The Queen of Tricks

Blood pumping in her ears, Trixiqueen ran along the wide corridors of the Guardians’ mansion, occasionally throwing glances over her shoulder to check on the progress of her pursuers. She did love a good work out every now and then. It kept her fit. Suddenly turning to face the Guardians, she raised her bow and fired off three arrows consecutively as each shot sank into the flesh of a different target. She blew a raspberry before turning on her heel and sprinting off once again.

 

As she neared the end of a corridor, it sharply split into two directions. Her hypersensitive hearing informed her of the arrow coming straight for her back. She darted into the right corridor as it flew into the wall where she had been standing a split second before. Poking her head around the corner, she shouted

“Not out!” and disappeared once again.

 

It seemed she had been running for years. As she rounded another corner and kept the pace up, she thought of the previous few hours and how she’d ended up on the run once again…

 

Following the orders of her ‘lord and master’, she arrived in the city centre and, after shifting into the form of a Guardian, began to set up bombs on the buildings that surrounded the large market square. The buildings were mostly made of stone and wood as they were the easiest materials to get hold of. She’d been told of worlds that had everything made of gold and bridges made of rainbows and thought of how boring that landscape would be. Then there were the worlds that had buildings made almost completely of glass. She remembered thinking that they must approve of looking like animals in cages for the world to see as they walked past. What might that lifestyle be like?

 

Frith was different. The world had varying levels of development, as most worlds do, but the difference was that there were no problems of the scale that other worlds have. For example, there was starvation but only on a tiny scale of the few who chose to live on the outskirts of cities or those who did not take the jobs that were offered. There were always jobs as they did not have technology. They lived by the rule that if you can pay someone else to do it, why let a machine take all the credit.  

 

 It was a big day for the people of Frith. The elected King was to announce his engagement in front of the vast amount of people that had gathered in the city to hear the news. It would be quite a party if everything went to plan.

 

Once all the bombs were set up, the sun was nearly at its peak in the sky. It was time to get into place. She followed the other Guardians towards the stage and took her place on the rear left corner. Oh how she loved the stage. It was a place she could be anybody she wanted to be. Chuckling, she reminded herself that the whole world was her stage thanks to the ability to shift into anything she liked. It really was a gift.

 

A trumpet sounded and the people of the crowd started to shout and cheer as their leader made his way to the stage. He raised his hands and bowed to his people.

 

“Show off” she muttered as she rolled her eyes.

 

He really thought the most of himself. To be honest, Trixiqueen had never thought they needed a King. The people of Frith were peaceful and accepted one another. They had their Guardians to protect them. Who needs a King when you have peace? But the people had spoken and it seemed they needed faith in someone they could worship.

 

 His job must be so easy, she thought to herself as the crowd quietened to whispers and he approached the centre of the stage.

 

“My people, I have the greatest news. As you all know, I have been looking for a partner to help me lead you all as I have for the last 5 years. Today I will introduce her to you and hope that you accept her as well as you have accepted me” he announced, receiving another cheer from the crowd. He stepped to his left and gestured to the left of the stage as he shouted, “I present to you, my Queen!”

 

Taking her cue, Trixiqueen skipped over to him and wrapped her arms around his neck, giving him a quick kiss on the lips. Shedding her disguise as she moved, the crowd gasped in recognition. Her green and purple costume took on the regal appearance of a queen’s dress and atop her head sat a sparkling crown*. The King’s face contorted into a picture of both shock and confusion as Trixiqueen stood next to him, bowing and blowing kisses to the crowd that had been stunned to silence.

 

“What? No cheers for me? Well isn’t that sexist” She pouted, putting her hands on her hips.

 

“You are not my Queen!” the King stated as he regained his composure.

 

Trixiqueen’s laugh echoed around the square as she turned back to him and draped one arm over his shoulder. “Now James, you really shouldn’t tell lies. You know I’m the girl for you” she teased, winking at him and placing another kiss to his lips. She could see his emotions battling across his face as she giggled.

 

At the sound of running feet, she turned to see the Guardians with their weapons raised, aiming at her heart. She gasped and placed her hands over her heart, mocking them as she fell backwards. Suddenly, they lunged for her as she lay giggling, not even attempting to stop them. She quickly blew the King a kiss before being carried off the stage.

 

“Enjoy the party!” she shouted over her shoulder as they took her into the Guardian’s mansion.

 

She waited all of three seconds before detonating the bombs she had placed earlier and smiled at the first sounds of screams and terror from the people in the square. The Guardians holding her suddenly stopped and dropped her in favour of saving the people. She took that as her cue to run and the regal dress transformed into her usual guise* as she took off at a run. Only a handful of the Guardians chose to follow her as the rest went to aid the injured people and save their King. The tails of her corseted robe flew wildly behind her as she ran.

 

A sudden shout from behind her brought her back to the present and she glanced over her shoulder to see two of the Guardians aiming for her with their arrows again. Laughing, she spurred on, only to round the corner and run headfirst into someone. Before she could see who it was, they dragged her into one of the rooms that lined the corridor. The door closed behind them just before the trailing Guardians ran past, oblivious to her current position.

 

She physically relaxed at the sound of their feet getting quieter as they put distance between them. It was then that she remembered the events of mere seconds ago and quickly looked up into the eyes of her rescuer and gasped.

 

“Hello Bellatrix”