In weeks following Marley's exile the atmosphere in the palace steadily became colder and darker. LaStirk's moods were grim and her mood swings became more sudden and violent. The lower enlisted had taken to actively avoiding her, with the senior officers starting to follow suit. The most unsettling thing about the situation was no one knew what had the queen so frazzled. No one but Greyson. Greyson's plan was to make Lastirk look like she was slowly losing her mind. She was already laden with grief after having to exile her son, plus she had the added stress of having to manage the economy on her own with her overseers imprisoned. She had been on a near desperate search for replacements, but Greyson and his new cohort had manipulated each candidate into declining the jobs.
Greyson's new cohort was a petite Rednasi female by the name of Naga. She was the daughter of one of the politicians he had met at the last dinner party. Grayson had been at the bar contemplating his next move in his plot to take down his mother when Naga came and sat next to him. She was small for a Rednasi so he would have been content to ignore her, but something about her had set off alarm bells in his head letting him know she was trouble. Grayson liked trouble. He turned to find her staring at him while leaning on the bar stirring her drink with a long black finger nail. Her ruby red lips and eyes held a mischievous expression as her gaze drank in Greyson's muscular form. Greyson smirked as he let his eyes roam as well. She was short and slim, but not without muscle tone and definition, she clearly worked out, martial arts most likely. Her dress was a shiny black with the tiniest red gems scattered all over it. It tied at the neck and crossed her chest covering her small breast while leaving her back and abs exposed. The skirt flowed all the way to her ankles but had deep slits on either side of her shapely legs revealing the fact that she was not wearing undergarments. Her black stiletto heels dangled off the edge of the black painted toes of her crossed legs were a perfect match for her raven hair. She wore her hair pulled back in such a way that it laid flat on her head but turned into many thin long braids that fell halfway down her back. There were braids that started at each of her temples and ran the length of her head resembling horns. Looking this woman over, despite himself, Greyson's interest stirred.
"Like what you see?" Her words brought Greyson's eyes back to her face, which was filled with amusement while she held his gaze as she sipped her drink through a straw. For the first time ever, Greyson was unsure what to say, stunned into silence by this woman's beauty and boldness. "You're Greyson right, the handsome new Crown Prince" she said with a sly smile.
"That's right," he replied, holding out his hand. "I don't believe I've had the pleasure"
"You haven't" she retorted, offering her hand as he kissed it gently "I'm Naga, the ambassador's daughter. I've heard about you. Word is you're quite the bad boy."
Greyson chuckled as he replied "Oh you have no idea my dear, but past deeds have nothing on future ambitions."
"Ambitions? Do we have designs on the crown?"
Greyson looked her up and down quickly "That and more"
Naga leaned closer as she sipped her straw "Tell me more"
"Come with me to my quarters, i'll lay out my whole plan for you"
Naga bit her lip and smiled "I do love big plans"
Greyson smiled to himself as he remembered how the rest of the night went. He had gained an ally and a lover in the same night. They're taste and ambitions all seemed to align. Now she acted as his agent among the bourgeoisie of the planet, spreading rumors of LaStirk's unraveling and garnering support for Greyson's early ascent to the throne. The only thing she asked in return was to stand at his side when he took the throne. A trivial matter, Greyson thought, better her than some random airhead that can do nothing for him but pop out offspring.
Now that Lastirk was off balance, the next step would be to find a way to take her down in the most humiliating way possible.
Lastirk was frazzled. She felt like she was jumping at shadows. She was working harder than she had as a cadet. Because of what happened with her overseers, she was now having to do the job of all four men. She had been trying to find replacements, but even their seconds had turned down promotions. Production was down across the board. It wasn't by the largest margin but it was noticeable, given the fact there had not been a single dip in production in twenty years. On top of that she knew her son was planning something. She raised him to be both ruthless and relentless, and the one thing he wanted more than anything was power. More than that he wanted the throne, and she knew he would stop at nothing to get it. But what was his next move going to be? When would it come? What would she do about it?
Losing Marley had affected her more than she thought it would. It was the look in his eyes, it was cold, almost murderous. She had never seen him like that. Something had changed in him in the time he was missing. Did he learn about his past? That would explain everything. Although she had raised him like a prince, learning he was effectively a hostage and his captors had killed both his parents would turn anyone hostile. It still hurts though. She had raised Marley since he was baby, treated him like her own son, with all the rights and privileges that got with that. For him to turn on her like he did was a blow harder than any she had ever taken. Now her actual son was plotting against her out of pure spite. Her throne would be his when she passed now that Marley was gone. At some point Greyson had grown greedy and impatient, he wanted his inheritance sooner rather than later. What would his next move be?
At that moment her communicator lit up with bright red lights. It was an emergency message. As soon as she answered a frantic voice came through the speaker. There had been an accident at the mine.