.

“Queen Juliette!” the guard on the walls practically shouted. “You’re here! You’re alive! I thought you were—I mean, I knew you were alive, but I worried you had—I mean, I’m grateful you’re alive and all, but—”

She winced. That was exactly what she wanted to avoid. Both because she needed time to convene with her inner circle about what to do next, and also because, well…

She was embarrassed.

It was a foolish, juvenile way of reacting to the situation, she was aware. But she’d promised these people that she’d protect them. That they’d always be safe within her walls.

And then she lost instantly.

She wanted to put off interacting with her people for as long as possible. After all, how would they react to seeing her now, beaten and subjugated by a foreign power? What kind of Queen was she?

“Yao, enough,” she told him tiredly.

The young man’s mouth slammed closed, his eyes going wide. “You remembered my name!”

“Of course I remember your name. I appointed you as watchman personally,” she sighed. “We go over this every time.”

“I know—I mean, I think so—I mean—”

“Yao.”

“Um, right, My Queen, should I sound the—”

“Actually,” Thing 1 spoke up behind her. “She is no longer a ‘Queen.’ Right now, she is a Duchess, vassal under—GAH!”

Thing 1 stumbled back, holding his nose from where she backhanded him. Thing 2 glared at her, hands twitching towards his weapons, but she just glared back, before turning back to the wide-eyed Yao.

“Yao, forget what you just heard,” she ordered him. “I’ll be telling everyone what happened come morning.”

“Yes, My Queen!” he saluted, causing her to smile a bit. Good man, that Yao. A bit socially awkward, but eh, who wasn’t these days.

“Now, you two,” she turned to her glaring watchers. “Tonight, you are going to stay in the barracks, away from the rest of the citizens. I’ll figure out what to do about you two in the morning. Now, leave.”

“You can’t just—!” Thing 1 began, only for her to raise her fist threateningly.

“I can and I will,” she snapped. “This is my city, now. And the only person I take orders from here is the King himself, not his up-jumped lackies. So shut up and follow Yao. He’ll take you to the barracks. Now, get out of my sight.”

The two men glared at her, but slowly walked up to the walls, thankfully following her orders.

Juliette sighed. God, she was tired.

Walking into the city, she couldn’t help but calm down. She was, finally, home. She could almost cry from the relief she felt upon realizing that.

Making her way through the city was second nature, even in the dead of night. It also helped that it was maybe two dozen buildings at max, so it wasn’t like she could get lost easily. She’d helped build these roads and houses with her own two hands, after all—she wouldn’t lose her way here.

And then she arrived at Qian’s house.

It was one of the larger huts, representing both his status as her right hand and as someone with a large family. She’d been inside often, sometimes on Queenly business, most times just to play with his kids. They were adorable.

Seeing the building still here, whole and still lived in, made her sigh with relief.

Steadying herself, she knocked on the door, wincing as the sound echoed down the street.

For a moment, no one answered, and she worried that they had already gone to sleep. But then she heard the faint patter of feet, and suddenly the door opened, revealing Qian’s wife, Li.

The older woman stared up at her with wide eyes. Her hair was a mess, though that was secondary to the fact that she was only wearing a single thin set of (Men’s!!) furs, her face flushed red.

Oh god, she hoped she hadn’t just walked in on them fucking. Once was quite enough, thank you very much.

Suddenly nervous for an entirely different reason than she’d been five minutes ago, she immediately tried to stammer out a reason to leave.

That was immediately cut off by Li grabbing her by the arms and dragging her through the doorway.

“Gods, Juli,” she hissed, holding her tight. “We thought you were dead.”

“I, um, I,” Juliette stammered, “…I’m not?”

“Come in, come in!” the older woman told her. “Qian has to see you, he’s been despondent ever since we couldn’t find you after the battle.”

“Um… sorry…”

“Qian!” she called out as she dragged her over to their room. “Put your pants on! We have a guest!”

“At this hour!?” came Qian’s muffled voice from behind the door, and it was all Juliette could do not to collapse with relief right there. “Can’t they come back tomorrow?”

“Oh yes, it’s someone you have to see!”

“…Is it your father?”

“No, you great slug!” she rolled her eyes, glancing over at Juliette with an exasperated expression so familiar the Queen-turned-Duchess felt all her worries melt away in an instant. “Are your pants on yet?”

“Give me a minute!”

“Minute’s over~”

“Just—this is harder than it used to be, you know!”

Juliette couldn’t help but feel a small smile overtake her face as Li opened the door, somehow comforted by their familiar banter.

And then she saw Qian, and her burgeoning good mood died a brutal death.

The man was alive, thankfully, but he was not whole—he was now missing an arm up to his elbow, the crappy bandages she’d made sure they mass produced wrapped around the stump where his arm used to be.

“My Queen!” he gasped, shocked. He tried to fumble out of bed to bow to her, but luckily Li was smart enough to stop him before he could hurt himself.

“…Qian…” she choked, staring at his stump. “…I’m so, so sorry.”

The man stopped struggling, looking at her with confusion. The, his eyes travelled to where she was looking, and he seemed to age a decade in an instant.

“A wound like this is inevitable when one leads the life of a warrior. That I’ve escaped with my life is enough for me.”

“It’s not enough for me!” Juliette snapped, before wincing and quieting down. “We lost, Qian. I lost. And now… and now…”

“That you are safe enough is victory enough for me,” he told her, shuffling out of his wife’s grip enough to give her a sort of half-bow from the bed. “We were dishonored, but we were not slaughtered. We can rebuild from this, trust me on that.”

“But we lost!” she hissed, tears building up in her eyes. “We barely even put up a fight! People died! You lost your arm! Everything is ruined because I fucked up!”

“Juli,” Li murmured softly, grasping her hand. “Even the gods are not perfect—so how could you expect to be?”

“People die when I fuck up, Li!” she snapped back, sniffling and trying to hold back her tears. “How can I expect to rule this city if I can’t even protect it!”

Li looked desperately at her husband, who sighed, rubbing hie jaw. “…I don’t know how to comfort you. It’s all true—if you mess up, people die. That's just something that all leaders have to deal with."

Juliette shrunk into herself more, and Li gave her husband a look that clearly told him he was not helping.

“But.” Qian continued. “But. You are still alive. We are still alive. We’ve suffered a wound, a devastating blow, but we still live. We are a hardy people. We’ll recover from this, trust me on that. But, most importantly,” he shuffled out of the bed, and this time his wife didn’t stop him. He came up to her and raised his stump, before quickly lowering it and raising his other hand, grabbing her shoulder, “you are still here. So tell me, My Queen. Have you abandoned us?”

“…No,” Juliette sniffled.

“Do you plan on throwing away your titles, your responsibilities?”

“No.”

“Do you plan on spending the rest of your life crying about old failures?”

This time Juliette turned to look up at Qian, her face more composed than it had been since she first arrived. “No.”

“Then there’s only one thing left to do,” Qian nodded solemnly at her, before slowly getting down to one knee. “Be better. Next time, prepare more. Next time, fight harder. Next time, win. And if you do so, then trust me on this, My Queen—every single one of us will follow right behind you.”

Juliette took a deep breath. Then, with a watery smile, she grabbed his shoulder, helping him back up.

“Don’t worry, Qian,” she told him softly. “I have no plans to ever lose again. Because next time, we’ll be stronger. Next time, we’ll be smarter. And next time,” her smile got just that little bit sharper. “Next time, we’ll destroy them utterly.”

“Because the Age of Stone is over—and soon, I will usher in the Age of Iron.”

9,920 God-Kings Remain

The Red Kingdom [https://i.imgur.com/ibEDCUD.jpg]