The Devil's Warrior Queen

Rama blew out the candle on her bedside table, leaving her in pure darkness before crawling into her princess-sized bed, she pulled the silk curtains hanging on the side of the bedpost together as she lay on her bed.

She stole a short glance at the glass roof hanging above the bed before she shut her eyes to sleep. She enjoyed the opulence of being born as a princess but she didn't feel that way, along with the opulence came a heavy responsibility she had to carry one day on her shoulders.

She closed her eyes to sleep, but before she would surrender into the hands of slumber, she would imagine the tyrant vampire King's bloody head on a stake.

In all her nineteen years of living, she had heard of the night creatures living among them, striding on the face of the earth, she had never seen them with her eyes but hearing the hideous but valid rumors about them made her filled with nothing but contempt and disgust for the night creatures.

The ruthless vampire king had forcefully and unfairly forced human rulers to give up their Empires and failure to yield to his wants resulted in a bloody massacre.

The humans couldn't stand up to them since they were more powerful creatures so yes, they cowered in fear for their lives, but whether they complied or not, the vampire king of Voltaire's Empire killed them anyway, he loathed humans as much as they loathed him.

He forcefully took over powerful Empires possessed by the humans, adding it to his many fortunes, every stud of jewel on his crown embedded with the lives he had snuffed out.

His hands were drenched with the blood of the innocent, he had wiped out some of the neighboring empires in which her father was an acquaintance with some of the rulers, she had heard of how he reigned massacre on them, taking only the humans he deemed useful for slavery and feeding.

To say she hated him was an understatement, she felt utterly disgusted and repulsed by him, her hatred for him had only grown worse after his recent massacre on the mah'n Empire, she was close friends with the princess but after the vampire king's attack on them, she never heard from her again, she was either dead or worse, used as a blood bag for those disgusting blood-sucking creatures and the thought of it made her stomach churn.

To Rama, he was the embodiment of darkness that needed to be wiped out from the face of the earth, vampires were cursed dark creatures whose existence was a fatal blunder.

The humans and vampires feared him, the name of the vampire king uttered made spines chill, he was rumored to be an original, one of the pure-blooded vampires that came into existence, an immortal many said. He was vicious to the core, his heart as shallow as an endless abyss and his mind as devious as the devil.

Rama wondered why a creature as dark as the nocturnal creatures existed, the world would have been a much better place without them, she thought inwardly before succumbing to sleep, but not after she saw herself mentally decapitating the vampire king.

She was already in a slumber when she heard the frantic running motions along the hall just outside her bedroom, she had been trained physically and mentally every day for the past nineteen years since she was an only child, the apparent heir to the throne.

She arose from her bed in alarm, pushing the covers away from her body before crawling off the bed and picking up her robe on the chair beside her putting it on quickly, she secured the robe tightly on her body before wearing a shawl over her hair, lighting up a candle and scurrying out of the door.

She saw two, maybe three maids scampering back and forth the hall with items in their hold and panic written all over their faces.

Her shawl slipped away from her head revealing her black hair but she didn't care to secure it back to position when she saw the panicking maids running around as if their lives depended on it.

She placed the candle she was holding carefully on a small table in the corridor as the torches on the wall were already lit up.

"Layla! What's wrong?" She called out quickly before the rushed maid could flee from her sight. The maid turned to meet her princess's jade blue eyes staring at her questioningly for answers and she pressed her lips in a thin line before answering her frantically with a lowered head.

"Th...The Sultan is sick..it's very critical, the physician doesn't think he can survive the night.." The maid replied with a shaky voice, hands trembling along with the bowl she held. Rama's jade eyes widened slightly, mouth parted in disbelief as her breath quivered.

She grabbed a handful of her robe in shock and uneasiness, her father can't die now, not now! She screamed inwardly but her expression was still organized as she said,

"Take me to Baba." She commanded, her shocked expression immediately turned into a blank one as the maid led her to the king's chambers.

As the princess and apparent heir to the throne, she had been mentally and physically prepared and molded from birth to take on the position of the Queen.

She was taught to have a fierce and strong mind and was equally trained physically, regardless of her being a girl, she was trained as a man would but she took it all, proving to everyone who doubted her rulership that she was just as good as a male heir or better.

Fortunately, the princess was naturally stubborn and strong-headed, for her young age she was incredibly smart and wise about the world, she was also a fast learner in physical training, and in no time, she became a skilled fighter both in hand combat and swordsmanship.

She didn't wait for the maid to open the doors for her before she walked through herself, composing her slightly hurried movements and expressions as she walked closer to her Father's sick bed.

She loved her Father, she adored him in every way and she had wanted to become a great Queen just to make him proud, she had learned everything she needed to learn with consistency and hard drive, only thinking of making her Father proud.

