I hear Alekso shouting for me as I flee from the cell. It fades in time, either because he has stopped or I am no longer in earshot of him; I can't tell. My pulse throbs in my ears with every rushed step I take and my mind continues to return to the scene I walked in on: my husband, the man I have fallen so deeply in love with, choking the life out of my friend and protector. I had gone to Gisela asking if she saw Kwen anywhere around, and she replied telling me of a letter she gave to her that came from me. I had sent no letter, though.

"I'm sorry but I read it," Gisela had said, "and it said that you wanted to meet Kwenny in the cells by the crypts to discuss something of utmost importance."

Apparently it was some sort of trap so Alekso could get Kwen alone and accuse her of being a rebel, or at the very least affiliated with them. I did not stay around to find out the full reason. Instead, I ran like a coward, leaving my step sister and my friend in the clutches of Alekso.

How foolish am I to think that in barely a month, the man who'd spent the last decade a cruel, heartless monster in the eyes of his people could change? He was the same man who nearly boiled an opinionated kitchen worker the second day of our marriage. But this time it wasn't a stranger or unknown he was attacking. It was my friend. It hurts even more, that Alekso is so willing to attack someone as close to me as Kwenthrith. What's to stop him from coming after me next?

To calm myself, I decide to explore the crypts. I know I should turn around and make sure Kwen and Gisela are all right, but every bone in my body urges me to flee. It is what I was taught to do in my younger years. Run away and hide. How foolish am I to think I could change my ways, too? I am a coward and Alekso is a monster. It is as simple as that. No amount of passion and love can mask who we both are on the inside.

Every turn I make is the wrong one, leading to a new room full of stone coffins. The eerie quiet comes as a comfort to me. Despite myself, I marvel at how well cared for each room is. There is always a torch or two lit; the corners free of cobwebs and dust. Alekso's residual magic creeps along the floors in the form of smoke, hovering harmlessly in a thin layer that sweeps about my ankles as I walk. I know in each coffin lies the body of a person; an empty shell slowly decomposing. Alekso once told me the magic in his crypts slows down the rot to a near crawl but does not stop it completely. The crypts get a yearly check and any bodies no longer suitable for necromancy are burned to make room for new, fresh ones.

Josephine would have been in here. I bet my father was in the crypt in Ustria until he wasn't viable. The thought makes me shudder.

I need to stop being so weak and figure things out. I cannot blame Alekso completely for his outburst. He thought Kwen was a traitor because I have been going behind his back. He knew about the meeting with Benedict Tielo. Of course he did, he's the king! Even if I hadn't seen guards watching me, surely they would have been. I was afraid to tell Alekso of my plans because I didn't think he would believe me. My lack of trust is what got Kwenthrith hurt as well as Alekso's rage.

I just hope once I confess all my subterfuge he will not give me the same treatment he gave Kwen. He sounded distraught when he told me not to fear him. I wonder, would Kazaxon stop him from hurting me?

No, I cannot think about that now. Just get out of the crypt first and make sure Kwen is all right. I will worry about everything else later.

It feels like I have been traversing this crypt for hours when it must be a half an hour the most, but time has no real meaning here. I am only brought back to my senses when I hear a scream up ahead. It is muffled at first due to the distance, but I slow down my frantic pacing so I can creep closer without being heard. While the sounds are surely loud enough to drown out any I might make, I know to be cautious here. I track the screaming, which by now has been reduced to long wails and sobs, and the closer I get the more I recognize the owner of the sounds: Audrine Evermire.

She is in one of the smaller rooms that I could have sworn I passed already, but after a while every room looked the same to me. I go to peek inside, but hear a second voice much closer to me. There is a man there as well, blocking the entrance. I know that voice, too.

"You know this is what's best, dear lady." Bishop Lambert says, soothingly. "You have not seen the error of your ways."

"We overheard your scheming against his highness yet again," A third voice, this one unknown to me, practically hisses."

"He plans to elevate the commoner queen's sister! She has no ties to nobility whatsoever! He cannot do this!"

Oh no, she found out about Gisela becoming a baroness. I was worried about that, but then why is she crying? What else had Bishop Lambert said to her?

"None of that matters, you old fool." The third voice barks. "He is the king! He is of God! If he says the girl can be a baroness, then God says this as well! You must serve him willingly! If you refuse, then you will be put in the Legio as we will be doing with your husband."

"Please, please no! I'm sorry! I will do whatever you ask. I will not interfere with Alekso and Edeva ever again! Just do not kill me, please!"

There is silence for a few moments. "Perhaps you could have been useful to us." says Bishop Lambert. "But you have far too much doubt in our king. His subjects must serve him without question. All who oppose him will be forced to serve in the Legio, as it has always been."

There is a scuffle as I assume Audrine is being grabbed. She struggles in ernest, then snaps out "And what of his queen!? She questions him! She opposes him! Will you do the same to her!?"

I press myself against the wall as the third voice says "Yes. If she does not come to heel, she too will be eliminated."

"The king would never allow it!"

