"You will sit here until the earth eats away at your bones, and for you, my dear sister, that will be a very long time indeed ..."
*
After the use of dark magic, Liro is outcast from the sisterhood, stripped of her immortal grace and lifespan. Lef...
Standing before the gates of the palace felt like a surreal dream. They had travelled through the bowels of the city, just to emerge before the golden fence that twisted like vines.
Those who hadn't been hired to perform tonight had been standing for hours, peering through the gaps in the gold for a glimpse of something otherworldly. Liro wanted to grab the nearest one and tell them to stop wasting their time. There was nothing in those castles that didn't already lurk in their underworld. Manipulation, most prevalently.
It had taken them little time to prepare for the performance. When Liro had showed up to retrieve her costume from the designer, she had thrown a fit when she was told they didn't have hers. Kier, who had simply taken another's costume, smirked at her behind the costumer's back, and Liro felt like a petulant fool.
But she had walked out of that meeting with a costume that fit her suitably, and Liro supposed that it was better than trying to blend into the others with what she had been wearing earlier. Especially as she was always on the lookout for Yasri and Emina.
The oddness of seeing her sisters had remained until she found Kier, until she was sure they were up to nothing concerning her. And as much as Kier had found it unusual that she had come searching for him, and as much as he wished she would return to caring less, Liro knew he understood she hadn't let them be separated for long.
It was an interesting relationship. A mutual understanding that vanity wouldn't make room for their failure.
Yet they were both prepared to cut the other loose at the slightest sign of trouble. Vipers poised to strike each other when danger arose. Liro had no doubt that they were equally matched, and that at the tiniest twitch of the one, the other would pounce.
"You blend in well," said Kier, coming to stand beside her. "But we will need to leave them behind quickly once inside."
Liro didn't look at him as she spoke. "Do you have our change in clothes?"
In her peripheral vision, she saw Kier tap the pouch of his satchel. He wasn't the only one carrying a bag, though others had filled theirs with food and makeup for reapplication; not an entirely new persona to take on.
"And you do have everything you need as well?" Kier asked, his voice low.
A nearby dancer shot him a curious look, and in response Kier flashed her a grin. Liro didn't have the energy, nor the want to play along to make them feel reassured. The dancer smiled back tentatively, before facing forwards once more.
"When have I ever not been prepared to do what was needed?" Liro hissed. "If you don't trust me to do my part, why should I trust you to do yours?"
"I hold the key to your entire transformation in my hands."
"And if you won't give it to me willingly I am prepared to take it from you." Her eyes burned bright as embers, and she could feel heat beginning to spread through her limbs. It was intoxicating and terrifying. She wanted to reach out and touch the bare skin of his wrist, just to remind him of who he was threatening.
Liro clenched her hands into fists, pushing down the power that surged through her.
"We need to separate. We don't need more people staring at us," he said. "I'll find you." He bent to whisper in her ear. "And give you your costume. Now laugh." She did, and Kier pressed a chaste kiss to her cheek before walking back to his original position.
When she thought no one was looking, Liro wiped at her cheek, hoping it didn't smudge any of the makeup around her eyes.
The golden gates opened wide, and Liro felt hands on her shoulders and back pressing her forwards before her feet even got a chance to move. The dancers were just as hungry for something out of the ordinary as those who had been crowding the streets for days before the festivities began.
People were all hungry for something. Power. Adventure. Danger. In the case of a simple human, food.
Liro didn't know what she wanted. Her endless life back was most prevalent on her mind. But the more she saw the fragility of human life, and the more she ended it, she wondered if there was a line she would have to draw.
None of them were loyal to her; her sisters weren't, and the Queen had proven time and time again that the only person she backed was herself. Kier was loyal to the Queen, not the crown, not to her.
She was truly alone.
Her throat constricted as she approached the castle, her pace quickening as the dancers began to escalate to a run. Some of them flipped and twirled along the long road to the main doors, other sprinted beside Liro, saving their tricks for later.
It was all the same. A mad circus through and through. Life tumbling and intertwining with a manic sort of grace.
Tonight, the royals would pretend they were moved and irrevocably impacted by the performance of dancers. The dancers would pretend that they didn't enjoy being observed like birds in a gilded cage.
And all while it was happening, Liro and Kier would slip between the marble hallways of the palace. Not to marvel at the art hanging in gold on the walls, or to revel in the architecture, but to drag one of the royals own with them out of those masterful gates.
In the end, it would do more than just shake the royals of a neighbouring kingdom. It would solidify her position with the Queen, tighten her alliance with Kier, and reassure her own safety in the matter of Lord Hexley.
All for the price of another's blood on her hands.
They stepped into the entryway and guided to the left, down a darker hallway that was presumably the servants entrance to the ballroom. Liro's eyes searched the crown for Kier, and she jumped as she felt the faintest touch at her elbow.
"There's a storeroom coming up on the left," Kier whispered. "It's time."
Liro grinned as they slipped inside, evading the notice of servants and dancers alike.
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Thank you for reading the latest chapter of LIRO! I understand it was a long time coming, and I hope you enjoyed diving into the beginning of some action as much as I did :)
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