She had wanted him to watch her become Queen and rule their people in prosperity but now at that moment, it felt as though all her hard work was in vain because she could see the life fading from his green eyes as she neared the bed.

She stared at her mother who sat at his side, weeping silently, while the physician stood over the bed, doing things she didn't care to know.

Her Father craned his neck at the side as if he felt her presence, she could see the weak state he was in and her fist coiled itself in a tight ball subconsciously.

"Rama..." Her Father croaked, his deep baritone voice was now hoarse and choked like a parched man dying from thirst, his eyes had sunk into his flesh and it seemed like he had grown not only weaker but smaller overnight as he was a bulky man but seeing him now under the covers, he looked small.

"You don't have to say anything Father, save your strength," Rama said hurriedly as she took his hands in her and gave it a gentle squeeze, tears threatening to fall any moment from her jade blue eyes, she knew it was a hassle for him to speak and she didn't want him to go through such stress, she wanted him to lay peacefully as his minutes were numbered.

She so badly wanted to deny the fact that he'd be leaving her soon but she couldn't, she knew he didn't have much time left and hearing her mother's sob become heavier made the tears at the brim of her eyes threaten to spill but she closed it shut and took a deep breath, not allowing it to fall freely, she didn't want to look weak, she was the future queen and she needed to be strong, for her mother and for her people.

She opened her eyes only to see her father had grown stiff on the bed, he lay unmoving with green lifeless eyes still open and she swallowed hard the tears that were threatening to break free.

Her chest tightened painfully as if her heart was being stabbed and with shaky hands, she stretched her hand to hover above her father's face before closing his eyes.

"Rest well Father." She said those words like a faint whisper that barely escaped her lips, her voice would have been choked up had it been any louder, so she made it silent, she wouldn't let anyone see her as weak, the first rule her Father gave her.

Her mother's sobs became heavier as she hugged her Father's corpse, the physician tried to comfort the Queen but it was futile. Rama stood up mechanically and exited the chamber, she was feeling suffocated and drained, everything was occurring too quickly.

She was anxious about taking the throne, this was now the beginning of heavy obligations weighing on her slender shoulders and she felt trapped.

Memories of her Father flashed through Rama's jade eyes as she walked through the dimly lit halls to her room, she could still vividly remember all the things he taught her, every sword fight they had, and she could still feel the burn in her palms from using the sword for too long till she got every step perfectly, not right.

A young girl could be seen combatting a taller and bulky man in the middle of the forest, swords clinking hard as they came in contact with brute leverage.

"To win a fight, don't think of the pain when one is inflicted on you, think of what you're fighting for, let it be your drive, then fight like a tireless man." Her Father's deeply baritone voice echoed in her ears as her sixteen year old self shielded herself from his incoming attack with a swift action, preventing it from taking her head off.

A stranger watching the fight would think it was a fight to kill as her Father thrust his sword at her with immense force and speed, causing sparks to fly as the two swords collided viciously.

Her sword threatened to fall out from her grip as her Father came fiercely at her but she tightened her grip around the hilt of her sword, making her palms burn more but she didn't whimper or grunt in pain, her jade eyes were hard and fierce as she fought back, not accepting defeat.

She was dressed like a man, wearing pants and hair tied in a single braided ponytail, so her movements were easy and swift.

Her Father's sword was ready to drive into her abdomen but she swiftly evaded it and with a precise effortless movement, she stomped her feet on the sword, breaking her Father's hold from his sword as she sent her sword crashing through his.

It fell on the floor and within a second the tip of her sharp sword was pointed at his chin, the blade barely away from his flesh but he had an impressed look on his face nonetheless as he stared at his daughter who panted softly from all the fighting they had done.

"I just defeated you baba." She was excited that she had defeated her Father, one of the best warriors the Empire had but her face was still hard not letting the excitement appear too visibly on it, although her eyes twinkled with a spark of excitement.

"After I defeated you fourteen times, next time defeat me in the first round." Her Father's voice was rather cold but she knew he was impressed and was only trying to make her ready for the throne, to serve the Empire and her people. She bowed her head with a rather timid look on her face as she bit her lower lips.

"Yes, Baba." She replied before wiping the sweat that had broken on her golden skin with the hem of her sleeves.

"Your cousin wouldn't have lasted one round, he doesn't deserve to sit on the throne, you do, regardless of everyone's opinion, you'll make a great ruler." She could still hear her Father's voice and she remembered how she smiled at his words, glad she was fit to be a ruler in his eyes, only his opinions had mattered to her, only his words had made sense to her and no one else's but now he was gone.

The only person she could listen to was now herself, her mother was too feeble minded and frail hearted, her Father might have been the strongest man she knew and she knew very well that she took after him making her resolve harden even more.

