Posted June 13, 2020
high rated
CONTENT WARNING: Excessive swearing
Read the story's beginning here. Or skip the flavor and go to the rules here.
"Come in, folks." Aybak signalled with his hands for the guards to come in. He had an agenda with a couple of names, accompanied with some checkboxes:
REGISTRY:
01. supplementscene (Tareq Gamal)
02. Lifthrasil (Lathif ben Rasil)
03. SirPrimalform/SirMrFailRomp (Belal al Nawar)
04. ZFR (Khaled al Adeeb)
05. Microfish_1 (Mohamed Salem)
06. gogtrial34987 (Abd-al-atheem Maaroof)
07. dedoporno (Faraam Nazari)
08. Vitek (Basil ibn Layth)
09. Carradice (Ahmad ibn Fadlan)
10. trentonlf (Faris al Adham)
11. JoeSapphire (Abd-allah al Jameel)
12. GameRager/yogsloth (Achmed ibn Hamam)
13. FlockeSchnee (Sagi Hashem)
Each one of the guards entered the Golden Throne room one by one. They all wore the uniform of the Guard: a vest of chainmail surrounded a red shirt and black pants. The red shirt had a white circle in its middle surrounded by orange waves, representing the flag of Egypt, or the Sun. All of them usually had a sword, shield, and a pistol, but Aybak stripped the guards of them just earlier.
Tareq was a buff, tough looking guy, but he seemed a bit sleepy today. His fierce eyes, combined with neatly trimmed beard and hair, didn't really do much to hide it. Next up was Lathif, a slim yet slightly ripped young looking dude who looked like he's been on adventures and beat up a guy or two. He flashed a wry smile to Aybak, who wondered "what the heck was up with him?" Belal looked like the typical prole you'd see shouting insults in the street, with hair that was slightly longer than the military would've liked. His forehead was well shaven too.
Khaled looked a little timid. From the way he looked, you wouldn't be wrong to think he wanted an easygoing life more than anything. A little chubby faced. Mohamed was a bit small, but his hair was all over the place. He neatly trimmed his mustache and left no beard, but his hair was a jungle. Abd-al-atheem Maaroof was a bit too chubby, but nothing else stood out except he had military hair (or near lack thereof). Faraam was strong and tall, shaved and with just enough hair to ruffle but not enough to drag him by their strands.
Basil looked like quite a young fighter, clenching his fists tight as if he were about to punch someone, though he wouldn't break from the formal walking pose imposed by the military. Ahmad looked like he could sing more than he could protect. You didn't know, but he had this…court poet like quality to him. He was muttering a poem under his mouth, which had a mustache. Faris seemed strong enough to crush anyone who stood in his way. From the way his extremely bearded face looked at Ahmad, he was on the verge of punching him. Of course, he didn't do that, because the Queen's punch was going to be a lot worse. Abd-allah al Jameel was following the military march as strictly as possible, that Aybak hasn't seen anyone do the march with such passion. The dude was also completely bald.
From the get-go, Achmed looked drunk as hell, hic-ing his way into the room. He was the oldest one in the bunch, with wrinkly skin and graying hair. Finally, Sagi came in, a slim man who was still wearing his trademark frown.
All the guards were ordered to stand in one line, and then turn around to face the Golden Throne, which was empty. A couple of agonizing minutes later, Queen Hoda al Shams had materialized from a door covered with a curtain from the left side. She sat down on the Throne, pulled out a cigarette, and lit it with her lighter. Taking a puff of the nicotine and exhaling, she started.
"Assalum alaykom, fine gentlemen." She said very gently. Aybak braced himself for the worst. It was like a calm volcano, but the heavy air told you it wouldn't take long to explode. "I've got a...quite concerning letter from one of you, gentlemen."
Aybak stood between the line and the Queen and read the letter in full.
To Your Highness,
We will take you off the Golden Seat. We'll also take your head off. We're already part of your new set of personal guards - but we won't tell you, that's your job to figure it out.
With regards,
Rebel Guards.
Of course, Aybak didn't read the line that thanked the Queen for privately executing the King. Just reading that line alone would toss him and the rest of the guards into the dungeon. Specifically, Hall 101, the last place any living being would want to be in. We will take you off the Golden Seat. We'll also take your head off. We're already part of your new set of personal guards - but we won't tell you, that's your job to figure it out.
With regards,
Rebel Guards.
The Queen took another puff. "Now. I know you all take this job very seriously, so I'm going to ask the jesters who wrote this to raise their hands. I promise I'll pretend it never happened, just be honest with me."
Murmurs were heard across the crowds. Stuff about why anyone would even begin to form the thought of playing a prank on Queen Hoda Fucking al Shams. Other murmurs about the possibility that the actual writer of this letter was the Queen herself and if she felt too bored or something, for the Queen would do anything if she were bored. And there were others who thought the Queen wanted to execute them all because she was a sadist who enjoyed seeing others suffer.
But none raised their hands.
The Queen took another puff, before tossing the cigarette aside onto the marble floor. "Fine. I'm fine with that. I'm fine, with having a bunch of assholes, write this to me." The crowd stopped talking. In fact, the room was so silent, some of the people could only hear their increasing heartbeats. She got up, getting closer to the group.
"So, here's the deal you worthless pieces of shit!" she shouted angrily. "I know those who are loyal to me would never betray me. So, each hour of this fucking awful day, all of you will decide on a guard to be tossed into the dungeons. If you knew what's good for you, those dicks would be in jail!"
Khaled timidly asked, "What if we end up throwing…innocents in there?"
"Good riddance! Jails are not only for criminals, habibi, they're for inept failures too!" She walked slowly over to the Throne, where she sat again. She pulled another cigarette and lit it, anger still coloring her face. After a puff, it seemed she calmed down. "There are only two ways this could end. Either the fucktards are imprisoned, or I am dead. Both are terrible fates for all of you. Show me how loyal you guys are. This is your first real test. Don't screw it up. Aybak, shut the doors."
Aybak did as was asked, shutting off a couple of doors. He tried shutting the last door from the outside, before the Queen interrupted him with "Habibi, you're not supposed to shut the door from the outside."
"What do you mean, your Highness?" Aybak asked a question he already knew the answer to.
"You're the original fuckup, habibi." She said in a disgustingly sweet voice. The voice she reserved for the times she was content. Aybak sighed. He shut the door with him inside and handed the keys to Hoda. For a while, the guards stood doing nothing, prompting the Queen to stand up furiously. "Are you fucking with me!? Get on with the show already!"
Post edited July 04, 2020 by Pookina