Chapter 8 - Treason in Velvet
The applause of the High Council was suddenly cut short by the distant sound of blaring war horns.
The heavy oak doors of the Great Hall shuddered beneath the violent impact of an iron battering ram.
Panic erupted instantly among the noble lords as dust rained down from the vaulted stone ceiling.
"What is the meaning of this?" Chancellor Malakar shouted, clutching his golden gavel in terror.
"Beatrice's private garrison from House Valmont!" Captain Nathan warned, drawing his broadsword.
"They have breached the outer gates and are attempting to storm the Council Chambers!"
Beatrice, still kneeling in chains upon the floor, threw her head back and let out a manic, triumphant laugh.
"Did you truly believe my power was limited to thirty men in a dark sewer?" Beatrice sneered, rising.
"Three thousand of my finest heavy cavalry have surrounded the palace! They answer only to my gold!"
"If I am to fall today, every single one of you will burn inside these walls with me!" she threatened.
The massive oak doors splintered with a thunderous crack, iron hinges snapping like dry twigs.
Dozens of heavy infantry clad in black and gold armor surged through the breach with raised shields.
Their drawn broadswords were slick with the blood of the palace gatekeepers who had tried to resist.
"Kill the prince! Kill the girl! Spare no one who wears the Eldorian crest!" Beatrice screamed to her soldiers.
Noble lords and ladies shrieked in terror, scrambling over one another to flee toward the rear exits.
Adrian drew his ceremonial blade, standing instantly at Ella’s side at the base of the royal dais.
"Nathan, form a shield wall around the Chancellor and the High Council!" Adrian commanded with authority.
"Sire, you must retreat to the High Tower!" Nathan urged, parrying a savage axe blow from a Valmont soldier.
"I do not flee from traitors in my own home," Adrian replied fiercely, slashing through an attacker's mail.
A giant mercenary captain wielding a two-handed war hammer locked his bloodshot eyes on Ella.
He recognized the faded blue dress and the glowing glass slipper from Beatrice's description.
"Ten thousand gold crowns for the maid's head!" the brute roared, charging forward like a wounded beast.
The heavy hammer swept through the air, whistling with lethal force aimed straight at Ella's skull.
Adrian lunged to intercept, but two enemy swordsmen engaged him simultaneously, blocking his path.
"Ella, look out!" Adrian yelled in sheer desperation, parrying two blades with a frantic sweep.
Ella did not flinch; she stood her ground, her hazel eyes locking onto the descending iron hammer.
As the heavy weapon swung toward her, she pivoted with the supernatural grace granted by the glass slipper.
The hammer struck the empty marble floor, shattering the stone tile into a cloud of sharp fragments.
Before the brute could recover his balance, Ella stepped inside his guard with blinding speed.
She drove the heel of the glass slipper directly down onto the mercenary's armored instep.
The ancient crystal flared with radiant energy, crushing through the hardened steel plate like paper.
The brute screamed in agony, dropping the massive hammer as his foot was pinned to the fractured floor.
Ella grabbed the handle of the fallen war hammer, using the mercenary’s own momentum against him.
With a surge of strength born from years of hauling heavy kitchen loads, she swung the handle upward.
The heavy oak shaft struck the brute squarely beneath his jaw, snapping his head back violently.
The giant collapsed like a felled oak tree, unconscious before his heavy armor hit the bloody floor.
The surrounding Valmont soldiers hesitated, their eyes wide with disbelief at the maid's ferocious defense.
Adrian dispatched his two opponents with swift, deadly thrusts, stepping up shoulder-to-shoulder with Ella.
"You are full of surprises, Princess," Adrian breathed, a fierce, admiring grin breaking across his face.
"Ten years of carrying sacks of flour builds character, Adrian," Ella replied, her eyes scanning the battlefield.
More Valmont soldiers poured through the shattered doors, threatening to overwhelm Nathan’s small shield wall.
"We cannot hold the hall against three thousand men!" Nathan shouted, his shield splintering under blows.
"They fight for Valmont gold!" Ella shouted, her voice cutting through the clashing steel and screams.
She leaped onto the edge of the elevated royal dais, standing tall above the chaos of the battle.
The glass slipper radiated a brilliant, blinding beacon of golden and azure light that bathed the entire hall.
"Soldiers of Eldoria!" Ella projected her voice with the ancient power of the founding monarchs.
"House Valmont has fallen! Your commander lies in chains beneath the royal throne!"
She pointed her finger toward Beatrice, who was struggling helplessly in her heavy iron bonds.
"The true Queen of Eldoria stands before you! Lay down your weapons and you shall be granted royal mercy!"
"Continue this treason, and not a single soul among you will leave these walls alive!" Ella proclaimed.
The divine radiance emanating from the slipper and her royal presence stunned the charging soldiers.
They looked at the glowing relic, looked at the weeping, broken matriarch in chains, and looked at each other.
The common soldiers had been told they were putting down a peasant rebellion, not fighting a true queen.
One by one, swords and shields clattered to the bloodstained marble floor as the men refused to fight.
May you like
"Traitors! Fight, you cowards! I will pay you double!" Beatrice shrieked, but her voice was powerless now.
The rebellion of House Valmont had collapsed, snuffed out by the courage of a servant girl.
