Three Queens of Rome

The carbon steel sword came down hard on the raised wooden shield, slicing across it and leaving a nasty dig in the purple paint. The yellow daisy painted in the front was looking more like a shredded paper flower sliced through with a hundred cuts. 

The woman behind the shield wore a silver circlet with a bright teardrop diamond in the center of her forehead. Her white-blonde hair fell in bouncy curls around her shoulders as she parried and thrust her shield up with all her might against the blows. Her thin white arm shook under the onslaught. 

“Rukan, stop!” The voice behind the shield was high-pitched and panicked, “I didn’t mean it that way, I was just surprised that you were made the same offer!”

“And why is that, Cleone?” Rukan stalked forward, sword at her side. 

“Because…I just assumed…I thought King Aden was only asking me,” her voice sounded disappointed, almost petulant. 

“Oh you thought your country was the only one that King Aden would dream of taking by force? Or you thought you were the only queen he would offer marriage to? You’re known for being the beautiful one, aren’t you?” Rukan continued her pursuit, slashing at Cleone’s shield again and again, “We’ll see how badly he wants to choose you after your face becomes mincemeat.” Her shoulders gleamed with steel, and across her forehead was a simple band of grey metal. Her black hair was pulled into a tight ponytail which whipped back and forth as she moved. Her nostrils flared, a ring glinting in the sunlight.

Cleone’s shield broke in half at the latest blow. Her blue eyes momentarily dropped to the ground before she gripped the remaining half of her shield and charged at Rukan, shoving her backwards. Rukan’s eyes widened in shock as her sandaled feet slipped on the gravel and sand beneath her and she fell with a heavy thud, her sword falling inches from her hand. 

“I am the beautiful one,” Cleone stood over Rukan, glaring down at her. Her hair practically glowed in the beam of sunlight surrounding her head, her light blue robes rippling in the breeze. From where she lay, Rukan thought that she looked truly angelic, like a cherub. “That’s why I was surprised he would ask you.” 

Rukan snarled and reached for her sword. At that moment, a fishing net whipped towards her, swallowing it up in a tangle, and dragging it away. Cleone smirked as Rukan sat up on her elbows and looked over her shoulder. 

A woman with long wavy brown hair and caramel colored skin walked towards them, holding the net in one hand with the sword trapped within, and a three-pronged trident in the other. A diadem rested on her head in the shape of owl’s wings which reached around her forehead to grasp a large circular opal. The stone was a murky indigo shot through with iridescent turquoise like lightning within a dark sky. A violet cape flowed behind her. 

“This was supposed to be practice, and you both know that.” She stopped before Rukan and held out her hand, “So much for The Warrior Queen 'beating us with her eyes closed’ or whatever it was your shield maiden said.”

Rukan grimaced as she stood, “Yeah well, leave it up to Shelana The Wise to break up a fight just when it’s getting good.” 

The three queens walked together to one side of the arena. They gazed up at the surrounding benches, all empty now, but soon to be filled with cheering, jeering Romans. 

Each of them had been allowed one female attendant, all of whom waited impatiently for their charges. Cleone had her lady’s maid, a young woman named Katy who wrapped a warm white cloak over her shoulders, and fluttered around her with an ivory comb. 

Shelana had her advisor, a serious but serene looking woman, Delphine, who handed her a folded piece of parchment with a broken red wax seal. 

Rukan had her shield maiden, Roch, who pounded her back gruffly in greeting and handed her two new weapons, a mace and a double sided axe. 

“I thought we weren’t allowed to have correspondence here?” Cleone asked as the three of them walked through the dark underbelly of the arena. 

They were all housed in separate lodgings - if you could call dank underground cages lodgings - but the King preferred that they eat their meals in a common area. He assumed that the proximity would only lead to stronger and stronger jealousies and resentments, especially if he took one out at a time, and left the other two seething in their cages. 

“We are allowed as long as the King’s vizier reads everything we send out or receive. It’s the first thing I asked when I arrived.” Shelana’s eyes roved over the parchment in her hands as they walked, her expression full of concentration. 

“You let them read every letter you receive?” Cleone’s eyes were wide with shock, “what if there was something…private?” her cheeks grew red. 

“They all contain something private,” Shelana muttered, eyes still moving back and forth at a furious pace, “but they are written in code, so only I know what is meant.” 

The six women reached a large room carved out of stone, with a round wooden table laid with delicacies. As each woman took her place around the table, Shelana handed the parchment back to her advisor. 

“We can discuss this when we retire tonight.”

A heavy silence descended. Rukan gulped wine from her goblet and exchanged looks of disdain with Roch. Cleone poked at the food on her plate, her head leaning on one hand. Katy placed the best cuts of meat before her, slicing juicy strips of beef off the roast from the center of the table and spooning dollops of mashed parsnip onto her plate. 

“You must eat your majesty,” she brushed a speck of dust off Cleone’s bare shoulder, “you don’t want to start looking wan and thin when you meet with the King.” 

Rukan mimed throwing up. Shelana exchanged a meaningful glance with Delphine. 

All were silent for a few minutes until,

“I was never meant to be Queen, you know.” Cleone’s voice was small and quivering. 

“Your majesty!” Katy gasped. The other women stared at Cleone.

