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Every kobold in the chamber bows before their new leader, but when Tikana looks down, smoke streaming out of her nostrils, she sees Tik Tik and scowls, before she looks to the rest of her subjects and proclaims. "For too long, the Dragon's Heir tribe has been without a dragon. Today, you have crowned one as your queen. Any kobold here who would seek to see your queen as the old kobold that stood here before you today shall be punished by my will. She, like your previous queen, is dead. Now that I, a great dragon, am your queen, I shall declare unto you my first decree: our tribe shall entice outsiders to come to our lands and pillage our treasures. We shall crush them as they dare set foot here, and we will take their riches and add them to our queen's magnificent horde. From that, you will earn the respect of a true dragon.

All of the kobolds in the room, save for Tik Tik, bark in appreciation for their new leader.

The queen, who sits down on her newly-constructed throne, crosses one leg over the other and stares at the lone kobold standing among the sea of subjects, saying, "There is none who is equal to me within in this tribe."

Immediately, the kobolds set off to make their lands more enticing for invading adventurers. Tik Tik, of course, remains stunned as her mind races at the implications of this new mandate. So, against the sea of exiting kobolds, Tik Tik wades forward, her eyes squarely upon the new queen.

But before she can get up to the raised platform, two guards jump in her way, each of them carrying spears as they snort and show off their larger size.

But the apprentice trapmaker is undeterred, and she barks up. "Tikana! This is stupid! Why are you acting this way!?"

"You dare speak to your queen--your dragon, like that?" The Grand Matron shouts, her claws digging into her old gnarled staff. "I should expect that. You've been trouble since the day you were hatched..."

The Kobold Queen holds her hand up to silence her, and she stands tall, looking down to Tik Tik. "You want to know what's spurred this on? I suppose I can give you a small hint from my generosity. After all, I am going to be a fair ruler." The draconic kobold chuckles as her wings drape around her back like a cape. "You, Little One, are perhaps the most selfish among the kobolds here. Truly, that is a testament, as you do not have the blood of dragons running through you." She finishes the statement as she runs her fingers down along one of her red-splotch patterns."

"Tik Tik is selfish!?" She shouts. "What about you, Tikana!? The moment you put on that crown, you've become a different kobold!"

"Am I so different, Little One?" The queen says, sitting on the edge of the raised platform, crossing her legs once more, bouncing one over the other. "After all, I've always afforded myself the rare and elusive gold and treasure. Now, I don't need to find it on my own. I have the power to have the miners find it for me. I have the command to bring outsiders here faster than ever before. I have the lust to have those beneath my concern fear me."

"You'll kill us all!" Tik Tik says.

"On the contrary," she says, hopping down off of the platform. She nods, and the two guards grip Tik Tik's shoulder and force her down onto her knees. The Queen sways her way towards her former nestmate, her grin growing to levels of smug far beyond any kobold should have. "I have the best trapmaker in the Dragon's Heir tribe working for me. No one will get through to us, and if they did, then our combat specialists will take care of the issue with no issue."

"You promised... you promised we'd work together to make things better for everyone here! You said I'd be your adviser"

"I did promise we'd make things great for the different... and I'm not going back on that promise..." The Queen says, standing up, crossing her arms over her chest. "I've just figured a more mature and intelligent way to go about things. You are little, both in body and in mind, Tik Tik. Grow up, and maybe I'll reconsider putting you among my closest confidants. But, I have no need for someone who would throw their life away just to try and preach at me. Now, you have traps to make and outsiders to kill, do you not?" She turns her back away from her former friend and heads out of the chamber.

"You've changed, Tikana..." Tik Tik says, a growl in her voice.

"A little," she says, "but perhaps, you haven't awakened fully? Wake up. Grow up. I expect great things from you."

She snaps her fingers, and the guards hoist Tik Tik up, dragging her away from their Queen's presence.

---

The Kobold Queen lays upon the bed of gold, created from the rewards dug from the earth and stripped from unwary travelers. The warmth of the sun light that master Tikit constructed for her sends her off into her own bliss, but such pleasures are fleeting.

Kishke, the captain of the guard, approaches, placing a hand upon her chest and kneeling down before the relaxing queen. "Your greatness," she begins, keeping her good eye down upon the floor, to avoid being blinded by the radiance of her queen's bed. "She has returned."

"Has she, now?" The queen asks, scooping her coins into the palm of her hand and drizzling them over herself. "I suppose you can send her in."

"Alone with you? But your majesty, her behavior at the coronation-"

"You do not question my decisions. You only seek out the best ways to carry out my commands. Now, go."

"Very well, my queen." The captain says. "It will be done."