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Theocratic Monarchy: SunSide
50th Day of Month 10, Year 767 DG
There is no part of a pixie’s body that is harder to cut through than the neck. Over thousands of years, their cervical vertebrae have hardened more than those of nymphs and faeries. General Drof-Fa recalls this fact from her training as she eyes her sword carefully and considers her options.
Beyond cutting through the neck, Drof-Fa can elect to tear the ruling monarch apart using her connection to the Radiance. With a wave of her hand, she can leave the MegaMother’s body shredded. A far more effortless option, yet lacking intimacy.
The faerie General does not shy away from intimacy in battle. Particularly not when victory is so close at hand.
“Surely, General,” the MegaMother moans, sitting on her knees, “this isn’t the hardest decision you’ve had to make today.”
The MegaMother’s sienna skin glistens against silver armor and crimson bloodstains. The faerie Lieutenant, Hay-Ro, stands over her, his puce hands outstretched, moving in a steady, circular motion. The movement keeps his connection to the Radiance intact, holding the monarch restrained. Any lapse in focus, and she’ll have her fingers around his neck before he can blink.
Drof-Fa continues to eye her blade as she speaks. “Your age has made you impatient.”
A soft smile loosens the MegaMother’s expression. “I am only impatient for retribution. But there cannot be justice without transgression. Get on with it.”
The faerie General turns to the pixie monarch with fire in her eyes. “This is an act of justice.” She takes three heavy steps toward the captive queen, lifting her muscular legs over a guard’s bloody corpse. “Justice for my clan.”
“I have eradicated inequity, Drof-Fa,” the MegaMother responds assuredly. “For all citizens, including the faeries.”
“You have chosen the animals over your own kind,” Drof-Fa spits the slur.
The MegaMother releases a tense breath. “You know they are called the Doruh.”
“I know naming your pets does not make them family.”
The queen lowers her gaze from the towering General. “It is that ideation that proves your clan to be a stain on the entire Mega species.”
“The nymphs and the pixies would still be crawling in the mud without faerie contributions. We are thrice as populous as—”
“Numbers do not garner the faeries special treatment, General. The quality of your character does. You have proven that quality today. Tell your lover that these were my last words, once he’s usurped my throne.”
“I will tell him when I bring him your head.” A wicked smile appears on Drof-Fa’s face.
The MegaMother’s body relaxes. “You’ve made your decision, then?”
“I have.” The faerie General steps forward until she is standing next to the MegaMother, looking down at her.
The queen looks up at Drof-Fa. Her tone softens. “After you marry Red-Lo, you’ll be the MegaMother. Do not rule harshly. We’ve worked hard to get to where we are. I know you cherish SunSide as much as I do.”
“Save your sentiments. I’ll be the MegaMother only in name. My duties will remain those of the General.”
The monarch raises an eyebrow. “And why is that?”
Drof-Fa’s sword rises, voice throbbing with pride. “Because I don’t rule. I conquer.”
She grasps the MegaMother’s hair tightly in one hand and in a swift, calculated motion, forces the blade into the back of the ruler’s neck. The MegaMother gags on the blood and tissue expelled from her mouth, and a soft, anguished cry escapes her. The pixie’s hardened vertebrae survived the blow.
Drof-Fa tugs hard and dislodges the sword from the now gaping flesh before slashing down again.
Success. The MegaMother’s mangled body drops to the ground. Drof-Fa lifts the head up until it is at eye level, examining it with a smile. “SunSide is ours, Hay-Ro.” She awaits his response, but when she hears only silence, she turns to the Lieutenant.
Hay-Ro scans the room. The royal guards lay scattered and mutilated. Most of the faerie resistance drown in pools of their own innards. Drof-Fa sheathes her sword and places her magenta fingers on his shoulder, breaking him from the trance.
“I have taken oaths, Drof-Fa.” His voice wavers as he raises his bloodstained hands between them. “To save the lives I’ve taken today.”
Drof-Fa nods. “I understand it is difficult for a salver to see the value in bloodshed, but I promise, it is necessary.” She turns and guides his gaze out of the grand throne room windows, to the star-speckled sky. “When the Four rise tomorrow, you’ll be Head Salver to the Red-Lo Royal Dynasty. Your counsel will save lives all throughout the kingdom. And the blood you drew today is the reason for that.”
