"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...
Yasri and Emina pranced through the front doors of the palace, the carcass of a deer dragging behind them. The trail of blood was hardly anything new, and besides, it hardly mattered now. They were getting what they wanted.
The Queen, white knuckled before them, let her head dip ever so slightly in their prescience.
She had two new ones by her side, both men, dressed in equal finery. One in a suit of the deep navy of midnight, and the other dressed in the crimson of blood. It was not difficult to figure out which one served the monarch.
Only one had a tightness in their jaw, unsure and uncomfortable with the situation at hand. The other, dressed entirely in the Queen's colours, looked calm. At ease, perhaps. Like he had known the true depth of the Queen's bloodlust, and was reassured when it finally showed itself.
Yasri felt a smirk mar her features, and heard Emina's voice as they came to a stop before their welcoming party.
"For us?" Emina crooned, eyeing the boys. "You shouldn't have."
The Queen held up her hand. "Not for that purpose."
Emina pouted. "You spoil all our fun."
"I have what you want."
Yasri clicked her tongue sharply. "But not for much longer."
The Queen's knuckles went white, but her practiced tongue recovered quicker. Emina noticed, and what was more, she felt the eyes of the crimson boy on her. He had picked up on the path of her eyes - he was aware that the Queen was losing composure, and that the sisters were aware of it as well.
"Of course," the Queen lamented smoothly. "Our partnership is almost at its end."
Yasri stepped forward, presenting the deer as a sort of offering. Her hands were stained with blood, along with the soles of her feet and the hem of her dress. There were drops of it along the cream coloured bodice.
The Queen's nose bunched, and her eyebrows drew together tightly.
"What purpose does this serve?" Her voice was tight.
Emina shrugged. "We found ourselves in need of entertainment. I'm sure your servants will enjoy the fresh game."
The Queen smiled. "It's bewitched."
Yasri bared her teeth. "You insult us so?"
"I will not feed rotten meat to my staff."
"These accusations will not stand." Yasri was grinning, clearly pleased at the dialogue between them. The Queen was right, of course. Only now was she learning to be wary of the Sisters gifts for her.
"Tyras?" the Queen turned to the boy in navy.
"Yes, Your Highness?" he replied stoically.
"Remove this carcass from the premises," she ordered. "And don't forget to burn it."
Tyras bent his head, stepping forward to retrieve the animal. It was pathetic, watching him drag the animal behind him. He strained under the weight of it, and Yasri and Emina giggled as he faded from sight. It was entirely too amusing for them.
Yasri and Emina focused entirely on the Queen now, their eyes searching her face for some sort of giveaway. The Queen had gotten better at hiding her emotions; Yasri let her lips form a pout as she considered the monarch.
"You're indecipherable today," Emina said.
"I have your sister." The Queen was as graceful as a hammer striking ice.
Yasri and Emina didn't so much as flinch. A slow smile crept onto the latter's face.
"Do you now?" she crooned.
The Queen did not nod, only continued, her voice as cold as steel. "It was not difficult." She looked the Sisters up and down. "She's the spitting image of you. And perhaps even more deadly."
"Ah, but we're much fiercer than you, and even you managed to trump our baby sister," Emina replied. "So perhaps she isn't so deadly after all."
"She killed a man with a letter opener and convinced the larger populace of my staff that his death had not been by her hand."
Yasri smiled gleefully. "And yet she's rotting in your dungeons, isn't she?"
The Queen's jaw clenched tightly, and the man in crimson behind her went rigid all over. He did not look to be enjoying even a second of this meeting. Though it did appear as though none of their discussion shocked him - it would not have been surprising to understand that he had been briefed beforehand.
"I am doing this for you," the Queen bit out.
"No," Emina corrected, "you're doing this for you."
"None of this would have happened if you had merely listened to me. Instead, you cast me out and had me build this ramshackle life with my bare hands." The Queen's words were barely more than a hiss, just a hint above a whisper. "And you did the same to her."
Yasri sneered. "The both of you deserved it."
"I have done nothing but your bidding for years. I have risen high and mighty within the ranks of men. I command spies and spin lies deeper than your endless appetite for bloodlust." The Queen was livid, her face flushing red as she spoke. "And yet she is closer than I am. She is almost within your ranks once more."
Yasri did not deign to respond. Instead, Emina took the reins.
"The penance should befit the crime, don't you think?"
The Queen turned on her heel, breathing heavily. And to think she had once regarded them as family, as well.
She straightened her spine.
She was not rotting in a cell. She had bested another Sister, cast out. She had done anything and everything that had been asked.
"You may make yourselves comfortable in the palace," the Queen said, turning around rigidly. "Kier will escort you to your rooms, where you are to stay until you are called for."
"A pretty prison. How thoughtful of you." Yasri turned down her nose.
"I could simply have you killed. Save myself the trouble."
Emina laughed. "You cannot kill us."
The Queen snapped her fingers sharply. "Kier."
The man in crimson stepped forwards. "Follow me," he said, his words barely escaping past his teeth.
As they walked down the hallway, the Queen said softly after them, "The next time we meet, there will be your end of the bargain to uphold. The ceremony will be performed. I will be one of you again."
Yasri and Emina bent their heads. "If you wish."
The Queen watched them walk away, and tried to banish the shaking of her hands. Slowly, she smoothed down the skirts of her dress, and began to make her way in the other direction.
That had gone better than she had anticipated.
In another life, it would have been her and Liro torturing some poor, banished soul.
But not in this one.
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