“Demons don’t scare me.”
“Of course they don’t; you’re a Kingdom Rogue after all.”
Estra rolled her eyes in faint disgust as if their conversation had taken an annoying turn. “Now, shall I resume my story or are you going to kill me now?”
Red nodded her head for Estra to go on, lifting her blades in anticipation for her to continue.
“Where were we?” Estra mumbled, tapping her head to loosen up her thoughts. “Ah, yes, Arthur Welin and his half-witch”—the older woman smiled slyly up at Red—“Estra Ayrith. Those two were the pair of the century, and they were inseparable. They trained together, planned together, killed together. No one was a better match than them.
“However, Arthur became so obsessed with ridding the world of everything that he believed was evil. His obsession blinded him from seeing that the one he loved had realized that the world was not as horrible as either had thought.
“I knew that the world was evil. Yes. There was no denying that there was something off with what people saw to be right and wrong. But I also saw the different wonders that were there to offset the bad.
“Arthur would not listen to my pleas to change the Kingdom Rogues’ objectives and simply help the people around us. In doing so, Arthur Welin broke my heart. He ignored my protests and soon used his work for profit.
“But while he tore my heart apart by going against everything that I worked so hard to help him create, I also broke his when I left. I disappeared from his life for years, until I took responsibility into my own hands and began targeting his cohorts. That betrayal was what truly broke the man inside Arthur Welin. And he began to send out group after group to kill his once beloved witch.”
Estra Ayrith faced Red as she continued, “The mentor that you know is nothing like the man that I fell in love with all those decades ago. The man that I knew was gentle and kind and wanted to change the world for the better. The man you know is full of greed and hate. His want for power corrupted his thoughts, and all he wants is to watch the world burn around him.”
“If you knew him for decades,” Red interjected, “how is he so much younger than you?” Red winced as she realized how rude her comment was, but she was genuinely curious to hear every detail from Estra’s past.
“Immortality is Arthur Welin’s finest weapon,” Estra explained dully. She shrugged as if being immortal was not interesting news. “I managed to help him steal a forest elf’s immortality. The transfer of life magic was brutal.” Estra shivered as the memory of the event was brought back to the foreground of her mind.
“Magic always has a price, but most effects do not last a lifetime. The dark magic that Arthur used tore the elf apart, and it nearly killed Arthur in the process. The pain of taking another being’s life magic still wears on him today. His brain is even worse off than his body, I think.”
“That’s why he keeps vials of blood locked in his office drawer, isn’t it?” Red questioned, not bothering to suppress her horror. She had read about dark magic before as a child, her parents hoping to scare her out of using her own magic. “That’s why he has us collect blood from our victims. A-and us when we are inducted into the Kingdom Rogues.”
Red hung her head, ashamed that she had not realized the purpose behind the collections before. “It temporarily stops the pain. Gives him strength.”
Estra Ayrith nodded solemnly, her icy eyes melting in sorrow. Those eyes were downcast as she whispered, “It also adds to his growing insanity.
“When he didn’t have a target in mind, he volunteered his own pupils to donate their blood to him. And anyone who offended him was subjected to torture. He would slowly drain their bodies until there was nothing but a shell left behind.”
“Did you do it too?” Red asked, her curiosity getting the better of her terror. “Did you make the transfer?”
The older woman shook her head, her body’s tension melting away as she continued to share the secrets she had been holding onto for decades. “Once I saw what it did to Arthur’s mind, I knew that I did not want to lose the one thing that I had complete control over my thoughts. I think that betrayal was what caused Arthur to truly change, when his obsession with evil took hold of him.”
With a sigh, Estra lifted herself from the floor, moving to rest in her seat at her worktable once again. Her eyes were focused on Red, the sadness and despair escaping from them in streams that shone in the dim candle lit room.
“Why tell me this now? Why tell me at all when you know I have to kill you?” Red whispered in disbelief. Her arms trembled with the effort to keep calm, her daggers quivering in her hands.
“I told you because you need to understand the path that you have sent your life down. It is not too late for you to leave the Kingdom Rogues and restart your life somewhere else,” Estra admitted, hope filling her eyes at the thought of what her last statement meant.
“You want me to leave the Kingdom Rogues?” Red deadpanned, an incredulous laugh almost escaping her lips. “You want me to leave the only place that I have ever called home because of your bad experience there?” Red pointed a dagger at Estra in question.
“Even if I wanted to leave, which I don’t, where would I go? I would be hunted for the rest of my life, and I would have to constantly look over my shoulder.” Red shook her head at the preposterous idea. “The Kingdom Rogues are all I have,” Red added. “I’m not going to throw that all away because you told me to.”
Her last statement was not entirely true. But Red did not want to give Estra the satisfaction of knowing that she had already been considering what it would be like to live away from the Kingdom Rogues. At that point, she would have been ready to stay with them just to spite the old woman.
“Listen to me, girl. You must finish the task that Arthur has sent you on, but the moment you have marked off every name on his list, you must leave the Kingdom Rogues.
