We entered the throne room, and I had Spire show me what was going on outside the station. We saw Queen’s Rage firing on three ships that had come into the system. “Spire, get me in contact with Admiral Stook.” A separate screen flashed up showing Admiral Stook in the command chair.

“Admiral, what is going on out there?” I asked.

“My Queen, we had three ships that came into the system requesting that we stand down while they remove you from the throne. We maneuvered to put us between the Spire and these rogue ships. They attacked and we are returning fire. Do you wish us to destroy them, or take the crew alive?”

“Please bring me the command team of the ship who ordered you to stand down. I want them interrogated. If the other ships surrender, then we will put the crew in prison and see what we can salvage off those ships. I need to build a fleet of my own.”

“As you command My Queen.” The Admiral replied and proceeded to give orders to her crew. From the display of the fighting outside, it was obvious that this was a lopsided fight. The other ships' weapons were not getting through the shield. I noticed that the Queen’s Rage was deploying fighters to disable the other ships. The church’s ships were trying to repel the fighters, but they were quickly overwhelmed, and the engines were disabled.

The Admiral sent a message to the three ships to surrender and prepare to be boarded. None of the ships acknowledged her with a response. My guess is they would not allow themselves to be beaten by a woman.

The Admiral decided to send a different kind of message. One of the long laser cannons on the bottom of the ship fired and destroyed one of the support ships. I didn’t hear what the admiral was saying to these ships, but I had full faith in her abilities to operate her ship in a way that would accomplish my goals.

Unfortunately, the Admiral was not able to accomplish the mission I had set forth, as the lead ship exploded from the inside, and to my dismay four of my fighters were caught in the blast. I told the Admiral to send me the names of the pilots that were killed in the blast. I wanted to make sure they were recognized for their bravery.

A few days later I was going to see what plans they came up with for the ball I wanted to be thrown. I went down to the palace ballroom with Minsha. Our relationship started to change after our first kiss. Now she felt she had a place next to me. Since we promised to keep our courtship going to protect her and her family. Plus, she was a good woman. The farthest we have gotten is second base, but we still want to take our time going further.

We entered the ballroom to see a band setting up. I was made up of men, but I can hardly complain since I just changed the rules. I saw some of the ladies who remained in the palace helping hang decorations. This made me happy that they were able to work and help in the palace. The decorations were exactly what I wanted; the baby blue color made the room lighten up.

We took our seats so that we could listen to the music that the band would play. I sat and closed my eyes so I could focus on just the music. At first, the music was melodic but then I noticed a tone that was irritating my ear. My head started pounding, but I couldn’t move to tell them to stop. I passed out and fell onto Minsha.

I woke up in the med bay. My ears were ringing, and I had a massive headache. I couldn’t hear anything, but I could feel something in my ear, and I hoped that was a medical device to help heal me. The bright lights in the room were hurting my eyes. I had to shut my eyes. I could feel Minsha squeezing my hand. She was sitting next to me while I was being treated. I smiled and squeezed her hand in return.

I don’t know how long it took to heal my ears but eventually, the doctor unhooked the machines that were around my head. I blinked my eyes, finally feeling better. I sat up and looked at the doctor. “What happened to me?”

“Your Majesty, I don’t know what caused your issues, but your eardrums were ruptured and you were bleeding from your nose and ears. You also had some swelling of your brain. It took us a few days to be able to get the swelling down and then to fix your eardrums. Do you know what caused this issue so we could look out for it?”

“I was listening to the band play a song when a tone in the music seemed to paralyze me and then caused me to lose consciousness. Was anyone else in the room affected by the music?” I asked worried that others in the room had a similar experience.

“No, you were the only one affected, we don’t understand why this is so. Captain Fenmer would like to ask you some questions when you are ready. Should I get him for you?” The doctor asked me. I nodded yes to him.

“Can you also have Minsha brought here as well?” I asked the doctor as he left the room. A short time later Captain Fenmer walked into my room.

“My Queen, I am glad to see you doing better. I just have a few questions for you so we can determine who was at fault. What do you remember of your attack?” He asked me if he felt like it was an assassination attempt.

“All I remember was the band was playing, I had my eyes closed so I could concentrate on the music. It started fine but then there was a tone that started to build in the music, but I could not open my eyes or move. The tone finally got so bad that my head was hurting, and my ears were in pain. I don’t remember much after that till I woke up here.” I relayed my experience as I remembered.

“Do you remember being given anything before coming into the ballroom? Maybe from someone you trust?” He was hinting at something, but I couldn’t figure out who he thought was the culprit.

“No, the only thing that I had that day was breakfast like I always do. I don’t see how that could affect my ears in that way.” He looked at me skeptically.

“Can you be sure that no one in the room had a device that would hurt you? They would have to be close to not hurt others in the room.” Now I understood what he was hinting at. I got a feeling that the reason that Minsha was not here right now was because he suspected that she was the one who hurt me.

