"Eighteen years after October!" Sir Cloria held his belt to support his huge belly, which rose and fell with the breath as he spoke, but no one dared to laugh at him because of the man's youthful swordsmanship, "Shall we be fooled around in our land by a foreign woman?!" ”

"Watch your words, Lord Sir." The captain of the guard drew his sword with a thud and laid it in front of the queen. For a moment, countless imperial guards flashed out of the seven corridors under the dome of the temple, surrounding everyone.

"What does this mean, Your Majesty?" Terrence, who had been ostensibly defending the queen, asked in surprise.

"Nonsense," Deanna smiled slightly, the two strands of silver hair hanging down her chest glistened, "since the reading of the king's edict, you people have had a lot of criticism and unwarranted speculation," said this, and his tone suddenly became stern: "You say, who is messing around!" ”

The hall fell silent.

The queen glanced at her future vassals with satisfaction, believing that her words and the cold blade had worked, but she was shocked by what happened - the seventy-seven monks who had gathered around the stone platform to pray for her king's husband took off their hoods and showed their long swords hidden under their white cloaks, the tips pointed at her! They are not many in number, but they are the closest to the throne, and if they attack, the Kingsguard will be overwhelmed!

"You," Deanna's face turned pale, "who are you commanding?" Is this a rebellion! ”

"Your Majesty," Terrence turned his body toward the Queen, finally beginning to engage her face to face, "I'm afraid you're overly worried. The prince raised his hand and pointed to the seven-fold treasure top of the Great Temple, "The temple is a place where God blesses people, and it is also a place where your people and God's souls communicate, and even magic is forbidden here, let alone swordsmen?" The fact that your Kingsguard unleashed their weapons in the eyes of God is in itself blasphemous, and why should anyone instruct the monks to defend their sacred temple on their own initiative? ”

"Oh?" Deanna's beautiful blue eyes narrowed, "Our good prince has finally shown his claws?" What a pair of sharp teeth! The queen patted the iron armrest of the throne, "In that case, we could have read the edict in the palace chamber, but I know that some of you are against me, so I choose to read it as soon as the funeral is over," Deanna reverently raised her hands and bathed in the holy light, "here, in this sacred place where magic cannot work, we need not be afraid of each other's little tricks. ”

"You have spoken your heart at last," roared the red-faced Sir Cloria, "what are you afraid of by placing guards in the Temple?" ”

"Use your brains, my dear sir," Deanna waved her hand impatiently, as if to chase away a dead-eyed moth, and then she adjusted her shoulder straps, pulling the opening of the mourning dress lower, and her snow-white breasts were beautiful, "I think I am quite distinct from the good sir's gender," the crowd booed discontentedly, "As a weak woman, of course I would choose to protect myself and my children with thick armor, and I believe that the mother of the high-ranking ministers present will understand me." So, monks, if you don't want to bear the charge of counter-condemnation, put away your swords, I don't want to see a senseless sacrifice. ”

"But sometimes, we can't blindly pursue peace." Terrence took a seemingly casual step towards the throne, and the captain of the guard immediately stepped forward between him and the queen, and the prince pushed his hands flat in a gesture of concession, and the smile returned to his face, "For some things are destined not to be settled peacefully." He turned and beckoned to the main entrance of the temple, "I know that what I am about to say may have nothing to do with the dispute here and now, and it may seem ridiculous, but I hope that your dear lords will allow me to finish describing it, and that the important ministers of the realm who disagree with me will question the edict of our former kings as I do." ”

"Terrence, what the hell are you playing again?" Deanna said mercilessly, "Even if you call Matthew back from the hands of death, it won't change the fact that he passed the regent position to me!" ”

"Maybe you calculated that it was impossible for me to use soul summoning magic inside the temple, so you insisted on reading the edict here." Terrence didn't budge, "But don't worry, my queen, that's not what I'm talking about. ”

By this time, a group of monks had come forward carrying a large plate, and Deanna's face was gradually losing its blood, which she had painted day and night, and when they erected the tablet and lifted the curtain on it, the mountains and rivers of her hometown, the Temple of Wine, were revealed.

The crowd exclaimed, not because of the amazing technique of the painting, but because of the vivid scenes and flowing colors, and the whole painting was completely in accordance with the reality of the temple of the temple of Dionysus, and even the village women in the fields and the wine sellers in the alleys were vivid, as if they were alive.

"What is this? Does His Royal Highness want us to see a crappy landscape? The Royal Scholar asked with a smile, but when he saw the Queen's terrible eyes, he immediately closed his mouth and remained silent.

"I'm thinking, what is this?" Terrence looked at Deanna unhurriedly, "Perhaps, Her Majesty the Queen can answer for us." ”

"How shall I know from under which ruins you dug up the treasure to bury the king?" Deanna rolled her eyes.

"The Burning Flame Nation does not have its own textile industry," the prince pointed to the edge of the easel, "such a huge canvas can only be stitched together, please see this canvas, which is sewn from human skin, and the stitches used are also human flesh tendon threads without any treatment!" ”

"So what?" Deanna's voice was higher than the exclamations of the crowd, and it was unusually sharp. "Our prince is becoming more and more mother-in-law, and even this little matter of skinning and cramping is brought to the temple to discuss!"

"Of course that's not the point, my Queen," Terrence smiled, "the point is that we actually found this painting in your bedchamber!" Your close magician, Little Yesengren, also admits that this is your beloved painting that you have been secretly making, excuse me, do you admit it? ”

"What's the matter, isn't there a rule in the Burning Flame Country that doesn't allow the use of skin for painting?"

"It depends on the conditions under which the skin is harvested." The prince replied solemnly, "If it is the skin of a newly deceased, we have no objection to what you want to do, after all, life in the palace is dull and tedious, and it is acceptable to play within the limits of reason; But your paintings, examined by our royal magicians, are made of living human skin. As soon as these words came out, there was an uproar below.

"Nonsense!" Deanna snapped up and glared at Terrence angrily, "What proof do you have to slander your queen with such despicable words!" ”

"Of course I have proof!" The prince met the queen's gaze and took a step forward, "Your Majesty, may I summon the head of your mercenary group, the blind Mr. Jarins!" When Deanna heard the name, her eyes froze, and she staggered back to the throne, "And, I have heard that you often change your handmaidens, but the ones that have been replaced have never appeared again, so I beg your presumptuousness to ask, are they all in your paintings?" ”

"I change my maids often," Deanna nodded, and at this time she was only one step away from the Prince, and Terrence could even hear the sound of the Queen grinding her teeth, "but I never change the guards!" Before he could finish speaking, the captain of the imperial guard jumped up and swung his sword at the prince's neck!

!!

(l~1`x*>+``+