“You cannot fall into the same fate that has already been determined for the rest of the Kingdom Rogues. There is so much more to your life than what you see before you,” Estra frantically stated, leaping from her seat in a panic before rushing around the storage room.
The old woman moved with surprising speed and agility as she raced around, grabbing a belt and strapping dozens of hunting knives of all sizes to it. She took the belt and the freshly packed travel bag, tossing them into the trunk that she had been leaning against.
Estra Ayrith snapped her fingers and the trunk vanished into thin air. She moved around in a circle, taking in her shop in quiet awe. Most of her work was still scattered around the room, the tools and ingredients not knowing that they would never be used by her again. Estra breathed in the mingled scents of spices and herbs and the mysterious potion ingredients that even Red could not place.
“You must kill me now,” Estra Ayrith announced. The statement broke the awkward silence that Red wished would return.
“That’s it?” Red exclaimed. She jumped up from the stool, rising to follow Estra around the storage space as the old woman took in the last memories of her world.
“I have nothing more to explain to you right now,” Estra coolly commented. “I have made my peace with this world. I am ready to rejoin the Maker.”
“You can’t just make demands and expect me to follow them,” Red urged, trying to get any more information out of Estra Ayrith. “How do you even know I’m going to follow your advice?”
Estra stopped abruptly, turning around to look at Red with sad eyes. “I don’t,” she stated. “But I know that you will not even consider my words until my life magic has been taken by the Destroyer and returned to the Maker.”
Red did not push the older woman away as Estra placed an aged hand on her shoulder. Red lifted her head to stare up into Estra Ayrith’s light eyes, her own filled with confused grief. Estra came to rest a hand under Red’s chin, the touch horribly gentle considering the situation the two women were in.
“I accepted my fate long before you came to Peragon.
I have not feared dying since I left Arthur’s side.”
Red wanted to lean into Estra’s comforting touch, but the older woman stepped away. She nodded once, confirming that she was ready.
Red reluctantly unhooked an empty potions vial from her baldric, popping the cork out of place. She knew that Arthur would not consider her mission to be completed until that vial was filled with Estra’s blood, but she could not bring herself to fill it.
She looked at the older woman, defeat falling across her features as she tried to come up with an apology that could make up for the life that Estra Ayrith had lost.
In return, Estra’s eyes met Red’s and a knowing look crossed over her aged features. A whisper of understanding moved throughout the room. The older woman knew that the assassin could not succeed with the questions of what was next lingering in the air.
Estra wrapped the assassin a warm embrace that brought a longing into Red’s heart. Estra whispered in Red’s ear, “Do not let them pull you any deeper into their corruption. The Maker has created a different path for you. You just need to follow it.”
In that single breath, Estra grasped Red’s hand. She plunged the blade into her heart before Red could even muster the thoughts to protest.
With a melancholy smile that would be just as haunting as the look of the dying guard, Estra Ayrith’s life magic was severed, and her body slumped to the ground.
~~~
Red stared in shock at the body lying on the ground before her. She knew that she had to collect Estra’s blood and leave her mark behind to prove to Arthur Welin that she had been the rightful killer, but her feet were frozen in place. Only her mind was able to wander past where she stood.
Countless questions flew through her head, each one missing an answer that Red knew she would never find. The question that made its way into her thoughts most always came back to what Estra knew beyond what she had told Red.
Before her thoughts could even fathom the secrets Estra Ayrith knew, distant shouts and the clanging of armour made their way through the building’s brick walls.
Red knelt down on rubbery legs, turning her face away as the vial she was holding was filled with Estra’s fresh blood. She could not bring herself to use the old woman’s blood to mark the wood floors with her calling card. She hastily dipped her fingers into what she hoped was a vial of pig’s blood from the butcher shop, writing her ‘R’ on the floor.
She melted back into the shadows, still hopeful that she would be able make an easy escape. Her main exit was compromised, but there was still the back door that led into the alley behind the strip of stores.
Red slowly inched the back door open, acting as a phantom breeze accidentally pushing against the old wood. Sunlight streamed in through the crack that she had created. The bright afternoon sun cast a halo of holiness over Estra’s already pale body.
Red slowly continued to push the door open, the seconds passing painfully slowly. She only allowed herself to free enough space to squeeze her petite frame through, the overwhelming light blinding her.
Red pushed out into the bright alley and quickly jumped to her feet, only to blindly knock into the back of a palace guard. Her eyes barely adjusted to see the man’s shock before the soldier regained his composure and rushed to grab her thin wrists in his strong grasp.
The guard slammed her body into the ground, dirt flying up around their bodies, choking Red’s nose and throat and burning her eyes. Her limbs flailed and kicked in every direction, but the guard’s armor protected the hulking figure that held Red against the cobblestones.
Shouts rang through the streets, echoing off the brick buildings. People rushed from their homes and shops to see the commotion. Hordes of guards swarmed through the alley and into Estra’s shop, pushing the surges of people back while the strongest in the pack grabbed to hold their thrashing menace still.
Shackles were clamped around Red’s wrists. Questions were asked, the meaningless words barely registering past the pounding in Red’s ears.
