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The Princess's Mercy

By Draconicon

Most kingdoms, when a member of the royal family went missing, would have devoted a good chunk of their military might to tracking them down and taking them back. Others would have deployed armies of negotiators when their missing member of the monarchy was found. In the case of Aparajita, under the rule of the Mongoose Court, they did both. They sent Princess Shakti.

A slender woman with a body that was a hint too tall for the length of her arms and legs, the princess was wrapped in a green dress, one without neckline nor accessories. Black lines ran across her shoulders and down the sides of her dress, all the way to her waist where it formed a belt pattern. The mongoose princess stood on the bottom of ten steps leading up to the front door of a stone-brick manor, her hands together in the sleeves of her dress. Her tail was still, her eyes narrowed.

Eventually, a servant - a red panda, dressed in rough leathers and a white smock - opened the door. He bowed to her.

"T-the l-l-lord of the...the house w-will..."

"He will hopefully listen."

She nodded ever so slightly at the red panda, reminding herself that this was not his fault. This...difficulty...was more down to her brother being an idiot once more.

Shakti entered the manor, allowing the red panda the privilege of leading her along. The wood flooring creaked slightly under her bare soles, and she shook her head again. A poor building, dilapidated over time. Likely for the same reasons that the fields were empty outside of the manor itself. The nobles had long-since ceased having subjects on the land that would farm it, that would feed them funds. That, or they had frittered it away, the way that so many that were stupid enough to try this did.

She was led through the halls to a library, where an elephant sat in wait. He leaned back on a larger than average chair, a book splayed over his lap. He smiled at her appearance.

"Ah, your highness. It's good that you've finally arrived. Now, we can talk terms."

"...You haven't been reading."

"Your highness?"

"Your book is turned to the title page, and there are grease prints from your thumbs along the page," she said. "You've been posed, waiting. Will you disarm whatever trap you have planned, and I give you another chance?"

"..."

"Do not assume I am as stupid as my brother. Now, my offer?"

"..." The elephant nodded, and two men stepped away from the door. She fixed him with a stare, and he nodded again, the other four making their way away from the wooden frame. The crocodiles were dismissed, sent out of the room, and she finally entered.

"I should have remembered your title, Princess," the elephant said. "I thought that it was merely an affectation, but it seems you are ready for anything."

"I would not be heir if I were not."

Allowing the back half of her skirt to rest against the offered seat, she swept the other half forward. Yes, it allowed the split along the side to rise up her legs almost to her thigh, but it allowed for movement, as well. She knew better than to trust the elephant. She knew better than to trust most of the nobles under her father's government. With the number of squabbles that the king forced to stop before they could proceed to the battlefield, it was rarer to find one that supported the Mongoose Court than it was to find one that opposed it.

She tapped her raised foot idly in impatience, and the elephant cleared his throat.

"Well, as you are here, it's clear that the Court is taking my demands seriously. I have your brother, Prince Saunak. If you want him back, then I have a list of demands."

"So do we."

"...What?" The elephant blinked. "I'm not sure that I understand."

"Yes, we've gathered that."

The princess leaned back, folding her hands over her stomach. She did not cock her head to the side, nor did she smile. She merely fixed the elephant with a stare...an amused stare. Smiling with the eyes was a trick and a half, but she had learned to do it to express some form of amusement at state functions.

"You see, my brother is likely to escape at any moment on his own. He is, at best, a troublemaker."

"...We did actually cover the part where I have him hostage, yes?"

"Hostage? Perhaps to your cock."

The elephant spluttered slightly, blushing for her. Shakti didn't mind; she had long since lost any shame where her sibling was involved. He was the man-whore of the kingdom, and this was not the first time that some noble had tried to take advantage. It was, however, the first one that had kept her brother longer than a week, which meant that he was either hung like the elephant he was, or he had taken other steps.

"My brother goes missing two days out of every three. It is hardly uncommon to receive a list of demands from someone during that time."

"Then you wish to see him? To have proof?"

"On the contrary. I wish to see how much you are willing to pay for his company."

