Free The Nutcracker Bleeds by Lani Lenore Page A

her dolls. She was
not very talented. There was a red ribbon pinned to the floor through the
center of the keep. As she passed, wooden, porcelain, and cloth faces watched
her.
    She
was dragged into a separate chamber. The soldier stood her up, and she was free
to look around the room. Within the throne room, there were sprigs from plastic
plants lining the walls in front of the paintings. Toy soldiers stood at
attention in front of the throne. In an open area to the side, a ballerina doll
was dancing endlessly. A bulky, stuffed bear that was nearly twice Anne’s size
loomed in the corner near a small chalkboard.
    Further
down, on a raised pedestal that was comprised of books that were stacked to
form steps, two lovely dolls held long, colorful peacock feathers before the
throne, shielding the Sovereign from view.
    The
soldier that had brought Anne into this makeshift castle walked forward
stiffly, stopping a safe distance before the monarch.
    “Milady,”
the soldier addressed, stooping. “We found a girl who we are not sure is allied
with Her Majesty. We bring her to you, trusting you will know what should be
done.”
    Anne
watched in bewilderment. Allied? What was that business about?
    Before
she could think further on it, her bonds were cut, the tight band unwound. Anne
was pushed to the floor, forcing her to look reverent before the throne. She
raised her head to look on as the Lady was slowly revealed to her. When the
feathers were pulled back to expose the sacred ruler, Anne gasped.
    Sitting
there on that throne–draped in an elaborate dress of blue and white, hair tied
back in a ribbon that was much too large and long–was Olivia.
    “O–livia?”
Anne gasped, but she was promptly hit between the shoulder blades with the butt
of a wooden rifle.
    “You’ll
not speak unless spoken too, filth!” a soldier informed her. “And you will
refer to the Lady Sovereign accordingly!”
    Anne
watched the ruler tilt her head down, and when the girl’s eyes rested on her,
her brow furrowed considerably in annoyance.
    “Anne!”
Olivia cried. “What are you doing here?”
    Anne
opened her mouth, but wondered if it was alright to answer the question or not.
Would she catch another hit from the rifle? A shame; she was already being
trained like a dog in this new world.
    “I’m
not quite sure,” Anne said finally, honestly. “I hoped you knew how we got this
way.”
    “Nothing
that isn’t unpleasant needs an explanation,” the Lady, Olivia, replied. She
then added thoughtfully: “Yes, that’s a good one. Take that down, Theodore.”
    The
nurse saw toys nodding to each other all around the room. Words to live by from
their Lady Sovereign. In the corner, the large bear turned slightly and drew a
small ‘6’ on the chalk board with a circle around it. Then he wrote out next to
it ‘ unpleasant: explanations; pleasant: no explanations ’. This fell
under what appeared to be a list of rules already started by the Lady,
including ‘ No stealing ’ and ‘ All allies of the rodents will be
executed ’. The woman with the grey eyes didn’t know what that last one
meant.
    “Friend
or foe, Nanny Anne?” the Lady Sovereign asked.
    “What?”
she asked, snapping to attention.
    “Come,
come now. You can be honest. You should man up to your faults instead of
skittering away like a weasel.”
    Again,
the toys nodded to one another. Anne saw now that a couple of them were taking
personal notes. The blonde woman wanted to shake her head at it all, and in
that moment she became quite defiant. She had been dealing with this girl for
several years. And Anne was neither man nor weasel.
    “Friend,
of course,” she said reassuringly, knowing it to be the best response.
    Olivia’s
blue eyes widened at the assertion as if her mind could not comprehend it.
    “I
suppose you have no way of proving this?” she shot.
    Anne
faltered. All eyes were on her. All the dark buttons and beady, painted eyes.
She could hardly