Pandemonium swept through Peragon as the news that Red Riding Hood had been caught spread like wildfire. Gasps of shock rang through the market square as the citizens took in glimpses of the woman who had caused so much chaos throughout Cathal. Whispers were exchanged as the people discussed her cursed fate.
Red was paraded through the nearby streets as the guards dragged her to the glittering palace. The men beamed with pride at the cheers from the crowd. They nodded at their unlucky counterparts who would not be receiving the glory of catching Red Riding Hood. And they deftly dodged the rotten food and spit that flew into Red’s face and dripped down the torn fabric of her cloak.
Red ignored everything that came her way. The taunts did not bring her rage, and the food was nothing to her. Her heart only fell when she watched Arthur’s scouts leave their rooftop posts. There was no doubt in her mind that they would not take long to return to the Rogue Manor to tell their mentor of her failure.
Even the kernel of dark magic was silent as Red was pushed through the hateful crowds. She was ashamed that she had made another foolish mistake. But she held her head high, accepting her inescapable fate the same way Estra Ayrith had accepted hers. Without fear.
Chapter 5
Queen Snow White swept through her palace’s bustling halls toward her throne room, Prince Sampson eagerly following at her side. The news that the guards had successfully captured Red Riding Hood had stormed through the palace.
Everyone was waiting to catch a glimpse of their menace. The queen’s shining royal blue and gold gown swished along the marble floors. The sweep of fabric from the dresses of her court echoed behind her as they also followed toward the throne room.
Each member of the court rushed to their places atop the dais so that they would not miss the moment the guards finally arrived. Servants hurried throughout the room, hastily dusting and sweeping, preparing the thrones to make sure they looked as regal as possible.
Intricate cloths made of millions of iridescent jewels strung together were draped across Queen Snow White’s throne. The vibrant rainbow cascaded down her chair until it rested on the floor. Similar glittering jewels had been placed on Sampson’s throne, and he lightly sat atop them so as not to disturb their beauty.
Groups of guards in shining armor marched into the open room, the doors slamming shut behind them. Each soldier’s sword had been crisply sharpened upon hearing the news. Dozens of servants moved throughout their ranks to polish any dull spots of armor, making them shine in the light that shone through the wall of windows. The deadly looks on each soldier’s face could make any man tremble in fear—even the queen had to admit that the room looked impressive.
Before she arranged herself next to her son, the queen took a walk around the room to make sure that everything was in its rightful place. Servants and guards bowed respectfully before retreating to their posts. When Snow White finally arrived at her throne, the entire room bowed low for their queen.
Everyone held their breath as they strained their ears to hear the marching of the city guards. The news had quickly made its way to the palace that Red Riding Hood was captured, but the guards were taking their sweet time bringing the queen’s prisoner back. Snow White knew that the guards had found the merchant, Estra Ayrith, as well, most likely the reason for their slow progression, but Red Riding Hood was the true prize.
“Where are they?” Sampson quietly asked, leaning over the arm of his throne toward his mother. “They should have been here by now.”
The soldiers and servants were also growing impatient the longer they waited. The queen’s councilwomen shifted uncomfortably in their seats. Fingers fidgeted with starched uniforms and the shimmering drapery of gowns. Anxious whispers filled the cavernous space.
“Patience, my son, is the key to becoming a great ruler,” Snow White commented, glancing around the room at the mass of people that filled every empty corner and waited along every wall. “One must master the art of at least looking patient
on the outside, even when your patience is wearing thin on the inside.”
At her remark, the women of the court stilled their hands, placing them in their laps. Their husbands also finished their squirming, and the servants and guards followed suit. No one dared to speak or shift their weight again. But the electric excitement continued to charge the quiet throne room’s air.
Sampson reached toward his mother, squeezing her hand and flashing a comforting smile before falling back into his straight-
backed seat.
The queen looked at her son, easily imagining the king that he would become. She could barely contain her pride as she too fell back into her stilled pose. Her patience only continued to thin, however, as she waited on the guards to bring her the one trophy that she could hold victoriously over the other kingdoms’ heads.
~~~
No palace guard or servant missed the spectacle as the city guards dragged their menace across their polished marble floors. Everyone was a witness to the curses from the guards that were directed to the notorious killer. Some joined in to taunt that a painful death was coming Red’s way.
No one missed the silent strength that radiated off Red Riding Hood. Every servant noted her refusal to be put down by the words and shoves that came her way from the harsh guards that protected the even harsher slums of their beautiful city.
Every person was amazed at how young the woman was as she stumbled through the palace halls. With the grime that covered her face and clothes, she could have easily been mistaken for a lost child.
Many remarked on the hardened soul that escaped through her stunning eyes. Others wiped away tears as they imagined the horrors those eyes had seen. But everyone still saw the killer before them, and they wished that her life magic would no longer be tied to their world.
Many who saw the strength that remained in Red’s upheld head grew angry with a burning fury. They prayed the most that she would receive a merciless trial that deserved to end in a painful death.
Cloak of Darkness (The Destroyer-Blessed Saga Book 1) Page 7