"...Princess, you...this is supposed to be a hostage negotiation."

"Yes, and I am negotiating with you for how long you will pay us to allow you to hold him. He is already acting like a whore; he might as well be bringing something into the coffers of the kingdom."

"Does your blood mean nothing to you?"

"I don't know. Have you tried spilling it yet?"

Now, she allowed herself a smile. Just a small one, of course; royalty could not afford to gloat too much, even when they held all the cards. Shakti shook her head.

"Of course not. If you had, then you would show a mark from it."

"Your brother - I'm telling you, you won't get him back unless you give in to my demands."

"Yes, you keep saying that. Do you happen to know who you have in your...Third floor, second room from the staircase on the left, locked in the closet with a ball gag and a series of silk ropes? Blue, today, if I am correct."

"...How..."

"My brother sent us information about his 'captivity' last week. Now, we are willing to allow him to stay 'captive', to play his little game of debauchery, since he exposed you as the traitor that you are. However, if you wish to keep up your pleasures, and maintain your home, then we have our demands, as well. Reasonable, I believe, considering your current state of affairs, but still steep enough to remind you of the costs of trying to ransom a member of my family."

"..."

"Shall I go through the list?"

Please let me go through the list, she thought. I am tired of people that think that they know better than I do. I'm tired of people that think - oh, you're scheming again...

Sighing inside, Shakti held the same position that she had held for the entire conversation. The elephant tapped his chin, looking around. Knowing him, she imagined that most of the bookshelves were as fake as could be, hiding guards or worse on the other side. Her brother had said that this particular lord of the land was overly fond of trap doors and worse.

Finally, the elephant smirked.

"I have a better idea."

"If you say that you want to try and capture me, you won't like what happens next."

"I've already captured one of you. What's to say I can't capture two?"

"I'm giving you one last warning. Accept my terms, keep my brother for a few more days until he gets bored, and everything will be perfectly fine for you. If you push this -"

"Men!"

Shakti sighed, hearing the red panda running at top speed down the hall. At least one of them had common sense. The mongoose dusted off her dress as she got to her feet, eight heavily armed and thick-armored elephants pushing open fake doors in the wall. Most were armed with polearms, two with swords, and one with a net. The princess shook her head, moving to stand with one leg raised, her arms outstretched, and the toes of her feet pointed. The elephant noble pointed at her.

"Seize her!"

The first soldier lunged at her, charging forward with his spear held low. Just as the point was about to reach her, she kicked her leg up, her toes curling around the wooden shaft and dragging it out of the way. She kicked her other leg up, pressed her sole to the back of the metal helmet the elephant wore, and pushed. Hard.

The big man went down, and she stood on him, straddling him with one foot on his head, one on his belly. She looked around the room...and the elephant within the armor began to gasp, huffing, puffing, and starting to scream as the metal beneath her feet turned red. The others backed away, their eyes wide in the slits of their helmets, whispering her 'title.'

The Living Weapon.

She stopped raising the heat under her feet a few seconds later, stopping with burns rather than melting it through on the soldier below. The princess turned to the elephant lord, looking at his face, wondering if this would be enough.

The order obviously rising up told her that it wasn't.

"I hate it when you make me do this," she muttered. "I came here in all reasonableness...and you decided that you knew better."

"Seize -"

Shakti punched the air, and as she did, fire sparked from the speed of her punch. It rippled through the air, and the ball of heat took the elephant square in the chest, knocking him off his chair and setting his clothes on fire. As he screamed, rolling around, she turned to the soldiers.

"Run."

And they did. Jangling, clanking, they did. She shook her head, rubbing her forehead.

"I swear, next time Saunak makes me do this, I'm burning him, instead. Brother, oh brother..."

The End

Summary: Princess Shakti of the Mongoose Court is taking care of a hostage negotiation issue. She ends up flipping it on its head.

Tags: no sex, mongoose, royalty, hostage, hostage negotiation, fight, fire, pain, elephant, smart, princess, barefoot,