Aurelie was shaking from head to toe. The only thing that stopped her from hiding her hand in the sleeves of her thick coat was the fact that she was holding Nic's severed hand. It bled down her fur coat.
The room they were transported into was empty. It was large and reminded her or the throne room, only where the throne had two seats at the from for the King and Queen, this one had only one. It was placed onto a podium of sorts with seats all around it.
Relief turned into disappointment once she saw the General's lackluster expression. He turned to her and shrugged. For a second, she had fooled herself into believing that they would just get him back. All fear and reality had been drained from her and replaced with childlike happiness because that is what it was to love Kirin. He brought out the innocence and joy within her, no matter how dire the times were. The general, however, saw the situation for what it really was. An empty stage set for gloom and death.
"Well, this would be a time for him to take a holiday, wouldn't it?"
The joke was so out of character that Aurelie burst into a fit of laughter far greater than the joke deserved. She laughed until her eyes watered. The General straightened and watched her disapprovingly which in turn made her laugh even louder.
The giant double door swung open, making the echo of her laughter fade slightly. A man in blue and gold uniform stood in the doorway, with his hand on the handle.
Aurelie started to turn but the General caught her by the shoulder, glancing at the blood on her coat and then at the guard who had entered.
"The Queen wishes to see her father-in-law," the General said.
The man kept quiet for a moment, presumably thinking the situation over. "Follow me," he said and held his hand out for them.
Aurelie, in a panicked state, started to look for a place where she could hide the hand.
"Follow you?" she heard the shock in the General's voice as he said it. "And who might you be?"
"I . . .I" the soldier stuttered.
"What is it?" a woman's voice came from outside. The tapping of her heels come closer.
"My lady, they wish to see the Master."
"Who does?"
"The Queen, ma'am."
The tapping stopped for a second and then continue again. "What queen? Our Queen?" When her heels sounded just outside of the door, Aurelie heard her say, "Well, go get him then."
Aurelie's pulse jumped into her throat and her ears. It felt as if someone was playing the drums inside of her. Slowly turning around, she cleared her expression of any fear and removed all emotion from her eyes. She wanted to look at chilling as Alorah did, God rest her soul.
"Lady Morel," she said.
The woman's soft expression went from warm to blank, to horrified in a matter of two seconds. Her eyes rested on the bloodied hand that Aurelie held. The door closed with a quiet tap and made Lady Morel snap out of her trans. "You filthy tramp," she said, eyes black with anger. Her eyes were just as intense as Nic's. Though aged, Aurelie had rarely come across such beauty. Caramel skin, with golden brown hair like dark honey.
"Do you love your son?" Aurelie asked her and threw the hand down between them. It hopped and landed with the fingers pointing toward Lady Morel.
"I'll have you hanging by your neck by dusk."
"Yes, I imagine you'd want to." Aurelie turned and walked toward the large podium chair that they had in the room. She climbed the stairs and sat down, crossing her legs. "You have my husband."
The General straightened his posture.
The Lady's expression turned blank.
"Kirin Donahue." Aurelie's jaw clenched. "You've had him for months."
"I've never even heard of anyone by that name." She made the mistake of looking down at the hand. She must have noticed the ring because she noticed the ring and gave out a shallow wail.
"You husband has." Aurelie pursed her lips and gestured toward the hand with her eyebrows. "If I don't get him back this very evening, firstly, I will set this whole place one fire with your other children in it, and secondly," Aurelie paused to think dramatically, "that hand won't be the last thing you receive of your son but it will certainly be the biggest."
"I . . . I . . ." The Lady stuttered.
Aurelie wasn't very impressed with her panicked state. "Find your husband and tell him what I told you."
The Lady started nodding and didn't stop until she turned around. Aurelie looked at the General to see if he had approved of her method and saw the silhouette of Lady Morel sink to the floor. She rolled her eyes as she heard the thud.
"Well, let's hope the husband isn't as squeamish," she said to the General.
"I wouldn't put my money on it," the General said, giving the Lady a bored look over.
A thought popped into Aurelie's head once silence befell them again. The general was her closest living relative after Kaiden. In a very sinister way, the two of them were actually spending quality family time together.
"May I call you dad?" she asked him.
The general looked more shocked than the time he found out she was pregnant. "No," he said, shaking his head.
"I think I will though," she said, keeping her nervous laughter in. In reality, her stomach was doing flips. The Master of the castle was taking far too long and Aurelie was so close to getting Kirin back that she almost felt his kiss.
"Ridiculous girl."
"Sorry to disappoint you, dad."
The door swung open just in time to stop her from making more fun of the General. Master Morel walked in casually, reading a piece of paper as the guard who they had encountered earlier held the door open for him.
"Sir!" the guard yelped.
