The Royal Footrest

Seraphina sat upon her throne watching intently as two guards entered the royal chamber dragging along one of the palace servents.  The guards, each holding an arm of the servent, approached the throne and bowed to their queen before throwing their prisoner's arms forward, forcing her onto all fours at the queen's feet.  The servent remained on the floor quivering in fear:  she dared not raise her head to meet the eyes of her master.

"Your highness," said the servent nervously.  Seraphina stopped stroking the head of her pet snake Shantae momentarily to wave her hand at the guards, causing them to return to their post standing at either side of the door.  The servent looked side to side and noticed more guards standing at attention off to the sides of the chamber.  It was clear there would be no chance for her to escape, and so she continued kneeling in front of her queen.

"At 8:30 this morning, I awoke and called for my clothes so that I may get immediately dressed as I always do at the same time every day," said Seraphina, her voice masking any sort of emotion.  "And every day, my clothes arrive immediately.  Every day the same, except for today.  I was informed my dress was not ready yet:  it had been washed later than usual and had not finished drying.  It seems that the servent responsible for washing this dress had arrived ten minutes late.  You are that servent, yes?"

"Your highness, I am so sorr-" started the servent, but the queen cut her off.

"Answer the question."

"Y-yes, that's me."

"Do you realize how demeaning it is to walk around this palace in my night gown?"  The servent, thinking of her own torn clothes which were little more than rags, did not respond.

"Explain to me why everyone in this castle was doing exactly what they were supposed to be doing but you."

"I'm sorry, my lady, I overslept.  I was up until 3 last night scrubbing the flo-"

"You are lazy," the queen responded with more fire in her voice.  "I despise laziness, and I despise excuses even more."

The servent began to shake even more and began to cry.  "M-my lady, I am so sor-"

"Look at me!"  The servent hesitated for a moment before looking up at Seraphina.  The queen stared with contempt at the girl and said nothing for several seconds before sighing and returning to her usual calm demeanor.

"I-I'm sorry, my lady!  I have f-f-failed you, and it will not happen again!" the servent shouted with tears in her eyes.

"No," said Seraphina.  Her hand brushed Shantae's head, and the serpent turned towards the servent girl.  "It won't."

Just then, the snake released a giant burst of red light from its eyes.  Instantly, the servent felt her body starting to grow stiff and numb.  She saw her hands turn gray and knew instantly what was happening.  She raised her hand towards the throne and began to scream, but the sound was cut off abruptly as the gaze finished working its magic.  The red light dimmed and the servent was left as a stone statue frozen in place.

Seraphina motioned towards the right wall of the chamber for her guards to approach her.  Two of the guards walked up to the throne and awaited further instruction.  Seraphina pointed towards the statue of the poor girl at her feet and said calmly "Turn this one around and bring it closer to me."  They nodded silently and obliged.  With the statue in its new position, the queen lifted her legs and placed them on the back of the statue.

"Oh, and take that one out to the garden," said Seraphina as she pointed towards the door.  The guard to the left of the door stood at attention, but was visibly shaken by the fate of the guard on the right:  she stood as a statue frozen in astonishment, having failed to look away from the basilisk's gaze.  The pair of guards at the feet of the queen nodded and walked towards the door.  Seraphina leaned back a bit in her throne and resumed petting her pet.  She rested her head on her other hand as she watched her former guard being carried out of the throne room.  She smiled and glanced down at the statue beneath her feet.

"You may have failed at washing my clothes," thought the queen "but you will serve me well as a footrest."

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I've wanted to do something like this one since my original piece showing Seraphina, but didn't really commit to doing it until now.  I'm not 100% satisfied with it, but it was fun to make something unrelated to my game for a change.  I do really like how Seraphina looks in this one though.