Creative Writing IF

[laleia]

Yessenia, Ziorada, and Xiomara filed in one after the other, before arranging themselves in front of her, Ziorada and Xiomara flanking Yessenia. All three were openly armed, as was traditional. What kind of Dark Citadel would she be running if her minions weren't allowed to depose her at a moment's notice the minute she stepped out of her bounds?

Traditionally, Dark Ladies were supposed to be cunning enough that the minions never wanted to use those weapons. Today, Dark Lady Lamya would either be killed by her underlings and fail her test -- or survive and pass.

Lamya smiled brightly at the three, a brightness the likeness of which had not been seen in the Citadel since the times of Mad Lady Lycurga, who had not warranted a Dark in front of her name, so frightening already was her insanity. "I was thinking," she said cheerily (and she had practiced this cheeriness several times before calling the XYZ sister back in to ensure that it sounded genuine), "that it is high time the Dark Citadel hosted a Ball. One of those all-night revels that begin with a mild spot of torture, a lecture by some old geezer or other who has some advice he just has to get out there, and finishing up with some suitably devilish food -- like that really scrumptious cake Chernobog served at his last invitational. We could invite all of the Dark Lords and Ladies, as a sort of get-to-know-the-new-Dark-Lady session."

"That," Yessenia bared her teeth, "sounds like a wonderful idea." Of course she would think so. If she successfully deposed Lamya in front of all the Dark Lords and Ladies, they would immediately acknowledge her as the new Dark Lady. And have a certain amount of grudging respect for her. It was, in fact, the perfect venue for a coup.

Of course, Lamya thought grimly to herself, if Yessenia failed miserably, then all the Dark Lords and Ladies would know that it was she Lamya who was the true Dark Lady, and would know better than to cross her. This could serve as the perfect debut ... if only she could pull it off.

And if her adversaries were the XYZ sisters? Pulling it off was a slim-to-none chance.

If she failed, she would surely fail spectacularly. Rule #47 in the Dark Ladies' Code dictated that the truly evil were spectacular at everything -- even failure.

"This will be fun."