A clearly forced smile spreads across the healer’s lips.
“Come,” she says, raising the severed head again. “Let’s deliver this prize to SunSide’s new MegaFather.”
They enter the chamber known as the Forum, tightly grasping the MegaMother’s head, and every eye in the room turns to the doorway. Audible gasps and screams of crippling terror bounce off the walls, joined soon thereafter by devastated sobs. One teal-skinned Mega even falls to his knees and begs the Four to give rest to their fallen queen.
The General finds her lover standing at the far end of the chamber, at the foot of a magnificent stage. His skin shimmers turquoise, and long hair flows down over his shoulders and chest. Pointed ears besiege gray eyes, void of pupils and irises—common traits amongst all Mega. He sees the prize in her arms and his expression lights up.
Drof-Fa takes long strides toward him over a polished stone floor embedded with gems. Moonlight spills in through tall windows and strikes the gems, bringing them to life like waves of glitter. With every step, escalating sobs rise from a rotund wooden table occupied by the Members of the Assembly of the Radiance.
It satisfies her to no end.
She then passes three animals, standing before the windows at sharp, focused attention: a goat, an ostrich, and a ewe. She’s careful not to acknowledge their inferior presence, even as their heads tilt downward in respect.
Drof-Fa hands the severed head to Red-Lo. He cradles it on his palms and lifts it up to look into the MegaMother’s dead eyes.
“You are responsible for this outcome,” he states plainly. “I told you we would not sit idle and allow a pixie to cleanse SunSide of faerie footprints. This is the result you begot.” He lowers the head and holds it carefully in one arm as his fingers settle softly on Drof-Fa’s cheek.
“How many of our warriors remain, my love?”
Her gaze falls. “Not many, darling.”
“And how many of theirs?”
Her eyes rise again and she smiles. “Not any.”
He smiles in turn and wraps his arm around her waist, pulling her toward him until their lips collide. When they part, Red-Lo carries the head over to the wooden table and sets it down in the center. The Assembly Members standing nearby take a wide step back. One turns around and vomits onto the floor. Red-Lo faces the three animals on the other side of the room.
“Change,” he commands. They remain still, unflinching. His volume erupts and startles everyone in the room. “Change!”
At this order, the ewe’s silvery fleece shifts to an enchanting olive tone, and her wool melts into flesh. Her front two legs become thin arms, and her face shrinks into the features of a woman. Flowing dark hair cascades out of her scalp, down her back and over her shoulders. The ostrich’s neck turns into smooth, stunning bronze skin, and its beak shrinks into full lips and a nose. The goat’s horns descend into its head, and its hooves become fingers.
The three Doruh shapeshifters stand nude before the room. While the two males—formerly the ostrich and the goat—avert their eyes from the MegaMother’s head, the female keeps her chin level, meeting Red-Lo’s gaze with fiery defiance.
One of the Assembly Members falls back into her seat and speaks. Her voice emerges strained, no louder than a whisper. “What have you done, Red-Lo?”
Red-Lo turns to her confidently. “I have saved SunSide. I have preserved the legacy of the master clan.”
“This is treason!” exclaims another Member.
Red-Lo grits his teeth. “Treason? No. Treason is this legislation you all planned to pass tomorrow.”
Realization dawns on their expressions and they exchange glances before a third speaks.
“That is why you chose today.” Member Shersa says. He turns his head to look at the three shapeshifters still standing along the wall. “To stop Doruh Liberation.”
Red-Lo smiles. “Correct. The theocracy will recognize me as SunSide’s MegaFather, and then you will discontinue the Liberation. My reign dawns tomorrow with the new year.”
“We will do no such thing, Red-Lo,” the first Member says, drying her cheeks on the sleeve of her robe. “Mother’s final legislation will be fulfilled.”
Red-Lo’s tone hardens. “That title is no longer hers. From this day forth, you will call me, ‘Father.’ I don’t want to hear that word uttered in this kingdom unless it refers to Drof-Fa. We are now SunSide’s Mother and Father.”
Drof-Fa fails to contain her smile at Red-Lo’s conviction.
“Why do you care if the Doruh are liberated?” another Member inquires, his tone defeated.
