(っ◔◡◔)っ ♥ THIS CHAPTER WAS WRITTEN BY LICKERFISH ♥

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Federico stood in the empty hallway alone. The darkened plum walls began to cave in on his psyche. Shadowing his demeanour in a cold sweat as he felt himself being swallowed by the drowning sensations of his echoing pulse vibrating throughout his body. Causing him to shiver a little.

 At a slow pace, he inched his shaky fist towards the marble doors, exhaling as he braced himself to knock upon the Queen's chambers. Yet instead he took a step back and shook himself off, attempting to revive some life back into his tired stature.

 He licked his palm to smooth down the loose curls of his silver hair and dusted off his clothing to soften out any harsh wrinkles defining them.

Holding onto his secret was proving to be more challenging as each day passed. It stung his heart.

Yet he had no choice but to remain silent.

Or else.

Once he was done in his weak attempts to look somewhat awake he knocked on the door and slipped inside her room.

"Did you enjoy your beauty sleep?" Sakura rose from her seated position and strolled over to him.

"My deepest apologies darling, I had to attend to a few things"

"If you ever wish to be late again at least have the decency to make it somewhat fashionable, you look dreadful"

"Anyways, care to explain what you had to attend to that made me late for my meeting?"

Federico paused momentarily, in attempts to think of a lie to soothe her impatience.

"You wouldn't understand the matters of the male body"

"Oh really? Because I can assure you that I'm quite familiar with yours"

"How could I forget?" he winked at her, feeling a sudden warmth come upon him.

"I hope you didn't forget about last night either?" Zellie tilted her head.

"What happened last night?" Sakura asked.

Simultaneously Zellie and Federico glanced at each other.

"Let's just say that for a werewolf he is very well shaven" she giggled, nudging Sakura in the ribs.

"How could you be so selfish?" The Queen purred, slowly stroking Federico's arm. "Next time do remember to invite me, it's been a while since I've had my body examined in such exciting ways"

"It's probably only been 3 days" Aya rolled her eyes.

"I'm innocent"

"You'd be interested in join Queenie?" Zellie chirped.

Sakura smirked, slipping behind Zellie's body to hug her from behind. Causing a small gasp to escape from the scientist's mouth as Sakura cradled her body tighter. She carefully curled her fingers through Zellie's hair, sweeping it aside.

Then she pushed her.

Forcing her to land on her knees.

The Queen giggled and licked her lips, letting her soft breathes cascade across the girl's bare neck, before whispering in her ear.

"I may be a Queen but I'll have you bowing to me in a far more pleasurable position"

"You had sexual intercourse?" Harumi gulped.

"You didn't take part in it?" Sakura inquired.

"No"

"How sad, want me to change that?"

"My Queen-"

"Relax it was a joke"

He stared blankly at her, wide eyed.

"...Unless?"

His face was pruned to a red shade and he stared at the ground.

Sakura concealed her chuckles under her dainty palm and spun around, accidentally whipping him with her hair in the process.

"Anywho, who stole the mutt's sword?"

"It was Philip" Harumi answered, still staring at the ground.

"Philip?"

"That blonde prick?!" Aya's seethed, the rasp in her voice hindered her speech ever so lightly.

"Hush mutty, you should be sleeping"

"No, I should be gutting his royal body right now"

"You'll wake up your lap dog" Sakura pointed at Mikah.

"I wasn't sleeping, I was simply just resting my eyes, you expect me to actually sleep in the royal palace, especially in the confines of your chambers"

"I don't usually allow animals to lay on my bed, perhaps my floors if they're lucky so you should be very grateful right now"

"Thank you your majesty" he chuckled, dryly.

"Did you kill all of the rogues you captured?" Sakura sat down once again, crossing her legs.

"I can't remember?" Zellie glanced upwards to the side, letting her head tilt also.

"Hmm, they could be of value to me"

"My Queen, how will we get her sword back?"

"By killing the bastard"

"You're in no shape to do anything, all you need is rest and some tea. Mikah go put yourself to some use and bring her up some, make sure to bring me some also, I'm feeling rather peckish."

"Do you not have maids and servants to do that?"

"Yes that's why I'm talking to you"

Mikah sighed, looking down at Aya lying next to him, before arising to leave.

"Since you're already busy going to brew us all some tea go check the dungeons to see if there are any survivors left" Sakura yelled as he exited her room.

