Throne of Lies

Rosemary has 50,906 PL and her Dark Nimbus.

Just a few days ago, she might've thought that the life of a queen would be grand. Exciting. Majestic, even! However, reality was proving that far from the case, as she had become swamped in work and meetings in a desperate attempt to make sense of the mess their society truly was in. Soldiers attacking villages and taking what they wanted. Soldiers defecting to become mercenaries- or even worse, pirates. Those very same mercenaries and pirates threatening towns as part of some protection racket or another. Then the captains who voiced their racism loudly any chance they got, usually in her direction.

Then the racists!

Speaking of...

The sounds of fighting were nothing new, not even in the palace at the heart of Sadala, so the queen hadn't paid them any mind as she sat in her throne and perused the maps given to her by an older male standing to her side. Yes, they needed to deal with the Tuffle, but between the various troublemakers across her territory and now even the Arcosians poking their nose into other people's business, she was beginning to question if she had gotten ahead of herself before she'd even started.

However, she couldn't ignore the individual who shoved the heavy doors open hard enough to tear her attention away from the maps in her hands. Her red eyes rose to investigate the commotion, only to be followed by a soft sigh that sent a tuft of smoking rising into the air. She should've guessed...

"How about we focus on sector B-... 32? Keep them away from the fields, at least. Make sure the squad are experienced Oozaru." Rosemary paid the ranting stranger no mind as she handed the maps back to the elderly male. At least, she didn't recognize the intruder at a glance, yet. He definitely seemed to know her, though.

The hybrid sat up in her throne, dressed in a more form fitting armor than the mass produced model of her visitor. A red cape lay draped over the side of the seat, attached to a single shoulder and long enough to reach her calves if she were to stand, and the hem of the breastplate was adorned with many overlain pieces that formed a rudimentary skirt, of sorts. Dark wrist guards covered her forearms, pushed back from her wrists themselves and joined above by a gold band around each bicep. Another such band rest secure around her thigh, and several more pieces of jewelry adorned her tail at odd intervals.

Then, of course, there was the crown sitting atop her head. She certainly liked to look the part of her new title.

After a moment, it came to her where she'd met the male before: in the wastes, just after he'd destroyed her favorite bar. He had been joined by a young woman; one who had made a much better impression on her, to be quite honest. She just couldn't remember his name...

"Oh?" Rosemary chided the intruder as her lip twisted into a smirk. The red of her yes deepened for a moment, became a ferocious glow as she peered into his very soul and found him... wanting. "Where was this a few days ago? Are you still such a coward that it took you this long to work up the nerve to come?" Though she fought to keep her anger under control, that didn't mean she particularly liked the way he had chosen to speak to her. She had made sure that every living soul on the planet had received her words when she'd taken the throne. Only Nasu had shown himself and spoken his reasons to doubt her; reasons which she rebuked and resolved before bringing him under her wing.

"Choose your next words carefully." Her voice built and echoed around the male's seemingly empty mind. It was like he had wandered into the Oozaru's den, and it now circled around him as it contemplated whether to eat him or just kill him and toss away the remains. "You will NOT be so disrespectful again, not unless you enjoy the thought of being a stain on the floor!"

She meant it.

"Yes, coward." Rosemary had let him say his words to the end, but he had only made her more angry in the process. Now, as she spoke both with her voice and into his mind, she was brimming with hatred for the man and having a difficult time of restraining herself. "Coward is what one calls someone who didn't show himself when our people were attacked, when a Tuffle armada descended on the city en masse. So, where were you, coward? Hiding away while your fellow Saiyans fought and died." In her attempt to control herself, her voice came off somewhat flat, but her anger shown through as the male's mind was filled with visions of the battle from her own perspective: memories of the day when she realized what had to be done.

"I'm doing what I have to do to protect my people," she continued. "This war has gone on for too long. Half the planet has been ruined by it, and may very well be incurable of the rot brought about by the Tuffle bomb. The old leadership were content to let us suffer and die, if it meant they stayed in power longer." Her eyes narrowed against the intruder in her court. "Then there were cowards like you, too afraid to fight at their best." Yes, she still remembered their conversation from before, and how Taori had gotten angry at the mere mention of transforming in the mighty Oozaru.

