With the ships down, Sylvie had tried to dry herself off as best she could before she pulled her clothes back on; she began to shiver a little as the cold air nipped at her, the adrenaline from the fight ebbing away. This cold didn’t last long though as she was soon fuming as she carried Radigan away from Eris so she could deal with him. Her face was red with anger after hearing him not only talk down about her, but right in the faces of the people he was supposed to lead. She didn’t even register Roth standing over him as she simply bent down, pinched the tiny man between her fingers, and stormed off as the people cheered. The further she got from Eris though, the more she began to question just what she would do. Her initial anger was starting to fade, but she knew he deserved immense punishment for his exploitation of the people of Eris. 

She stopped once she had entered the forest again, content with a small alcove bordering a pond which would barely be ankle deep to her. Sitting herself down, she opened her palm to reveal the portly king, his body curled in the fetal position with his back facing her. 

“Stand up and face me,” she commanded, her voice stern and dripping with rage. She felt Radigan shiver and struggle to stand, his legs weak as he looked her in the eyes. 

“P-p-p-p-please! S-s-s-pare me!”

“Quiet! You deserve everything coming your way, and perhaps more. You are a sad excuse for royalty. ‘King’. You’re no better than those pirates!” Her voice echoed through the forest, and its volume caused Radigan to drop down again, his hands raised in front of his face. 

“No! I-I-”

“You what? You just wanted to make a living? Get rich quick? Did you ever once think of the people who starved to death under your watch, or were you too busy counting your coins?” Sylvie tipped her open palm to the side, causing Radigan’s world to shift, and he went into a freefall; he screamed the whole way down until he landed in her soft lap, rolling a bit before he ended near her knee. With much effort, he stood again, bracing himself against her thigh, but Sylvie was just getting started. She swept her hand across her dress, knocking him off and into the snow, his body now flat on the ground at her feet. This dazed him a bit as it took him much longer to stand, and she chuckled when he tried to run away. 

“You’re really running? Not very smart, are you?” She let him have his fun though as she slowly removed her boots, leaving her in stockings, which she then removed as well. This gave him enough time to reach the edge of the forest, a distance she crossed by sitting forward and reaching out for him with her arm. She caught him easily, once again imprisoning him in her fist. She settled herself once more in a crosslegged position before she opened her hand, revealing Radigan’s white-faced terror as he looked up at the face of his tormentor. 

“Mercy! Mercy!”

“Mercy?! How much mercy have you ever shown anyone in your life? Precious little, it seems! Instead, you tread on those you view as your lessers. I believe you need to feel what that’s like.” With that, Sylvie grabbed her stocking and dropped Radigan into it, his pleas and cries lost on the walls of the fabric. With the man inside, Sylvie slipped her stocking on, his body pressed between the wall of fabric behind him and the wall of flesh in front of him. Making sure he could breathe, Sylvie then put her boots back on and stood back to her full height, taking care not to put too much pressure on her prisoner; she was not an executioner, but she certainly wanted justice served. 

“Alright, ‘king’. Let’s take a walk.”   

*

The sight of a 160-foot-tall young adult snatching a fully grown man and walking away with him was enough to scare half the crowd away; the other half simply backed away, still wanting to see what she might do to their former king. When they realized she was leaving with him to do whatever she pleased, most of the townsfolk left the gate to storm the tower for Radigan’s riches. Nevil, during all the commotion, slipped out of the city while Roth and the guards were staring at Sylvie. 

Roth was the only one who wasn’t caught off guard by her sudden appearance and rough tactics with Radigan; he’d been with her long enough to know Radigan would be back in time, but he did not envy the man whatsoever. In the meantime, he figured it was time to set off, if that was still his plan. Was it anymore? With Radigan gone, he wondered who would take over as king, if anyone; he also didn’t see any soldiers rushing to put him in prison again. With all this considered, Roth made his way towards the center of the city where crowds had gathered at the base of the tower. A man, roughly in his 50’s with a head of gray hair and a thick mustache, stood on the steps, elevated above the rest of the townsfolk as he began to address them. 

