The knight drags her sword behind her as she ascends the stairway up to the throne room.
Her muscles ache with the exhaustion of a long journey that now comes mercifully to its end.
Dangling at her chest is the Amulet with the power to seal the Demon Queen away forever.
The knight’s quest was long and arduous, taking her from snowy mountaintop to deepest abyss, from heat-blasted desert to choking jungle to toxic marshland.
She passed all the goddess’s trials, earning every piece of the Amulet now weighing down her neck.
Her quest ends here.
At the top of the stairs at last, she props herself up by her sword to collect what remains of her strength.
She once imagined kicking this door down, eyes blazing in triumph as she holds the Amulet aloft and invokes its power to cast down the Demon Queen.
Now it’s all she can do to place one unsteady hand against the massive crimson door and lean her body weight into it until—with a long, slow creak—it opens enough to permit her entry.
One foot in front of the other. Her legs scream, but she wills those final steps into them.
Lifting her head, the knight meets the eyes of the creature whose rule she quested so arduously to end.
The Queen looks like a woman. Half again as tall as a mortal, and dressed entirely in black clothes of a scandalous cut to reveal her ample curves, but a woman nonetheless.
Fury burns in the Demon Queen’s eyes at the intrusion, but only for a moment. After casting her eyes up and down the knight, her fierce expression is overtaken by a look of…pity.
She strides to her throne and takes her seat.
The knight drops her sword and lifts her hand to the holy symbol she wears, but her enemy does not make any aggressive movements.
Instead she pats her lap with one of her black-clawed hands. Cherry-red lips smile softly in invitation.
Without a word, she offers rest.
Rest. That’s one thing the goddess never gives the worthy.
The knight stumbles forward the last few steps, collapsing to her knees at the throne. With her head cradled in the Queen’s lap, she allows the tears to flow.
A hand strokes her hair as she allows herself to give up.
Over the years to come, many others arrive challenge the Demon Queen’s rule, but every attempt is doomed from the start.
Without the Amulet, they have no hope.
And oh how she savors the taste of the despair in their eyes when they see it worn by the doting figure she pets.
The knight still proudly wears it around her neck. It is her greatest joy that the one she serves knows she will never be in danger of its power while the knight is in possession of it.
The Demon Queen trusts her to keep it safe, and she trusts her Queen to keep her safe.