Nail in the Coffin

[Maleficent]

April 15^th, Year 1, Throne Room

Maleficent sensed something was wrong the moment she saw Shiloh traipse in. The sultana sighed and rose slowly from her throne, her thin face betraying nothing in spite of her own turmoil. 

She inclined her head a little as she looked down at the platinum blonde overseer uncertainly. She knew intuitively that there had been no victory. It was really just a question of how severe their losses were this time around.

"What happened, Shiloh?" Maleficent asked guardedly.

[Shiloh]

Shiloh had been one of the only overseer's not to join the siege on Paris. Thus, when the troops had returned, she had swiftly gone to Nasira to find out what had happened, only to find many of the blackbloods, Nasira included, in the medic bay.
It was clear to her the outcome of the battle before she even asked the details.
Since several of the other overseers were currently having their injuries looked after, Shiloh agreed to pass on the news to Maleficent. 

Here she was, standing across from the fae queen. A grim expression was clear on the blonde's face as she gave the slightest dip of her head in respectful greeting. 
No point in beating around the bush.

"We lost. It was a domino effect of bad luck, but there is one important thing you should know m'am,"
She paused, taking a breath before dropping the bombshell,
"We were betrayed by one of our own. Frollo turned on his own forces and attacked Nasira, giving one of the rouges the upper hand to do some pretty bad damage. It wasn't long after this that the rest of our troops were overrun and were forced to retreat. I'm afraid I'm not sure what had become of the traitor, there was several conflicting accounts of what exactly happened..."

[Maleficent]

This time Maleficent could not conceal her ire. Her expression settled into a silent rage, an inferno threatening to burn out of control if provoked.

Fuming, Maleficent said nothing for a time. Her trust in the Hammer of God had wavered as of late, but not even she could have foreseen such treachery. The man was dedicated to her, and he had a fine mind and great strength of purpose and in his eyes was the burning light of a holy mission. But it had all been based on a lie. Frollo's religious fanaticism had made him malleable, and she had led him astray. Something had brought him back.

Her face then settled into an expression of decided skepticism. "'Conflicting accounts,'" Maleficent repeated sardonically. She held her gaze on Shiloh for a moment.

"Shiloh," she purred, as a dangerous grin spread slowly across her lips, "Would you be so kind as to inform me of what exactly happened?"

Her pale green hand wrapped tightly around her staff, knuckles turning white, as her expression remained unchanged.

[Kula]

"If I may, Your Excellency."

Sarafina padded in slowly, Kula's shoulder propped against her hip with each weary step. The elder lioness' gaze fluctuated between fixing upon the sultana and the hobbling daughter whose muscles still twitched protest from her fight's shocking climax. "Ghazi Kula was present as a part of Overseer Nasira's guard. Though wounded, she is well enough to report."

The felines of red and cream made their way to stand before Maleficent, each bowing their head before straightening to speak again. Rather than intrude further Sarafina took a few steps back to allow Kula her audience with their ruler.

"The battle began as planned with our troops holding their own. Overseer," The title was spat from bared teeth, though her ire was directed on the discussed man rather than any disrespect towards Maleficent, "Frollo was beside Nasira to command them when a purple-winged human appeared and began to engage in taunting her. Nasira commanded Frollo to attack... And he did. He attacked Nasira, my lady." Growls rippled deep in Kula's throat as she spoke, and she closed her eyes as she summoned the sight to her memory again. She had a feeling that every detail mattered here.

"He started yelling something... About holiness, and named himself using names and words I didn't recognize well enough to repeat accurately for My Lady. He asked the winged-- the, the angel, for sanctuary, in exchange for proving his 'conviction' to her." Kula didn't bother disguising her disgust for the man, nor her pride in the following statement. "When he tried to attack Nasira again I and ghazi Tucker ripped him from his horse. We injured him -- not gravely I think, but badly -- before the angel attacked us in turn and claimed him."

Kula's paws shuffled in the pause that followed. "Vizier Crow appeared, but the Rouges fled into the city with the traitor. Without Frollo and with Overseer Nasira injured we... We returned here. To you."

[Shion]

While the gemsbok had been preoccupied with her own one-on-one battles within the siege, she had indeed taken notice of what had transpired between the overseers. Shion scarcely believed what she had seen, what little she was able to. The sudden betrayal of Frollo had caught everyone off guard, and it had not only injured Nasira and Kula, among others, but it seemed to be the distraction that made them lose the battle.

It was an embarrassment to have lost, and she had made her way back with the rest of the army full of resentment, but now that she was not being attacked on all sides by Rogues, Shion was curious to hear from her fellow ghazis as to what happened. Hearing Kula's account, she snorted with contempt at the overseer... or rather, the ex-overseer. Humans were not to be trusted, this was clearly obvious to the embittered oryx. This only proved her convictions.