“As the commander of the guard, I, Abel Abernathy, will become the temporary king until we decide where leadership will go here.” A few in the crowd shouted their disapproval, but he silenced them. “Listen here, no one else has the experience I have with leadership. We must take great care as we move into a new era for our city. If you can trust in me until then, I will be incredibly grateful. For now, I will let the master treasurer handle Radigan’s gold.” With that, a shorter man of the same age began reading off names from a list he held in one hand, and in the other he was holding one of the many bags of gold that had been fished from the tower. Roth shook his head, not pleased with Abernathy as leader, but just as he decided to leave, the commander spotted him. 

“You!” Roth came to his senses and spun on his heel to leave, but two guards managed to catch him, one holding each arm, and they spun him around to face Commander Abernathy. “Well, well. If it isn’t Rotham. Looks like you had a short prison sentence.”

“It got boring. Ever thought of adding a game or two in there?” Abernathy shook his head, a slight smirk on his face.

“You haven’t changed a bit. I have half a mind to throw you back in, but seeing as you helped capture Radigan, I think we’re even. In fact, I might have a use for you.”

“Most of the men who say that to me end up as my enemies.”

“Save it.” He directed his attention to the guards. “Bring him to my quarters. And assemble my lieutenants.”

*

Sylvie had walked for all of five minutes before tears began falling down her cheeks, and she sat down again on a hill overlooking Eris. She still felt slight movements in her stocking, reminding her of the prisoner within, but this only made her feel worse. 

“Come on. Pull it together. You’ve done this before.” Despite her attempt at a pep talk, Sylvie felt miserable inside. Not so long ago, she used to enjoy treating people like this when they deserved it; she had been rough during her trip with Valdan, at the battle of Elgon, and even with pirates she had faced before she met Roth. She had always been confrontational, and she always enjoyed using her size to her advantage, but this time made her feel empty inside. This felt like it was stepping over some line she had drawn in her head. Breaking apart the ship was one thing, but the look of terror on Radigan’s face, as if he truly expected a torturous experience with her, had killed any enjoyment she had. The man didn’t try to fight her, he didn’t argue with her, and he didn’t sulk like Roth would have; Radigan simply cowered and ran when he had the chance. Was she truly the monster he was claiming she was? Was she just a big brute who enjoyed exerting her size whenever possible? 

“No. No, I’m better than him! I am!” She slammed her fist into the snow, also managing to leave a bit of a crater in the dirt below. Radigan wasn’t right about her, and neither was Roth. This was justifiable; Radigan had exploited people to the point where they starved to death. Surely, a few minutes in her stockings was proper punishment. Instead, she felt like she was just as much a bully as he was. What would Belena have done? What would her mother have done if she were here? 

“Oh Sylvie, you must be careful with the little people! Many of them make us out to be monsters. We have to be better than that.” She quoted her mother, trying to change her voice to match hers. Doing so made her tears flow again. The purpose of her journey was only partially to satiate her need for adventure; she really knew it was just to get away from home. Every inch of the castle reminded her of Valerie. While Belena had definitely taken it the hardest, Sylvie felt like it was affecting her longer than it was with everyone else. Not a day went by where she didn’t feel guilty about how she acted as a child and even as a teenager. She’d truly given her parents the hardest time, more so than her siblings. 

“What would Mom do…” she said this to herself as she removed her boot, and soon after her stocking. Out rolled Radigan, his body overheated, and it looked like all the fight was out of him. He simply lay in her palm, his eyes staring off into space. She stood, palm remaining open as she somberly walked back to Eris. 

*

Roth sat in a chair before a round table with four men and one woman positioned around it, all of them men whom Roth was not a fan of. Across from him sat Commander Abernathy, and to his left was Lieutenant Dane. To the left of Dane, Lieutenant Odom, and to the right of Roth sat Bard and his twin sister Giselle. All of them beheld a map of the island the pirates inhabited, a good three days away by sea. 