“It’s true,” she continued, “I had a brother. Leon. He was my father’s favorite. He was going to be King.” Her voice broke and she paused, tears bursting from her eyes and flowing quickly down her cheeks. “But then he got sick. He died when I was 19. My father had no other son, just me and my younger sister. He told me on his deathbed that I would surely be the end of our great nation, that he regretted having to leave me the kingdom more than anything in the world. That he hoped I would marry as soon as I could, and give the country a strong leader.” 

Shelana and Rukan stared at her in horror. 

“When King Aden’s soldiers came to take me by force, I didn’t even fight. I thought perhaps this was my chance to make my father happy. To fulfill his wish.” 

“To have a murderous, conniving, spineless, beast for a husband and king?!” Rukan spat. 

“My father always wanted me to be Queen.” Shelana's voice was quiet but firm. The room grew silent and all turned to look in her direction. She was staring down at her plate, a small smile on her face. 

“He could have chosen my younger brother, everyone assumed he would. But he didn’t. He brought in the best scholars from all around the world to tutor me. He taught me statesmanship, the art of discussion, and how to persuade. Very often I disagreed with my father, and he welcomed it. Any chance to practice debate he took as an opportunity for learning.” Her eyes were brimming, but she managed to hold the tears back and cleared her throat. 

“When King Aden came to my kingdom, he fooled me. He had his army hidden, and arrived with only a few men. He claimed he wanted to renegotiate our trade agreement, which admittedly benefitted my nation more than Rome. I agreed for the sake of fairness to take another look, and under cover of darkness, his army marched in." 

“Sounds painfully similar to my story.” Rukan slurred, filling her goblet up once more to the brim. “The lily-livered bastard sent some of his army as a decoy into the Northlands of my country. While my best shield women were occupied fending them off, the remainder of his army marched on the South, overtaking us while we were unprotected. I fought off as many as I could but it was no use, they put a cloth over my nose and mouth, wet with some poison, and I was out. The marriage proposal was a sick joke after that. ‘Whichever of you three bests the others and comes out alive I will wed.’ Ha!” 

“You sent all your best warriors to the North to fend off a few men and left the rest of your country unprotected?” Shelana raised an eyebrow.

“You know what?!” Rukan stabbed her fork deep into the wood of the table and stood.

“Sit down. I have a plan.” Shelana said calmly, waiting until Rukan sat back down heavily with a huff. “Now, if I can send a coded message calling your army here, would they fight for all of us?” 

“They would if I told them to,” Rukan said, arms crossed, “but they aren’t likely to beat King Aden’s army. If they were, they would be here already.” 

“What if King Aden were dead? Then could your army take the city?”

Rukan's sneer broke slowly into a smile, “Absolutely.” 

***

Shelana strode up to the bars of her room, violet cape over her shoulders. A women stood on the other side, arguing with the guard. 

“I have to get this to her, it’s important.”

“Lip cream is important eh? I don’t think so. Beat it.” 

“It’s true.”

The guard whirled around at the sound of Shelana's voice.

“Look, how am I supposed to compete with Cleone? You’ve seen her. I don’t stand a chance.” She pushed her thick tresses behind one ear. 

“The King has said you all must fight to be his Queen. That means it don’t matter what you look like, just matters if you can fight. Which I guess means you both should be more threatened by Rukan if anything, and she’s nothin to look at.” 

Shelana sighed, “Yes I understand but…you must admit that if King Aden took a fancy to one of us, he might be inclined to…help a bit, don’t you think?” She looked up at him through her thick, dark lashes. “I would certainly like to increase my chances, and this lip cream does make my lips stand out.”

The guard looked down at her pursed lips and paused a moment, considering. 

“If you became Queen, would you raise the wages of the common folk?” 

“Sir, you must have heard about my country, and how the people there are treated. I not only ensure that my people are paid a living wage, I ensure that they have their basic needs met and more, that they have the ability to thrive in whatever pursuits they wish to have. No person in my land goes without an education or medical care, let alone without bread.” 

The guard thought a moment and then nodded. “Alright then, take the damn lip cream. But I still don’t see what good it will do ya.” 

***

Shelana stood before Cleone, applying the bright red cream to her heart shaped lips. “Now remember, your lips are protected by the aloe I applied, but it is delicate. Aden’s lips will have no such protection. All you have to do is kiss him once, and it is done. The poison should take effect almost immediately, and you can escape. Wipe the substance off your lips as soon as you are able to.”

“What if there are others in the room with us?” Cleone asked, moving her lips as little as possible. 

“There won’t be. He isn’t asking you to join him tonight to socialize with others. You will be alone.” She grasped her by the arms, “Can you do this?” 

Cleone nodded, “It will be easy. He's quite handsome.” Her voice shook slightly. 

Shelana moved her hands to hold the other woman’s face. “Cleone, listen to me. You do not need him to be a Queen. You are one. Your father was wrong. You do not need this man, or any man to be Queen. Aden plans to take all of our kingdoms by force, to take us by force, and then, after we have betrayed each other and killed each other, he would make the victor his slave. You deserve a true prince, who would love and cherish you, and who you get to choose. You will find someone worthy of you after all this is done.” Shelana dropped her hands and stepped back.

“You look absolutely gorgeous.” Rukan looked Cleone up and down, grinning from ear to ear. “Knock him dead.”