Hearts of Malice Ch. 06

Chapter 4: Out of the shadows

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"En garde, miscreant!"

In a remote part of the flowery gardens of Kaedon's castle and under the warm light of the summer's sun, Elisa was holding a wooden stick in front of her as if it was a mighty sword, threateningly pointing it at a young girl with brown hair tied in a ponytail who was holding her own makeshift weapon.

Elisa took a step forward and playfully thrust her branch against her friend's. As the wood clashed, the young Princess let out a giggling laugh. After a few pokes, Elisa managed to knock the branch out of her opponent's hands.

Elisa picked the stick from the ground and handed it back to her friend. "Your turn to be the knight, Loretta."

Loretta acquiesced with a timid nod and waited until Elisa was ready. Despite their young age, Loretta was already almost a head taller than the Princess. As such, the mousy brunette was quite careful as she played with Elisa.

When the Princess had been ready to defend herself, Loretta lunged forward with a springy step. Her clumsy attack missed Elisa's stick and instead hit the Princess' arm, tearing a large gash in her pink dress' sleeve and scratching the skin underneath enough to make a drop of blood bead.

"Oh no!" Loretta let out, dropping her weapon. "I'm so sorry!"

Clutching her arm, Elisa smiled goofily. "It's fine. I have plenty of other dresses."

Elisa grabbed Loretta's hand and gently pulled her friend with her as she walked toward a large oak. Under its shade, Elisa sat on the grass, not caring in the slightest about her dress. Loretta swiftly sat next to the Princess.

"When I grow up, I want to be a knight. A real one. I'll go on adventures and I'll fight bad guys!" Elisa stated as she laid down on her back, further dirtying her dress.

"You can't be a knight, you are already a Princess."

"Can't I be both a Princess and a knight?"

Loretta furrowed her brows, intensely considering the question. "I don't think so."

Elisa pouted, her dreams of heroic deeds already dashed. Until an obvious solution suddenly dawned on her. "Then I'll stop being a Princess. There's already my sister. I don't think that she wants to be a knight."

The Princess straightened and stared at her friend's face. "But what about you, Loretta? You're not a Princess, and you're so tall! I'm sure you would be a great knight!"

"I don't know. I think I'll just help my father." Loretta answered with a wan smile.

All of a sudden, Elisa poked Loretta's cheek with her finger. The flabbergasted look on Loretta's face sent Elisa into an irrepressible fit of laughter. The brunette soon joined her regal friend in her laughter.

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On a balcony overviewing the castle's gardens, the King was standing with two knights on his sides. With an unreadable, severe face he observed one of his daughters and another young girl play, chat and laugh under the shade of the trees.

"How did she enter the castle grounds?" The King asked calmly.

"We... We don't know exactly." One of the knights said, fidgeting on his feet. "Her father is one of the castle's gardeners. She may know of a place where the outer wall is climbable, but... we're merely guessing for now, your Majesty."

"I suggest you find out, Sir Wilhem. This is a severe security breach. Can you imagine what would have happened if it was someone ill-intentioned instead of a little girl?"

"Yes, your Majesty. I'll send a couple men to apprehend the girl."

"You will do no such thing." The King leaned forward against the ornate guardrail of the balcony. With his back turned to his knights, he allowed himself to smile faintly.

"Excuse me, your Majesty?"

"You heard me. Send someone to watch over them discreetly. But this girl is not to be scared off. You'll let her come in and out as she pleases. Is that clear, Sir Wilhem?"

"Yes, your Majesty." Sir Wilhem was visibly confused, but he dared not dispute the King's orders.

"Very well. We have wasted enough time watching two little girls play."

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Sofia should have been jubilating, but she was not. Sitting sideways on her late Father's throne with her legs on the armrest and her arm crossed, she was reflecting on her current situation with her eyes closed.

Her Father had kicked the bucket right on schedule, Elisa's knightess had been dealt with and thanks to Commander Wilhelm and his guards not even murmur of unrest had swept over the castle. She had won, and would be Queen regnant soon.

But Elisa was still alive, and by extension so was Urilesh. Sofia's attempt to preemptively get rid of them had spectacularly failed and now Urilesh was a looming threat on the would-be Queen's schemes and life. Of course, you don't deal with such a powerful creature and expect to live through it without an ace up your sleeve. Unfortunately, Sofia's ace was running late.

