A/N: and yet Emiya proved once more that he really is Arturia�s bitch. Admit it, that�s what you�ve been thinking. XD Arturia�s more GAR than Emiya is in this case. :: laughs::

Chapter Twenty-Three

Arturia sat in her study, looking out at the opposite wall. Ever since Emiya had left to do as she bid, she thought of little but that kiss she shared with him. She must be desperate to fairly maul her own servant to get what she wanted. She closed her eyes and touched the earring that she took from Cuchulainn�s ear. She still wore it, even after a few years of not having seen him. She was certain the man had forgotten all about it, but she could not forget, for the very feeling of his kiss sent fire through her veins.

She stood up and walked over to the window and looked out at the little patches of brown she saw in the snow. Despite her best efforts to find ways of ridding her country of this foul sickness in the land and weather, she knew of nothing that could get rid of it for her people. It pained her to know that there was something she couldn�t control.

The last thing she could do was have Ireland become a part of her country, merge the two and make it so that Ireland didn�t raise such high tariffs of the goods they sent to Briton. Scotland didn�t have any actual kings or even princes; therefore she couldn�t go there and find a mate. They had chiefs, yes, but the land was overridden by wizards mainly and, from what Merlin said, there was no royalty in wizard kind.

That only left her Wales and Wales was in a similar condition to Briton, for it was only to the west, and Ireland. The king of Ireland was already married and far too old for her. However, were the king of Ireland and his entire family die out, they would have to find someone to become the new king of Ireland and that would either be the next of kin, or�.

Arturia smiled faintly to herself as an idea formed in her mind. She would have to find ways of executing it without fail; train Emiya more maybe or have him do more missions such as the one he was on now. For certain, she would have to quell the budding rebellion on her hands until she could get her people the better supply trade. It was a very large gambit on her part, but she felt it might work.

In a better mood, she went back to her paperwork and started dealing with the troubles at hand.

Finally, Emiya had followed the man to a bar where he stayed back and listened as well as he could to the men talking about the Baron of Marwick coming down to bring his forces to help storm the castle. They were to meet in Leoness and gather everything they had to go against Arturia that they had.

Emiya frowned. He was to execute these men, but what of the forces? He would have to inform Arturia before he could continue on. He wrote a note and sealed it with the ring Arturia had made for him. It was a seal ring with two curved blades crossing each other, his blades Kansho and Bakuya. He was the only one who held it, for he was the only one who wielded them. He pulled his hood up and found a boy, giving him a pouch of money. �Take this to the castle and tell the guard that the letter is for the queen. Please. Hurry.�

The boy blinked up at Emiya and then looked at the gold before looking back up at Emiya and grinning. �All right, sir!� Then, he ran off toward the castle.

Then, Emiya followed after the men who were gathering in the house of the first man. He seemed to be a merchant trader and a wealthy one at that. If he was so wealthy, why was he so disturbed by the queen?

Emiya walked on and found the house. A strange emptiness began to overtake him, for the task ahead might take the lives of a woman and child should they get in the way. As the men walked into the house, he moved silently over to the side and looked in through the window. The men greeted the first man with handshaking and patting of their backs. The wife was shooing the little boy from the room quickly, scurrying to the fresher and stove.

He listened silently as they spoke, closing his eyes and hoping that the woman would stay away from him as he worked.

�The queen�s been quiet lately, friend. I don�t think it�s such a good idea to be doing this,� said the second man to the first.

The first grunted and made a slurping sound. He must have taken a drink of ale or something. �She�s quiet which means she doesn�t suspect a thing.�

�I wish you men wouldn�t do this. It�s dangerous what you�re doing and it�ll leave us alone without money if you get yourselves killed,� said another woman. One of the men had brought his wife! �I�m going over to help prepare dinner with Marjory.�

�If she�s quiet, she could be sending out that spy of hers to keep tabs on us,� said a third man.

�You lot are being paranoid. If she were spying on us, we�d have seen that little bitch coming in and starting a fight with that big black bloody sword of her,� said the first man.

�I don�t think we�d have seen her at all. She�s so short; she�d have been squashed underfoot by one of us!� The men laughed at the fourth voice joining in. Emiya growled faintly and slicked his hair back to get it out of his eyes.

�I say we tie her down in front of the public and have her tormented like she did those men that day before that king Gilgamesh attacked. She�d do the same to us,� said the second man.

�Such brutality. It�s frightening to know that is what sits still on Briton�s throne. I remember king Uther ruling over us all like a tyrant. His daughter�s the very same,� said the first man. �We have to bring her down before she ruins us all.�

�AYE!� they cried as one.

The door burst open and each man barely had any time to reach for their swords. Emiya formed the blades in his hands and swung at one and swung at another so fast that it was as though he weren�t human. He cut off the head of one and stabbed the other through the chest. They never had a chance to lay a hand on him, though they tried. He simply continued hacking each man until they stopped moving.

