The Crow And Her Sparrow

chapter four - She's gone

Mother Miranda sighed to herself as she ate a few bits of toast. The taste was mild at best... She read up on the lords' recent failures the, with a sour face, she tossed their notes into the bin. Failure after failure. 'That's not very nice, is it, Mummy?' Evelyn, another failure, hummed innocently in the priestess' head. Destroying whatever else she was thinking of at that moment in time. "I'm not your mother and you are not my daughter." She hissed as she began to doodle on her notes. It was a bad habit she got herself into a year ago when she caught you doing it. She heard weak begging from the corner of her lab. She rested her chin on her hand as she tried to rid herself of irritation. She had almost forgotten that she left it there.

Standing, she made her way towards the most recent failure. A man. He had travelled into her lab and began to read her sacred notes. He had sealed his fate. He looked up to her eyes begging. "Mother Miranda please... I won't do it again!" He cried. Mother Miranda tilted her head. The Cadou had taken root in in his lower spine causing a spine mutation. It was slowly killing him. She was sure of it. He had no regeneration abilities and was flawed in several other places. He tensed when she trailed her talons across his cheek. Hearing his heart speed up, She leaned in close. His dark brown eyes met her dove blue. "I won't come here again! Information on the girl or your notes will not leave this.. cave!" He swore.

Rolling her eyes, she dug deep into his chest. Her talons locked in place. Blood gushed slowly from her influence. He bit his lip as he held back a scream. Mother Miranda relaxed at the torture. "I know they won't, you stupid imbecile, for you won't." she hissed, sweet bitter venom dripping from her tongue. He panicked and began to struggle against the restraints as he realised the meaning behind the priestess' words. "I will not risk my life's work on a man's pathetic promise." She growled. He glared up at her. She dug deeper into his chest and yanked out the still breathing heart. He screamed out and went silent, taking his final breath as she brought the organ to her face. It was growing weaker by the second. She sighed and relaxed her head. Bringing the organ to her lips, she took a bite. Swimming in the taste, she swallowed. She looked back to the corpse and chuckled. She placed her hands on his face after throwing the limp heart to the side. Blood splattering as it fell. Coddling the corpse's body as if it were the most important thing in her position. "My husband looked like you... Handsome. Dark chocolate eyes and black hair. Every woman's dream man, I suppose. But not mine." She muttered, forcing glazed eyes to meet her own. "The marriage I shared with him was never a happy one. He would punish Eva with an iron cruel fist. Of course, as her mother, I did my best to protect her from his drunken wrath. Like you, he's dead now. I ripped his heart from his chest and made his mistress watch as I ate it. Like him, you are nothing. Like him, you will not be remembered." She hummed as she walked away. Leaving the man for the maggots.

She arrived home to find you working near the sink. You seemed quite content in your own merry little world. Her eyes softened ever so slightly before she snapped herself out of it. That wasn't what she needed or wanted. You were a maid. She entered the kitchen without a word. Mother Miranda looked to the side to noticed the door leading to garden was wide open. Three crows sat there watching your every move. One of them met her gaze and seemed to narrow it's beady little eyes a bit. She raised an eyebrow and stared back. You had yet to notice her presence. The crow opened its beak and let out a loud caw. You jumped and turned round to see the crow and the crow mother glaring heavily at one another. "Mother Miranda, I didn't expect you back so early." You hummed and bowed your head slightly, wiping your hands on your apron.

The blonde turned to you and walked closer. "Do I need to warn you, a maid, when I am to return back to my own home?" She hissed, sounding rather bored. You froze in slight shock. That certainly wasn't what you had intended for your words to mean. You felt an awkward tension growing ever so slightly in the room. Mother Miranda sighed to herself as she scanned the kitchen for anything of interest. A caw came from one of the cross as the little bird puffed out his feathers. Mother Miranda raised an eyebrow. "If you feed them much more than the regular, they'd be fat." She hummed as she rested her chin on her hand. You lowered your head and stared a your feet. "Has there been any post today?" She asked as your head perked up. She had been waiting on a letter from Alcina about her recent failures. You nodded and picked up some envelopes that were on the counter. She raised an eyebrow as you went back to cleaning after handing them to her. You could feel her ice eyes upon you. She shamelessly scanned every aspect of your mortal flesh. She caught herself staring at your curves and cleared her throat before returning to the post. She narrowed her eyes as she threw the useless ones onto the floor behind her. You would clean it up after. "Useless. Useless. Ha, I couldn't care." You heard her muttering under her breath. She suddenly went quiet. You ignored it, thinking she had maybe found something keen of interest. "(Y/n)." She said with slight sorrow. Her tone made your heart stop. You slowly turned to face her, Glad to see that her face didn't match her tone. She seemed as if she were made of stone. She gestured for you to come over. You had to stop yourself from raising your eyebrows in shock. "It may be... Ideal for you to take a seat." She hummed as she read further down the letter. "To (Y/n) Hart." She began to read out loud. You began to fiddle with your rings. "Unfortunately, At nine o'clock in the morning a day ago, your mother was found dead. We believe that she was murdered by a pack of-" Her voice fizzled off in your ears. Your mother? Dead? But she couldn't be. She looked frail but not at death's door and to hear that she was murdered. You stilled. Not taking register of the tears running down your cheeks.