"You hate me?" Chántel scoffed. "I should be the one doing the hating, you-- Imperial sicko."
The queen laughed and set her crown on the table. "What makes you the victim?"
"Err… one, you confiscated my ship, do you know what we went through before we made it to the palace?" Chántel queried. "What even made you think it was a good idea to take my ship?"
The yellow-haired woman raised her brows at her sister. "To make you come for it and by the look of things I'd say it worked; you are here now," she revealed with a bright smile.
"Unbelievable. You are unbelievable. You could have left the mobile communication device on my ship with Uyi…"
"Would you have come?"
"I mean," Chántel drawled.
"See, I walked in the right direction…" the Queen stood up from her seat and strode to a large window behind them. The window was behind the palace building and so she was able to see the other Tzerian buildings like a mat spread on the ground. "… Just like I've been doing with the planet."
Tzeria is a small planet with twenty-one moons that are visible in the sky at all times. Because of the size of the planet and the number of moons that orbit the planet, Tzeria was labeled the fastest-developing planet until the Galactic War.
Chántel stood up from her seat and walked up to where the queen stood, gazing out the window too.
"Do you think I've ruled the way father would have?" The yellow-haired lady asked, her tone softening even more.
The leader of the ONLINE squad looked at her sister before turning away. "My squad still flies the space of Tzeria every day, so no."
The queen chuckled.
"But I believe you've ruled far better than Father did when he was King. That I'm certain of," Chántel stated.
The queen turned to fully face her sister. "Why?" She started. "Why'd you refuse to be Queen? You are the older daughter, you should have been queen, why did you run away?"
Chántel remained quiet for a moment before speaking. "Honestly, I didn't like the fact that I won't be able to alter the law that mandates every Queen be called Elizabeth. Plus Dad made me hate politics. The way he forced me to always be in court and make bitter decisions. But I guess that shadow chased me because I'm still making decisions, even though for a smaller group."
"Oh," Queen Elizabeth V exclaimed. "After Mom and Dad died, the court proceeded to crown me as queen even though I was 18 and know very little about the Tzerian politics. You knew more, you were the older one, and this throne belongs to you."
"But look at you now, you've finally gotten in line as those imperial scumbags like Father. You should be proud of yourself, hell, I am proud of you."
Chántel outstretched her hands and her younger sister warmly fell into her embrace. She stroke her back with her palm and sighed. "I'm sorry I left the palace without saying anything to you," the red-haired lady apologized.
"But that's all in the past now and should be the least of your worries. Now put your silly crown back on, and return the expression you had when you walked into this room." Chántel take the crown from the table and placed it on the Queen's head.
"I'm not going to ask how you found me, so let's just jump over to the reason I'm here, this place gives me itches," the redhead stated.
"Alright, royal rogue. But first, let's sit." The duo sat back in their seats.
Elizabeth clicked a button on her side of the table. Immediately she did, two women in long white loose gowns with golden belts around their waist, entered the room each holding a tray in hand. One of the trays had three cups and a large glass bottle with purple liquid in it, and the other had many small, flat, round-shaped baked goods on it.
"Oh my God, 'dreaba' I've missed this so much," Chántel exclaimed before reaching for the 'dreaba' even before the servant set it on the table. "I searched everywhere, but this is only made in the palace." She stuffed her mouth with it and quickly reached for another.
The Queen smiled as thoughts of the moments she spent with her sister flashed in her eyes. She poured the purple drink into two cups and slid one over to the redhead. Chántel picked it up and gulped down the entire cup.
"So, what was it you were saying?" Chántel said while extending her hand towards the tray again.
Elizabeth smiled before she start speaking. "You know how dad separated the west and gave Asier to rule as governor because he felt it would be easier to control even though mom warned him not to?"
"Oh, I don't like where this is going." She picked another of the 'dreaba' and took a bite out of it.
"Well, a few years ago, Asier declared himself King of the Western Tzeria and claimed the West is no longer bound by the main Tzeria. I thought I'd just let him be because no one actually took him seriously."
"I'd say true to that since my squad never heard of his insurgency and we've traveled the entire planet."
"Well, now he claims this whole planet is rightfully his and has been attacking our ports, and milliary base, and just recently he took control of one of our Moons."
Chántel wiped the crumbs from her hands. "You didn't send your army to fight back?"
"I did. But my main general is currently on a mission on Winter Weir and has yet to return," she revealed. "And Asier somehow managed to convince every commander I've been sending to join his side, so I halted the attacks."
"That sucks. The damn brat finally got to use his words in real life. He's just like my August, only uses their strength when they've tried and failed with their words," the red-haired woman stated. "So what do you want me to do? I mean, I have a few target-based missiles that could destroy his side, I call it thunder."
"No missiles. 'His' side has a pure fuel factory and that could cause damage to the whole planet. I just want you to lead my army."
Chántel shook her head and leaned back on her chair. "No way. There's no way the army would agree for a mercenary to lead them, it's not gonna happen."
"It's not like they know what you look like. Apart from August, I made sure none of your crew member's faces ever get broadcasted online."
The red-haired lady went quiet for a few seconds before speaking. "What's the pay?"
"Huh?"
"I'm a mercenary, I'm motivated by gain. If I don't get anything, then I can't do it. My crew needs to eat."
Queen Elizabeth V face palmed and let out a loud sigh. "Very well. You'll receive as much as you want as long as you bring Asier to my feet."
"Great, the contract is signed then."
"I don't remember signing any papers." She rolled her eyes.
Chántel hissed. "Normally we have a big list of rules that both ends must follow, but we only use that when our hirer is an amateur and we want to get more money from him."
The Queen nodded. "Yes… yes, keep listing out your crimes to her imperial Majesty, give her more reasons to increase your stay in Standoff."
"Oh please, I have her imperial Majesty wrapped around my pinky finger. Now get me more 'dreaba'!" Chántel shouted gleefully.
The Queen threw her head back and laughed. "Why mercenary though? There are many other things you could do."
"Well, when I set my first mission to intercept a spaceship that was transporting weapons, it was only to annoy Father. But I got too deep in it and it's now something that keeps me going," Chántel revealed.
"I'm glad you found something you enjoy doing," she said.
"Hmm. Anyways, I'm gonna go rest now. We'll leave for Western Tzeria tomorrow. It does has a nice sound to it: Western Tzeria" she whispered the last words to herself.
"Thank you, Chántel."
"Say that when I have Asier at your feet," she replied before walking out of the room.
...
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