Emiya panted as he surveyed the carnage at his feet. The women screamed and a boy yelled for his father. Others were coming to see what had happened. He made shushing noises at the women to calm them down and they threw things at him. Men came in with wooden pitchforks and knives to combat him. He felt a stab in his leg and saw the boy with a knife in his hands and digging the blade further into his thigh. He grabbed the kid by the hair and threw him, threw a blade at one woman and hit her in the throat. He caught a man with a pitchfork with the other as he formed another Kansho and gutted him. The boy yelled and ran at him again and he sliced at his head.

It all seemed to happen so fast that Emiya didn�t even register it all. His eyes were empty, he simply killed and kept killing until no one was attacking him any longer. He slit the throat of the other woman to shut her up and gutted another man trying to hit him. More men came to see what had happened and Emiya continued cutting and hitting until they too stopped. When he didn�t have anymore coming at him, he walked out of the house and ran away until he could get away without anymore coming at him.

It would be better if she went with her own army, she decided, for with her own army, she could make the point clear. She was not a queen to be trifled with like a small maid. She was queen and she would kill those who did not do as she asked of them. She asked only for loyalty and patience and this was what she got in return. The nerve of men sometimes made her want them all dead. Only problem was that she rather liked the way some men made her feel.

With that, she went to the war chamber and sent out summons for Gawain, Bedivere, Gaheris and Agravaine. They four would help her decide how to deal with this problem.

He slid until he was flat on his back and staring up at the ceiling of the stables he had gone to. Next to him was Arturia�s horse, the black mare that gently nuzzled her hay before looking to him gave him a strange sort of peace as he watched her.

After a moment of rest, he got to his feet and walked toward the castle. He could still hear people screaming off in the distance as they discovered the mess of body parts and people in that one home. He could still see the faces of the people he had slaughtered in the name of his queen; feel the warm blood as it splattered against his face and hands. He could feel it all still on him, making his hands sticky and strange feeling.

As he made his way, he saw the light in Arturia�s room still on. He wondered what she might be doing then, what sort of plan she was going to muster to go against the army of Marwick. He wondered if she would use him again so soon after his first true murders as an assassin, make him kill more people so soon after he had splattered himself with villager blood.

�I can, the bloke�s had his eye on the throne since Uther was king as I recall,� said Gawain, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

�Should we fight them all as an example? I should think that this sort of thing should be left to someone who isn�t so obvious,� said Bedivere.

Arturia listened to her knights talking. Agravaine stayed silent as he watched her. Bedivere did similar, wondering what was going through Arturia�s mind right then.

She stood up and put up her hands. �We will take a small army to Leoness. Should Marwick attack, we will show no mercy.�

�What of Leoness, Arturia!� cried Bedivere, shooting to his feet. �If we attack, Leoness will be the first casualty of it all and it would have been for nothing!�

Arturia snapped her gaze to Bedivere. �I know this, Bedivere, but it is the only thing that can be done. We can not allow him and his troops to come into Camelot.�

�Arturia�s right, we can�t allow them to go much further than Leoness. As we speak, they could be already there right now, readying to come across to Camelot in the morning. We need to take action now while it�s still fresh in our heads,� said Gawain.

Bedivere looked to Gawain and blinked. �Gawain, are you being serious.�

�Very.�

�That�s the first time I�ve ever seen you be serious!� said Bedivere, grinning faintly.

Gawain�s eyes widened and blushed faintly. He�d been set up by Bedivere and he�d fallen right into the verbal trap. The others laughed and sat down in their seats. �I�ll get you next time, Bedivere,� said Gawain, grinning.

Bedivere chuckled and leaned back in his seat. �Any time, Gawain.�

Arturia rolled her eyes and stood. �We�ll leave first thing in the morning. The first thing we all need to do is sleep. I also must check on something before anything else is done.�

�You mean that lapdog of yours? That pet?� said Agravaine. �I know you sent him out before. Heard a great deal of commotion on the other side of the village, too.� He eyed Arturia suspiciously over his hands as he steepled his fingers in thought. �Did you send him out on one of your little� jobs?�

�And if I did?� Arturia eyed Agravaine suspiciously.

Agravaine growled and stood up. �You are queen, but you are not above the law!�

�Who said I was doing something above the law. I was speaking hypothetically. If you were actually asking a question, you should specify more clearly next time.� With that, Arturia turned and left the room.

�Damn it! That damn woman! How can she send that thing out to kill people on a whim!?� growled Agravaine as he leaned back in his chair.

�Because it rids us of one problem so far,� said Bedivere. �She doesn�t make her moves unless she can plot it out at least ten moves ahead. I would hate to have to go against her.�

�You said it, she creeps me out,� said Gaheris.

While they talked, Arturia made her way to her chambers. When she opened her main door, she found Emiya curled up on the floor with his arms over his head, covered in blood. She walked over to him and kneeled down. �Emiya?�

Emiya didn�t say anything; he simply kept staring at the wall in front of him as he curled up more to move away from her. Arturia frowned and walked out. She found one of her handmaidens and had her draw a bath for Emiya and help wash him. Then, she went into her bedroom and undressed before going into her bed. It had been a very long day.