"Where is Zahira?" Sofia asked the co-conspirators gathered in the throne room.

Facing the throne and the new Queen, Commander Wilhelm answered. "The messenger has been sent, Queen Sofia. She should be there soon."

A nervous spasm lifted the corner of Sofia's upper lip. Her eyes snapped open and she sat correctly on her golden chair. "Hopefully soon is soon enough."

"Are we expecting more troubles?" Anton asked, the magician discretely standing a few steps behind the throne. "My arts are yours, and so are the guards. You have nothing to be worried about."

Sofia chuckled softly. The kind of trouble the Queen was expecting would make Anton very useful, and yet so unreliable. She hated magic because of the power it gave its wielder and she hated having to deal with magic users because they knew how powerful they were.

"I'm not worried, just thorough." Sofia lied to Anton, and to herself. Despite the numerous guards in the throne room itself and spread around in the castle, they would be of little use against Urilesh if she had managed to recover even if only a fraction of her powers.

Suddenly, the large doors of the throne room swung open from outside. Sir Reinhold entered the room, wearing an ornate, gorgeous yet clearly battle-hardened plate armor. Countless scratches and dents covered every piece of his armor and some parts were even blackened, as if having been exposed to the heat of flames. Two knights of the Moon tailed him two steps behind.

The two knights stopped right after having entered the throne room, but Sir Reinhold strode forward until he was in the dead center of the room. There, he removed his helmet and put it under his arm. Reinhold's steel gaze swept the room back and forth, then he looked Sofia in the eyes.

Sir Reinhold was probably old enough to be Sofia's grandfather, and yet something about him made him look ageless. The charisma that radiated from the leader of the Order of the Moon as he simply stood there was enough to make Sofia feel like he was the regal one and she was nothing but a little girl. She thoroughly hated the veteran knight.

"How long has the king been dead? An hour maybe? And you're already sitting on his throne. Aren't you ashamed of yourself, Sofia?"

Sofia took a deep breath. If Reinhold was there to verbally joust, he would find an opponent willing to play. "The show must go on, Sir Reinhold. Don't you agree? Without a ruler, what would become of our country?"

"You're right. There must be a ruler. But this throne, you have no right to monopolize it."

Sofia jumped to her feet and went down the set of four steps in front of the throne. "No right? I am the RIGHTFUL heir to this throne!"

"One of them."

Three words were enough to enrage Sofia. She turned her back to Sir Reinhold to hide the frown warping her face.

"Furthermore, as it was obvious that neither of his daughters would be ready to rule upon his demise, the King wished for his wife, the Queen Consort Mireya, to rule in the meantime. With me by her side as an advisor."

Sofia let out a mean cackle before facing Reinhold again, a wide smirk on her face. "But that's not how it works. I'm a Princess. The King's daughter. A direct heir. The throne is mine!"

"Such is the will of our late King." No emotion was showing on Reinhold's face. His body was still as a statue.

"I don't care about the old man's will!" Making a show of looking around the room, Sofia continued. "Does anyone here care about what he wanted?"

Sir Reinhold's upper lip twitched. "This is treason." The two knights of the Moon took another step forward and drew their swords.

"Treason?" Sofia laughed heartily before shaking her head. "Says the one barging in the throne room clamoring that he is to rule instead of the King's own family."

"I truly wished you would come to your senses, Sofia. Shedding blood on the day of the King's death truly is a saddening thing."

Sir Reinhold slowly drew his sword, and as soon as his hand reached the hilt of his blade guards swarmed the illegitimate Queen, surrounding her and protecting her from all sides. Unfazed, Sir Reinhold assumed a battle stance, the blade of his sword glowing light blue.

"I think basic odds are beyond your ancient brain, Reinhold! You're outnumbered, what, ten to one? Twelve to one?" Sofia was gloating, almost hidden behind her beefy armored guards.

"I've seen worse."

Sir Reinhold's confidence was grating Sofia's nerve, but she had plenty of cards to play. "Anton! Smite this fool!"

The magician jumped. Sofia knew that he probably barely had listened to the whole exchange, but he never balked at using his powers.

Anton raised his right arm up in the air and a large ball of purple flames appeared right under the ceiling of the throne room, its heat almost unbearable even to Sofia. Then, with a motion of his arm, Anton sent the fireball crashing down on the three knights of the Moon.

