Alice's Point of View
The Queen paced the halls of the hospital with a vacant, haunted look; doctors, nurses, and patients alike lowered their heads in solidarity with her pain as she passed. When emergency responders found them, Brad was unconscious and Reka was nonverbal.
Alice had gone over the attack several times since the royal couple was rushed to the hospital. As near as they could determine, Russia saturated Ukrainian air defenses with a huge cruise missile and drone attack, allowing a pair of Tu-22M long-range bombers to get close enough to launch Kinzhal ballistic missiles at their robot factory. Damage to the factory itself was mostly superficial, but the King and Queen had been visiting that day and were caught in the explosions. Assassination attempt?
The NATO air defense network they relied on was either blinded by Russian electronic warfare, or let the attack slip through due to incompetence or negligence. Alice didn't know what possibility was worse.
Something is rotten here, she thought. This was the kind of attack that was supposed to star World War Three, but America was silent.
Brad was alive, at least, though they hadn't gotten confirmation as to the extent of his injuries. Reka, naturally, didn't want to speak about anything else.
Prime Minister Magyar had condemned the attack without naming the culprit, but speculation was rife on social media. Footage of their Vanguards tearing through Russian positions still dominated trending topics. It didn't take a genius to realize this new tech was Hungarian in origin and the attack on the Queen was retaliation.
Taras, I'm proud of you, but I think you succeeded a little too well. This war was officially her problem now, not something that was happening across the border. It was here, in the very heart of Reka's land.
Thankfully, no footage of Reka's transformation into the Demon Queen survived. Omnipresent Galiban was able to hack the feed and obscure the image just enough that nobody could quite tell what was happening. There were even a few posters claiming an angel protected the royal couple, a theory they did nothing to discredit.
"What do we do?" she asked the butler, who was looking at Reka with a worried, guilty expression. What kind of robot felt guilt?
"We must take full responsibility for our own security," Galiban said seriously. "This 'NATO' organization's air defense system failed to intercept the attack or even warn us it was coming. I have several countermeasures in mind; this will never happen again," he said darkly.
The golem was angry. Alice had never seen an angry golem before. While she ruminated on that terrifying thought, Alice noticed the Queen wasn't angry. In fact, she looked small and afraid and very human.
While Brad lives the monster I serve will never fully wake. That's what Alice told herself, anyway.
After a bit more worrying and standing around helplessly a doctor approached.
"Is my husband alright?" Reka asked desperately.
Alice held her breath. A wrong answer would doom this world, she was sure of it.
The doctor adjusted his glasses and checked the clipboard he was holding. "The King has a moderate concussion and some damage to his eardrums. He may require a hearing aid in the future but other than that we expect him to make a full recovery."
Reka sagged in relief. "May I see him?" she asked timidly.
The doctor looked like he might refuse, but the silent pressure everyone present was giving off overwhelmed him. "Right this way, your grace."
They followed him into Brad's hospital room. "His grace is sleeping peacefully right now," the doctor explained.
"Leave us," the Queen commanded, seeming to recover her composure in her husband's presence.
Reka's tone brooked no argument and the doctor obeyed, slipping out of the room quietly.
Every click of Reka's heels reverberated off the walls as she approached. Leaning down, she stroked Brad's face with a feather-light touch, careful, cautious, as if he was a precious treasure made out of glass.
Alice noticed the Queen was trembling slightly before she mastered it and stood up straight. Her gaze was iron.
"Galiban, we must prepare for full-scale war," she ordered in a calm, cold voice. "You may begin cyber-warfare operations now, but be subtle about it. Production of every kind of battle-drone we posses must greatly increase. The war effort takes priority over everything."
Galiban bowed stiffly, almost aggressively.
"Alice, it will be your task to lead my undying legions in the field. Once a great host is prepared, you will cross into Ukraine and bring fire and death to the servants of the Demon King Gratin, President of Russia. You may coordinate with Mr. Usyk and any others of his nation you please. However, while your army assembles, I expect you to defend my husband.
Dragonlance plasma cannons will be placed at your disposal. The necessary power to run them will be diverted from civilian use until we can find an alternative."
Reka looked at Galiban meaningfully. Alice supposed it was a technical problem they hadn't fixed yet.
"What about you, Reka?" Alice asked. It was best if the Queen wasn't alone right now.
A sigh escaped Reka's lips. "There is an emergency NATO conference being held in Prague to discuss this 'incident' as they call it," she said bitterly. "Failure, or conspiracy, I will demand that our supposed allies account for their behavior towards my country and my person. Whatever the outcome, my orders remain in force. We go to war with or without them."
Brad stirred and moaned softly. Reka rushed to his side, her stern, regal demeanor vanishing and replaced with a tender, maternal aspect.
"Don't try to speak, my love," she said softly, running her fingers through his hair. "The ones who did this to you will pay dearly, but you must rest and recover your strength. Oh, and don't bother with any nonsense about a hearing aid. I'll find another way to fix your ears."
Whether Brad could hear her or not, Alice couldn't tell. When the King's breathing evened out Reka rose and addressed her and Galiban once more.
"I must go now, and reckon with our 'allies'," she said cynically. "Friends, foes? No matter. They'll all bend the knee in the end."
