Mea Culpa

IV

"I am not here to hurt you yet, your Highness."

"Then why do you taunt him so?" shouted Aethulu, anticipating that her point would get across to the inhumane being that was startling the both of them.

The laugh echoed all around them, the two unable to pinpoint a location in which they could throw the dagger. "Your existence is the reason I am standing, young prince."

"I know who you are..." Caspian whispered. His memories revealed all that was needed to know. "You're the Shadow Princess, the most evil human on the face of this planet."

Aethulu gasped in astonishment. In shock, she dropped her dagger. A series of memories surfaced to the front of his mind. A sweet voice, a scream... and then silence. His vision split into two, one of the current situation, and one of the queen – his mother. The crash of a falling object, the cry, the shadows and darkness, the deafening silence, the tears. It all came flooding back to him as he heard the clattering of Aethulu's blade falling to the ground.

The haze slowed, as it took the form of the Shadow Princess, who appeared with a sneering grin on her face. "I see that you remember that night when I sneaked into the castle. I slew your mother, prince. I spilled her blood in her room, in front of you!" Rage and fury filled Caspian. He had been informed that the Princess had murdered the queen, but never had he felt resentment, or a lust for revenge for the mother he never knew. "There are so many things I have done that you are not aware of, Caspian. There are so many things your mother has done that neither you, nor your worthless father know about.

"I'll leave you to figure it out. And when you do, I'll be there to kill you slowly where you stand."

With that, the black vapor evaporated around them, leaving a very disorganized and alarmed Aethulu, and a livid Caspian. A million questions with no answers filled his head at once, most of them about his mother and that night. But he could see that the young princess was terrified at what she had witnessed.

Caspian took her hand. "Aethulu, I know that your father is not supposed to know that you are here, but I need to bring you to the castle."

She nodded in agreement, still shaken up intolerably about the encounter with one of the most secretive villains in creation.

{~~♡~~}

Athena was wandering down the hallway to the castle courtyard when she observed the happenings outside the window and noticed two people entering the gates. One was Caspian, she distinguished immediately after he took off his hood; and the other was somebody she was unable to identify. A woman - a princess by the look of her jewel – encrusted gown.

She was grasping fearfully onto the prince's hand as if she'd seen a ghost. But that was not what Athena was thinking about. She muttered to nobody in particular –

"How did Casper leave the castle without guards? How was his absence not noticed?"

Athena hurried down the stairs and entered the garden where she discovered the two. Caspian was holding onto the woman, whispering something inaudible into her ear. "Casper, what are you doing?"

He looked up to see his older sister in front of him, concern plastered all over her face. "This is Aethulu. We ran into each other in the village. But that wasn't important," he whispered, lowering his voice even further so as not to be heard. Athena had to lean in to hear. "We...we found the Shadow Princess – she trapped us in an empty clearing."

The woman in Caspian's arms stared up at the princess. "She didn't want to hurt us, only came to taunt us about taking his life."

They saw tears falling down from her cheeks as Aethulu shuddered at the recollection of the occurrence. Athena yelled for the guards to come.

"Bring this young woman to one of our guest chambers, with some clothes and food. She needs rest," they bowed to the princess, before gently coaxing her to go with them.

Athena dragged Caspian to one of the garden chairs, and motioned for him to explain the whole story.

"I know I shouldn't have left without your consent, or any protection, but I was so angry at Father that I wasn't thinking..." he started explaining the events of the hour.

"She said that she killed our mother. That I saw it because it happened in front of me," Athena turned as white as a sheet at the mention of the assassination. "But there was also one other thing the Shadow Princess said: 'There are so many things I have done that you are not aware of, Caspian. There are so many things your mother has done that neither you, nor your worthless father know about.' What does it mean?"

His question was greeted with silence from his sister. Nothing was vocalized between them for a moment, as Caspian waited irritably for his answer. "Athena?" he asked once again.

Finally, she spoke. "I don't know."

"But you must?"

"I have no idea, Casper. I don't know at all what the Shadow Princess meant by that."

He sighed. "If you don't want to tell me, just say it!"

Athena stood up and grasped his shoulders. "Casper, I'm not lying! Just recall that I was almost as young as you when Mother was slaughtered. Father never told me anything! Stop acting like a spoiled brat!"

Caspian drew away from the woman's grip. "I just want to know things! I'm always being kept in the dark!"

"TRY ACTING LIKE YOU CAN HANDLE IT THEN!" She screamed in frustration, before stomping up to the castle. She could understand why her father had been fuming. Caspian was a nightmare to deal with.

{~~♡~~}

"It's okay, Aethulu. Just take your time." Athena persuaded the princess to eat something. Aethulu put her head in her hands.

"I'm so much stronger than this, Athena. Why am I like this?" she said, upset.

"You just faced the most feared assassin of all time. I would be terrified, and I'm not embarrassed of it. Everybody is scared of something." She replied. All the anger from her argument with the prince had left her feeling drained. She just wanted to lie down and take a nap, however it wasn't to be, as the guest had not been able to sleep or eat.

Aethulu looked up. "Really?" There was a change in her voice, however Athena was too tired to question it.

"Yes." She stood up, walking to the mirror in the room. Looking in, she noticed that Aethulu had gone quiet on the bed. She was sat staring down at the floor. "Aethulu? Are you alright?"

On the bed, Aethulu started convulsing violently, foam and blood falling out of her mouth. Athena shouted and tried to help by turning her to her side. Nothing worked, until it stopped as suddenly as it arrived. Aethulu sat up, which allowed Athena to breathe a sigh of relief. Until she opened her eyes.

It was a whirlpool of black and red and she had a twisted grin that seemed too vast for her face. The girl edged closed to Athena, who had backed away into the corner in fear. "W-What's going on?" She asked, her voice unsteady.

Aethulu let out a screech, which seemed to be laughter. "Little girl, there is plenty that you don't know."

"Are you... Andria Apex? Did you possess her?" she whispered in an estranged voice.

"No, however I am one of her patrons."

Athena swallowed in shock. "My Lord Danu?"

She laughed once again. "That airhead? No, little child. I am every mortal's nightmare. I am Lillith, the first and last. The mother of demons. The goddess of the pit.

"You are a distraction to the princess. You should be exterminated."

With that, Lillith raised her hand in the direction of Athena. She shrieked before crumpling to the floor, sinking into a dreamless sleep.