"We want only what is best for him. We do the Lord's work."

More scuffling as Audrine screams and wails. I back away when two hooded figures drag her out of the room, not glancing in my direction. They bring her down the opposite hallway and I am unsure how to help her. What is Bishop Lambert talking about? Who are these other people? If I get out of the crypts I might be able to find Alekso in time to save Audrine.

"We have been watching her guard, and it seems the queen has been doing some investigating in to her sister's assassination attempt."

"Yes, attempt." Bishop says. "That it failed was a blessing in disguise. The girl can be far more useful to us alive. Regarding the queen, I do worry she weakens the king. She is smarter than we initially gave her credit for, but if we dispose of her, it will upset Alekso, and this does put us in a position."

"Nonsense. As you said, the sister is useful but unaware of her power. If anything she is better suited for Alekso than Edeva is. We can get rid of Edeva and then you can try to persuade him to marry Gisela. He would come around."

"It is not that simple and you know it."

I have heard enough. I must put my fear of Alekso aside and tell him what is going on. I can only hope he believes me and does not think I am desperate to clear Kwenthrith's name. I slowly back away from the room and begin to retrace my steps. The crypts are large but easy to traverse. It would be bad for the corpses to get lost trying to leave once they are summoned.

The main walkway to the outside becomes familiar to me, and I work up the nerve to confront my husband. I cannot be a coward. I must be brave, and remind myself he won't hurt me. He loves me, and no matter how anxious I might get at confronting him, this new information cannot be put off.

"Stop right where you are," a voice from behind me calls out. I spin around as Bishop Lambert comes around the corner, flanked by two cloaked figures. Then, two other figures come up from behind and grab at my arms. I'm surrounded.

I try to act like I hadn't seen or heard anything from earlier, furrowing my brows in confusion. "Bishop Lambert? It's me, Edeva." I say as I squirm in the men's hands. "Please, let me go."

They maintain their hold, clearly seeing through my act.

"I am afraid I cannot do that, your highness." Bishop Lambert says. "Someone has been a busy bee, hasn't she? May I ask what is the purpose of you wandering my crypts?"

"You may not." I reply. "And they aren't your crypts. They belong to Alekso, and therefore me. I can go down here if I choose without having to explain myself."

Lambert shakes his head. "No, your highness. The Legio Mortis is under my care, and I have a right to know who is sneaking about, eavesdropping on us."

"Who is us?" my voice cracks. I am not sure I want to know. I look up between the two men holding me, their faces look alive so I know they're not undead soldiers, but they're certainly not clergymen. Bishop Lambert says nothing else, and instead turns around with the the people on either side of him as they pull me back in to the crypts.

I struggle as best I can but they do not release me. Eventually when it feels like I am at the far end of the hall, they push me in to the main chamber. This area is large and open, where most of the tombs are kept. It is twice as eerie as one would expect with the smoke floating around the floor. As I fall to the ground and land on my backside, the smoke wisps along my form.

"You heard it all," Bishop Lambert frowns. "Don't try and deny it. I heard your footsteps as you left, and followed you from a distance. Your panic and fear was tangible."

I know there is no way out except by going through the men in front of me, and as they draw down their hoods I realize they are closer to their idea of killing me than not. Why else would they reveal themselves? The first two men are Chancellor Harald and Marcus of Estia. The third man is unknown to me, but the fourth? One of the men who held me? My eyes go wide as he pulls down his hood.

"Jean?" I whimper. "You're part of this?"

He clears his throat, glancing towards the others before holding out his arms.

"Please, allow me to explain myself, Eva. Perhaps instead of killing you, we can work something out. You might be willing to join us if you know the full extent of what is going on. Wouldn't you prefer that? I know we would."

Tears start to sting my eyes at the betrayal. "Why do you want to kill me? What goals am I impeding on? Do you hate the rebels so badly that you would advocate destroying me or those I love because I want Alekso to show them mercy?"

"Oh, do not cry, sweetheart." Lambert sighs. "It is nothing personal. You see, Alekso is very important; his power is unprecedented. Loyalists and rebels undermine that power, so they must be destroyed."

"We help our king put these vermin down and yet they still come back, like cockroaches," Harald adds. "And your coronation and marriage to Alekso certainly complicated things."

"Complicated things?" I look back towards Jean, who I was told fully supported the marriage.

"We do not want the rebels converted." Lambert answers. "We simply want them destroyed. Your marriage was a goal to appease them, was it not? Why appease them when we should just end them? They oppose Alekso and they must die. Simple as that. You see, they do not hate only your husband, they hate what he is."

Duke Marcus takes a step towards me and spreads his arms out similar to how Jean did. "We are Uriel's Chosen. We are a small group of individuals who have come to understand the truth about diablerie; that it is sanctioned by God himself. Therefore, those who are against diablerie are blasphemers. Every last one of them. We cannot seek them out and put an end to their filth if you and Alekso are unknowingly protecting them."

"Blasphemers or not, they are still people!" I snap. "You cannot just kill everyone who disagrees with you, and Alekso was starting to realize this until you tried to kill my sister!"