The Master looked up and dropped his paper. "Helen!" He took a step closer to her. "My God!" He took another step.
A shadow below the woman spread and darkened. A loud growl echoed. As if from water, the gaping mouth of a massive shadow bear rose up right under Lady Morel's neck. She was lifted up by the neck as the rest of the bear emerged from the shadow.
"No!" Master Morel screamed and started to run toward her. Halfway there, he fell forward, landed on his knees and skid forward. From his shadow, the top of man's head emerged.
"Master!" the guard screamed, standing in the most unconvincing defense pose that she had ever seen.
The shadow rose up from behind him. He turned, as it touched him briefly on its way out of the shadow realm. The General turned slowly to see what it was and screamed. Nic definitely got his looks from his mother. Quite fortunately. The man had the most horrible blockish shape. His shoulders were triangular and his skin had a greyish, reddish tint.
The guard ran toward the General but his eye briefly caught Aurelie. She widened her eyes and pretended to get up off of her hair.
The guard turned to run. A shadow stepped out from around the corner and grabbed him around the arms. He kicked and screamed but the shadow didn't so much as a shake. It kept its steal grasp on him and pulled him into the room. With the back of its foot, it pushed the door closed.
"Well," she said coldly, "now that we're all here . . ."
"If you do anything to her . . ." Master Morel said in a voice that probably had his staff jump many times before.
Aurelie smiled. "It's not her you should worry about," she said and looked down at the hand that now lay just under the ankle of his wife.
"My God," he said. "You're an animal."
"Yes," she said, nodding. "That's very true."
"What do you want?" he asked.
Aurelie cocked her head. "You know what I want."
"Then why would I be asking?"
The bear growled, almost dropping the Lady's head from its mouth. The beast swung his head, and her body swirled along like that of a ragdoll.
"Stop!" he screamed and wailed loudly, dropping his head. His shoulders shook as he cried, only it didn't look genuine to Aurelie.
"Tell me where my husband is!"
"On the battlefield, Your Majesty." His beady black eyes shone with rage.
The bear growled again, shaking its head as if desperate to bite right through. A loud, crunchy snap sounded and everyone grew silent and turned toward the Lady. Aurelie looked at her chest and her own heart stopped for a second. Breathe, she urged just as the Lady's chest rose. As if that was the queue, Aurelie and the General took a breath.
Master Morel lowered his head. To grew frustrated with his reaction. Obviously, his wife wasn't his weakness. Honestly, at that age, few men would have panicked at the prospect of their wife dying. It was quite common for the nobles to have several lovers and bastards around every corner.
As if listening to Aurelie's thoughts, Lady Morel awakened and coughed. "You're not getting anything out of him through me," the Lady said with disdain. She lay at a very awkward position. Her arms were slumped down at her sides, her legs were open, feet pointing in opposite directions, and her head hung sideways, making her chin gain an extra two layers. "If your husband's here, Your Majesty, he'll be in the dungeon behind our bedroom. That's where he keeps all the important one. I'll take you there."
The bear exploded into millions of tiny black particles before the Lady could realize that the grip on her neck was gone. Her head hit the marble floor with a painful thud. Aurelie saw the General's shoulders jumped as he saw it happen.
"You're going to get us killed."
"No, darling," she said, standing up slowly, "you are."
She got back on her feet and toppled back ever so slightly. The bear had caused some damage. Aurelie felt a twinge of guilt.
"Are you alright to walk?"
The Lady gave her a dirty look. "Let's go."
Aurelie stood from the chair and stepped downward. When she reached the bottom of the steps, she stopped. A sudden urge to cry came over her. Thousands of thoughts crossed her mind. What if he's not there? What if he's dead?
She felt a hand on her arm and jumped. It was the General. He had come closer without her noticing. The rest of them looked at her.
"Come on," he said.
"God help you," Aurelie said looking down at Master Morel. She didn't need to add anything else. They all knew what she meant. Aurelie swallowed hard and took a deep breath. "I won't make a crown of your bones, I won't put your head on a stake, I'll do you no such kindness. I'll make one of my men bury you somewhere where no one walks so that the wild can relieve themselves on your grave."
The Lady shut her eyes and a tear fell down her cheek. "Please, Your Majesty, may we go?"
"It had to be done," The Master spoke, looking desperately at the General.
"What did?" Aurelie's eyes set aflame.
"They had to separate him from his shadow."
"What does that mean?"
"It's only been done once." He sighed loudly. "To my father."
Aurelie summoned a ball of fire into her hand. She must have looked wild because the General stepped away. The smell of smoke filled the air. All the windows had been closed. The Master kicked out with his legs, trying to get an extra distance between them.
"Please!" the Lady shouted.
Placing his hand on her arm, the General applied a little pressure, trying to make her lower it. "Not yet. Let's go find my son."