The Ocean Hearth (A "Hymns of Evermorn" Story) by Lionelson NY

The moon was high up in the sky. The street was no longer lingering with people. The King was climbing up the stairwell to his chambers alongside his trusted General Edoras.

“Everything is in order, your highness. Your logistician, Sir Roderick and I have calculated and strategized everything from the amount of harvest to the number of soldiers. We should be able to withstand a Dalharian siege. We estimate that their numbers have definitely dropped after our two attacks on their city.” Edoras told the king.

“Very good, general.” The king replied monotonously. His hand clasped behind his back as they continued traversing on the hallway. He had been less of a talker these few days.

“Your highness, if I may ask.” General Edoras interrupted the silence. “What shall we do with the experimental?”

“I expect nothing more from our alchemists. Tell them to shut down their work.”

“But sire, we are too close to completion!”

“Does a half-cooked boar taste any better than it is raw, Sir Edoras?” Velron gave him a stern look.

“No sire. But since we’ll be at war, we might as well see what it can do on the field.” Edoras plead. Velron sighed.

“Do as you wish, general. But I will not approve any proceedings of that abomination afterwards. Do you understand?”

“Yes, sire. Understood.”

“Good. You’re dismissed”

The general bowed and left the king.

Velron continued his stride along the corridor till he reached the door to his chamber. But peculiarly, the guards weren’t there and the door was half opened. He saw blood stains on the knob. Terrified, he kicked open the door and found his two guards laid on the floor.

He looked up and saw a familiar man, half naked. His eyes were red, his hands shivering and bloody. His breath was fluttering with no sense of rhythm whatsoever.

“Sir Alan?! What are you doing here?” Velron was shocked. He slowly crept in to peak at his bed. And there he saw his queen laying there with red stains on their white bedsheets.

Panicking, Sir Alan tried to make a run for it! Stumbling on the tables and chairs as if he lost his coordination, he persisted to run anyway. But Velron quickly grabbed him by the neck and smashed him to the floor!

“You are a knight, Sir Alan! How dare you affiliate with the Reds!” He shouted in rage.

He continuously punched his face until his brittle teeth shattered. Sir Alan squealed in pain but he was giggling like a mad man. Each hit was like a boulder crushing his skull but apparently he was indulging each swing like sweet wine.

“Why are you enjoying this?!” The king pressed his knee on his belly, making him cough and vomit.

“It wasn’t the Reds, your highness.” Alan laughed as his tremored, bloody hands brushed the king’s hair. “It was Meridith!”

Angry, Velron grabbed hold of Alan’s throat and squeezed it tight! The knight tried to fight back but Velron was a heavy man, he couldn’t lift him off. Velron continued to crush his throat, choking the knight.

Slowly, Alan’s face turned blue. Foam came out of his mouth and his eyes seized upwards. His arms were smacking against the floor, trying to get up. But alas, his struggle ended when he finally lied motionless.

Only then did Velron let go. But even in his shattered state of mind, he realized that people don’t normally choke in that fashion

Suddenly, General Edoras rushed in to the room, shouting.

“Halt in the name of the-…what happened, my Lord?!” The general was shocked to see the scene.

“Search Quella’s room, Edoras. Now!!!” The King shouted. Immediately, the general left to do just that.

Quickly, Velron jumped off Alan’s fresh corpse and ran for his bed. There he saw his beautiful wife’s eyes, blankly staring at the window. Not a blink, not a flicker. Her dress was torn from the chest down to her skirt. Her undergarments ripped the same way. Bruises lined her breasts, waist and arms. Her legs spread out like a woman who was stripped off her dignity. And just as torn as the dress was her throat, which had a gaping hole on it.

“Lorraine…” his voice trembled. “Lorraine, no!!” he started sobbing. He shook her shoulders to try to wake her, but her skin was already cold and her flesh was stiff. He moaned and muttered indistinct words while holding her as close to him as possible. Tears dripped on her skin as he hugged her cold cadaver.

“Lorraine, wake up, please!!!” he whispered while kissing her discoloured lips. But not even a true love’s kiss could awaken her from her slumber no matter how many times he tried.

He moaned and hugged her body tightly, smearing himself with her blood. Cursing while beating himself up, he begged the gods to save his dead wife. But the gods were quiet.

Seeing that there was no return for his wife, he finally let go of his embrace and positioned her body decently with his shivering hands. Then he covered her with the bed sheets that were already soaked in red.

“I am sorry, my Queen. May I see you in the All-father’s court” He muttered as he caressed her face one last time. He swallowed his tears and shrouded the bed sheet over her face.

The King barged into Quella Meridith’s room and found Sir Edoras reading a piece of paper.

“Where is she?!” Velron shouted.

The general, startled by the king’s loud yell, handed him that small scribbled paper.

“It’s a letter of purchase, your highness. For a ship that’s headed for Meridia.”

Velron growled as he threw his fist through her wardrobe, leaving a large hole on its wooden doors! His breath fluctuated like the waves of the ocean. But as he pulled out his hand from the wardrobe, he found a half-empty, thorn-shaped vial which held a similarly curious red liquid. He took it out and gave it to Edoras.

“What is this?” He mumbled.

Sir Edoras opened the cork of the vial and took a sniff.

“I am no alchemist, your highness. But if my senses are right, this smells like the essence of the Lawrencia Rose.”

“What does it do?” his voice, impatient.

“It stimulates bodily desires, sire.” Edoras recalled. “Even a few drops would leave a man rampant with lust.”

“That whore!” Velron kicked her bedpost, incidentally seeing her dress and undergarments lingering within her cluttered sheets. She must have also used that essence for herself just this evening.

“I want every fleet we have to chase her and-” he could not finish his sentence when suddenly the warning bell was sounded from afar.

Velron quickly stomped to the window and looked by the sea. There he saw the horizon of the Hungry Ocean lined with vessels headed their way. If he looked just hard enough, he could see the Moon Emblem of Dalhar waving on a flag next to blank red one.

“What a cursed night this is…”