The Heart of Lilith

Chapter One

The rising sun brings peace for most. Families slowly peer from their windows, emerge from their abodes and thank Hienar for the peaceful night. Golden light paints the flat, white rooftops and casts through pale green flags. Not a drop of red stains the port, and the clan's soldiers have returned to their barracks. But for those willing to feel it, a tension rumbles underneath the joy of it all. I can, and when my eyes lock with Koven's, I know he can too.

     I knew to stay away from my cherished windows this morning. Originally I had been sitting in my bed, facing the door as the sunlight pierced my peripheral vision. My fingers lazily playing with the end of my comforter, a cup of earl gray steaming on my nightstand, and staring at the bronze doorknob glinting in the light. I painted the scene in my mind. Hearing the priestess carriage move against the gravel path,  Koven's boots against the stone steps, followed by the clacking of satyr guards stepping around him. And eventually Thilo's muffled questions. I could not ignore it any longer.

     Koven must have seen the movement, his eyes flickering up to my bedroom window. He scowls but leaves it at that before returning his attention to the emerging priestess. He had bigger problems to deal with right now. He has changed into formal wear, one would hardly be able to tell he had been on deck all night. A silver cuff adorns his right horn, a symbol of his status and authority here. When I was a young girl, he had given me a small bronze ring in secret, a silent promise to keep me tied here. To reassure me, I had a place under his watchful eye.

Koven keeps a firm hand on Thilo's shoulder who is in desperate need of the support. His skin looks practically gray against his new change of clothes. A pure white shirt, pants and socks. A bundle of poppies in his breast pocket, numbing his senses. A lamb led to slaughter. Despite his tampered state, he spoke.

     "I'm not supposed to go alone. She said she'd come with me!" The desperation in his raspy voice increases along with his volume. "Hush boy." Koven's sharp tone carries through the humid air to  my open window. While I can not feel it, I spot Koven's grip tightening and wince. The blooming poppies twitch and flourish brighter under his command. Thilo lets out a soft groan, if of pain or resistance- I couldn't tell. But his protests were silenced for a moment. The temple of Hienar was closed off most times of the year, Its priestesses almost like ghouls to Venzor's citizens. But if our clan called on them, they would come. An older woman steps out of the black carriage, her robe, a deep silky blue draped along her tanned skin. Gunmetal bangles sound with her every step. Her hands clasp behind her back as she stills before Koven. That same dark metal decorates her neck, holding white stones that drape over her shoulders. My eyes snag on the one large stone resting on her sternum and my throat tightens. Inside, hidden and secure is a curved blade. Something I deserved, not Thilo.

     I shift closer to my white curtains, hoping to be lost as they flow in the sea breeze. My eyes stay on that stone, until Koven's voice pulls my attention. "Only one." He says gruffly, pushing Thilo forward a few inches. Thilo waits with bated breath, expecting their quick departure but the woman looks the boy over silently. She places her thin finger under his chin, lifting and observing his white irises before pulling back.

"A deep pool of sickness festers here." Her voice was soft, as if a sacrificial blade was not resting on her ribs. A few sentences and I knew she'd have Thilo docile and unprepared. "Beyond this one."

Koven's eyes narrow at the implication. "Insult the purity of this manor again, and your temple will be barren of soldiers."

     The woman forces a smile, "My mistake." She says with a small dip of her chin. Thank the Gods for those poppies, born of my brother's power. Thilo remains silent and looks more focused on keeping upright than listening. One comment from the boy and I'd be beside him. My heart was torn between guilt and gratitude.

How sick am I? Not my skin and bones, but my soul?

I watch Thilo get guided into the carriage by Koven's palm against his shoulder blade. He was done waiting. I knew he'd keep those flowers blooming till noon, when the boy would certainly be dead. Bought silence was Koven's specialty. The priestess turns, following behind the boy and somewhere in the deep blue hues of her robe I saw myself reflected back. I might as well be wearing the same knife.

~

     "What were you thinking??" Koven hisses, unable to focus on his duties piled on his desk. Instead he paces before the cold hearth. His mask of a well rested leader had shed, the paranoia of sailing all night spilling into his mind today. I sit on a cushioned bench, bookshelves towering either side of me. As if I could feel smaller in this place. "You could have been seen." Finally his fiery brown eyes meet mine, that silver cuff glinting in the sunlight.

     "And if I deserve to be seen?" His eyes widened at my question, a muscle ticking along his temple. In three quick strides he closes the distance. Kneeling down.

"You are my sister."

"I am tainted."

"You are an Oalfinguard." He cuts in, love shining through his aggression. He continues "I am half human, a bastardly creation in some races' eyes, and yet our father chose me to lead here in his absence." He says firmly, determined to hold my gaze captive. He finally takes a deep breath, the sharpness in his voice fizzling out, "We are all stained in our own way, but do not forget your place here."

Behind these glass panes? I shove the question back, that bitterness in my heart left simmering. Was I truly driven by guilt? Or was I selfishly just wanting outside of those iron gates? Silence fills the study and Koven returns to his desk, once our fathers. "You were attacked as a newborn, an innocent being. Hienar does not see you as a host of wickedness." He added gruffly, head down and eyes scanning the various papers. "Those priestesses would, and you know my stance on them" He says the last word with such venom, I can't help but hear our fathers voice in his. I remain seated, the never ending ache in my legs muted for a moment.

"And now? You think Thilo's blood makes Hienar smile, viewing this cleansing?"

"Draya." Koven warns, eyes flickering up.

"Do you think it is dry by now? That polished slab already wiped clean? Do you, Koven?" I press.

He stands, his chair shrieking against the wooden floors. "Do not blame me. To reap the  foundation of Venzor, you have to accept all of it." His hand grabs my forearm, almost dragging me out of the study. Feeling the absence of his physical support, even for a moment, shoots fear into my heart. Im jutted into the empty space of the foyer. He stares in silence. Pain, and regret glimmer in his eyes, simmering underneath his pursuit of leadership. I knew him, maybe for an instant last night he imagined another secret living under his roof. The weight of that cuff keeps his mind steady, his choices harsh yet never impulsive. Not even his crew knew of me, not a single citizen outside these walls. His loyalty split yet held under an iron grip.

"Remember your place." It is said with love, I know it. Whispered with a somber tone before returning to his work.

     Staff shuffle through the halls, the smell of breakfast being prepared swims through the halls. The day had tired me before I had even sat for my first meal. These humans, pulled from poverty, never breathed a word of my existence. Some out of loyalty, and some, out of fear. To an outsider visiting the town, the estates' lush garden provides a calming scene, but to our staff, a different picture is painted.  Every flower, thorn, vine, tree, and blade of grass was all but natural. A testament to the power that burned in every satyrs blood. The Oalfinguard clan, originally hailing from the mountains, had found a new challenge to conquer. The coast, raging winds, and high tide. We brought our God with us, and promised to tame the elements in his name. Any resistance to Hienar was a mountain to be leveled.

    Why follow the wishes of a deity who sought those like me dead? Despite what Koven felt when he first picked up my crying, bleeding form, only a young boy with a heart full of hope. I knew deep down what that priestess would have done to me had she acted on her senses this morning. If purity kept me chained here, could only wickedness get me out?