“I’ve gathered you all here to discuss the threat of Soren. While the defeat of the Grimhorn was a veritable success, Soren will surely send more ships that even our giant protector cannot stop. We must take an offensive, and with an entire flagship gone, this is our time.”

“We only have three ships at hand, and none of them near the size of theirs. We’d be demolished!” argued Bard. His sister nodded, her face still as she kept her eyes on the map. 

“Yes, but we have the princess! She took cannonballs to the stomach and shrugged it off like it was an insect bite. Let her be our advance guard, and we can sweep up the rest of them. Soren will either give up or die fighting.” At this, Roth interjected.

“No. Soren is smart enough to counter her too. She can only take so much, even if she is huge. He wouldn’t be on the front lines anyways. His castle is too safe a haven to leave. It’s practically impenetrable, even for a giantess. We need to lure him out.”

“I’m sure he would know. He’s probably aiming to lead us into a trap. I like your plan, Commander,” Dane said. Roth scowled at the man; Dane had always been a yes man for Abernathy, either out of genuine agreement or because he wanted to take his place one day. 

“Perhaps. I’m willing to trust him though, as should you all. It was not long since he was our friend, and despite his mistakes I believe he could be a strong ally for us now. No one else has the knowledge he does of their fortress. Tell us your ideas, Roth.” Roth nodded, glad to have some mercy thrown his way. 

“Right. Soren might be a monster but he is a monster with honor. He has his own moral code, twisted as it is. I say we challenge his pirate army. A duel. If he, or his best fighter, loses then he must step down and leave these lands.”

“And if we lose?” Odom asked. 

“Eris is his for the taking.” No one responded, all of them knowing the risk they would be taking.

“I admit, it’s not the best tactic we have, but nothing else seems feasible. We can’t sneak in, we can’t win with brute force, and waiting here will get people killed.” With that, Abernathy nodded. 

“Well, I believe he’s right. All for this plan?” Dane raised his hand, as well as Odom and Roth. Abernathy raised an eyebrow as he looked at the twins, but eventually they joined in. “Now. Who will be our fighter?” As if on cue, everyone at the table felt slight tremors shake the house, and Roth knew just what that meant.

*

Sylvie once again walked the streets of Eris, her path clear as the only people outside fled at the sight of her. This only worked to deepen her regret at how she treated Radigan, and she moved a bit quicker so she could find whoever was in charge. Before she made it to the town’s center, she spotted Roth and a small company of important looking people exit a building to her right. Stopping in her tracks, she squatted before them, doing her best to look a little less intimidating; this, of course, wasn’t much of an improvement, but at least she was putting the effort in. 

“Here’s your former king. Do with him as you see fit.” Sylvie laid her palm down and tilted it up, letting the now unconscious Radigan roll onto the stone pathway. Everyone but Roth looked shocked, and one man spoke up. 

“My word…is he dead?”

“Just asleep. I imagine he’ll never dream of hurting others again.” She gave a fake grin, putting on a show of confidence, and all but Roth seemed to buy it. 

“Right. We are grateful, your majesty. As it would happen, we may need your help again. I’m sure Roth can explain it to you. We all have preparations to make.” The man who seemed to be in charge bowed to her, as did the others with him, and then they left her and Roth alone. The two simply stared at each other for a moment, neither wanting to speak. After a while, Roth ended up being the one to break the silence.

“Nice work with the Grimhorn. I never thought I’d see her break apart like that.”

“Wasn’t much. Nice work stopping Radigan.”

“I’m sure you would have caught him anyway.” She nodded in agreement, then there was more silence. “Should we talk somewhere else? People are watching.” Sylvie nodded, setting her hand down. To her surprise, Roth climbed on, taking a seat on her open palm. 

“Putting aside some pride?”

“Huh? No, I’m just tired of walking.” This made her giggle, and the two left Eris to find a more secluded spot to catch up at.