"It had to be done," Lambert folds his arms and gives a disappointed shake of his head. "Something had to be done to get you to step away from his highness' plans of taking down these people. We felt sending someone to kill Gisela and take the credit as a rebel would be perfect. The people love you, Edeva, therefore if you are of the same opinion as us, they would be too, and flushing the blasphemers out would be easier. We did not, however, expect you to be suspicious."

"Uriel's Chosen only seek to keep your husband in power," Jean says. "They seek to keep all diablarists in positions of power, so that we may do God's work. Don't you see?"

"These rebels must die, my queen. None can oppose our diablarist king. He has always been strong against their ilk, but we feared that with someone like you as his queen would weaken him. So, we needed you against them as well. Unfortunately we are a relatively new collective and did not think this through. We did not think you would dig. We did not think you would come so close to finding us out."

"So your choice is to join us," Lambert takes a step forward. "Or die."

I take a reflexive step back. "Does Alekso know about you? About this... collective?"

"No, your highness." Harald says. "He does not need to know about us. His duty is to rule as God intended. Your duty is to support him. You can do that by helping us... or we will find him a new wife. Gisela is certainly pretty enough. She is young, yes, but blossoming in to quite the lady."

The unknown man throws his hands up. "I told you, we cannot just replace the queen. She is Kazaxon's mate, therefore Alekso's, too. They will not simply move on if something happens to her. Alekso might force himself to out of duty but he will be unable to control the demon. Kazaxon might leave the mortal realm to seek out the queen's soul, and surely he would take Alekso with him."

"Wait... What do you mean I am Kazaxon's mate?" I ask, looking among them.

"Have you not noticed how possessive Alekso can get? How irrationally jealous?" Jean reaches over and sets a hand on my shoulder. I flinch, but do not move otherwise. "That was Kazaxon. Demons, angels, and humans can become each other's soul mates. It is not just a human thing, you know. He and Kazaxon share a bond so strong that Kaz's residual feelings can bleed in to him, among other things. You were meant to meet Kazaxon and Alekso. You were always meant to be theirs, together."

Such a romantic notion... If Alekso did not merge with Kazaxon, he would not have been able to reclaim his throne, and years later when I was old enough to marry, find me. If I'm meant to be with Alekso and Kazaxon, surely we can work through our differences. I just need to get myself out of this current situation.

Lambert shrugs, as if this talk of mates and mortals does not interest him. "There are other diablarists, other mages. Prince Jean could marry one as he would be next in line. If that does not work, there is always Alekso's valet."

"Killing me would be a very bad idea. I have seen what Kazaxon and Alekso are capable of, and they won't care if what you are doing is supposedly in Alekso's best interests."

"But alas, we cannot let you leave." Lambert says. "As I said, Alekso might be the most powerful diablarist, but he is not the only one. We can find out his secrets, how he was able to merge with a demon instead of just receiving his power, then we can do the ritual with someone else. It's the more difficult path, but a path nonetheless."

I furrow my brow. Find out his secrets? But he told me how he and Kazaxon became one. He also said that Jean was there when it happened. I look from Lambert over to the prince, tilting my head. Why wouldn't he tell them? He catches my confusion and slowly winks at me.

"I think we should discuss what to do next with the rest of the believers. Killing the queen should be the last option. I most certainly would suggest seeking counsel with the vicemen before doing something so drastic."

The men look among each other, but Jean does not wait for them to make up their minds. He grabs me roughly by my upper arm and hauls me towards the other side of the main chamber. I glance behind me but the men are not watching; their backs are turned to me as if my fate means so little to them that they cannot bother making sure I do not escape from Jean's grip.

He brings me in to an entry room, towards the living quarters where presumably the Evermires were forced to stay for the duration of their time here. I hear Audrine's sobbing, and before we get to the room where I am to be trapped with her, Jean turns to face me. In his hand is a long dagger, held out to me.

"If anyone who is not me, Alekso, or Bash comes in to this room, kill them. Do you understand?"

I stare up at Jean, nonplussed. "I... I think so. Jean, what is happening? Who are Uriel's Chosen?"

"They are cultists who worship diablarists, and they revere Alekso above all. They will destroy anyone they think displeases him and they hope one day all people in every position of power will be a diablarist ruling the laypeople. In other words, they are absolutely mad."

Jean pushes the dagger in my trembling hands and sets his own on either side of my face. "Do not worry, they are no match for my nephew, and they are few in number."

"How long have you known about this?"

"Not long. Bishop Lambert brought me in a few months before you were married. I kept myself around to make sure they would not hurt Alekso, and admittedly I thought their killing Alekso's opponents would keep the Aurelian name in power longer. But if they are so ready to get rid of anyone who might hold him back, including you, what's to stop them from coming after me next?"

His heroic aura all but disappears at his confession. "Just please hurry, Jean. Are you sure you can get out of here unnoticed?"

"As I said before," Jean cautions before he opens the door and ushers me inside. "If anyone who is not me, Alekso, or Bash comes in... kill them."