She took another deep breath as she shut the door of her chambers closed, with quivering lips and shaky breath, she moved to the window, opening it to feel the breeze on her skin but she didn't feel any better. She knew she would have problems piling soon at her door when the death of her Father would be announced to the public.

The high court and officials in power had been against her coronation to be the Queen of the Saba Empire, not because she wasn't fit, but because she was a girl and she was considered too young to take the throne.

The officials and her family members had wanted her male cousin, Jafar to take the throne since he was a man and he was the closest male kin the King had.

If only her Father had coronated her earlier as the Queen, she sighed inwardly, but none of them had planned for his death to happen so unexpectedly.

It wasn't anticipated in any way as her Father had been healthy and vibrant with life two days ago, his illness had started out slowly the other day, and no one would have thought it would turn out so seriously until then.

She knew her Father was getting older, she could see his grey hair dominating over his black ones, but he was still strong, ever so full of life so she wondered how he suddenly got sick and died within two days of illness.

She felt suspicious about his sudden illness, after all, everyone knew of his plans to coronate her on her twenty first birthday, so she wouldn't be surprised if someone had planned his murder out to stop her from inheriting the throne.

She could now anticipate the smug look her cousin would give her when they arrived for her Father's burial since they lived apart from them.

He would be delighted about the news of her Father's death for sure because then, everyone would be on his side to choose him as their next king, her Father the king was no longer alive to declare a word against their decision, everyone would be against her with no allies to back her except her Mother, but what could she really do?

The women had no say in political matters as such and her Mother being frail and weak wouldn't dare utter a word, she had grown up differently than her, trained differently.

While she was being trained how to fight, be strong, and grow to be a wise queen, her Mother had been trained the etiquettes of a lady, only to speak when she was asked to and cower behind the back of her husband but Rama swore she wouldn't live that way.

She had no allies at the moment who could help her secure her throne but she had a lethal advantage, her brains.

Society would make the men seem as though they were superior to the women, but to her, they were just cowards dominating over the women to feel superior.

Her cousin was no different, he felt he was better than her because she was a woman, but she would prove him wrong, for someone who didn't have a spine, nor the brains she knew just well how to deal with him and them all.

She wouldn't sit back and watch her throne being seized unfairly from beneath her nose, she would fight for the position as the Queen, after all, she was the rightful heir to the throne even though she was a woman.

Naturally, she would have been married off to a powerful man of status in the society as the High Court had persuaded her Father but he had disagreed, only he saw Yiver it took, even though they were all against her, she'd strive forward and lay waste to them all if she had to, after all, she was the fierce warrior princess, soon to be Queen.

Rama stared at the corpse of her Father as he was being carried out by their guards for burial, her eyes watered but she blinked the tears away.

She stood unmoving even after his body had been carried away as she spaced out, wondering what the future held in store for her.

"My Princess, I'm sorry for your loss." She heard the deep rough voice behind her, it belonged to the chief commander of the guards, he was her loyal personal guard, and although his loyalty lay with the rest of the royal family, his loyalty toward her was greater.

"Did you send the messenger to inform the rest of the kingdom and my family members?" She asked, her voice composed and unwavering as she spoke.

She was trying to be strong, she didn't want anyone to see her as weak, her pride as the future Queen would be deeply hurt if she appeared weak in front of anyone, so she appeared unfeeling with a stoic expression on her face and hardened jade eyes.

"Yes, your Highness, the rest of your family members should arrive any moment." Ramir, the chief commander spoke in a professional tone.

He knew how much she adored her Father which made him realize how badly she was hurting, but she was doing a great job at hiding it behind a thick mask, any hint of weakness from her would give the people a chance to label her unworthy for the throne.

Rama sighed softly in exasperation, she knew her aunt and her cousin wouldn't waste a second to arrive at the Castle after being informed of the King's death, they were probably celebrating the news.

"Good, I'll summon the high court tomorrow and inform them about my coronation." Rama explained to him and even though her back was turned to face him, she could feel the doubtful expression building up on his face.

She had grown close to Ramir since she was a child, he taught her great skills of fighting in combat and sword fighting.

He knew she had the enthusiasm and prowess to make a great Queen and he was rooting for her, but a guard had no voice when it came to royal matters, to them he was just a mere servant, so he kept his opinions to himself.

Ramir didn't say anymore and only nodded at her words.

Ramir had exited her presence to give her some privacy since she was in mourning even though she didn't show it, as a child she had found it hard to convey her emotions, she felt alien to it, so she grew up with it making her fierce.

Rama's jade blue eyes narrowed to the expensive carriage moving through the golden gates to stop at the entrance of the Castle, meters away from her.

