Dripping Cold Blood: The Tale Of The Convens

Chapter 2: Thawing The Monster's Heart? All Hail The Queen.

Many days have passed since the death of the former king, Blake Blackwell. His children were told by the castle staff that the funeral will be held the first week of the discovery. Noelle, of course, did not respond. As such, they had to postpone the ceremony due top the unforeseen circumstances of the princess's poor mental health state. However, when the funeral was held... it was a beautiful and loving ceremony. Spear-headed by his daughters, who acted as two of his Paulbearers, along with the general of the army of knights, the head nurse, and the attending attorney for the kingdom of Kabara. And, while the citizens of the kingdom took the death of the king really hard, nobody would be nearly as shaken up about the loss of the king as Noelle Blackwell was. Her tears never seemed to end, and while she may not have been able to get a drink at the castle bar... she didn't take to the healthiest of vices.

She never wore sleeves with her dresses, but when attending the funeral she wore long gloves which covered her hands all the way to her elbows. This caught the attention of her sister, who made a mental note to bring that up to her when the two of them were alone. As the casket was lowered into the grave, Noelle stared at the shallowly dug hole and began to cry once more. Her tears streaming as snow began to fall from the sky. Brooke, quickly surmising that something was wrong, hugged her sister and hushed her until she finally began to calm down. This wasn't anything new for the princess, but it certainly wasn't anything that happened often enough for the citizens to consider it a regular occurrence. After the grave was covered, a tombstone was placed atop of it. 'Here lies Blake Maxwell Blackwell. Loving husband, a great father, a passionate fighter, a terrific king... and a glorious man. Rest In Peace!' was inscribed on the face of the tombstone.

The young princess, soon to be queen, Noelle turned to the townspeople. Her eyes low, and lifeless. Bags sat underneath her eyes as she seemed to have been unable to get any kind of sleep the last few nights. "If any of you happen upon the bastard that did this... a demon who goes by the name of 'Zane Conven'... you are free to do as you wish. Beat him by hand... slash his legs off with a blessed blade... restrain his hands and stab his chest fifty times for all I care. Just... make sure that you bring him to me alive. I want him alive, no matter how close to death he is. This way... he can face proper punishment for the crimes he's committed against this kingdom. Do I make myself clear?" She asked as she looked around at the many citizens. All of the citizens seemed reluctant and worried. They had never seen the princess in such a state, nor with such a fiery passion in her heart.

But, all it took was one person to speak up. As the first citizen of the kingdom declared himself willing to do what must be done, another one followed. And another, and another. Until, very soon, the entire kingdom was chanting out in unison. "WE WANT ZANE! BRING HER ZANE!! SHE WANTS ZANE!! BRING HER ZANE!!" They chanted loudly as Noelle looked at them all. Her eyes settled on Brooke as the two stared at each other. They both knew what was coming... Noelle was to be coronated to Queen soon. But, both of them began to doubt whether Noelle would be willing to command the kingdom with her mental state being the way that it is now. Even if she had proper mental health... would Noelle be able to do that? Neither of them truly believed the answer would be yes. But, for now, the two decided to obey listen to the wind. Honoring the memory of their late father, who always told them that the answer to any question could be found in the wind.

In a nearby tree, there was someone sitting there. It was Zane. He didn't want to break any rules, but he currently was. The number one rule of being a demon general is to never loiter in the human realm, because you may get caught. Unless you are given special orders to do so. And, Zane did not have special orders. In fact, he was supposed to be off duty for having done such an amazing job with procuring the throne of Kabara for the demon king. But, something didn't sit right with Zane. He knew how it felt to be parentless... in fact, he knew both of his parents died when he was very young. He grew up orphaned and unable to fend for himself in most cases, but he made sure that he let that harden him into the man that is well known today. He knew that, as a demon general, he needed to be numb. Comfortably numb, and not overly so. However... something felt different.