“Stronger against what? The residents of Terra are a peaceful people. What would they need armed soldiers for? No. That was your doing. You knew you had no right to the crown so you took it by force with paid thugs.” Thea ignored the looks from the soldiers around the room who grumbled at her words. “As far as advancements are concerned you can thank me and my family for that. Every time a Resident steps into a gate to travel to another world they do so because we created the technology. Any piece of technology you can point to in this city was designed and built by a Thanatos. The only thing you contributed to, old friend, was our demise.”
“Enough with this,” Kyra commanded. “No one cares to hear you carry on about your dead family.”
Evan watched as Thea’s face dropped, the Queen’s biting remarks registering the intended cruelty. He had never known Kyra to be uncaring, and to hear her speak of Thea’s family without a modicum of respect left him feeling sick. It was the Stratons who murdered the Thanatos family, not the other way around.
The Queen continued. “Thea Thanatos, you are accused of stealing a volume of the Royal Anthology, conspiracy to commit fraud against the royal family, kidnapping and holding the King hostage, and the attempt to flee custody of the Crown. How do you respond to these changes?”
“One cannot steal what is rightfully theirs,” Thea disputed. Her eyes moved from Kyra to the Queen Mother where they stayed, a burning intensity in her dark eyes. “I have committed no fraud against the royal family because I am the royal family. There is no King of Terra to kidnap or hold hostage and am therefore innocent of that charge as well. I do not recognize the authority of these men you have paid and placed in uniforms, and therefore made no attempts to escape the company of anyone whose title is ill-conceived and fabricated.”
The Queen let out a tsk-tsk-tsk and shook her head at Thea’s response. “I get it. You obviously place no value on your life and are willing to give it up for some dream that died half a generation ago.” Her sympathetic smile was insincere, condescending even. After a moment she turned her attention from Thea to the King and the smile faded. “Perhaps she cares more about the lives of others? Her coconspirator for example?”
The King looked up to meet his wife’s eyes, his face resolute but also careful. He knew better than to be so brazen with the Queen or Queen Mother, unlike Thea.
“Owyn you disappoint me,” Kyra proclaimed. “Disloyalty and treason are not qualities suitable in a King. Your deception is twofold; you’ve not only betrayed your people but also your own family.”
The King held his head up and looked plainly at Kyra. “Disloyalty. Treason. Deception. Those are tenets of the Straton family name, are they not? Am I really being accused of the same crimes committed by my own family?”
The Queen Mother scoffed from her seat. “That’s a hefty accusation coming from someone who was taken in by this family and appointed King. Where exactly do you think you’d be without your family, Owyn?”
The King shrugged. “Dead, like they are. Isn’t that right, Aunt Korina?” Several of the soldiers moved forward towards him but stopped abruptly when Kyra put her hand up.
“As King you more than anyone know the consequences of the actions you have taken. That tells me it was a conscious decision on your part and one you’re willing to suffer the consequences for. Am I correct?” Owyn remained silent as he returned the Queen’s stare. She nodded at him before looking up towards her mother, who stood and made her way down the raised throne. The thick fabric of her robe splayed out behind her to form a brilliantly colored transport, the golden embroidery catching the light in the room around them. She moved to stand in front of Owyn as half a dozen Crown Soldiers formed parallel rows around him, guarding his movements carefully.
The Queen Mother produced a scroll from inside her robe and handed it to Hector, who had appeared at her side. He unrolled the scroll and held it stiffly in his hands. From his vantage point Evan couldn’t see what it was, but had the distinct feeling it wasn’t good. Owyn glanced at the document but his face remained unchanged. Was he expecting this?
“I may be the Queen Mother but I still maintain a certain amount of power in Terra, which includes the power to nullify certain arrangements made during my reign as Queen. As your signature on this document binds you in legal marriage to my daughter, a second abrogates it.” She presented to him a golden pen. “If you please.”
Owyn looked from the Queen Mother to Hector and then at the document. Without any obvious hesitation he accepted the pen and scrawled his name on the document before silently returning the pen to her. She placed it inside her robe and nodded towards Hector.