The Beast King (Royal Aliens 3)

That announcement caused great jubilation, not only among the servants and courtier types, but among the peasants at the gates, who had risen from their feet and were drying their eyes and seemed willing to put whatever horrors the past had inflicted on them aside for the promise of a good meal.

Confused by all that was happening, Elizabeth did her best to simply pay attention. It seemed that the palace was inhabited entirely by servants and peasants. Where were all the nobles? Even the courtiers didn’t look very high status. There was an entire strata of society missing, at least according to her world view. Perhaps on Masih there was only the king and then everybody else. Sort of a two-tier sort of deal. Would that be better?

Just as she was considering the pros and cons of a society where everybody collectively shared fuck all, a figure in fancy robes appeared, looking very noble indeed. He’d painted his forehead scales in a variety of colors and made a most fabulous apparition, appearing as he did through a swathe of duller, poorer creatures.

“Rashim!” Konan called out a name.

“Sire, it is so good to see you,” Rashim smiled broadly. He was much more finely dressed than any of the others. He wore gold and silver and bronze all sort of at once in a flowing gown which made him look like a cross between a priest and a Christmas tree.

“You kept my throne warm for me, Rashim?”

“I kept the peasants from overrunning the palace in your absence, sire. They had some notions about sharing the riches among themselves. I put paid to any such ideas.”

“Ah, ha! Of course you did, Rashim. For if you had not, then you would not have been able to hoard them for yourself if I had not returned, and if my brother had been killed by the general you sent after him.”

Something was happening. A scandal was being laid bare. Elizabeth could barely keep up, hardly knowing any of the players, but it seemed that Konan thought Rashim was somehow responsible for what had become of Herk. Was this a shining traitor they were confronting?

Apparently, she was not the only one thinking along those lines. It may not have been her thought she was having at all. It might have been plucked out of Konan’s head.

The king stepped forward, a blade in his hand. She didn’t see where he’d taken it from. Probably from one of his soldiers. He dropped her chain and pushed her back lightly to keep her away from what was about to be a scene of extreme violence.

It was surprisingly easy to kill someone, Elizabeth discovered over the next ten seconds. Konan cut the noble down without so much as a word. There was rather a lot of blood of the stomach-curdling kind, the kind which made Elizabeth’s meal rise up her throat and attempt to escape her mouth.

“Sorry," Konan said, wiping his blade casually. “He was a traitor. I cannot, and will not stand traitors.”

So there it was. A casual murder. Maybe the guy had deserved it. Maybe he hadn’t. There was no way of knowing now that he was dead and could no longer defend himself.

“Throw his body to the wild beasts,” Konan ordered. “I am done with traitors and usurpers. And tell the general not to make his presence known on this planet again, lest he suffer the same fate.”

Hushed whispers and muffled murmurs ran through the crowd. Konan scared his people. Konan scared her too, if she was completely honest.

She was shocked, stunned, and numb. Konan picked her chain up again and led her into the castle proper, which turned out to be every bit as spectacular on the inside as it had been on the outside. There was a circular hole in the very top spire, allowing light down into the foyer where she stood at the foot of a very broad staircase, looking up at the interior of what might be her new home.

“I am taking my human and I intend to settle her in my chamber,” he announced. “You, my crew, are the new nobility. Find yourselves quarters you like, and we will discuss the titles you have earned yourselves with your steadfast loyalty.”

A cheer went up at that news, which explained in some part the empty palace. The nobles who had been there were gone. Very gone. Probably gone like poor Rashim was gone.

“Konan…” she said his name in a small voice.

“Yes?”

He was leading her up the stairs, which led to more stairs, which finally led to a chamber of great riches and majesty and treasures — all the things she had imagined a foreign and exotic alien king might possess.

“This is our chamber,” Konan told her. “This is where you will always be safe.”

She smiled, but it was only a small smile, and quite devoid of actual happiness. The last thing she felt right now was safe.