It didn’t matter now; his brother was so much dust in the wind. Buried in a crypt that no one ever took the time to visit. In fact, it would be the perfect place to end Zoey’s life. He could easily burn her body and stage a kidnapping if he wanted to. He cared little for the training she had received, she was a woman and women were weak. Why his beloved Elise would ever send Zoey away to train was beyond his understanding. Sasha was a glorious beast all on her own. She walked her head held high, power radiating from her every step and movement.
She was a gift to this court that would not have happened if it was not for his seed. He was the one that willed her into being. The tiny voice that told him when to disobey his love and let his seed flow into her to make his daughter was the voice of power. His guardian and that of Astra’s. His mother had been right when she had told him he was more important than Anthony, that his destiny would bring greatness to Astra. Sasha was his legacy and his greatness. If he did not remove Zoey, she could be the ruination of all his plans.
Calling for an attendant, Royal asked for parchment and a writing pen. He would use the letter to lure Zoey into an area where he could do away with the little princess. She wasn’t important anyway, only his Sasha held any importance for this kingdom. Queen Elise might be furious with him after she found out, but all in all, it would be helping her to ensure her daughter was the only heir to the throne. Royal sat back proud and preening, no one could have planned this so perfectly, except for him.
When the attendant returned, Royal sent him away to fetch his family seal from the vault. He would need it to ensure that Zoey took the missive he was writing seriously. She must be there at a precise time, or his plan would fail. He knew she would have duties during the great party his love was throwing, but he also knew that a suggestion of a threat to Sasha’s life would warrant investigation. It as how he planned to lure Zoey and dispose of her. Being her uncle ould absolve him of all reproach, and he would have her with her guard down.
It was so simple, yet it required careful planning. Royal finished the letter and closed it with his seal. Now to choose someone, Zoey would trust to deliver the letter to her as fast as possible. Rifling through his memories, Royal summoned Zoey’s nanny.
“You requested my presence, your grace,” The old woman said with reverence and respect.
“I have a letter for Zoey that must reach her hands immediately, and I don’t know who to trust. Can I ask you to deliver it for me?” Royal said, feigned worry lacing his tones.
“You can,” The old woman said, bowing low.
“You can not tell anyone about the letter. I must swear you to silence, or your life will be forfeit.” Royal said, hoping to scare the old woman. She merely nodded wide-eyed and took the letter from his grasp. Now he would wait in Zoey’s father's crypt to see if she took the bait. The party was only two hours away, and he hoped to be rid of her as a gift to his dearest daughter. The diamond tiara he had made for her party would never compare with this plot she would never know was executed by his hand. His heart soared, knowing that if he chose, he could eat Zoey’s magic and imbue it in his daughter’s crown, making her even more powerful than before.
This night was turning out to be a lovely evening after all. Zoey had more than enough magic to share, and it had been a long time since Royal had killed with his own teeth and claws. It would be good practice for the years ahead, for he planned to kill anyone who stood in the way of his little girl, even her own mother if called for. His walk through the marble hallways went unnoticed as everyone was rushing to and fro preparing for Sasha’s feast.
This plan was far more perfect than he had ever imagined. As long as the sniveling old woman kept her mouth shut, all would go according to plan. He may have to eat her for general purpose. He had been so hungry as of late. It was what always happened when he didn’t keep his magical stores full. He let his mind wander as he contemplated whether his daughter held the affliction he did. Without the eating, he simply could not retain his magic at any useable level.
It had been a secret he had kept for years now and a gift given to him by the hemlock court. They were frim believers in eating the flesh of their enemies for sport. Taking their power was a way to preserve a delicacy that was fading fast from all but the dragon and phoenix races. It was almost as if magic was no longer needed in Astra, and the world itself was slowly breeding it out. This was something that made Royal sad, for it evened the playing field for all the races. For some to lose their magic and others to keep it would cause a war that could tear apart all his family had worked to protect.
The balance was off somewhere; he just had to find out where and make a change. It was a good thing he was always watching for Queen Elise had refused to believe the rumors. No Matter, he would do the crown a great service this night and had plenty of time to do more at a later date. As he approached the crypt, he ducked out of sight using a cloaking spell to make sure he wasn’t seen entering his brother’s burial place. Only Zoey would be witnessed going in, and she would never leave if Royal’s plan came to fruition.
As he entered the crypt, a chill crept over his skin and sent shudders of paranoia down his spine. Something was off, it had felt as if someone had walked over his grave. Royal shook it off and straighten his black dress clothing. He had chosen an outfit of mourning fitting for murder or rather a completion of his plan. He saw nothing wrong with finishing what he had started years before. He cared nothing for Queen Elise’s strict instruction that Zoey was no longer a target in their game of power.
She was a target in the game he played whether Elise liked it or not. Assassins could be bought and sold by the dozen. Her plan of one perfectly loyal to his daughter was a farce at best. NO child that ever held the second seat to the throne of Astra was truly happy. They were ambitious and even a little bit jaded to be overlooked or treated as a pawn in waiting. A piece in a choreographed puzzle to be used in the event that the main piece was killed off. Almost like a clone in waiting. Trained to mimic and please, fawning on their knees to the people who loved the first child and would only tolerate the second in line to the throne produced by a royal family.
