Across Sanviria: Desires

18. Cold and cruel

A fountain of blood sprayed onto Yvette's face. Dalmar's limp body fell to the ground. Scarlett slowly lowered her knife. For a moment, the three of them stood in absolute silence. Then, Yvette grabbed Dalmar's sword and, with a furious scream, started to stab his dead body with it until only a bloody mess was left of his chest. She threw away the weapon and took a couple of deep breaths.

'So, that was surprisingly easy,' Scarlett said after another moment of silence.

Jean-Gabriel suddenly appeared right next to her.

'I'd say it was almost too easy,' he said.

'Wait, were you here the whole time?' Aidan asked.

'Of course. I was backing you up, wasn't I?'

'But what if he had sensed you?'

'Nah, he couldn't. He was a soul mage.'

'What? Actually, hold that thought. Arly, why the heck did you kill him? I thought we agreed he's gonna stand trial.'

'And I thought we don't want to take any chances. Besides, a public trial would be an ideal occasion for riots or gods know what else,' Scarlett said.

'But I was sure you, of all people, would try to avoid unnecessary bloodshed.'

'He was going to die anyway,' Scarlett shrugged.

Aidan ran his fingers through his hair.

'Okay. I don't wanna fight with you again. So, the soul mage. Wasn't he supposed to be a super powerful hybrid or somethin'?' he asked Jean-Gabriel.

'Apparently, he lied.'

'How do you know?'

'Because one of the many perks of being a moon sorcerer is the ability to see one's soul. And this guy here had almost no soul whatsoever.'

Yvette slowly stood up from the ground. She swallowed and looked at Jean-Gabriel with terror in her eyes.

'Does... Does that mean that my family is dead and my country is in mayhem... because of a fraud?'

'Looks that way.'

Her lips started to tremble. Tears gathered in her eyes.

'Fuck this shit to fucking hell!' she screamed and started crying spasmodically.

Scarlett hugged her, letting her bury her bloodied face in her shoulder.

'It's okay. It doesn't matter. What's important is that he's gone. Now you can restore Aseaud to its former glory,' Scarlett said softly.

'But this means that after... with my father... He must have used up all his power. And he was powerless. I could have stopped him a long time ago. Anyone could,' Yvette couldn't stop sobbing.

'You didn't know. It's not your fault.'

Yvette sniffed and moved away from Scarlett. She rubbed her face. She then looked at her hands, wet with tears mixed with hers and Dalmar's blood.

'I am sorry,' she whispered. 'I... I need to get myself together. I will be upstairs.'

She quickly left the throne room.

'Is it safe for her to walk around? I mean, was he the only one in the whole palace?' Aidan asked.

'I heard he was so paranoid, he either killed or threw out all the servants. If he used up his soul in the fight with the Emperor, it is quite understandable,' Jean-Gabriel said. 'Well, kids, we probably should tidy up this mess,' he pointed at the corpse on the floor.

'Maybe we could clean the palace a little in general?' Scarlett suggested. 'So it will be a bit... nicer for her later?'

'I think that's the first time I heard a queen say she wants to clean something,' Jean-Gabriel giggled. 'But I think it's a good idea.'

'Sweet. So, you two men do something with mister Dalmar, and I will go back for Chloé and Timéo. We could use some help, right?' Scarlett headed towards the door.

'Wait, what about the guards? They will ask what happened to me,' Aidan stopped her.

'They're dead,' Jean-Gabriel said calmly.

'What? Why is no one following my damn plan?!'

Scarlett turned to him and smiled.

'Your plan was perfect. But we made it "perfecter",' she said.

She blew him a kiss and left.

Aidan and Jean-Gabriel remained alone in the room. The wizard cleared his throat and scratched his neck.

'Listen, I didn't plan on killing them. I just overdid my spell a bit. But I think it's for the better,' he said.

Aidan didn't answer. He was looking at the door with a concerned expression.

'Hey, are you listening to me, kid?' Jean-Gabriel asked.

'I'm worried about her,' he said.

'Well, I'm under the impression that you tend to worry about everything in general.'

Aidan ignored this remark and continued.

'She's been actin' weird since she came back after that fight. I mean, she was just devastated after what happened in Doisson, and now she's cold-heartedly killed a man. Don't tell me it doesn't bother you.'

'I think she did the right thing.'

'Maybe, but it doesn't mean she should feel fine about it.'

'Have you considered that at least some people in Doisson were innocent, and this one here was a total son of a bitch?'

Aidan exhaled and started going around the room. He was turning his head away each time he passed the body on the floor.

'I don't know. You might be right. But it's so not like her,' he said.

'It's not like her to do the right thing?'

'What? Of course not!'

Aidan scoffed and sat down on the throne. In any other circumstances, he would have been thrilled to do that. But he didn't even notice what he did. He covered his face with his hands.

'I wasn't worried after Doisson, because she didn't have a choice,' he said. 'She wasn't in control, and she acted in self-defense. And she was savin' us. But this... She consciously chose to murder him. And did you see her face? She was so cold and cruel. It was like she enjoyed it. She terrified me. I've never seen her like that.'

'Well, I don't know Scarlett too well, but I know a lot of other royals. And do you know what they all have in common? They're wearing masks. They're trained not to show others their true faces. So, what if you assumed that the face she shows you is her real face, but it ain't? What if what you saw today was her true self?'

Aidan furrowed his brow. No, it was impossible. He had known her their whole lives. He's probably just overthinking things. Scarlett is fine. And normal.

After convincing himself everything was alright, Aidan stood up. He reluctantly looked at Dalmar's body.

'We need to get rid of him. Do you know any cleanin' spells or somethin'?' he asked.

In Jean-Gabriel's hands appeared a big bag and two sets of gloves.

'Sorry, that's the best I can do. We're gonna have to do this manually.'

'How exactly does this moon magic work? The books are kinda vague on the matter.'

'Because it is vague. Basically, as long as I have a direct connection with the moon, I can do whatever my master allows.'

'So why don't you ask him to make this mess disappear?'

'Last time I did that, the body reappeared on some poor lady's porch, and her heart didn't take that well.'

'Do I wanna know?'

'Nope.'