A woman in her forties wearing an expensive flowing gown exited the carriage with the help of the coachman, alongside a young man who had a plastered smile on his face as they approached her but her expression didn't change, only her eyes hardened when she stared at them.

Her aunt had lost her husband years back, so it was just the mother and son.

"My dear niece, I'm so sorry dear, you must be devastated by your Father's passing." Her aunt drawled in a sad tone as she widened her arms to hug her niece who went stiff in her arms the moment she fell into her embrace, not caring to hug her back.

"Your rooms have been prepared." Rama said stiffly, ignoring her aunt's so called consolation, she knew they were delighted about her Father's passing, to them it would pave the way to the throne for her son.

"Rama, it's been long. You've grown into a young woman with such a foul attitude or is it your Father's passing? I'll take it as such." Jafar's voice resonated with a smug look on his face she felt so eager to punch off, his brown eyes glinting with excitement, the fact that they were jubilating over the King's passing was too visible.

She felt her fingers clutching her black dress tightly at the thought that they could have had something to do with her Father's death, after all they were both acting suspiciously and the fact that they would benefit from his death made her blood boil in anger.

"I may be a woman but I was born with the attitude and strength of a ruler, after all that is why Father chose me to rule the Empire, so why must I act less than the ruler I'm meant to be." Rama said, making her words as sharp as the blade of her daggers that didn't miss a day's sharpening, she hoped it would cut through him and he would realize how pathetic he was knowing that the King never chose him as his heir.

Her aunt gave a nervous chuckle but her cousin remained silent burning a hole through her golden skin with his eyes, it was clear that her words had cut him deeper than they should have.

The former Kings who had no male heir naturally chose an heir from their closest kinship, but his being rejected by her Father publicly was an unbearable disgrace, knowing the King had seen him unfit to rule, it broke his pride.

"You still have your sharp tongue like I remembered." Jafar's tone was low and filled with malice, his eyes spoke of nothing but hate when he stared at her, the throne was meant to be his, a male heir and not a princess in a dress.

"My mind is sharper...And my blades too, do you want a taste?" She retorted, her facial expression calm but her jade eyes shot him a hard daring look, chin raised proudly like the Queen she was to be. Jafar wanted to say more but her aunt interrupted.

"That's enough catching up, it was nice seeing you again, come on Jafar, it's been a long journey we should freshen up." She watched as her aunt dragged Jafar away in her arms who was reluctant to leave.

"The real battle hasn't begun, yet they run away like the cowards they are." She murmured under her breath with eyes burning in rage before turning ahead to leave.

The skies had quickly gone dark, by now the entire Empire must have heard of her Father's demise, she thought inwardly as she stared out the window before leaving to take her bath.

Her handmaid Malika had just finished preparing her bath when she entered the bathing room.

Being an only child, she had grown mutually close to her handmaiden who had taken care of her needs for as long as she remembered, Malika was as far as the only one who could truly understand her and her emotions.

"You can leave, I'm well capable of bathing myself, I'm not handicapped." Rama said with a hard voice directed to the maid who was reluctant to leave as she wanted to bathe her mistress.

It wasn't unexpected for a maid to bathe her mistress since she was a princess but Rama felt utterly embarrassed about it, she found it uncalled for as she was already a full grown woman, and allowing another full grown woman to bathe her was just as outrageous.

She had dismissed her numerous times from giving her a bath but her handmaid wouldn't just drop it, she felt obliged to meet every need of her mistress.

"I'll leave, if you need anything I'll be in the room." Malika said before dashing out of the bathroom, giving Rama privacy that made her sigh outwardly.

She swiftly undressed revealing her slender, curvy golden skinned body before immersing herself in the scented water. She stayed in the refreshing water for a good amount of time as her thoughts ran wild in different directions.

She had her Father's killer to find as she suspected it was no ordinary illness and worst of all, she was suspecting a family member, it seemed almost impossible but it was the only logical explanation she could come up with, someone had killed her Father and for a reason which seemed to align with her family members being suspects.

And then, she had the high courts to deal with, they would never agree to her coronation as ruler of the Empire, in all the centuries of ruling, they had never once been a female ruler, but she didn't care about their opinions, her Father had entrusted her with the seal of the ruler before he died, she would take her throne whether they supported her or not.

If blood had to flow for her to sit on her throne as the rightful heir, then no doubt she would make it flow like an endless river if they wished.

Her Father had already declared her as the next ruler of the Saba Empire publicly, so if anyone stood in her way, the actions and decisions she would make wouldn't be her fault, the ones who would go against her would be to blame for the blood she would spill.

It didn't help that she had a bloody temper, she would put it to its good use if she had to and pour her wrath on them, any negative response against her ruling and she wouldn't bat an eye in separating heads from shoulders, she would do anything to seat on her throne, she would sacrifice it all, her humanity even.