The bodies were more gruesome than anything Lilah had ever seen. Each one of them was a blueish gray, and bloated as if they had been hanging there for a while. The victims' faces were also turning gray and their tongues stuck out, as swollen as their legs and arms. Lilah counted two men, a woman, and worst of all, one child who could not have been more than seven when hanged. Even from the distance, Lilah could see the deep rings that encircled each person's neck. An unforgiving breeze blew through the town, the stench of rotting flesh evaded Lilah's senses and she could taste the decay when she opened her mouth to speak.
"Is that the executed Noduvs from a week ago?" Lilah demanded, her voice sounded frail and quivering.
"I can't believe it. How could they do this?" Marzonna asked anyone.
Bleu was only shaking his head and looking truly horrified. "I don't know what's going on, none of this was reported to me."
Lilah could listen no more. She tugged Georgie's reins and trotted towards the guards standing in front of the gallows. She could hear her blood furiously pumping in her ears even over all the chants. The young queen trained her eyes on the guards instead of the decomposing bodies behind them. She watched as eight sets of indifferent gazes looked at her as she jumped from Georgie and marched towards them.
"What is the meaning of this?" She demanded.
The men only looked at her. They offered no answers and even less emotion.
"What is happening here?" Lilah was now screaming, all of Marzonna's lessons on keeping cool and composed were thrown out the window.
One of the officers, a rather stout man with wild red hair, moved closer to her and said, "You may be the tightest little Midrouge rat that I've seen walk these streets, but if you keep pesterin' us I'm going to swat you like a gnat." He added a sickly sweet grin and squeezed her side as he said the last part in a way that made Lilah's stomach roil.
The queen flung his hand off of her and shouted. "I am Queen Lilah Boyajek and you will tell me what is going on immediately." She tugged her scarf back from her head and showed the most valuable crown she possessed. They would not simply take Lilah's word for it, so she knew she would need the extravagance to show off, for none other but a royal could own such opulence. At the sight of it, the men's eyes widened and they seemed to really look at her for the first time. They glanced at her fine clothes and the horse behind her that was the breed of all the palace horses and they seemed to see the truth in her words. A man in the middle who wore more medals on his uniform than the rest stepped forward and bowed to her, the rest of the officers followed suit. Lilah didn't miss the look of contempt the red headed one gave her as he was put in his place.
"Forgive me, Your Majesty. I had not realized." The officer in charge said a bit coolly.
"What is the meaning of this?" She ignored his greeting and pointed her finger behind them. Her voice was still very loud and she felt eyes watching them.
"We were ordered to leave the bodies here until the two fugitives were caught and hung as well, Your Majesty." He said and looked at her a little confused, obviously wondering why she didn't already know this information. That look made Lilah realize just how much liberty the cabinet had been taking without her knowledge. Shame riddled her bones and threatened to drag her under, but Lilah held desperately to her fury in order to finish what had to be done.
"I have given no such order,"
"The cabinet has, Your Majesty. They gave an executive order. Would you like to see the letter?" He asked, his voice now bordered on taunting.
"No." She gritted her teeth. "I do not want to see the letter, I want to see these people taken down and buried like they should've been a week ago."
The middle aged officer, who appeared to be the captain, studied her for a moment with his jaw clenched, but eventually bowed and said, "Of course, Your Majesty."
He turned around and gave orders to his officers, who all looked over the captain's shoulders and regarded Lilah with curiosity, a few even showed annoyance. They all eventually nodded and followed the captain's orders. As the men climbed the gallows and walked towards the bodies, Lilah became very aware of the loud crowd growing around her. She turned to find Marzonna and Bleu standing behind her with the horses and protecting her perimeter, but everyone else was a stranger. They were the same people who were just crowded around the church, but now pushed in around the gallows. She noticed they all kept a safe distance around her and she realized they must have realized Lilah was the queen. They all split their glances between her and the officers, watching in wonder as they tried to figure out what was happening. Lilah heard an officer behind her who had tried to cut down a body and vomited off to the side, apparently disgusted by the decomposing flesh. Lilah thought it served him right.
The queen looked out to the crowd and decided this was the moment to state her cause. She straightened her crown, positioned herself right in front of the gallows, and held her head high. The crowd instinctively quieted and allowed her to speak.
"I am Queen Lilah Boyojek and I have travelled from Vidan to personally tend to the tragedies that have taken place in this city. There have been grave injustices made against the Church of Boneel and against Noduvs. I am here to reconcile." She paused thoughtfully and scanned the crowd. The gaunt faces that were looking back at her were all twisted into looks of doubt and some even held unadulterated disgust. Lilah continued. "The cabinet that my father-" At the mention of her father, the crowd started to hiss and spit over their shoulders, but their hatred for him only made Lilah feel more connected to them so she pushed on, "The cabinet that my father established is corrupt and filled with vile men who have never seen the suffering you endure outside of the palace walls, but I have. I see your trouble and sorrow and I vow to fight for you and the rest of Delladine's people as long as I rule."
Lilah could feel a charge in the air like a shift in a tide. The hairs on the back of her neck stood as she found that the crowd was starting to listen to her with more ready gazes, even though they still held apprehension. "I will not stand for this persecution of your religion or its practices, so I am here today to personally pardon the two men who have found sanctuary in your beautiful church."
Lilah barely had time to finish her sentence before the crowd went wild with shouts of celebration, the mass of people sounded animalistic as they all bellowed as loudly as possible. They began some sort of chant that Lilah had never heard before, something filled with many deep "oohs" and "tsks" and a great deal of stomping. For the first time since she started the speech, she turned her attention back to the officers behind her. They had all stopped in their duties and were staring at her, some even did so whilst holding up a body over their shoulder, with so much hatred that for a quick moment, she wondered if one of them would try to strike her. Her gaze eventually met up with the lead officer and he gave her a smile so filled with spite, that she nearly shuttered.
There was a tight grip on her wrist and she turned to find Bleu standing beside her with eyes narrowed and searching everywhere. "What is it?" She asked and started looking around as well. The crowd was still loud and chanting, the stench of grime and sweat wafted through the air with every new tide of chants that they offered.
"We need to get the men and leave. There is sure to be danger now that you have chosen a side." Bleu said tightly. He was completely engrossed in his role as Queen's Guard now. Marzonna handed Georgie's reigns to Lilah and offered a look that Lilah knew was meant to show her approval. The queen only nodded before gracefully climbing onto the saddle.
"Make way for your queen." Bleu bellowed with so much authority that it cut through the crowd's chants like a spoon through warm butter.
Immediately the crowd shifted and made a space for the three horses to walk through, but they did not stop shouting. Lilah lead the group towards the church and tried not to look everywhere in the crowd for a sign of danger, knowing that it would make her appear weak and fearful. She resigned to just shifting her eyes subtly, but kept her head held high. As their group made its way through the stifling ocean of bodies, Lilah started to pay attention to what they were saying. She immediately recognized it as an old Boneel prayer.
"Of mud, of flesh, of fire."
They said the six words over and over again. Lilah knew it to be the Prayer of Protection that was said every morning within the Church of Boneel. She finished the prayer in her head just to see if she could remember it.
Of mud, of flesh, of fire, may those who know them wield them, let come death or disgrace. The way of Boneel shall bestow prosperity and protection to its flock. Gods and Goddesses see all, know all, and will make all just in the end.
The prayer made Lilah's skin crawl. She couldn't decide if they meant her to be protected by their gods or to burn for her entire afterlife. Lilah felt the deep shiver climb her spine, not because she feared their choice, but because she found she did not prefer one over the other so long as it happened after she finished her work.