The feathery breaths of air sailed past Mikah as he strolled through the quiet hallways. Pale blue lights poured through the large windows, washing across the marble black and white floors like water as it cascaded the streams of fresh daylight inside the palace. 

Yet, he felt his steps get heavier and heavier as he drew closer to the dungeons. His mind went blank and his thoughts darker, smothering his brain with a headache. 

Fear had etched itself on his chest, coiling deep inside his bones as he felt its icy trail causing him to jolt at the very images of what he would find down there.

He was heading to the point of no return. The only way out of the dungeons was death. He wasn't sure if some of his comrades had suffered that fate yet, or perhaps he preferred not to know.

Glancing upwards he looked for help and it was as if his prayers had been answered as his vision transcended into the dreamy paintings of floating baby angels decorating the ceiling of the palace.

His heart soon became saturated with joy.

Until he felt a sudden drop.

Instead of feeling the floating sensations of peace like the angels, all he could feel was turmoil knotting itself in his guts.

The angels resembled the Queen Sakura. They had the exterior of beauty, innocence and charm yet inwardly it was a mystery as to what filled these divine creatures. Was it love, was it emptiness, or were they simply just hollow on the inside?

What was in Sakuras? If she had any, to begin with.

How could such a beautiful face have something so mischievous lurking deep within its heart?

Even the devil himself was once an angel.

It made Mikah question the alliance.

As he strolled further through the palace he saw the white and gold wallpaper and the other elegant features of the castle begin to wilt away as he descended into darker climates. 

The walls morphed into damp cobblestone with screams and tears of its prisoners ringing off its bricks. Rippling through the damp air. It reeked of sweat and vomit.

It was as if he had travelled to a different dimension. This place peeled away the façade of a perfect kingdom, unveiling the harsh truth that the majority of the general population still refused to believe. 

They were blinded by the elegant façade of royalty. Fully trusting in their rulers. It didn't matter whether it was out of fear or love, either way, they remained loyal to the crown and those that didn't become the victims hidden in these dungeons. 

He dipped his head in slightly, fearing to fully enter and be engulfed to the sights of dying people.

However, he halted.

Someone caught his eye.

Slowly glancing over his shoulder, he saw a frail pregnant young woman. She was shrouded in the shadows of her cell however, the green shades of her dress stood out.

He inched closer to the bars, recognising her face but not knowing her name. He was aware that he had seen her somewhere but he couldn't quite put his finger upon it.

"What intrigues you boy?"

Mikah jumped, glancing over his shoulder to witness Eldric narrowing his eyes on him.

"I'm very sorry, I didn't mean to intrude"

"I wouldn't have taken you for such a curious rebel, out of them all you seemed to be the less troublesome type, what is it that you are seeking?"

"I was just on my way to the kitchen, I'll be heading off now"

Mikah dipped his head down, attempting to avoid the harsh glares of Eldric. Yet he halted once again as Eldric spoke.

"Do you recognise the woman in the dungeons?"

"Yes, I'm presuming she was from the Elfvien kingdom" he paused his walking, his back still facing Eldric.

"I fail to see why a pregnant peasant would be so intriguing to you, she's simply just being used for experiments by one of the royal doctors"

Anger surged in his chest, rippling throughout his body until he felt it explode with redness in his face. Yet he allowed it to seethe through his clenched teeth like smoke, not wishing to bring upon any more trouble for his people.

He swiftly turned around to face Eldric again.

"I'd expect that much from a royal, you people truly have no shame, but experimenting on a pregnant woman, that's just taking matters too far"

"Well you are a rebel are you not? Whatever we do challenges your own low morals and beliefs which are tainted in such false pride and sin. You wouldn't be able to comprehend why we need such valuable information because you're too afraid to take the risk of sacrificing your own people. If your people are as loyal to your cause as you boast about, then you should not fear losing souls over it"

Eldric slowly brought himself closer to Mikah's body, so close that he could see his reflection staring back at him in the young soldier's eyes. He looked down upon him, scoffing at him as he clasped both his heavy palms over his staff, shaking his head in disapproval.

He was about to open his mouth yet again but was interrupted by a petit body almost knocking him off his feet.

"The Queenie kept complaining of how long you were taking so she sent me down to retrieve you-"

"I thought the Queen despised peasants, why is there an elderly one in her palace?" Zellie tilted her head, scratching the back of it as she looked at Eldric.

"Pardon me?!"

"Oh wait, is this one of my hostages? I thought I only captured the rogue children? This one seems way too old though?"

