Maeve is queen-no, was queen-of the viper shifters.
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Twenty-three year old Maeve Silverbone is the next royal in line for the serpent throne. She's relentless, a perfect tracker, and one of the top warriors in her division; essential qualities to...
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❛ Never had the crown of flames burned so much. Never had the songs of treason been so beautiful to touch. ❜
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Night had fallen as the moonlight spilled through the window onto the mess of papers she had made on the coffee table. Maeve had been to the city library and to the civic center, collecting information on everything she could find. She had planned to meet the families of the victims and see if anything could be coaxed out of them but that would be up till morning. Right now, she was filtering through the police's version of the cases.
From what she noticed, all the people killed were some sort of artisans. Bladesmiths, ceramicists, one of them was even a magical weapons forger. But none of them were any sort of aristocrats nor were they wealthy. Which caused slight confusion because they wouldn't be killed for money. Which left either information or debts, and both of them were a sticky involvement.
She sighed, running a hand over her face. The glow in the dark clock on the wall read 3:57 am and Maeve realized she should probably be sleeping. Instead, making sure that Ryu was out cold, she grabbed her dagger off the nightstand along with a black shawl and combat boots from the closet before sneaking out of the door, keeping her footsteps quiet. Miraculously, the stairs weren't as creaky as she expected and she exited the front door without much attention.
When Maeve reached out on the streets, the night was a blanket of stars over the sky. She grabbed her horse and walked along the road, reading the names of the various shops that were empty early in the morning. The clops of the hooves were comforting on the brick road accompanied with the chirps of the night crickets.
Maeve mounted her horse when the forest loomed in front of her. It was dark and quiet and the trees couldn't be told apart from one another in the darkness, yet something about them was comforting. She liked not being able to be seen and the trees were a great cover at this time.
When the first tree came around, the breeze ruffled her hair and her shawl blew off her left shoulder. Maeve adjusted it in an uncomfortable manner but didn't stop, enjoying the chill that spread up and down her spine.
It reminded her of when her mom used to sit her on her horse and with one arm tightly wrapped around her little waist, would make the horse gallop over the wheat fields in the far side of Raskinia. Unknowingly, Maeve kicked her horse into a fast lope, enjoying the jumps he made over fallen trees and how he maneuvered with grace. The moon and stars provided enough light for her to see and before long, everything around her was unfamiliar.
