After a stony end to dinner, Coco and Adrian stood and waited for the other knights to say their goodbyes to the Queen. They bowed low, giving praise. Coco watched each knight bend down and kiss the Queen’s hand before exiting. Coco could see small pebbles pop off the Queen’s dress each time a knight kissed her hand. Some landed on the floor and rolled around listlessly, while the next knight side-stepped them or tried to crush them under his large black rubber boot.

“What are those things?” Coco whispered to Adrian.

“Spores,” he whispered back as one launched onto the neck of a knight who’d lingered just a bit too long.

The knight stood, oblivious to the spore. As he passed Coco, she saw the purplish blob throb and pulsate on the knight’s neck. He walked through a door, and turned to smile with the sweetest of adoration at the Queen. He stared longingly at her and she waved coyly at him while he blew a kiss at her.

“I guess they do work,” Coco snickered to herself.

Adrian looked at her sheepishly. He didn’t seem to find any amusement in the situation.

“Adrian,” the Queen called out to him. “Come and speak with me. Bring your stray along.”

“My name is Coco.”

“I do not recall addressing it, Adrian. Tell it not to speak to me.” The Queen rolled her head back and gazed at the ceiling, nose in the air.

“Please refrain from addressing the Queen unless she has acknowledged you specifically,” Adrian said. His voice was firm.

Coco did not enjoy being spoken to in this way. Nor did she relish the idea of the two of them having a conversation about her as though she weren’t standing right in front of them.

“Good night, Adrian.” The Queen extended her hand and smiled a shiny, silver smile.

Adrian bowed on one knee as the other knights had, and pressed his closed mouth to her pale hand.

Coco stood behind him with her arms crossed, glaring at the Queen, who stared directly into her eyes over the top of Adrian’s head. She gave Coco a mean little crooked smile and wriggled in her seat for a moment before she bounced, ever-so-slightly.

The Queen did not break eye contact with Coco while she released another small purple orb. It made a small arc, and Coco watched in horror as it planted itself firmly on the back of Adrian’s head.

“No!” Coco reached out to grab the pulsating thing latched to the back of Adrian’s head. The Queen clapped loudly and two guards appeared from the door behind her seat. They rushed to Coco and each grabbed one of her arms. They held her firmly while she thrashed.

Coco called out to Adrian for help. He turned slowly on his heel and stared at her with cold vacancy behind his eyes while the Queen began to shriek in terror.

Rudy was flung from his hiding spot in Coco’s sleeve when the guards snatched her. He chose to fly a large loop around the chaos rather than fall to the ground.

The Queen was frozen in fear when she saw him. She sat and screamed, gaping at Rudy while he maneuvered through the people in the room.

She finally snapped out of her paralysis and screamed, “Smash it! Kill it!” The Queen flung her hand over her open mouth and pointed, following Rudy with her finger.

Not particularly wanting to be squashed, Rudy flew around the room looking for an escape. He found a door left slightly ajar that led to the courtyard.

The two guards held firmly to Coco. Adrian was unresponsive under the spell of the spore. Rudy had abandoned Coco to save himself. She wanted to be mad at him for leaving her, but what could a fly really do to save her?

The Queen shot out of her seat and stomped over to Coco, each step an expression of her fury and hatred. “You dare to bring a fly to my Court?!” she shouted, so close to Coco that spit flew into her face.

“It’s just a little fly. I don’t see the problem. If you would have kept your goons off of me, you wouldn’t have known he was there.” Coco jerked an arm feebly.

“THAT ISN’T THE POINT!” the Queen shrieked. She threw her hands in the air and turned her back to Coco, stalking back and forth.

When the Queen’s back was turned, the guard to Coco’s right tightened his grip on her arm and hissed, “The Queen is terrified of flies. You’ve fucked up big, little sister.”

The Queen turned to face Coco again with fire in her eye. The light bulb in place of her other eye was flashing erratically. She strode back over to Coco, and with each step her anger gave way to amusement. This confused and frightened Coco.

The Queen stood in front of her, smirking. Her lips parted slowly. She flashed her bear trap grin and locked eyes with Coco as she addressed the guards and waved a dismissive hand in the air. “Take her to the Chamber.”

She turned, wrapped an arm through Adrian’s, and marched away with him in tow. The Queen’s skirts dragged in the dirt behind her while she stroked Adrian’s arm and beamed up at him. He smiled back at her with mindless saccharine worship. Coco watched as the door shut behind them.

The guards dragged Coco through the courtyard and out a side door. They led her down a muddy, littered path. There were no other people around. Coco flailed wildly, trying to free herself from the grip of their calloused hands.

They arrived at a sturdy looking, squat structure with a large metal door where two guards stood. The two men holding Coco threw her at the guards’ feet. She hit the ground face-first and tasted sickly, sour dirt.

“This one goes to the Chamber, by order of the Queen”

Coco looked up at the guards surrounding her.

The two at the door smirked down at her.

“On your feet.” the fatter one said.

She obeyed. She was clearly outnumbered.

Pieces of wrought iron fencing in various shades of rust had all been welded together to form a heavy door. The guard inserted a large skeleton key into the lock and heaved his bulk against the door to force it open.

Inside was a jail. A dungeon. Aluminum siding and chain link all fused together with wrought iron reinforcement to keep a handful of prisoners trapped. Two oversized birdcages dangled from the ceiling where two men, one in each cage, squatted inside looking hungry and tired. They were covered in shit, as were their cages and the floor below them.

The guards shoved her through the dungeon, past the other prisoners to another large door on the other side of the room. The fat guard jammed a key in the lock and tried to turn it.

“This damn thing is jammed. Hang on to her.” he fidgeted with his keys. He tried a different one.

While he busied himself with the task of keys, Coco couldn’t help but wonder what was on the other side of that door. Her thoughts were rudely interrupted when she felt the hand of the thinner guard squeeze her ass.

Coco’s elbow flew towards his face and struck a solid blow to his nose.

“Son of a bitch!” he screamed. He doubled over holding his face. Blood dripped from between his fingers.

The fat guard turned to see what had happened. He grabbed the wooden club from his holster and swung fiercely at Coco’s head.

Coco’s vision exploded with bright orange light and she crumpled into unconsciousness.