A Queen's Feast

The grand hall of the estate had been cleaned, polished, and adorned with gilded opulence. Nothing in this room looked the same as it did when Gideon ruled from its center because it was mine now.

 The table that once bore his iron fist now shimmered under crystal chandeliers and flickered candlelight, and I was its centerpiece.

Men who had once looked at me like I was a doll now kept their eyes down. The chairs around the long table were filled with powerful people, heads of the territories Gideon had conquered, men who had tried to fill the vacuum after his fall, and now sat still in their tailored suits, measuring their options carefully.

I was the option.

I wore black again, for dominance. A sculpted dress that clung to my curves and bore my authority. A thin gold necklace looped around my throat and equally thin earrings dangled down my ears. My lips was colored blood red, my eyes, outlined in shadows.