Chapter 5: The Martyr Maker

"Any last words, hero?" the queen asked, though her words were sarcastic as his tongue lay at her feet. "Look at the people you hold so dear. Five thousand of them will watch you hang and five thousand of them will understand that I am."

The queen gave the signal as she stepped aside and in a moment, the hero slipped beneath the gallows for all to see. The murmurs that spread through the crowd ceased. And then the first rock was thrown. And another followed. Her guards shielded her as a few rocks grew to dozens. As the voices of the crowd grew to a thunderous roar. The queen and her guards retreated.

The palace gates closed and soldiers lined the walls. Smoke filled the sky as government buildings burned as hot as the people's fury. The citizens' roars echoed through the halls of her throne room, barely covering the sound of battle just outside her palace. The doors to the room opened and a young man in worn leather armor stepped in.

"Your Majesty, the townsfolk have broken through the palace gate. What would you have us do?" the captain said.

"Fool, I would have you kill them," she replied, motioning for her guards to go forth and fight. "If they wish to fight, then they choose to die."

The captain rose and yelled out for his men. From the beyond the doors, soldiers flooded the throne room, their weapons readied. "Your Majesty, if you wish to fight, then you choose to die."

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