Anselm woke up early, polished his armor to a mirror shine, oiled the joints, cleaned his sword, and was ready to report to the Queen's side by sun up. The castle was both beautiful, and inspiring.

The coloring of the walls was a paint made from pigments from every province in the kingdom mixed together, a symbol of unity that produced the darkest black you could get from a paint here. Despite the dark walls, the place was well lit by all the bright and cheery fireplaces, and sconces on the walls.

He entered the Queen's throne room before she arrived, and went to stand beside the throne in anticipation. The throne itself was a Wondrous statement of commitment to the kingdom's legacy, she kept a memento of her father, specifically his skull, mounted atop the throne itself, with his crown still on his head. The Queen said she wanted to remind people how she had come to power, which Anselm knew to be from a strong family bond. The Queen was remarkably well adjusted for a girl who had witnessed her own father tragically fall out of her own bedroom window on the day she came of age.

Some commoners were lined up to petition the queen, and as a servant informed Anselm the Queen was arriving shortly, he cued the crowd to begin singing. This was his favorite part of the mornings, hearing the citizens sing cheery melodies about their unwavering Obedience to the crown, and the blood the Queen would shed to maintain loyalty.

Finally, she arrived. Humble as ever, instead of wearing a golden threaded robe of rich purples and reds, and a gaudy overjeweled crown, she wore a simple black robe, and her own tiara made out of gold pulled from the teeth of the traitors and criminals she locked up in her first days as Queen. Truly it was a physical reminder of the dedication she had for rooting out corruption in the court, why she had no hesitation in rooting out even some of her father's closest confidants, once she found evidence of corruption in her own personal investigations.

The first peasant begged for his only son to be released from military service. Their farm wasn't running as well without the youthful lad, and he hadn't been able to keep up with the crowd's food tax on his own.

His Queen of course, spoke in simple clear words and let herself be understood. His son was serving the greater good, and now his father was shaming his service with his bickering. The official punishment for trying to desert a military draft was of course death, and death for your immediate family. However the queen showed the man mercy, Anselm drew his shortsword, and held it out to the farmer as the queen gave him the chance to spare his son's life by carrying out his own penalty to himself.

The selfish old man spat at her feet and called her a wicked evil old hag. Honestly, it was preposterous, she had never done an illegal thing in her life.

How could you be evil if you followed the law? Truly, it was nonsense. He pondered this as he dragged the man's body out of the Queen's sight.