“Because faerie blood was shed to put the shackles on their wrists. And I will not let the work of my forefathers be erased in the name of your misguided ‘equity.’ The faeries will not be replaced by”—he lifts an accusatory finger toward the shapeshifters—“these beasts.”
He turns back to the table. “Humans!”
Drof-Fa realizes she hadn’t noticed the three humans seated at the table when she first entered the room. They are recognizable by their clans’ unique anatomy: one with wings, another with an exoskeleton, and a third with fins and piscine nares.
Red-Lo continues. “You and the animals share a common evolutionary line. Do you believe they should be freed?”
The three human leaders silently convene and then the one with wings nods and stands. “We absolutely do not condone enslavement. We were invited here this week to celebrate the Liberation by both limbs of SunSide’s government: the theocracy and the monarchy.”
The human turns from Red-Lo to face the Assembly Members. “However, all three human clans possess a strict desire to avoid involvement in the affairs of other governments. It is now evident that the theocracy and the new monarch are no longer in agreement. We decline to comment.”
Red-Lo’s smile returns. “Excellent. A silent bystander is preferred to a vocal ally.”
Member Shersa rises to his feet and leans over the table, toward the humans. “This heathen is not our new monarch. And we will never recognize him as such.”
He turns and speaks to Red-Lo directly. “How can you possibly think that we would call you ‘Father,’ after what you’ve done? SunSide has never had a violent transition of power before, and it certainly will not for you.”
He scans Red-Lo from forehead to boots and back up again, then snickers condescendingly. “The faeries have spent centuries as SunSide’s ruling class. Mother and her predecessors spent decades ensuring that one’s clan is not the deciding factor on their social status. They brought a balance to SunSide that didn’t favor the faeries simply because of their greater population.”
He turns again, this time to face the Doruh servants in the room. He gives them a reassuring smile. “And as of tomorrow’s decree, they will have abolished bondage in SunSide forever.”
His smile fades and he turns back to Red-Lo. “The Doruh were born of our mistakes. They deserve autonomy, amends, and above all, our apologetic support. And you”—he spits the word with venom—“will not get in the way of that.”
Red-Lo steps toward the Member until he can feel Shersa’s breath on his face. He speaks softly, but confidently. “It is sentiments like those that invigorate my resistance. You are fortunate I know the value of the theocracy—that so many of my clan and my followers practice your primitive religion. Otherwise, your head would be sitting on that table next to hers.”
He steps back and speaks loudly again. “I have a proposition for the Assembly.”
Member Shersa laughs. “There is nothing you can offer us that would incline us to authorize this madness.” Other Members around the table nod and join his laughter.
“Not even the Temple Complex?” The laughter stops, and Red-Lo continues. “My first act as MegaFather will be to raze over half of our commercial district and build the largest compound of shrines to the Four you’ve ever seen. The Complex will serve thousands of devotees at a time, and will be structurally indestructible. Over a hundred warriors will act as security.”
Drof-Fa steps up beside Red-Lo. “Generations of MegaParents have denied the theocracy’s request. But your new MegaFather will not. His plans are feasible.”
Member Shersa scoffs, but when he turns to his colleagues, his expression dissolves. The theocrats slowly give him short nods and then lower their heads in shame.
His jaw hangs slack. “You can’t be serious.”
“Do it, Shersa,” an elderly Member instructs.
“But he murdered—”
“Do it. It is the will of the Four that the Temple Complex be constructed to worship them.”
Member Shersa turns to the three Doruh servants, hours from freedom, standing across the room. “I’m so sorry,” he says, his voice trembling.
All three servants burst into sobs. The ostrich drops to his knees and buries his face in his hands.
Member Shersa looks down at his feet. His voice is little more than a mutter. “The Assembly of the Radiance hereby recognizes Red-Lo as MegaFather of the queendo—” He pauses. “—kingdom of SunSide, by the power granted to this theocracy when anointed by the Four. May they illuminate his life and his reign.”
He forms a circle with his fingers and places it on his forehead, a salute of fealty and admiration for the reigning monarch. “Glory to Red-Lo, the MegaFather! Glory to the Four!” The remaining Members follow his lead.
Red-Lo holds up four fingers and places them over his own forehead, a reciprocal gesture showing respect to the theocracy. “Glory to SunSide!”
His words echo throughout the vast chamber, over the gut-wrenching sobs of the enslaved Doruh.