“You best be careful of your accusations Captain. Minsha would not have hurt me in any way. To infer she is the one that hurt me is utter nonsense. I am one hundred percent sure that Minsha did not try to hurt me. How would she know my ears are sensitive to that tone? I believe it was nothing but an accident caused by the music, which may be okay for most people on this ship but affects me physically. You better not have put Minsha in jail over this. You may find yourself looking for a new job if you did.” I responded with venom in my speech. “Minsha better be brought to me right now or I will have your head.”

Captain Fenmer looked at me with wide eyes and a look of fear on his face. He quickly ran out of the room to bring me Minsha. I couldn’t believe what he was trying to say that Minsha would try to kill me. My head was starting to hurt again. I needed to calm down, but I knew that I wouldn’t be able to until Minsha was in front of me unharmed.

I laid back down and massaged my temples to help get rid of my headache. Captain Fenmer walked in with Minsha and another officer. I saw that she had been restrained for some time, as her clothes were dirty, and she looked like she was not treated well.

I motioned for Minsha to come to me. As she moved forward, I saw the officer move as if to stop her. I gave the officer a dirty look. “Minsha, I am so sorry about the way you were treated. After we get you cleaned up and looked at, I want you to tell me everything.” She was crying and holding on to me.

I tried really hard to remain calm, but I was about to explode from what I just learned. “Whose bright idea was it to put the woman I am courting, and the daughter of one of my council members, into jail and hurt her?”

The officer was obviously the one who tried to pin this incident on Minsha, “Your Majesty, it had to be her. There was no one else near you and no one else felt the music was wrong in any way. She is just a stupid Tagnor.” That was it, I couldn’t contain my anger any longer.

I jumped off the bed and punched him in the jaw and kicked him between his legs. Sending him to the ground. “Captain Fenmer was this the officer who arrested Minsha?”

“Yes, he is, he said he had proof that she was the one that attacked me. I have not examined that proof as of yet. I did approve Minsha’s arrest, of the word of this officer.” The captain looked down understanding that he royally screwed up.

“He is to be put in jail and held for trial for submitting false statements and the mistreatment of a detainee. He was also fired from his job. If he somehow is found innocent of the charges, he will not work as an officer at my station ever again. I do not tolerate any bigotry from any of those who are supposed to maintain order on my station. And Captain, you are on warning, do not let me hear about any of your officers doing this kind of thing again. You best get rid of the bad apples.”

He looked at me confused, “What are bad apples?”

“That is a saying in my world, it means individuals that make the whole organization look bad.” I turned back to Minsha and the Captain removed the former officer from my room.

“Minsha let me call the doctor in here to look at you before we get home,” I said to her.

She looked up at me with tears in her eyes. “Kara, I was so scared. I couldn’t understand why they thought I could hurt you. I was afraid that you would believe them and lock me away. But I should have known you are smarter than that. I just want to go home; my injuries are very minor and will heal soon. I just need you to hold me and comfort me.”

“Ok Minsha, let me carry you to the carriage and get you home.” I picked her up and princess carried her out of the hospital. I let everyone see that I would protect this woman and that I didn’t care what my position was. I would do anything for her.

As I exited the room with Minsha, I met her father Maninor outside my room. “I heard what was said about my daughter and how you stuck up for her. It made me happy to hear that you would not let bias color your judgment. I feel that while it is unorthodox, you have made a good mate for my daughter. Thank you for taking care of her my Queen.”

“Maninor, I would like to apologize to you and your wife for what the station guards did to Minsha. She is one of the few people I trust in this galaxy. I hope you can forgive me for these actions.”

“My Queen, we do not blame you for the actions of others. To know that you immediately acted and corrected the situation warmed our hearts. Would you like me to help you carry Minsha to your carriage?”

“No, Maninor I need to do this for the regret I feel over her treatment. I need to show everyone that I support her.” I replied to him.

“As you wish.” That was all that he said as he escorted me to my carriage. There was a large group of people gathered taking vids of me and Minsha as I got her into the carriage. The press had been berating her since her arrest. I was glad to show them what I really thought of the situation. The idea that the officer was carted off before we exited should help with my point.

I didn’t answer any questions till I had Minsha in the carriage. I said my statement that I had fallen sick, and I fainted. That the arrest was motivated by the hate of the Tagnor people by a singular officer serving the station. That he had been arrested for lying. I thanked the doctors at the hospital for helping me and getting me better. I smiled and waved as I climbed in next to Minsha and headed back towards the palace.

That evening I spent my time pampering Minsha and showing her that I cared about her. I conditioned her fur, so it felt super soft. As we soaked in the tub I asked her, “Do you have any reservations about our relationship now that you were treated so badly?”

“I don’t have any reservations about our relationship. The way you handled the situation with the officer that tried to frame me, told me that you believed in me without any hesitation. You didn’t even entertain his lies for a moment.” I felt she was going to be happy with me. I wish that this incident hadn’t happened to her.

I also had to think of a new way to provide music for the ball because I obviously can’t listen to the band, they had provided for me. I wish my phone still had power so that I could get music from it.