Had he been born a girl, he would have been married off and exchanged for a large dowery and power. If Elise had been smart, she would have betrothed Zoey at a young age and had her removed far from the kingdom. However, her stubbornness led her to ignore his advice and to fall prey to the whims of an undead lich. His counsel had sparked the need for a court assassin close to the throne. It was such a novelty that all the royal houses of each territory followed suit. Made into law by his paranoid lover.
The Lich was a real mastermind, he quietly gathered power while he did the most menial of tasks at Queen Elise’s behest. Royal knew he had plans of his own, but he had no inkling of what the corpse could be up too. As he reached his brother's plot, his eyes narrowed. The statue was moved just slightly to the left as if someone had opened the crypt and was sloppy in pushing the statue back into place. Puzzled, he decided to investigate. He had at least forty five minutes or more before he could expect the arrival of his dear niece anyway. Maybe there was something useful in the ashes that were once his brother.
Royal lamented that he had not been able to eat one piece of his brother. There had been something powerful about Anthony that Royal could smell. He never knew how to describe it but, he wanted it, needed it, and would hopefully finally gain it when he ate a piece of his niece. He had learned over the years that certain piece held the most power, and that devouring the whole corpse was just a way to grow fat and sluggish. He needed to keep in fighting shape if he was to finally rule this kingdom through his daughter.
It was why he had played the game Elise had devised. He knew with his beloved as the Queen of all Astra he could have a say from the sidelines. She didn’t give him the full power he craved, but she afforded him just enough to keep him happy. He felt like a fool when she refused his offer of marriage in front of the court. It was his job to care for h
is brother’s family after his passing, and Elise had refused. What was worse, she had denied him in public and then chastised him in private for embarrassing her. They had grown apart during the last few years.
Royal blamed the Lich, but since he was putting Sasha in power, she would be able to deny him no more. With a well-placed shove, Royal was able to push his brother’s death sculpture passed his resting place. He gazed int a crypt filled with ash and saw nothing but what he expected to find. Maybe he had to look a bit further. He could feel the disturbance at the sight. He wasn’t sure if he imagined it, but there was something there he could feel it, like a thorn in his paw. Kneeling before the opening, Royal bent down and ran one long-fingered hand through the ashes of his brother. They felt like soft sand, almost chalk-like in their feel. A part of him took immense pleasure in the act of defiling his brother’s resting place while the other part retained the goal of finding more power.
A strange cold mass met Royal’s hand as he slid his fingers through the ash. Using both hands, he began to dig, furious at himself for not checking here sooner. His excitement waned as the mass he uncovered looked to be a massive coiled snake. He could detect no life within the animal, yet it pulsed with a power that made his mind hunger for the power it contained. He leaned in the pit with both arms extended as he meant to scoop the snake's corpse up and eat it when it raised it’s head and struck.
His muscles instantly began to freeze as he fell headfirst into his brother’s ashes. His last breath inching closer and closer as each organ in his body ceased to function when he saw her. Zoey stepped from the shadow a taming ring in hand and called to the poisonous asp she had grown to epic size bad to her side. It slithered into the basket she held like a well-trained pet. No sympathy, no regret, and no remorse showed within her eyes.
“A fitting end, dear uncle, don’t you think? No please don’t try to answer your vocal cords should be frozen at this point anyway. I knew your plan before your stupid letter. Greedy until the very end. Rest well in your place of treason for my father's ashes will forever keep your corpse company,” Zoey said as she slid her father’s statue back into place and sealed it shut. Her snake would have to be fed when she got it back to its cage, but it had been the perfect tool. The black asp had performed exactly how Zoey had trained it. It had taken her almost ten years to grow it to its fifteen-foot size, but every danger she had faced in handling it had been worth it. She had loved and nurtured the beast so that it was perfectly loyal to her. It would never strike her or turn against her because she gave it all the power and food it wanted. She even found it a mate when it had gotten lonely halfway through its training. By attending to its desires, it had given in to all of hers.
Using her cloaking spell, Zoey traveled the hallways carrying her dangerous companion back to her chambers, where a scared and shaking Nana awaited her return.
“Is it done, child?” She asked her eyes large and round in their fear of a man who was already dead and would never be found.
“Rest easy Nana, I told you that I would protect you and I have. You shall remain my permanent attendant for the rest of my stay, and I will find you protection for after I leave. You are the only true family I have left, and I will not lose you,” Zoey said, her voice serious and grave.
“Quickly Zoey, see to your friend so I can get you dressed for Sasha’s birthday and heir ceremony. We are running out of time. It would seem you will have to wear your dress from your audience with Queen Elise. I have not had time to have anything else made for you. She will not be pleased with either of us.” Nana said she twisted her fingers before her like she could pull them off for the offense Zoey’s stepmother might take to a task she had overlooked earlier.
“Don’t worry Nana I have a dress of my own fit for a royal princess and assassin. The Queen will be jealous if anything at all. She expects me to wear a dress she sent to my home, and I had the monstrosity destroyed.” Zoey said with a smirk on her face.