"No Zellie he's-"

"You must be one of the elderly peasants I was experimenting on"

She snapped her fingers, nodding her head with this false realisation.

"I can't wait to work on you- I mean with you, your kind has always been my favourite to work with, they have such mushy skin so it's much easier to cut through"

"Zellie, this is Eldric, the Queen's head royal advisor"

"Ahhh oopsie" she chuckled slowly. "I've heard so much about you...you're the father of that crossdresser right? It's an honour seeing you in the flesh"

"We'll be leaving now" Mikah placed his hands upon her shoulders, steering her away from the scene.

"I don't have time for this foolishness" Eldric exhaled beginning to walk away. "Tell Fredrico that I wish to speak with him"

Eldric's nose shrivelled, towering above Dhuna.

"Such vile creatures" his lips curled, watching as a mixture of blood and urine seeped from her dress.

Her face swamped and wrinkled in tears as she dug her nails into the dirty cobblestone grounds, seeking relief. The lime dress on her body clung to her sweaty skin, unveiling her quivering belly and the creases of her veins suffering from labour pain.

She gasped heavily for help which was rapidly met by Eldric's aid. He coiled his hand around her neck, causing her feet to dangle from the ground. He plunged his fingers into her neck, forcing her breathing to become strained and saliva to drool down her gaping mouth.

The muscles in her throat tensed, aching for air as they throbbed underneath his grasp. But to no avail. His fingers sank deeper inside her throat, disappearing inside her soft flesh until her eyes rolled back and her body lay limp in his hold.

"Pick the child up" he shoved Dhuna's lifeless body aside with his cane, making way for Federico.

Federico gulped, pushing down the vomit rapidly burning in his core. He sank down to retrieve the newborn baby out of its mother's corpse.

Once he had risen Eldric snatched the newborn from his hands, scoffing with the slightest hint of a smile as he took note of the gender of the baby.

It was a boy.

He wrapped the infant in a soft cloth, concealing its cries.

Although Federico had witnessed this side of Eldric on multiple occasions his emotions and body never failed to coil under fear viewing his harsh actions.

His vision wavered, darting to and fro from Dhuna's corpse to the bloody ground, to the baby in Eldric's arms and the glint of a smirk dusted underneath his heavy beard.

That man would risk a life to achieve what he desired and Federico knew that if he wasn't careful he would be next.

"Why exactly did you need that pregnant peasant?"

"Dhuna is useless to me, it's her child that I desire. This baby will allow my son to finally rule"

"How so? He isn't married to the Queen"

"Not yet"

"She's refused every marriage propositions so far, she would never agree to that"

"She already has, she still foolishly believes that she genuinely signed Clarence's medical bills"

Federico chuckled but in a dry manner, quickly disguising it with a slight cough.

"Sorry darling, I don't mean to chuckle, but Clarence doesn't really seem like her type, or anyone's to be quite honest..."

"That harlot has no type, she sleeps with anything with the breath of life, however, it doesn't matter, she has no choice"

Eldric rolled his eyes to heaven, shaking his head.

"Her time as a Queen is running out, a Queen cannot rule alone. Soon the public will get violent and restless for a King and of course a baby along with that. They need reassurance that their Royal Kingdoms lineage will not die out and will last for further generations."

"Would it not be easier if he just slept with her? Everyone, even throughout all the vast Kingdoms and Empires is aware of how she likes to play with her body, it's a surprise my favourite darling isn't pregnant yet"

"She lacks the ability to do so"

"How come?"

"As a child she suffered severe injuries to her womb, that's why she has no other option but to accept my arrangement, if not her own Royal Council and the public will turn against her and in the fear of being pressured to bear forth a child she will submit to Clarence and allow him to rule above her"

Federico felt the fear creep along his skin, plucking out an array of goosebumps scaring his arms.

His body was frozen, along with his eyes bulging at Eldric's dangerous words.

He felt the sensation of ice pierce into his bones, bolting up his spine as he dwelled on his messy thoughts.

He needed to stop this however he didn't know how, until an idea popped in his mind.

One detail about Eldric was his ego, he was a very hard man to please yet at the end of the day he was like any other being. 

With the right words, anyone could be boosted by a simple compliment and Federico knew that this would be the only way he could keep himself and Sakura safe by pretending to agree with his plan.

He felt his hand spams but he swiftly caught hold of it, not wishing to make it obvious to Eldric that he was afraid. Although he was somewhat aware that it was too late for that.

