Midnight came faster than I expected.
I had asked Luna for some clothing—simple, practical, something I could move in. I dressed quickly, my fingers fumbling with the laces, my mind racing with plans and possibilities.
I changed something in the room. The flowers remained, their petals soft and fragrant, but I had added wooden dummies to the corners. Targets. Practice for my blade.
While eating dinner in Luna's room, I slipped a knife into my trousers. Small. Sharp. Hidden.
Now I was practicing, cutting into the wooden face of the dummy. Over and over.
Tar... Tar... Tar!!!
Each strike was a prayer. Each cut was a promise.
"Are you going to do this forever?" Luna's voice cut through the rhythm. "It is already midnight, and the man you said would help has not yet arrived."
Tar!
I ignored her, hiding my frustration as I continued tearing into the dummy's face. The wood splintered beneath my blade.
"Aurelia! I gain nothing from this! At least answer me!" She crossed her legs, her voice sharp with irritation.
"Be patient," I said, my voice flat. "He will come. He will."
I kept stabbing the dummy. Over and over. The wood groaned under the assault.
"You are not the one dressed in this clothing!"
I glanced at her. She was completely naked. That was not clothing. It was a chain—a thin, delicate thing that wrapped around her back and between her breasts and clipped to her nipples, another string between her thighs. It covered nothing. It revealed everything.
I looked away.
Truly, I was not sure he would come. But I enjoyed this moment with her. I wanted to ask about my other sisters—about Aelia and Livia. The words were harder than they looked.
"Do you remember when Flavia would sometimes read stories to us?" Carla asked, her voice soft. "About the great wall. The last witch. The most painful fall of humans..."
"No," I said, my voice cold. "I do not."
"Perhaps you have forgotten." She paused. "Father always read them. You joined too."
"I do not remember reading stories," I snapped, turning to face her. "I read true life facts. About how the great wall built by the last witch was destroyed by dark creatures."
"Same thing?!" She laughed, but there was no warmth in it. "You have never changed. Still rude. Still arrogant."
"Do you expect me to laugh around like a horse waiting for a rider?" I spat. "I am meant for—"
Click!
The door opened.
Vasile stepped inside, his movements quick, his eyes scanning the room.
"Let us begin the training," he said, his voice clipped. "Now. I have only a few moments."
"You said you wanted to be occupied," I said, stepping forward. "I found you—"
"I was joking." He cut me off, a cold smile on his lips. "Did you not see it in my—"
He paused.
His eyes had found Carla.
She was sitting on the bed, her half-naked body gleaming in the lamplight. The chain between her thighs caught the glow. Her breasts were exposed, her nipples dark against her pale skin.
"So I should be going to the slave chambers," Carla said, rising quickly, her voice trembling. "There is no need for—"
"Shut up!" His voice was sharp. His teeth elongated, sharpening before my eyes. "I know you. Somewhere."
Why is he changing to his beast form?
Oh.
My brain raced. Carla was half naked. He was probably lost, hungry and consumed.
I slowly gave them space, retreating to the corner of the room. I crouched beside the cupboard, hidden in the shadows. I could hear their dialogue clearly, but I could not see their movements.
"I clean," Carla said, her voice small. "I wash. I cook. You may have seen me countless times, Lord Vasile. I am part of the sanitary and other departments."
"What is this that you wear?" His voice was mocking. Cruel.
"I never knew it was you I would be doing this with," she said, her voice breaking. "I do not deserve this. I will dress properly next time—"
"Silence." His voice was low, dark. "I love it."
I could not tell what was happening next.
Strange sounds reached my ears. The rustle of fabric. The thud of something falling. A soft gasp. A moan.
Was it him? Was it her?
Their voices mixed together, rising and falling, indistinguishable.
I stayed there for minutes, crouched in the shadows, my hand gripping the knife in my trousers. I listened to the sounds of their passion, my cheeks burning, my stomach churning.
How long will this take?
How long must I wait?
I pressed my back against the wall and closed my eyes.
Please finish soon...
---
What Carla spoke only moments ago stirred the tale I had long buried ...
Flavia sat within the courtyard, the fire's breath upon her cheek, and in her hand—the very book whispered to be penned by Viviana's own hand. The last witch. The last voice that dared speak truth to the dying light.
"After the dark creatures were wrought from demon seed,
The demons themselves turned ravenous against the world. They scattered the bones of our harvests, drove their hooves through our fields, snuffed the breath from our mothers and fathers—and fire, relentless fire, drank the sky until even the gods looked away.
Then rose the dark creatures and us humans.
For fifteen years we bled together, shoulder to shoulder, forging sorcery from desperation, and with grim triumph we hurled the demons back to the pit from which they crawled.