Dust and smoke filled the room, blinding Sofia. The Queen couldn't hear anything over the ringing in her ears. When the smoke thinned out, the knights were still standing right where they had been. A large bubble of pale blue energy was flickering around them.

"We serve the Holy Moon, the Mother of All! Your unholy arts won't be of any help to you! Now, face retribution for your treachery!" Reinhold roared, raising his sword in the air and his two knights rushed forward.

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"I'm sorry Princess... The prisoner has already been executed."

The Princess felt like her chest had been torn apart and her heart pulled out but still, she managed not to break down instantly. With jerky and unsteady steps, Elisa left behind the desk of the jail's reception and headed back toward the staircase, her ears ringing deafeningly. She closed the door behind her and, free from prying eyes, she fell to her hands and knees, crying messily.

"No... Not you too... I can't..." Hiccups and snort punctuated her broken sentences.

"She lies."

"L-Leave me be! Can't I even weep in peace?!" Elisa's bitterness and anger exploded, exacerbated by the sorrow and loneliness that had swallowed her whole.

"She lies!" Urilesh insisted. "Pull yourself together, human!"

Elisa weakly crawled to the stone wall then leaned on it, sobbing quietly. "What's the point? She's gone... I can't go one... without her..."

"Are you even listening to me?! That girl behind the desk is lying through her teeth! I do not know if the knightess is still alive or not, but she's hiding something."

The Princess could feel Urilesh's frustration growing through her words but also in her own heart. Elisa's body was subject to the emotions of both its current residents. As both Elisa and Urilesh were getting heated, the boundaries of the two women were getting blurrier and the cohabitation more difficult. The pain that threatened to split Elisa's skull slightly sobered the Princess up from her profound sadness.

"How would you even know? Don't do that... Don't give me hope... Look how well that panned out for my Father..."

Heavy footsteps echoed in the narrow staircase, metal from armored boots hitting the stone steps. Elisa meekly gazed up with blank eyes. She had no strength left, standing up on her own two legs felt impossible. Defeated, Elisa just waited, seated against the cold wall.

"I have walked amongst your kind for longer that you can comprehend. Humans are nothing but open books to me."

Four guards finally appeared on the spiral staircase, stopping a few steps above where the Princess was slumped. One of them went down two more steps and stood towering above Elisa.

"Princess Elisa, your sister is waiting for you. Come with us." He said, offering his gloved hand to the Princess.

"They will slit your throat as soon as they can! Don't do that, Elisa!"

"Would that really be so bad?" Elisa asked Urilesh wordlessly. "I have nothing, no one left."

Elisa weakly grabbed the offered hand and the guard pulled her up. Now on her feet, the Princess dusted her dress. "I'm ready." Elisa said to the soldier with a nod.

The soldiers surrounded Elisa and they began ascending the stairs, settling on Elisa's snail-like pace.

"You're an idiot and a weakling! You have to fight! If not for you, do it for Loretta!"

"She's dead." Elisa retorted angrily and outloud, causing questioning gazes from the guards.

"You don't know that! You are abandoning her!"

Urilesh's words felt like a punch in the gut to Elisa. The Princess let out a pained sob then took a deep breath, trying to clear her mind from her despair-induced daze. The Princess wanted nothing more but to lay down and give up, but Urilesh was right. If there was the slightest chance that Loretta was still alive, she had to fight on, for her. Elisa violently slapped her own cheek, the pain making her feel alive again.

"Are you alright, Princess?" One of the guards inquired, Elisa's strange behavior making him raise an eyebrow behind his helmet.

"What have I done? Please tell me it's not too late! I-I can't... I don't know what to do!" Elisa panicked, feeling suddenly trapped between the four bulky soldiers.

"You know what to do. Breathe in. Breathe out."

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An armored soldier flew across the jail's reception, flung away from the staircase and into the air by an overwhelming force. The woman behind the desk yelped in surprise and fear as she watched the guard crash against the rock wall and fall on the floor like a broken doll, blood pouring out of every crack in his dented armor.

Panting loudly, the Princess exited from the staircase in turn. Her clothes were drenched in blood and so was the blade of the sword in her hand. She slowly walked toward the desk, dragging her feet in exhaustion and using her sword as a walking stick. The receptionist quickly hid behind her desk, disappearing from the Princess' sight.