"I suppose this could be good for Clarence in a way, he could gain some sexual experience. He could learn a thing or two in the bedroom, he seems like the prudish type"

"Any man that falls for the temptations of a women's sex appeal is no different than a fool and he will be easily dominated by her, the only way to avoid that is to get rid of that useless genital, that is why no women has ever been able to sexually arouse me"

"Then how did you bring Clarence into this world? Were you not attracted to your wife before you did that act?"

"A woman's only job is to bear forth children, it doesn't matter who the woman is. A womb is a womb and what better womb than the one I came forth out of"

The vomit burst into Federico's mouth, he clasped both palms upon his lips blocking it from spewing out. 

He gulped down the itchy and burning liquid, his eyes stinging a little as he coughed, hearing his stomach churn at the disgustingly vivid image transforming in his mind.

"H-How did your mother feel during that?!"

"She felt nothing. How could she feel anything if she is brain dead and paralysed?"

Federico couldn't control himself and the vomit spilt from his mouth.

"No need for the dramatics" he scowled. "That's simply the fate of a dominating woman, she not only lost the power in her hand but in her mind too as she deserved. It's her punishment for abusing my father"

The stench of fear choked him, it was sweaty and clogged up his vocal cords prohibiting from speaking. It was gooey, leaving behind no place untouched as it infected his lips.

Causing dryness to lurk on his tongue, sticking it to his upper mouth.

His heartbeat thrummed loudly against his ribcage, pulping the leftover sick sitting in his belly.

"Why are you revealing all these details to me? You know I'm close with the Queen" slowly inching away, Federico cowered away towards the doors, his hand so close to touching the knob.

"Your power is beneficial to my son, you are the only one out of the 13 celestial stars that is able to heal people by blood transfusions-"

Eldric gripped his clutch with one hand, striking it on the ground with a loud thump shaking the floorboards.

It felt like a heavyweight had smashed upon Federico's head, sending forth splinters of electricity throughout his body, stunning his balance and vision.

It stung his limbs with intense pains and aches causing his body to shiver rapidly.

"-And I'm also very well aware of the fact that you are in eternal debt to me if it wasn't for me that celestial Taurus would have murdered you"

"There are no longer 13 celestial stars if I have fallen, I was the odd one out for a reason, and perhaps my fate was truly written in the stars"

Eldric continued to strike his staff upon the ground, creating a lyrical beat which attacked Federico at every angle to the point that his shoulders slumped over and froth began to bubble up in his mouth and spill from his lips.

He longed to move but his own wishes fell upon deaf ears.

"You are supposed to be the celestial snake yet you are so easily charmed by music. This must explain why you were so easily manipulated into sleeping with that bull."

Federico's skin began to tingle and sting all at once as he began to lose control of his limbs. White noise drowned his hearing, pounding the flow of blood against his ears. 

His eyes whirled in loops of black and white swirls until he collapsed onto the floor.

"It would be far too late for you to dispose of your genitals now when you've already been cursed" Eldric chuckled darkly, snickering at how the spiral of white and black swirled in Federico's eyes, prompting his body to shake even more until he fell into a full-blown seizure.

"Death is the only reward for weak men, that's why I blame my father for it all. He tried, but not hard enough, he didn't kill her, he only killed her brain leaving her paralysed, he should have finished her off."

"So I had to finish him."

"You truly are that tired? How did you stumble out here?"

"W-What?" Blurriness tainted Federico's sight as he scratched his eyes, glancing at his surroundings.

"How long have you been here for? Are you alright Federico?"

Federico's mind still spun from the hypnotization, his hearing faded in and out of the conversation as he attempted to focus his eyes upwards towards Mikah and Zellie who were towering over him.

"Did Eldric cause this?" Mikah urged, reaching his arm out to help Federico up.

"Oh n-no no, of course not darling"

"I-I wasn't that long with him, in fact, he only wanted to quickly inform me about some investigations he wanted me to get involved in, something to do with petty crime with the commoners that I'll have to deal with later"

Although Federico was free to work with Sakura and the others he still had duties towards Eldric since he did bring him in as a detective for the palace.

"Then how did you end up here?"

"It's rather embarrassing to say but I had a little too much wine to drink. To be very honest wine makes me quite tired, so I wanted to take a brief nap before regrouping with you all"

"You need to be more careful with your liquor, especially at a time like this, there are many other ways to fall asleep faster"

"Want some tea? I promise I didn't poison it this time" Zellie swirled the pretty teacup in her hand, managing to contain the liquid within its small confines.

