Pillars of light flooded into the throne room from the stained glass windows, the multi-colored shapes caught by the motes of dust within, shifting and moving as if the air itself was alive.

Queen Marianna sat at the throne, legs crossed, head rested on her hand, and her shirtless male servants massaging her back and feet.

From the side doorway, Kisk looked at the crowd and noticed it was thinner today. The line shorter. The people here dressed in military uniforms, most nervous, others pale with fright. Was there another survivor besides herself and Ai-Gee?

"I must say," he whispered into her ear. "You look delicious in that gown."

She rolled her eyes. The gown was a strappy, stringy black thing that was ultimately fetish gear. It was aggressively tight against her skin, aggressively demanding to squeeze together her breasts and grip her thighs and show all of her except for the most important bits. But none of this was for Ai-Gee. It was for her, for Marianna.

Ai-Gee tried again. "How about we skip all this and see what's in that closet over there?"

"Brooms," she whispered back. "That's all."

Marianna shouted in the throne room. The old man burst into tears and shuffled away, and she waved in the next person--an officer. He hurried over and stood before her.

"Speak," she said.

"Advances have yet been made, your highness. However, it is indeed as you suggested. We cannot make use of it on such a strong gravitational body."

She scoffed. "Did the research team dare doubt me?"

"No, your highness. We only sought the best way to go about the solution."

"Well?"

"We require another design from the outer reaches."

She glared. A deathly silence followed. She fingered over a butler-type man and whispered into his ear. She waved him away, and he scurried back. "Very well, you may have your blueprints."

"Th-thank you, my Queen."

"Do not fail me."

The officer hurried off.

The next was an old general. A bushy white mustache and a dozen shiny medals on his chest. He even clinked around as he walked.

"My Queen, I deliver to you another victory on the Northern front."

She smirked. "Excellent work, General Tarol. I will have you duly rewarded."

The general's cheeks reddened with pride, and he grinned. "Thank you, my Queen!" He spun on his heels and marched off.

The next was a pale-faced guy, middle-aged, fresh bandage over his eye. He presented in front of the queen, and she stared daggers down into him.

He knelt in front of her and lowered his head. "My Queen," he said. "I regret to inform you that the 3rd army was lost in the siege of--"

"Silence," she said. She gestured to the guards on the wall, and they stepped over dutifully--

The officer stared with dead eyes, unmoving, accepting.

--and with their halberds sliced him through at the neck. A curtain of blood sprayed out toward Marianna, but it deflected against a shimmering mana wall. Kisk could only see it for a split second, but she saw how thick it was, how each honeycomb section of protective power was thicker than the thickest ship armor, and her heart quickened and her pulse throbbed and soon Kisk found herself panting at that Queen of a woman atop the throne and she--oh my--she noticed Kisk staring with near-drooling lips and she--oh, yes--she winked!

Ai-Gee yanked her by the wrist, and they hurried before the Queen. He knelt like a squire, noticed Kisk standing around like an idiot, and yanked her down to join him. He seemed... nervous. Afraid. Weak. Kisk found it disgusting.

"My Queen," he said. "The 3rd fleet is lost."

The crowd whispered in shock for a moment, and silence soon fell upon them. A heavy silence like an axe resting on a naked throat.

"So, the rebels beat you," Marianna said. "Explain yourself."

"It is as we expected, your highness. The rebel leader known as Redrim is indeed Obi imsi."

Another beat of silence. Kisk's life was dangerously on the line, and she knew it, but she couldn't shake the utter lust she felt for this woman. She glanced up at Marianna, up the length of her, up past her stilettos, up her legs, her perfect waist and breasts and her taunting smile that--

"Who is Obi Imsi?" Marianna asked.

"I, uh..." Ai-Gee stammered. "He was... just some guy, I guess. You turned him into a trash can."

"That doesn't really narrow it down," she said.

Ai-Gee elbowed Kisk for help.

"Ah, M-Marianna, my queen," Kisk said. Her face glowed pink. "Obi Imsi was my harem master."

"Ah!" Marianna said. "That one. Yes, so that is Redrim." She chuckled. "So stupid..." she said under her breath. "Very well, Ai-Gee, I will give you one last chance."

"Thank you, my Queen."

A small portal snapped open beside Marianna, and she stuck her hand into what was apparently a common shelf. On it, several red gemstones sat in neat rows and columns, all meticulously labeled. Marianna first tried to look seductively into the eyes of Kisk--not watching where her hand was sniffing around--and she couldn't find what she was looking for.

Marianna swiped her hand, shifting the viewport of the portal, and the shelves moved around at angles, revealing an entire warehouse of red gemstones. Eventually, she found what she was looking for and plucked it out. She admired it, then tossed it to Ai-Gee. "There. Consider this both the tool to kill him and the reward for doing so."

Ai-Gee studied its edges and color. "Thank you, my Queen, but what is this?"

The queen smirked down at him, and he noticed Kisk staring, too. Now her lustful hunger dug into him, wanting him, needing him. Ai-Gee realized what it was, and he gripped hard the stone. "I will not fail you, My Queen."

Marianna smirked down at him, and without him realizing it, another young woman stood by his side.

A little elf priestess who stared wantingly up at him.