And her name is…

I try to pull away from Wulfric, throwing my elbows into his ribs but he only tightens his grip. The people against me right now outweigh those who would defend me, with Noryth, Ealdian and Wulfric lying somewhere in the middle of I’m not sure. I don’t like this situation and eye my favourite defensive corner thoughtfully. I jerk against Wulfric’s hold one more time but he doesn’t loosen up.

His arm around me holds on tightly and he look up to the table. “Someone guessed my allegiance wrong.” He chucks his fork onto the table and wraps both arms around me. “I have your back.”

I consider arguing but I felt him earlier. The colours I pulled into my tapestry were not those of malice. I need people I can trust and him and Tiago are the only ones awake. My heart rate quickens as I look up and remember Helion and Ignacio.

“How deep is the rabbit hole, Helion?” I ask.

“Theodos…”

“No!” I interrupt him as I step forward, with Wulfric still holding me, to slam my hands on the table. Where my hands land the wood looses its lustrousness and that aged look snakes up towards him.He looks more angry then scared and I start releasing the hold on my aura little by little.

“Do not say my name. Do not call medarling.You can speak to me without a proclaimer you smooth-sayer!” He look’s surprised that I know and I smirk. “What did you do?”

“I have been only kind to you, please, give me a chance to explain,” Helion tries again, rising from his chair.

“I strongly suggest you stay away from her,” Wulfric hisses above my head and I feel his fingers on my sides pinch into my hips briefly.

Helion laughs. “What are you going to do general? Go against the wishes of your Kings for a lay?”

“King-S?” I confirm before nodding. “You’re working with Kheliq. Playing both sides. How’s that supposed to work when we were going to kill him?”

“Why would I explain anything to you? I’m so close to having what I want.” Helion is walking towards me but I don’t move.

I shoot my eyes to Ignacio, trusting the beat of Wulfric’s heart against my back to alert me to danger.Kill them!Of everyone left, Ignacio is the most likely to give something away.It would be easy.

“I’m willing to bet Kheliq in the picture ends the brotherly take over, but if I actually managed to kill him you’d be back in. It’s not great both ways for you, which means big brother must get somethingamazingout of it if Kheliq lives.” I narrow my eyes on Ignacio, letting my aura slip further out to reach him. “What does he get that’s better than making you a king?”

Helion lowers his gaze to me. “My deals are my business.”

“You,” Ignacio grits out and I smile at Helion as I turn back to his brother.

“What aboutme?” I return.

“Shut up,” Helion hisses behind him.

Thankfully, he does not.

“You remind him of some lost love, but her father married her off for some secret alliance,” Ignacio mutters while rolling his eyes.

I cock my head to the side, trying to suppress my smile but I can’t. I’m gleaming nearly ear to ear with the delight of my discovery and a laugh escapes me. Turning my head to Helion I look at him, hoping he’ll confirm what his brother divulged. He looks disgusted with his brother which sets my brain on a train of thought that has me mirroring his disgust.

“Wait… this is a story of like unrequited love, right? You pined over her but you were just friends…?” I asked hopefully.

“That’s none of your business…”

He starts his retort but my stomach is already rolling and I know offending him will get this, honestly on the whole unnecessary, question over with.

“Was she sickly and that’s why you screw like you’re afraid I’ll break?”

“Leocidia was a strong and gentle woman. She was the picture of health before she was married off, and even with her anemia I never left a mark on her,” he returns shortly and I feel lump rising in my throat.

My stomach lurches and I find myself swallowing bile. My next attempt to push the thought away has me nearly heaving and I cover my mouth quickly to suppress the urge to vomit. Wulfric feels the convulsions in my sternum and changes his grip on my stomach to support me. I can feel everyone’s eyes on me, and more poorly controlled response was clearly seen. I catch a couple of mouths falling open and eyes growing wide but I wonder if they’ve guessed correctly.

“Wait…” Helion begins looking at me again and squinting. “Leo… Theo.. You’re not.. ? But she has a birth mark on her upper thigh…”

As he drifts off he looks towards my leg and I know he’s realizing he’s never really looked at me while I’ve been naked. I stare back for a minute, the bile receding as I revel in his horror. He reaches toward me, his face quirked in pain and I see his brother from the corner of my eye with the biggest grin on his face that I’ve ever seen.

“Leo?” Helion asks.

I scoff, ready to drop my pants to proveI don’t have the birthmark, but don’t.

“No,” I laugh. “I’m not sure why no one believes me. I spent my whole life in that human town until that prison.”

Helion’s chest is rising quickly. “You also said you’re over 100 and full Sioga blood.”

