'*•.¸ ℭ𝔥𝔞𝔦𝔫 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔱𝔯𝔲𝔱𝔥 ¸.•*'

'*•.¸𝓿𝓪𝓵𝓾𝓪𝓫𝓵𝓮¸.•*'

𝔚𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔡𝔬𝔢𝔰 𝔰𝔥𝔢 𝔢𝔳𝔢𝔫 𝔴𝔞𝔫𝔱 𝔴𝔦𝔱𝔥 𝔪𝔶 𝔫𝔢𝔠𝔨𝔩𝔞𝔠𝔢? 𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔱𝔥𝔬𝔲𝔤𝔥𝔱 𝔪𝔞𝔡𝔢 𝔪𝔢 𝔭𝔞𝔫𝔦𝔠. 𝔚𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔴𝔬𝔲𝔩𝔡 𝔰𝔥𝔢 𝔡𝔬 𝔴𝔦𝔱𝔥 𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔰 𝔭𝔬𝔦𝔰𝔬𝔫? ℑ 𝔭𝔦𝔠𝔨 𝔲𝔭 𝔪𝔶 𝔪𝔬𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔯 𝔧𝔢𝔴𝔢𝔩𝔯𝔶 𝔟𝔬𝔵 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔫𝔢𝔠𝔨𝔩𝔞𝔠𝔢𝔰. 𝔐𝔶 𝔥𝔢𝔞𝔯𝔱 𝔯𝔞𝔠𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔣𝔞𝔰𝔱𝔢𝔯 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔪𝔬𝔯𝔢 ℑ 𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔫𝔨 𝔞𝔟𝔬𝔲𝔱 𝔦𝔱. ℑ 𝔣𝔦𝔡𝔡𝔩𝔢 𝔴𝔦𝔱𝔥 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔤𝔯𝔢𝔢𝔫 𝔯𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔬𝔫 𝔪𝔶 𝔣𝔦𝔫𝔤𝔢𝔯. 𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔡𝔬𝔬𝔯 𝔟𝔲𝔰𝔱𝔢𝔡 𝔬𝔭𝔢𝔫

words:1135

    '*•.¸♡ ♡¸.•*'

My mother's necklace held something valuable. It wasn't your normal family photo but every snake's favorite way to kill its prey. Poison.
Ever since I thought she had died I had valued life so I had never thought to use it.
I knew what was inside the locket from day one but it served a sentimental purpose at first.

In my grief It made me realize I had a choice. To kill or not to kill. To live or to die. I remember it all vividly, walking back home in my black dress. The stares I was getting from lower-class people were filled with mixed emotions. Hate, pity, remorse worst of all disgust.
My dress was soaked from playing in the waterfall with Sam. I felt my heart beat faster as the gates opened.
The castle butler walks up to me. "Your father is looking for you. He wants to see you in his office but you should freshen up first."

"I'm fine. I'll freshen up after." My hair was damp against my skin. I gulp down my saliva and push open the door. "You wanted to see me?" He looks up from his papers. "I wanted to give you something that your mother cherished with all of her heart."
He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a necklace. "You're mother was one of the most fearless women I ever knew. I doubt she suffered much in her death. Fear only makes you suffer more and even a strong woman like her knows what fear is. She made the hard choices. You're just like her that's why I want to give this to you. She carried poison with her wherever she went in this locket."

He hands it to me without hesitation. Nothing in his expression changed. "I trust you with this, Eythora"
Something he would surely regret

Because here I am sitting across the grad duchess in her house. I halfway expected her to throw a tantrum when she found out I was living here and demanded that I leave. After all the circumstances are not ideal. The woman was taller than me. Her curly dark hair was put up in an elegant style but there were still a few strands of hair that came undone. The most striking thing about her was her attire. She wore mostly leather.

"When you first arrived I heard some things about you. The maids love their drama. I know that all too well. When I heard that he had a lover I feared that he turned out like his father. He already looks like him, he doesn't need to end up like him. So I sent lady Cora, she is a woman of good judgment."

She takes a bottle off the tray and pours herself some wine. She gestured to ask if I wanted some. "No thanks." She takes the bottle to her lips and takes a swing. Lipstick stained the bottle. "Where were you?"
She raised an eyebrow at me. "I've been working overseas. Trying to expand territories but there has been a little bit of a nuisance." She had an annoyed expression on her face. "That's why I am here. Originally, I had someone buy a dress at the auction for me because I wanted the necklace on it. So I must ask you to give me my necklace back."

A smile plays on my face. "Your necklace?" I stand up.
"Yes, I bought it so it's rightfully mine." She holds out her hand towards me. My eyebrows furrowed.
"I'm not going to give the necklace back because it's mine."
"Then you can leave. I'm sure you have other places to go." I stomped to the door. "Oh and make you don't take any of my clothes with you on the way out. Killian has been kind enough to offer you a place to stay but if you're going to steal from us then you can leave."
I slammed the door leaving the smug alcoholic by herself.
I exhaled and walked towards the room where I would no longer be staying.

What does she even want with my necklace? The thought made me panic. What would she do with this poison? I pick up my mother's jewelry box and necklaces. My heart racing faster the more I think about it. I fiddle with the green ring on my finger. The door busted open and I turned around to see who it was. Small arms wrapped around my waist. Amara... "You can't go...cotton will miss you." She sniffed. "I have to Amara." She hugs me tighter. "I don't want you to go. Please don't go." I wrapped my arms around her and kissed the top of her head. "We will see each other soon. Don't worry." She lets go of me and her face is red and covered in tears. "Fine. Go." I take a step back and I hold my breath. "I said go! Go for all I care." I walk to the door and open it. "I'm sorry, Amara." Then I close the door. I let a a deep sigh. I feel lighter without my mother's necklace.

I open the door to the carriage and I see three other people sitting in there. Three other people which I do not know. "Yeah, I think I'm just gonna walk." I try to step down but then one of them grabs my arm and pulls me into the carriage. She holds a knife to my neck. "Where is the necklace?" I heavily breathed.
I smile formed on my lips. "Don't even bother looking for it. You will never find it."  she pushes the dagger closer to my throat. "Wanna try that again?"
I quickly disarm her and headbutt her. She passes out. The other two pull out their swords and I hold the knife in my hand. They both charged at me recklessly.
I slashed the curtains.

The carriage shakes and the horses cry.
I open the door to the carriage and I look at the two tied up with curtains that were once used for the windows of the carriage. "Tell the grand duchess that she is never going to find it and that she should invest in better hitmen." I close the door in their face and I start walking toward Ryker's house.

'*•.¸♡ ♡¸.•*'