Fedrico shook his head.

"Let's keep this a secret between us, I don't want Saku darling hearing about this, she already has enough on her little hands"

"Why of course" Zellie nodded.

The newly formed alliance group sat in the chambers of Sakura's bedroom. It was lavished in pink wallpaper, decorated with silky wine bedsheets and coated in a lush purple carpet.

Although none of those was her favourite colour. Hers was dark green.

The only reason the Queen slept in red sheets was out of respect for her father. It was his favourite colour.

It was also the colour of blood.

And she was forced to sleep in the blood of his victims.

Even though he was long gone, his shadow still remained over her empire and over her life as a Queen and she despised it.

"Geez, you must have been on a killing spree, you left no survivors behind" Mikah aided Zellie in handing out the tea to everyone.

"Oopsies"

"Queen Miki only asked you to torture them for answers?"

"Isn't that the same thing? They sound pretty similar to me"

"It doesn't matter, they were just peasants anyways and even worse they were rogue peasants. At least with normal peasants, they have some sort of understanding to pick a side, these freaks have commitment issues" Sakura stood upon a small wooden box, due to her small height she needed it in order to reach her plotting board. Once she arose she began to attach red strings to it to display her theories and ideas. "Besides, I can think of a new plan"

"Please do it quickly Queenie, we don't have a lot of time left" Zellie urged.

"If you rush me how else will I focus?"

"It's not me, it's Aya's blood, we need to attack within 4 days or else her blood will reject yours"

"Why is that?"

"Human blood is thicker than vampiric blood so it will rinse out of her body"

"We also have to take into consideration that Miss. Kamishiro is a vegetarian vampire so since she isn't feeding off of human blood and only animal blood it makes her blood pressure go down so it quenches her thirst" Harumi added.

"Hmm, ok. I initially thought of us sneaking into his whereabouts to retract the sword but we will do things differently this time. I'll enter casually as if nothing has happened and while I distract him, Zellie will get the sword back. There is no need for us to sneak around especially if Aya isn't coming. The only issue is how he will react".

"Well, with you mutt it wasn't a surprise that you got attacked, I mean it is you" Sakura smirked at Aya.

"Well fuck you too"

"You're a rebel and Philip has very strict views on the monarchy so it makes sense as to why that happened. But with me it's different. He used to work for me, he is obviously well acquainted with me."

"Are you sure he has any ill intentions for you specifically my Queen? Maybe it's just Karma that has cast a spell on him to make him act this way" Harumi pondered.

"Yes, it's just I'm still in shock that Philip was able to pull off something that extreme, he was a hard worker but always seemed very distracted when he used to work for me."

"That's because he was too busy jerking off to ya" Aya kissed her teeth.

"How cute"

"I'm being serious. He's obsessed with you"

"Well, I wouldn't blame him" Sakura giggled. "But are you sure?"

"Darling I'm sure that even Clarence could tell that he's infatuated with you and he's a very scary individual" Federico sighed.

"Oh I'm not surprised, I mean you have eyes, simply just look at me" Sakura winked, flipping her hair.

Aya chuckled, scoffing at the Queen's cockiness.

"Love you too mutt"

"Whatever floats your boat Queenie"

"I'll help you get dolled up to seduce him" Federico began to lead her over to her makeup desk.

"I'm not going to whore myself out like that"

"Isn't that a speciality of yours though?" Aya took a sip of her tea.

"Only for you mutt" she blew her a small kiss.

As Federico helped with Sakura's makeup and her attire she was lulled into her own thoughts.

Sakura was very well used to doing these kinds of things. 

However, this time it was different. When she delved into the lustful desires of her body she did it on her own accord, it was all a game to her, to feed her boredom. 

This was in fact how Federico and her connected on an intimate level.

But it was different if she was forced to do it. It was something she despised very much so. It is also why she rejected so many marriage proposals. She wasn't going to allow anyone to put a price on her body.

She desired to be in control of her own body. All her life, those around her controlled every aspect of her life, yet her body was the one weapon she had full authority over and she would never allow anyone to dominate it again.

"You alright my darling?"

"Of course, I just got a little distracted, I didn't realise I was this beautiful"

The Queen licked her lips, absorbing the sweet taste of her red lipstick. Her eyes sparkled in her mirror to which Federico rubbed his palms excitedly, kissing her cheek as he complimented her.

But for a brief moment, the slight look of sadness dulled her eyes.

Copyright © 2019 by LickerFish

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