“Ah, what a beautiful sight you are! It brings me great joy to see you have your mother’s stubbornness as well as your father’s cunning. Take the snake to her cage and feed her. We need to get you bathed. You can’t go to the ball covered in ash. You are not Cinderella, my dear.” Nana said with a chuckle.
Chapter 19
Sasha and Zoey
Zoey relaxed as Nana help her wash and style her long black waves into the tiara Nana had taken from her father’s personal stores. Zoey was the only one who could open them as he had left them all to her. She chose a tiara befitting her station, and one Nana had told her that her mother often wore to public events. She meant to drive her point home without saying a word. Knowing Queen Elise She would overlook Zoey’s show of knowledge, she was not a very observant woman. If anything, Zoey would be chastised for the gown she wore.
The dress she had destroyed was what the Queen would be expecting even though it would have never fit her lithe muscled frame. Zoey enjoyed the fact that her new gown showed her beauty, as well as allowed her to be fully armed. No one would see the daggers, throwing stars, swords, and garrots that laced the dress and were held within her bodice. Lydia had done her work well, The soft leather caressed her skin yet held magical properties that would turn a blade or projectile into a harmless target.
The waist tapered, showing her amazing figure, and the mock dress made it look as if Zoey was made of a piece of the night sky. Every movement produced a different effect. Looking like a starless night, and then she would move igniting a burst of starlight across the whole length of the gown. She had to hope Sasha had designed a dress better than her own, or she would be outshined by the true heir of the kingdom.
A part of Zoey didn’t care, but the assassin in her heart knew that she had to do her best to look like a well-trained ornament and not the future queen of Astra. Sasha was just as beautiful, but her disposition made her ugly, and the people around her noticed. It was Zoey’s job to change that somehow, though she had no clue as to how to hide herself next to such an ugly person.
“Nana, how am I to be a nameless face when Sasha is such a beast it cannot be hidden?” She asked, hoping that Nana would be able to provide her with something she had not thought of yet.
Nana held the answer out to Zoey. It was a silver mask that would cover her eyes and the upper half of her face. It held light blue stones on one side and brilliant emerald stones on the other side. When Zoey held it up to her face, she realized the stone surrounded her eyes with the opposite effect. The blue stones surround her emerald eye, and the emerald stones surrounded her blue eye. The contrast was stunning, and it lessened the effect of her face while hiding her identity perfectly. It was a little narrow at the nose, but still, it fit into place as if it had been made for her.
“It was your mother’s, you have her eyes even if they are sent in your face like a mirror image of her own. I thought since you were worried that this would be a great help in concealing who you truly are,” Nana said, answering Zoey’s question before she could even ask it.
“Do I look that much like her?” Zoey asked her voice quiet and sad at never knowing the woman who bore her.
“You are a perfect blending of both your parents. You hold the traits of each one while making something unique and different. The only thing that truly hints a the fact that you are Nethra’s daughter is your eyes. The magic they contain is not a lion trait but a jaguar trait. Many know, but few are willing to question Queen Elise. As long as she believes you are her child, you will be safe. If she ever learned different, I fear what her temper could do to you and your happiness.”
“Nana, you worry too much. After the ball, I plan to follow my father’s instructions. I must prepare and have all I need in place to save Astra. The kingdoms cannot go back to what they once were. I will talk to my Master at the guild and demand this feat as my final test. I have proof of my parentage in my very blood. He will not deny me.”
“ I hope you are right, my dear one. I must go help your sister prepar
e for her big day. It is something I am dreading as she seems to be especially grumpy. We already have a few girls unaccounted for as if they disappeared.” Nana said, her fear shaking through her words to quake in Zoey’s ears.
“You will not go unprotected, Nana. I have a gift for you.” Zoey said as she walked to a box, she had moved into her room from her father’s hidden room. It was unnoticeable unless she wanted it seen. She lifted the lid and pulled a null stone necklace from the box. It flashed like a firey opal in her hands. The pendant itself was shaped like a teardrop and wrapped in an ancient silver casing. It was beautiful and understated, meaning it would not be noticed by Sasha and her greedy eyes.
“I would have you wear this at all times. I believe the beast is eating the powerful servants and collecting magic with her gluttonous ways. You are and have always been a powerful healer in the servant quarters. You are all the family I have left, this will make you look powerless to her hunger and drop you off her radar. If she does attempt to attack you, this will knock her out long enough for you to escape. You are to hide her if this does occur. Do you understand me?”Zoey asked, her tone leaving no room for questioning.
“I give you my word, my child,” Nana replied, a tear slipping from her eye. It had been so long since she had felt any love in this court that Zoey’s request caught her off guard.
“I will see you before I go, for you will travel with me. Be prepared to leave after you prepare the beast for her ball.” Nana bowed her head and slipped from Zoey’s room the joy in her heart, making her steps light and unafraid. The pendant around her neck tucked into her ample breast as she strode towards the greatest enemy Astra had ever known. She knocked lightly on Sasha’s door and could hear growls and snarls as Sasha finished off her next meal. Zoey had spoken true! The beast was eating, and Nana began to tremble as she waited for the noise to stop, so her knocking would be heard.
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