***************
Reka's Point of View
Suppressing her violent urges was truly a trial. Reka's royal motorcade was delayed and ignored for over an hour before she was admitted to the hotel where the NATO conference was being held.
A deliberate slight, she thought. The insolence of these people was truly galling! Her precious husband was hurt and alone and these upjumped clerks had the temerity to waste her time! Reka's "punishment list" just kept growing.
The Soul-Shredder is too good for them! Galiban would have to devise something more painful and permanent. Just now, Reka was too angry to be really creative. "Ripping out entrails" was about the extent of her ideas on the matter. Subtlety was never her strength, especially in her old days as the Demon Queen.
When she entered the hotel various functionaries openly stared, but none dared approach, with one exception.
"What the devil are you doing here, Trask?" Reka asked, her general distaste for the man somewhat suppressed by genuine curiosity.
Elron stayed well out of arm's reach, smart.
"I'm here on business," he said vaguely, "and as an advisor to the President."
So the fool can learn, she remarked privately. Trask sounded oddly civil. Well, rich men always had a finely honed sense of self-preservation.
"Is Blimp here?" she asked. Reka wanted a word with him.
"No, Vice President BJ Spence will be running things."
Another slight! This was like sending Galiban to speak in her place. A queen who couldn't fight her own battles was no queen at all!
Reka dismissed Trask with a gesture. He wasn't her problem right now.
The next day, Reka found the meeting was already taking place without her.
"This is a clear case for invoking Article 5," one voice said in accented English. "An attack on one NATO member is an attack on us all."
"That would mean nuclear war," another replied. "We can't risk it. Russia was responding to provocation; there is no need to escalate further."
"I believe I have something to say about this," Reka said, bursting through the doors of the conference room.
Various government officials and their representatives turned as one to look at her. Reka was wearing the very same outfit she wore to the robot factory, burns and all, though they had to stitch the ensemble back together after she changed into her demon form and stretched it out.
"Very dramatic," said the same speaker who counseled against escalation, BJ Spence himself. "This is not a meeting for constitutional monarchs, your majesty," he said with a sneer. "Only real decision makers."
Clearly, this one hadn't learned the lesson Trask had about not provoking her. Unbidden, a delicious thought came to her mind: something funny Brad said once.
"I see see my husband wasn't lying about how stupid Marines are," Reka observed. "When a young fellow wishes to join they offer him all-you-can-eat crayons...with extra purple."
"What?" Spence looked genuinely confused.
"There is something about the flavor of 'purple' that the mentally deficient favor, you see," Reka went on. "I've never eaten crayons myself, but my husband told me Navy amphibious assault ships always have to maintain a large supply, else the Marines get restless."
The Vice President finally caught on. "That's right, you married a squid, too bad he's a traitor."
Reka's eyes flashed. "How dare you! Brad is the most loyal man in the world!"
"He married the leader of a rogue government, a fugitive from justice. You broke out of jail and murdered several federal agents on your way out of the country. From there you overthrew the legitimately elected leader of Hungary and forced through a new constitution making you 'queen'. Now you are supplying Ukraine with illegal and experimental weapons, escalating a war that was on track to end this year!"
"On track for a Russian victory!" Reka replied fiercely. She looked around the room, meeting the eyes of each person in turn. "You think they'll stop with Ukraine? You? You? Anyone?" She let the question hang for a moment. "I can stop them, if you let me. I can protect you all. A missile attack won't succeed a second time. We have something, a new weapon."
Spence scoffed. "They threatened to use nuclear weapons if we didn't allow the strike. You've got nothing that can stop that, nobody does."
Reka was taken aback. "You...allowed it to happen?"
The energy in the room shifted. People were whispering nervously to one another in a dozen languages.
"We had no choice!" Spence said emphatically. "You risk a new world war! You're a destabilizing force, Reka Fekete. If we just allow Gratin to have Ukraine..."
"Reka Regis!" the Queen shouted back, silencing him. "Or you may address me as 'your grace', as is proper for a queen. My country was attacked, I remind you. Will the United States do nothing?"
All eyes focused on Spence. He wilted at her glare, and for a moment Reka thought he might relent. "It's impossible," he said woodenly. "President Blimp doesn't want war."
The whispering became more intense.
I've wasted my time here, Reka thought. She could've been at Brad's bedside right now, and that just made her angrier!
She was about to storm out when Trask entered the room, drawing attention to himself. Reka decided to stay a little longer to see what this was about.
"We have other business," Spence said, trying to get control back. "The liquefied natural gas and electric vehicle deals need to be finalized."
"What is the meaning of this?" she demanded.
"You think we're going to reward you for nearly starting a nuclear war?" Spence asked incredulously. "Those cheap Chinese cars you're making in Hungary are a threat to our industry. That's why the CEO of Maxwell is here."
"You're going to block the cars made in my country just like you've been blocking my fusion crystals," she said dangerously. It all made sense now.
"You've upset too many apple carts, Reka," Trask said. "In business you have to learn to work with people. You can't just barge in and do everything your way."
Oh, but I believe I can!
"You've hindered me for the last time, Mr. Trask," Reka said coldly. "The North Atlantic Treaty is now worthless. I would counsel my European friends to act accordingly."
Reka turned on her heel and walked out.
That night, Elron Trask saw a demon outside his hotel window.