"Now, do you disagree, or is all your bluster over something so small and insignificant as my appearance?" She called him out directly. Nasu had given real, concrete reasons why he didn't trust her at the start of their battle. She had respected that. She felt no such thing for racists who simply thought the throne should be kept "pure."

"Good!" The queen returned a smug and satisfied smirk to the male's defeated demeanor. "But don't waste your breath on "would" and "could". There's nothing any of us can do to change the past now." She admonished him for focusing so much on how things could have been, despite what she was sure were the best of intentions. Besides, looking at his soul, he wouldn't have been strong enough to partake in the battle with the Tuffle leader in the first place. He could have fought off the rank and file grunts, but not much more.

However, there was something else he kept repeating that bothered her...

"And quit with this about my "fascination with the Saiyans" nonsense. I was born here, to a Saiyan mother. I've fought for our people since I was old enough to throw a punch. Hell, I died in one of those battles!" She waved her arms around to emphasize how much she hated the insinuation that she was anything less than a Saiyan. And, she did, indeed, die on that day. The medics had told her as much once she'd woken up in the healing pod. Her heart had stopped beating for several minutes before it'd restarted again. Of course, she felt no need to continue on about how that incident had seemed to be the catalyst to awaken the powers she boasted today.

"Is there anything else you want to say, Taori?" She cocked her brow at the retired soldier. She had been in the middle of a strategy meeting, after all. She couldn't waste all of her time on every grunt who barged in to her palace.

Rosemary let slip a small scoff at the male's apparent confusion over what she had been talking about. Perhaps she should've held back and not talk about her past so much, or get as defensive as she had, but she was hardly going to say that out loud now. She was the queen. She had to appear strong, even if that particular accusation pushed every button she had all at once.

"I'm more serious about this than anything else in my entire life." When she spoke again, it was without the effect of her telepathy added on top of her audible voice. Had she forgotten to keep applying it to appear more intimidating? Had she decided it wasn't worth the effort at this point in the conversation? Was she just tired? A little of all of the above, perhaps? Either way...

"You know there's other places to go if you just want to reinstate yourself in the military." She chuckled at Taori's expense, and an innocent little tuft of smoke escaped her mouth. "But if you're serious, I need to know: are you still afraid of the Oozaru inside of you?" Her eyes peered into the male's very soul, not looking for anything hidden within but in a way that betrayed just how easily she could squash him and his hopes of avenging his friend if she didn't like his answer. "Or, are you willing to let yourself be free in order to fight for the peace we need?"

A conniving look spread across the queen's face, stretching her smirk a little more wide. The male had gotten defensive, but it was a little amusing to watch. When he was done, she turned to one of the other Saiyans standing beside her, one who wore a scouter out of habit, and inquired about Taori's reading. The result that came back was a little disappointing, but marginally better than the rank and file. She didn't feel it was enough to just send him back out to the front lines, however, not when he could be more useful...

"Alright, Taori," she finally addressed him again. "Consider yourself reinstated into the Sadalan army. I'm not going to put you out in the field just yet. I want you to put those skills to use teaching others to control their better half." Rosemary let a brief chuckle escaped her, carrying another tuft of smoke into the air in its wake. "When your battle power is... thirty-thousand, we'll talk about a promotion to grunt. The Tuffle have many tricks up their sleeves, so we can't just send anyone who knows how to throw a punch these days." She slipped in that small insult at Taori's expense, just to get across her irritation that he hadn't improved much any at all since they last met.

"That'll be all. You're dismissed." She waved the newly minted soldier away as she returned to her more important duties at hand.

"Fifty thousand, huh?" Rosemary's characteristic smirk shown proudly as the male walked out of her court with a new goal in mind. Yes, that would be good. She'd only wanted to inspire him to take a larger role in the well-being of their people, but it seems that instead, she'd gone and lit a fire underneath him that would drive him to her and Nasu's level. Yes, that would be good, indeed. With three Oozaru of such strength, she would hardly need the army to accomplish her goal, would she?

"Make sure his paperwork is done. Taori is to be put to work, and keep me updated on his progress. How about... weekly updates?" If he was going to take this so seriously, then she had no excuse to do anything less. The queen wanted to keep an eye on him from this moment on. She had manipulated him into taking this path, seemingly of his own choosing, but she had not used any of her power to do so. Such a thing would have its risks, yes, but it too would have its rewards.

Just how far would Taori get before the next battle showed at their door step?