Music was the symphony that brought all those close together. Music and songs were forms of sharing stories. Stories that were true and stories that were of myth. The music from my violin had a beat that synced close to the beats of my heart. It was art, just like the blood that now stained the walls and stone floor. It satisfyingly told a story of how my shadows had slaughtered the fifty men that once occupied these chambers. It was not limb from limb- not shred to shred. It was blood to mist that had sprayed. No remnants of the men, all but the blood that misted the air and now stained everything around.
I slowly smirked, watching my last target sputter in disbelief. He was not going to be killed by my shadows. He was not their supper. He was mine. I dangled the violin and bow in one hand, picking up my stolen fire blades from the ground. Morvin staggered backwards. "You... you're—it's not possible. You're just a refugee, you can't be..." Morvin didn't dare to complete his sentence as I commanded my blade to alight. The fire, instead of turning into its usual warm orange-tinged colour, had turned into an amethyst coloured flame. I commanded the shadows to envelop us more. I tracked him like prey. Scented his fear, how he had pissed himself. How, his blood whispered coward over and over.
"My maids, when they had washed your hair, they told me you were a Duvessan, your hair was natural obsidian. They didn't tell me you were..." My mind darkened more than it already had. Those damned maids had tugged and pulled on my hair roughly when washing it before the soirée. They had a purpose for helping me ready myself. This lord had many secrets—secrets about people who were just like me. How there were more of them around, more survivors. These were secrets I was going to find out.
"My shadows know the sins you have committed in the dark." I cooed at the lord, watching his eyes widen. "Confess," I hissed and twirled the fire blade that burned. Morvin suddenly took out a blade from behind him and flung it at me. To my surprise, he threw a good shot.
I looked down at my arm. The blade barely grazed my skin and then clattered to the ground. My shadows growled and put the bloodiest most delightful thoughts into my head. I smiled at the lord, who had taken his chance to flee. Running up the stairs, stumbling but catching himself to open the door. He thought he had escaped but he was going to be gravely wrong. I followed and commanded the fire in my blade to becomedimmer. Walking up the very steps Morvin passed, I opened the heavy chambered door and looked around. We were above those chambered prisons and were now in the same level as where I remembered my room was located. I spotted him scrambling towards the end of the dark red halls with dimly lit lanterns. I raised my violin and played a soft teasing tune. Upon hearing it, he tried harder and faster to escape. Shadowed hands erupted from the floor and swirled in beautiful movements before darting straight across to snatch Morvin’s feet. He fell hard onto the marble floors, his legs slipping from under him. The tune on the violin slowly whined as I let the shadows bring me my prize. Morvin struggled and put up a good fight. Scratching his fingers against the floors and doing his best to grab onto anything to stop his evident death.
Mine. Mine to kill.
"Yours. All yours. Kill. Sing me. Tune me. Play me. Carnage with me."The violin in my arms sang ruefully. Morvin was at my feet now, shaking and not looking me in the eyes. I squatted down, leaving my violin on the floor. I lifted him up to his feet and made him watch my blade of fire ignite in dark flames. Morvin was going to accept his pathetic fate. "You're going to answer to me," I whisper. The lord struggled in my grip and then spat at my feet. And then, soft padded footsteps echoed from the opposite side of the hall. I commanded my fire to vanish, ready to show the prince what a scum the lord truly was. I spun him around, squeezing onto his wrist and smirked when I heard the satisfying snap.
Kill. Kill. Kill,my shadows urged and whispered.
"You tell my secret. I tell yours," Morvin harshly hissed. My smirk had dropped. As though he had felt me tense, he continued. "Yours is much... much bigger than mine. Isn't it? And you wouldn't want your dear prince finding out, do you?" I could hear the smile in his voice. It made me want to burn histongue. But he was right. The prince could not find out like this. I let go of him and kicked him forward. My heart burning with shame and rage. My shadows irked at not having killed him. A lone shadow crept up from the corner of the room and snapped against his neck. Morvin hissed and touched the the spot that burned.
My raging heart had calmed down by only a slight when I noticed the curved marking on his skin:
S.E.A
The prince stepped forward and raised an eyebrow. "Oh?" He put his hands in his pockets and looked at the state of Morvin with calculating detail. And then his fiery eyes landed on me, taking me in. His eyes darkened when he saw me drenched in blood.
"Have I interrupted something?" The prince walked closer to inspect us. I opened my mouth to reply but no answer came out. My heart thundered fast and hard... my violin still laying on the floor.
"There were bandits, Your Highness. Your bodyguard—fought bravely and killed them all," the vile lord spoke up and made an effort to put a relieved look on his face. He clutched his broken wrist in pain. The prince frowned by a slight and then looked at me. No doubt sensing the lie. The shadows slowly masked my words, covering my own lie.
"There were bandits," I confirmed.
"Bandits. In a heavily guarded city that has all it needs. Odd," the prince mused.
"It is. I am having my best guards work on finding out how it was possible. I am however so very grateful for your warrior saving my life." Morvin was good at acting...
"Grateful is what you should be." The prince looked at the lord with disgust. I wondered if he would now look at me with that same look of disgust when he viewed all the blood on me butwhen the prince's crimson eyes looked back at me, there was no disgust. His eyes softened but then the look was immediately wiped by a sinful smirk.
"You made them suffer, yes?"
I gave a nod.
The prince gave me one of his rare true smiles that looked utterly pleased. Even Morvin seemed to cover his surprise in a cough. I frowned at the worthless man next to me. "Come, warrior. You and I have much to discuss." The prince held his hand out and barely gave Morvin a look. I picked up my violin and slowly crossed the hall. There was a strong powerful grip that made me want to go back to the lord. I hid my dark smile, remembering the markings on the back of his neck. It was a blood debt. And it means that no matter what, his life is mine for the taking. He has been marked by death. And death is what he shall receive. It was a promise. A simple stamp of what belongs to my shadows and I.
I waited for the shiver that tingled along my spine when the prince took my hand in his. I tensed at the familiar touch, feeling human again.
Chapter 38
Eyes don’t lie
"Ferway is now a part of Apollo's command. The weight of negotiation being the lord's daughter to be wed to the heir of Apollo. May the future Queen and future King of Apollo have a blessed union. The young prince might need more guidance from the king himself as meetings with the young Ferway girl always end in tantrums. But what else can you expect from a mere child who has been told that when he is old enough, he will have to marry a girl he barely knows."
~The Royal Times article of Apollo
Adrion
His room was extravagant; detailed with gold linings across the red drapes and furniture. It reminded him of home. He hated it.
How the signature colours of Abdera somehow moulded into Apollo's own royal colours. The gold incorporation to the red was purposely planned for his arrival. Yet he detested it all. It made him want to rip the very tunic he had off, to get into something more white.
There were other reasons he had felt the need to rip his tunic off as he ledherinto his room. She had looked magnificent earlier, with that dress that clung to her curves, making her look like a dark siren seducing all men around to their knees so that she may feast on their flesh, he thought to himself. Whenever she was around, the prince felt as though he had no moral compass, as if he could forget all the vows he once previously made.