I nod.Fuck.I haven’t been able to find any information about my mom or who she was married off to so I figured it wasactuallykept a secret. Truthfully, she had never mentioned this man and, while I’m sure he wasn’t a king at the time, I’m still spitting on her grave for this.

“Are you… are youLeocidia’sdaughter?” He returns and I want to deny it, I mean to deflect, but even now Ilovemy mother and the reminder of her has me smiling a little.

“No….” Helion is rubbing at his chin and cheeks with one hand, looking me up and down. “Shit.” Ignacio bursts into laughter behind him but he’s deep in thought. “You look.. so much like her. I don’t see who your father could be in your face though…”

“I’m sure I could come face to face with him and he wouldn’t be able to find the traces of himself either,” I return.

“100, 120, 130, …” Helion is counting on his fingers as he stares at me. “It’s not me, is it?”

“Couldn’t have taken you to your knee if you were,” I mutter, “on account of the whole balance.”

Our biology prevents us from hurting members of our family with our magic. It only extends a few generations in either direction, and there has to be a direct DNA link, but as the wise say ‘Nature always finds a way’. Would be pretty difficult for parents to raise a stronger next generation if their kids could overpower them. It would also be pretty bloody if family could take each other out so easily to take their place in succession. It protects the young from the angry aunts and uncles who want to be next in line, and the more senior from the orphaned grandkids.

“Thank the deities,” several people mutter and I have to agree.

“But… but youareher daughter?” He asks again, and this time I’m able to stay silent and keep my face neutral. “Answer me! Is she alive!?”

“No,” I return softly, “she’s long dead.”

I don’t mean to say anything, but giving someone false hope that someone they miss is alive is a pain I know all too recently. Though he would deserve it for what I already know he’s done, never mind the stuff I don’t know about, I can’t bring myself to let him think she’s alive. Maybe later I’ll glammer myself to look just like her for some mind-fuckery when I kill him, but now is about getting the truth from him.

Helion’s face falls. “But she had a child… who was she married off to?”

I can’t believe they managed to keep such a thing secret all these years, but I’m not about to spoil it now. He glares at me as I don’t answer and his whole demeanour towards me seems to change. Despite me being exactly who I’ve always been he now looks at me like the youngest and not imprudent of youths.

“You weren’t willing to tell me your plan. What makes you think I’m willing to give up all my secrets,” I return, letting my aura seep out even farther and I can feel the slight tremble in Wulfric’s bones but he doesn’t let me go. “Unless you can tell me how you know her, that’s worth at least.. oh, I don’t know, where I buried her? Or I could tell you how she died.”

He shakes his head like he doesn’t want either of those questions answered. “It was a summit for young future leaders. Kings, queens, nobles, lords and ladies,… everyone from our generation would get together twice a year to help build friendships and understanding. It was like a school for the upper echelon, but we weren’t allowed to talk about where we came from. Where was she from?”

“That’s not important to the current issue,” I mutter as Ealdian gently lifts Ricard’s head and moves his plate away before wiping food off his face. “Thank you. That sound of him breathing in his potatoes was giving me anxiety.”

“Thatwas what was giving you anxiety?” Tiago scoffs. “You are a weird one fighter.”

I roll my eyes at him but as I do the dinning room door opens and a bunch of the servants walk in with crossbows. They circle the room and surround us quickly, but my heart stays steady. I can feel my power radiating in my eyes as my anger grows and I feel myself letting my aura go nearly completely so everyone can sense it. Several of those still walking into position stumble, but they don’t back down. On the contrary, they seem like their resolve has been cemented.

“Turn her over Wulfric, I have no qualms against killing you but right now you’ve done nothing to stand against me. Release her to me and there’s no harm done, you can return to your position and it will be like nothing happened.” Helion is smiling like he’s already won.

To my surprise it’s Noryth that speaks first. “So what? You’ll turn her over to Kheliq for…? You’ve proven even your control over her doesn’t last long.”

“You knew,” I say the words so softly I know Noryth barely hears them, but I’m not worried about that right now because I’m still wondering if Wulfrichasmy back or will stab me in it.

“No, I would never hand her over” Helion laughs. “I was trying to be subtle before, but now there’s no point. According to Kheliq, a sensory deprivation room does wonders for making her mind more… pliable.” My face has gone pale at the mention of that space. “It does pain me to do this to you Theodosine, but I don’t exactly see you forgiving me for this… little misunderstanding. I’m not about to give Kheliq someone so powerful, and me providing her blood for his little.. obsession will keep him in my pocket. This is the only option. Wulfric, release her or I’ll put a bolt through your head, and before you try to get sacrificial remember that she can take a lot of pain and still live. And Theodosine, I know you’ve become close to Nyx and Tiago so, before you get all vengeful, try and remember their lives?” He snickers a little and I glare at him.

