Chapter 16

Tabitha held the dagger over the still body, the flesh rapidly cooling.

A young man, his eyes bulged out of his eye sockets, a darkening bruise around his neck where he had been strangled stood out against his pale skin. He was lying on a slab, the rock dark from dried blood that had never been cleaned, allowing it to seep into the stone.

With little effort, she plunged the magical blade through its chest, carving a jagged line through skin, muscle, and bone. With her free hand, she reached inside the corpse, gripping the still warm heart in her fist.

With a pull, she freed the organ, removing it from the body and holding it into the air. Bright crimson heart’s blood tricked down her arm, staining her white skin.

Around her, hooded figures chanted, their voices a chorus that rose and fell with the mana in the air. It was thick and heavy. Crackling red static energy danced across the air above them, lighting the dense darkness that surrounded them. They gathered in a circle in a underground chamber, the walls roughly hewn from stone, deep beneath the Capital.

Tabitha could feel a connection growing between them and something powerful in the Aether. Like a thread, pulsating in time with her own heartbeat, flowing from her body to beyond this reality.

It called to her, filling her body with a pleasure she had never felt before. Nothing could compare, it was pure ecstasy, and she moaned as she brought the red heart to her lips, her perfect white teeth tearing into the once living tissue.

The heart consumed, she felt the connection between them fade once more, the chorus of voices dying out, the turbulent mana settling around them. Wiping the blood from her chin, she turned, looking at her mentor as he approached.

Hooded, wearing the blackest of robes, he walked slowly, his mana thick around him like a cloak of midnight. The blazing torches seemed to dim as he passed, their light unable to survive in his darkness. Staring at him, she could almost hear a voice, calling to her from a great distance, whispering in the back of her mind.

“You’ve done well, my child. The ‘One’ is pleased with you.” He said, placing a bone white hand on her head with fondness. Running it along her black hair, he gently gripped her shoulder, leading her to the altar.

“Thank you, Father.” She whispered with a feeling of contentment she rarely felt in her life. Something had been missing, a piece of her that could only be assuaged by death. Small animals, birds, things she could find around the estate.

It had only been when she killed her first human, a young boy from the village near her estate, that she truly felt alive! She could still remember the smell as he roasted in her magical fire. Delicious.

“Soon, the wait will be over, and the ‘One’ will return to us. Each sacrifice brings us closer, and it will be you that made it happen. All of our efforts will be rewarded, and we will be granted the peace promised to us.” He said, looking up at the symbol hanging above the altar.

A single eye, surrounded by black vines.

Tabitha bowed her head in reverence, the feeling of ecstasy returning only briefly, a pale echo of what she had just experienced. She wanted more. More Death, more pleasure, to serve her God and to feed the connection between them.

She would carve through all of Illyria, plunging her knife into a million hearts, to achieve her goals.

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Having removed her hood and cleansed herself of all traces of blood, Tabitha used a small Teleportation Array to return to her home. Using a cleverly constructed hidden door, she emerged into the basement of her Capital manor house.

Climbing the stairs, and ignoring her servants, all of whom had sworn on pain of death to keep her secrets, she returned to the main foyer just as the Third Prince was announced.

The man entered the Manor, dressed in an opulent purple silk dress shirt and tight-fitting breeches. Around his hip hung a sword that Tabitha was convinced the prince had zero idea how to use. He was weak, only Rank 3, and she was forced to push down the feeling of disgust and anger his appearance created in her.

Plastering a false smile on her face, she whispered a silent prayer to the ‘One’ before rushing forward to greet him.

“Darling, what a pleasant surprise. How wonderful it is to see you.” She said, her voice dripping with sarcasm that the fool didn’t recognize. The prince’s handsome face broke out into a wide smile at the sight of her, flinging his arms open and wrapping her tightly in his embrace.

“My love, I know you said you were busy today, but I couldn’t stand being away from you. I do hope you’ll forgive me.” He said, smelling her hair and holding her close. He kissed her cheek before she stepped back, out of his reach.

“Of course I will!” Tabitha said sweetly, nearly gagging nausea created by her own words. She resisted the urge to slice open the fool’s neck by keeping her distance, giving the impression of a chaste bride to be.

“Would you like to lunch with me? I have ordered the restaurant to prepare your favorites. Have your brother and father returned to Brookmoor?” the third prince asked, holding out an arm and beckoning her to follow him. He didn’t even wait for her response, simply assuming that she would want to come.

Suppressing a sigh, she clung onto his arm and followed him out of the manor to his waiting carriage. Although she detested him, she had to admit, she wasn’t opposed to the idea of dining with him. He always had access to the best chefs, the finest restaurants in the capital.

Although it couldn’t compare to the savory heart she had enjoyed just this morning.

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Wil sat far away from the couple at the restaurant. A simple ‘Disguise Self’ spell, a Tier 1 illusion, had been enough to hide his appearance. As long as he maintained his distance, and Tabitha didn’t inspect him too closely, there was no chance of being discovered.

He had been following Tabitha all day, having left Markus to follow a few of the leads Margaret had provided. Markus had watched her for months, but couldn’t find her doing anything out of the ordinary, aside from the few times she simply ‘disappeared’, losing the trail. It had been Wil who suggested that a fresh pair of eyes may make all the difference.

Wil was planning on searching the Manor here in the capital when he knew Tabitha was gone for an extended period of time. Tomorrow, she was due at the Academy, some meeting with one of her professors that she had grown close to.

Taking a sip of his freshly poured tea, he watched as Tabitha and the Third Prince enjoyed their meal, laughing and chatting like a couple in love.

‘Markus was right, if I hadn’t known her all my life, I would never suspect a thing.’ Wil thought, surprised at how flawless her acting had become. To his knowledge, few outside the estate knew just how flawed she was.

As they dined, various groups approached them, other young nobles or House heirs, a few rich merchants, eager to make connections. Wil noted each and every face, keeping a record to follow up on. There was no telling how far her corruption had spread, how many had fallen into her spider’s web.

Finishing his tea, he was about to gesture to the waiter for a refill, when an approaching group caught his eye. There were maybe a dozen of them, all in their mid to late twenties, richly dressed. They were laughing and joking, an even mixture of men and women. It was a young woman in the back, clinging onto the arm of a man, that took him aback.

She was beautiful, with long black hair, fair skin and striking blue eyes. She wore a pale pink dress, modest but one that hinted at the beauty beneath. Around her neck she wore a necklace of interlocking gold chains and hanging from the end was a large sapphire. When she raised her hand to brush a lock of hair out of her face, Wil saw a large diamond ring on her finger.

He knew her, had known her, for all his life. It was the woman he was engaged to marry, someone he hadn’t seen in nearly a decade. Someone he had thrown his reputation away to protect.

It was April.