"Don't be ridiculous, I know you're right here." Urilesh let out a chuckle, rolling her eyes. "If I must fetch you from behind that desk, you'll regret it."

The receptionist's head slowly emerged from behind the desk, visibly terrified. She was shaking like a leaf, tears beading at the corner of her eyes. She had shifty eyes, unable as she was to handle the piercing gaze of the Princess.

"You have five seconds to tell me where the knightess is before I skin you alive."

Dumbstruck, the receptionist opened and closed her mouth repeatedly, her voice stuck in her throat. Panic added itself to her dread.

"Four."

"I-I don't... S-She's... I... I..."

"Three."

"She's in cell B23! Two levels down from here! Please!"

The Princess stretched loudly, cracking her joints then she smirked widely, her satisfied smile intended to herself. Urilesh elicited another terrified whimper out of the receptionist by pointing her bloodied sword at the receptionist's face.

"Why did you lie to me? That's not a very nice thing to do to your Princess."

"I-I-I'm so sorry! There were instructions written on the ledger! Nobody was supposed to know that the knightess is detained here! I didn't mean to but I need this job! Please I'm sorry Princess... I'm sorry..."

Urilesh sighed as the receptionist devolved in a sobbing mess, tears drenching her pretty face. The demon shook her head and let go of her sword, letting it fall on the floor.

"Why don't you take your day off and get out of here? Things may get pretty messy, you should avoid the castle for today."

The receptionist didn't need to be told twice. She leaped away from her desk and bolted toward the staircase, rapidly disappearing inside it.

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Elisa was walking down a long and damp corridor crudely lit by oil lanterns on the walls. On each side of the corridor were small cells shrouded in shadows, each of them empty. Above them stood a wooden label with a number painted on it. Squinting her borrowed eyes, Urilesh read the number eight above the cell she was standing in front of. Sighing, she resumed her walk forward.

"You can give me the control back now." Elisa declared from inside her mind.

"I think it would be for the best for both of us if I stay in control for a little while longer."

The Princess didn't complain too much about Urilesh hogging her body. After all, Loretta was still alive, and without the demon's insistence Elisa would have given up. Still, the Princess was not delusional, she knew that everything Urilesh was doing was in her own interest. It just happened to match Elisa's for now.

"But how are you going to explain our current... situation... to Loretta?"

"I'll appeal to her pragmatism. You need me, I need you, we need her, she needs us. Simple as that."

"Hopefully she sees it that way. She really hates your guts."

Urilesh stopped and laughed somberly, the creepy outburst of her voice echoing in the dark hallway. "And you don't? I seem to recall that you were there as well that night."

"You're a monster. The sooner you'll be gone the better I'll feel. But... You helped me. Without you I wouldn't have made it through today. Pragmatism. And regarding Loretta... You scarred her deeper than me. Her wounds are still healing."

A strange pout wrapped Urilesh's face until the demon shook her head and rolled her eyes. "You're a strange creature, little human. so frail and weak and yet..."

Urilesh didn't wait for an answer. Instead, she put one foot in front of the other, striding toward the cell numbered 23. As the numbers went by and grew bigger, Urilesh felt Elisa's impatience, apprehension and hopefulness rise steadily until finally the possessed woman and possessing demon reached cell 23.

At first, Urilesh thought that it was as empty as the twenty-two first cells but then she noticed the hunched mass in the darkest corner of the cell. Tilting her head, Urilesh approached the bars to get a better view. Loretta was indeed there, huddled against the wall with her knees up against her chest. The knightess was sweating profusely and wearing what looked like dirty rags. Loretta's head slowly rose and she made eye contact with the Princess.

"E-Elisa? Is that... Is that really you? H-How can that b-be?" The knightess had trouble speaking, stammering repeatedly.

"Yes. Kind of." Without letting the knightess reflect too much on her words, Urilesh continued. "Stay back, I'm going to open the door."

Urilesh laid her hands over the lock and keyhole, then closed her eyes. After a second, the lock mechanism that kept the door closed literally exploded, leaving a gaping hole in the door. Urilesh pulled the door open and took a step back, gesturing to Loretta in an exaggerated way that she was free to leave.

"H-How did you... do that?" The knightess inquired but made no other move.

"Long story. One you're not going to like. Come on, let's catch up somewhere where we won't catch a cold."