I carefully take Wulfric’s hands from around me and glance up at him over my shoulder. “It’s better this way,” I return gently.

“Smart girl.” Helion grins then directs a group of people to move in around me. “If you see any decay in the floor around her start with her arms. You should have just eaten the food,” he adds almost wistfully. “Being awake for everything will be so much worse.”

I take careful steps away from Wulfric towards the door as directed, but not before shooting him a quick look and gesturing subtly with my eyes back to Helion. I hope he understands that I need them to stay away from me, and I make my way into the entry way slowly.Let me out. The front doors are open and outside in the cold I can see a large, person sized metal box.Coffin!My affinity it growling and snarling, the animal I’ve just started to feel seems to be clawing at the walls of my mind to be released.

“Get in,” one of the servants commands and I hear several others adjust their weapons as I see those that were waiting outside for us preparing.

The box is thick with two overlapping walls so I wouldn’t be able to rust the lock or hinges from the inside. It looks cold with the slight layer of frost on the outside and my feet already ache with the thought of being locked in there. I would rather die than get in such a box, and I know that if I get in I will be in there until I’m weak or nearly dying. Through the pounding of my heart in my ears, I can hear a slight commotion coming from inside the house. There are men’s voices arguing and I hear a woman’s voice scream.

Nyx

“No.” The voice that comes from my lips isn’t mine and I’ve lost my mental framework entirely.

Two bolts come for me, one lodging in my arm and another in my leg. I hear a few others miss and hit the metal box or the snow around me, but I can’t think on that. My claws are out, my fangs are out, and I have lost my mind to the need for blood. My animal is in control and I can’t stop myself now.

“Orthoirian!” Someone yells and I spin around lunging on them as another bolt stabs into my back.

I’ve clawed out their throat but I’m also draining their power, and I can see the red fibre of their life join my tapestry. Before, it was like I was weaving by hand with a small single strand shuttle and a wide toothed comb, but now it feels like I have a loom and I’m able to take quicker than what I would consider ‘correct’. They die painfully with the speed I siphon their energy, but the experience has none of the uncomfortable aches I had had before. Each person is dead in a matter of seconds and my energy reaches quickly to the next person nearest me.

I can feel the cross bolts stab me but I tear two of them free as I run and tackle two people to the ground, making their energy mine as I stab them with the bolts I’ve just removed. Sticky blood covers my hands and I’m distantly aware that the blood doesn’t need to be there. They could all be dead with so much less effort, but I don’t change my tactic as I remove the other bolts from my skin. I didn’t even need to chase my prey right now, this was all extra that I was doing for my own sick, twistedenjoyment.

Someone thinks a sword would be better and I feel it go through my side, but they didn’t expect me to grab the blade and keep them from pulling it out as I reach out and take their energy. The blade still hurts and I cough up blood as I pull it free myself, but nowIhave a sword. I test its weight in my hand and move it back and forth. My blood coats the blade and I wipe it off onto my pants. There’s no point in stabbing anyone with a blade covered in my healing blood.

They’re spreading out, getting farther away from me and some take cover behind the metal coffin. I start laughing. I don’t know why, and the voice still isn’t really mine but I can feel the power in my veins and it makes their attempts to evade me seem pitiful. I haven’t felt this strong in… ever. My affinity reaches out, draining and pulling the energy from around me in like a whirlpool. All of them will die, and I can’t stop that.

I am free.

My energy moves out and slowly they all start dropping like flies into the snow. My tapestry is my only concern, weaving the energy into mine like I need to complete this picture while the image is fresh. I can’t tell what it is, but it feels like I’ve actually been working towards something this whole time and everything I’ve done up until this last week was nothing. I needed life, real life, to build the picture and now I’m filling in all the details that were missed when I only siphoned to survive and keep my affinity content.It’s me.

I feel my limbs lengthen and a dark black fur covers the skin on my arms and legs.I’m shifting.A strange itch prickles beneath the hair on my scalp and seconds later I have thick crown of antlers extending up and out like a weapon. Though there isn’t a thick fur on my face, as I look at my hands, I know instinctively that all of my skin matches the fur. This will allow me to blend easily into the shadows, making me the ultimate predator. I realize I can walk upright, but I find myself prowling around the courtyard and confirming all the bodies are in face dead. I find a man with his crossbow held tight to his chest behind a tree sniffling and I lashed out my claws to stab him, draining his energy as his blood coats my fingers.

No one will hurt me again.