The Princess of Wrath

Chapter 14 - Part V: Binary Star Falling into Darkness

Finishing by donning her raincoat and hooking the scabbard with her sword at her belt, Diana took the severed head and headed toward her subjects, who waited patiently for her near the entrance to the grotto.

"Lady Diana, Lady Diana! Is it true of what they said down in the city? Is it true that the Princess is dead?" Vermina asked with exaltation through her doll. "Come on, answer me, you putrid piece of shit!"

Diana was curious about that question. It was expected that people began to speculate and seek answers about what happened two nights ago, when no official voice was in charge of clarifying it.

"No. She escaped with the help of a group of people loyal to her," she began to explain to both the young girl and Mara, who was undoubtedly interested in acquiring information and was listening partially silent because of her deep breathing. With a hand signal indicating that they should follow her, the three of them entered in the stony corridor, which, like the cave, was dimly lit with candles placed inside holes. "The city's militia is wasting valuable time searching the sewers: Asura can be anywhere, moving further and further away from Imperial territory in the company of an unknown agent."

"Oh, what an elusive Princess! Ugly, stupid, I'll kill her and steal her Curse of Wrath!" the doll shrieked as she was being hugged lovingly by her owner.

"What about the rescue group? What do they know about their whereabouts?" Mara asked.

"Three survivors, if we don't consider Asura and her unknown benefactor: one is a Berelithian priest who is being tortured for information, although I'm convinced that he doesn't know anything useful; another is a hired gunslinger who broke away from the group and left the city long before Asura. And the other...," Despite being smiling, the anger Diana felt at the thought of that man released a small but powerful display of her depraved spirit. Vermina's doll wailed and her owner hid behind Mara, who was not intimidated at all. "The other is Amos Caius Loren, who devised the operation together with Royce Baldur. He fought me, but also escaped."

"How? Did you allow him to run away to continue your little game of despair and it backfired at you?" the Mistress of Agony asked in a passive-aggressive manner.

"You should have captured them all when you had the chance, Lady Diana!" Vermina contributed fuel to the fire. "With all those soldiers who were under your command, you'd have had no problem! Can you seriously be so stupid to kill your own allies and help the Princess escape only to betray her at the last second? Ultra, super idiot! You have shit for brains!"

The only thing they managed with all that criticism was to make the blonde knightess laugh.

"I admit I underestimated all of them, especially Amos: not only did he turn out to be deeply calculating, but he never revealed that he was the bearer of an element of the Gods. When I realized about it, it was too late...," she said with a paradoxical, anger-filled serenity. "But I don't regret at all what I did: had I captured Asura at the checkpoint, I wouldn't have been able to see all those beautiful emotions in her eyes corrupted with sheer desperation. No... No, after years of fantasizing about destroying her mind and soul, I made the best decision. She rose from the ashes when she saw me there, surrounded by the bodies of the soldiers and giving everything to help her. And then, when I saw her spirit shatter into thousands of pieces..."

Diana suddenly stopped, forced to breathe deeply. Mara and Vermina watched, with stupefied discomfort, her leader squeezing her right breast and struggling not to bring her free hand directly to her crotch. The wave of pleasure that crossed her beautiful face was equally sensual and devilish; and her eyes, lost in a dark memory, reflected only pure blue-tinged horror.