"A disgrace..." she mumbled to herself, loud enough to be heard by the others. "I always thought that wretched beast was hiding something."

Callista, who stood not too far from her, also has been suspicious of Claude Frollo, but she didn't expect him to straight-up be a traitor. From her hiding place in an abandoned building while the battle went on, she saw what happened in plain view, but it was such a shock at the time the vampire barely could process the thought. Hearing it from the mouth of the lioness just made her upset, shaking her head slowly. She did not say anything. There wasn't really anything she could say that hadn't been said already.

[Shan-Yu]

Coming in not too long after the others, two new overseers joined the small audience. Side by side, they looked like quite the odd couple, and unfortunately for the both of them, they’d missed out on all the…fun.

“So what you’re meaning to say…Ghazi Kula, is that we have a deserter.” Shan Yu said, stepping forward to address the red lioness. He bowed in respect to Maleficent, before continuing on.

“Within my army, we didn’t allow for such things. If he had been one of my Huns, I would have killed him right where he stood, human with wings or not.” Shan Yu growled. He then turned his gaze upon the sultana.

“My lady, the good doctor Facilier here says that there may be a way for us to see what has become of our deserter.” Shan Yu purred, as he pulled the thin witch doctor to his side with relative ease, before shoving him forward. Facilier bowed deeply in response once he caught his balance, and brushed his blazer off before continuing.

“Shan Yu is right. I’ve been workin’ on a few new spells that I’ve got up my sleeve that’ll let us see what happened to Frollo. If I’m not mistaken, bein’ that he stepped into enemy territory, he’s most likely been killed by King Clopin already.” Facilier said, rolling his shoulders into a shrug.

“But of course, it’s all up to whether or not you want to pursue him, my lady.”

[Morren and Esca]

Morren had chosen to stay silent as the Overseers talked around her. After all, she was only here out of curtesy to the fact she was the head surgeon for the army and if she wasn't then no doubt she'd not be hearing a word of this except through talking with the many injured who were now being seen to by her medics. Esca was restless, pacing the floor but always sure to keep himself between her and the others. She could feel the wolf's unease bubbling at the back of her mind and it was all she could do to twist her hand into the fur of his neck to keep him calm.

These people are not good, Morren. We shouldn't be here. They smell wrong, one smells like death, that human has evil spirits about him, and that one she is full of malice and darkness.

Morren knew that the last one was Maleficent herself and she was thankful that Esca had chosen to say this in the safety of their minds and not aloud. She knew what he meant, since the moment she had stepped foot in Agrabah, she had felt the spirits warning her of dark things lurking. But there were also people in need of her healing so she had been reluctant to leave either.

"If I may," she spoke up, hoping that her voice was calm and even not to betray her and her wolf's misgivings "The army is simply not ready for another full scale attack. There are too many injured and they need time to be treated and heal. By my judgement, I'd say that the worst off will need at least two weeks to get themselves back on their feet again. Please, Your Excellency, have mercy on your soldiers and let them rest."

[Maleficent]

All around her, talk was beginning to break out again, as several people spoke urgently to one another about the startling events. Maleficent suddenly looked like a woman who wanted to be anywhere but here. There was more than anger in her eyes; there was regret too. 

As the Blackblood Legion’s most hated overseer, Frollo had imprinted himself onto her, and she had believed that he was due for a little indulgence after everything he’d willingly done for her. So, she had turned a blind eye to his transgressions, and granted him leeway when she would have otherwise dealt swift punishment. Her lips pursed into a fine line, and she rued not taking a firmer line with him. Perhaps if she had, he would not have betrayed her.

"I always thought that wretched beast was hiding something."

Before Maleficent could respond to Shion’s snide comment, the doors opened to the massive, hulking figure of Shan Yu, and the thin frame of Dr. Facilier. Her expression eased as Shan Yu spoke to Kula, and then directed his attention to her, explaining that Dr. Facilier would be able to see Frollo using new spells of his…she just had to give the word, and it would be done.

"There is no need for the rest of the overseers to waste their time or energy on something I should have taken care of long before this even happened," Maleficent began, with a dismissive wave of her hand. She then rested a hand on the orb of her scepter, and she held back the urge to sigh.

"I have sent Crow to keep an eye on Frollo. He will be monitoring that…mistake’s every move, if King Clopin doesn’t end up killing him before I do," Maleficent growled.

Attention then turned to the new jerrah-bashi and her companion, mouth curving to a more neutral expression as she examined Morren carefully, noticing Esca’s nervousness rolling off him in waves.

"You are our chief surgeon for a reason, Morren. I will allow them to rest, even though this was a battle that we should have won," Maleficent said.

"Two weeks. Then I expect them to be back in training with Overseer Shan Yu, so that we can take back the victory that was rightfully ours."

The End