Entr'acte
The screams of the Fae sound like music to the ears of the Nine of Pentacles. They do not give up the location of the Lady Universe, and for that, they pay the price.
The Unseelie are a proud folk, but even the proud break eventually.
She would break them all.
"I swear it!" the goblin shrieks, its voice hoarse. "They were taken before the Sidhé! He promised them use of his thin place!"
The Nine runs a pale blue thumb across the edge of her knife, dirtied by the Unseelies' foul blood. She grimaces, and then sheaths the weapon. The Huntress stalks over to the Fae strapped to the ancient wooden table, now ruined by the beast's blood.
"Do you know why they call me the Heart Huntress, creature?" she whispers, stroking a hand down its destroyed face. It had been ugly to begin with, but the cuts made it much worse. Her hand dipped lower, hovering over the beating heart of the Fae. "I have this...horrible tendency, you see, to steal the hearts of those who displease me. I believe you know more than you say, and by not telling me, you are very, very much displeasing me."
Her fingers press into the fleshy body of the creature, digging past skin and bone, eliciting an ugly wail from the thing's mouth as her hand grasped its heart.
"Do you know what happens when I pull this?" she asks, bending close to the goblin. "Are you willing to die for those Fate Traitors?"
The goblin is not.
"I will talk!" It shrieks. "I will swear by any goddess, I will tell you everything!"
The Heart Huntress gives a sick smile, her hold on its heart relaxing.
"Good," she coos, barely disguising the venom in her voice. "You can start by telling me where they went."
YOU ARE READING
The House of Cards
FantasyThe beginning looked like darkness, and from the Darkness, the Lady Fate was born. For millenia, she ruled, creating at her whim, and taking away as she saw fit, spinning the Fates of millions. For Humankind, magic is all but a legend, invented to s...