But the father's stain did not wash clean. The dark creatures, in their hour of victory, became the very terror they had fought. They took the daughters of villages by force. They spread their cruelty like plague. They outdid their sires in savagery, and we watched—helpless—as the cycle turned.
We turned our sorcery upon them. We tried to cast them down to the same abyss. But Hell itself refused them—for their blood bore not the pure taint of demons, but the bitter alloy of man and monster. Too foul for heaven, too base for hell—and so they remain.
I gave my flesh to raise the Great Wall. I carved my bones into its mortar. I believed—fool that I was—that stone and sacrifice might hold back the tide.
And what came of it?
In the span of a hundred years—a breath in the lungs of eternity—it fell.
And now they walk among us once more.
There is no hope for humanity.
Unless the heavens themselves descend—
Unless the gods remember they once loved us—
Unless mercy finds a voice where none has spoken—
We are undone."
"Aurelia..."
Carla's voice made my eyes snap open. Her hair was a wild mess, tangled and tousled. The blanket from the bed was wrapped around her shoulders, clutching it tightly to her chest. But on her neck—strange marks. Bite marks. Bruises. Purple and red against her pale skin.
He is a healer. Why did he not heal that?
"Do you not wish to be taught again?" she asked, her voice hoarse, as she lay back down on the bed. "Lord Vasile is waiting."
"Oh, sorry..." I roughly stood, wiping the saliva from the corner of my mouth. I must have fallen asleep.
"Firstly, I will teach you something," Vasile's voice rang loud, sharp as a blade. "You do not sleep on duty post!"
If you would have had sex for eternity, we would have been gone by now!
I wanted to say it. The words burned on my tongue. But I was too weak to open my mouth. My body ached with exhaustion. I felt sleepy—I would not lie.
"Take..." He dragged his sword from its sheath, the metal singing against the leather. He thrust it toward me, hilt first. "If I told you to kill the dummy, how would you do it?"
I collected the sword. Its weight was familiar in my hand—comforting, almost. I snapped it toward the dummy's head.
Tar!
The blade bit into the wood. And stuck.
I tugged. Nothing. I pulled harder. The sword would not budge.
He watched me struggle for a moment, a cruel smile playing on his lips. Then he stepped forward, his hand closing over mine on the hilt. He dragged the sword out with one smooth motion.
"The sword is like your extended hand," he said, his voice low, almost intimate. "You fight not only with strength... but also with it."
He released me and moved to another dummy.
With a swift movement—a flick of his wrist, a twist of his body—
Tar!
The head of the dummy fell off. It hit the stone floor with a dull thud and rolled to a stop at my feet.
I stared at it. Then at him.
"I did the same thing as you did!" I exclaimed, frustration bleeding into my voice. "This makes no sense!"
"It will, in time." He picked up the fallen head, tossing it from hand to hand. "The sword is not a tool. It is a part of you. You do not swing it. You become it. Make more attempts."
I gritted my teeth and turned back to the dummy.
Tar!
Nothing.
Tar!
A scratch.
Tar!
A deeper cut, but still the head remained.
I swung again and again—thirty, forty, fifty times. My arms burned. My shoulders ached. Sweat dripped down my back, soaking through my tunic.
Tar!
Finally—finally—the head of one dummy fell. It bounced against the stone and rolled to a stop at my feet.
I stared at it, panting, my chest heaving.
I had done it.
"My sword," Vasile said, stepping forward and collecting the blade from my hand. "Tomorrow is another day. I will teach you more."
"I... I am not done—" I tried to protest, but my voice was weak, my body trembling with exhaustion.
But he was not looking at me.
He was looking at Carla. And she was looking at him.
His hand reached out. It found hers.
"Goodnight," he said softly, his voice different now—softer, warmer. "I would love to see you tomorrow."
Her head was bowed, her cheeks flushed. "I do not deserve this encounter with you," she whispered. "I will remember it forever."
He raised her chin with his finger, tilting her face up to meet his gaze. "If you look at me," he said, "I want you to look into my eyes."
She did.
He kissed her forehead. Gently.
Then he turned and left.
---
The door closed behind him.
I stood frozen, staring at Carla. Her hand was pressed to her forehead, her eyes closed, a soft smile on her lips.
"Is this how fast people can fall in love?" I asked, my voice flat.
She opened her eyes. "What?"
I shook my head, a cold laugh escaping my lips. "You have known him for one night. One. And already you look at him like he is the sun and the moon and all the stars combined."
Her smile faded. "You do not understand, Aurelia. You cannot judge what you have never felt."
"I understand that love is foolish,"
Or perhaps your type of love is dumb!
---
To be continued...