Renagade

Part 6

6...5...4...She could hear Chauncy. He was praying. The light flickered as she climbed the last few feet to the top of the hill. Her sweat stinging in the coldness. At the top of the hill was a pedestal made of dark red stone and hardwood. Evelyn touched the stone as she peered in. The pool, not water was silver. Liquid silver. A dull reflective mirror. Her Father had pools like this decorating many of his palaces and they had always mesmerized her, even as a young child.

She touched the pool and it did not move. Odd. The metal was cool to the touch, warm even in this cold place. She could not capture the liquid in her hand, when she cupped it. Her mind began to wander. Where was she? This pool was familiar. An image of a man and woman flashed before her, but the visage disappeared. The smell of fresh bread wafted toward her and she breathed deep. Where were these coming from? She turned from the pool and looked again. The trees were gone. Instead, grass gently rustle in the late summer air. A little hovel stood down the way abit, a methodically crafted stone pathway led to the blue door of the home.

Chauncy said something again, but it was distant. He was moving away from her. Isabella was there too. Eveyln opened her mouth, but the sound was ripped from her. She tried to say something. Anything! Her body would not work. She sank to the ground and wept. Wave and wave of unbidden emotions flooded her body. Here those emotions weren't bad. They created the fabric of this place. As the tears fell, thousands of flowers began to bloom around her. She shouted. She cursed. What her father had done to her sister and her mother and...and...even her were atrocious. He had been the one that caused all of this. He had murdered thousands, but what had Evelyn done? Nothing. She was his prized daughter. She had commanded armies and calvaries and fleets under the direction of her father. She was his warrior. How many had she killed?

That thought threatened to undo her. Images of men and women, bloodied and ragged flipped through her mind at high speed. The scent of wildflowers pounded her senses. Those people, why had she done that? Why had she aided him? Her sister had tried to make her see, and what had Eveyln done? What had she done?

3...2...Baelish was over her now, in the distance. She could hear him muttering ancient words. Words to heal her, but nothing could heal her. She had become a monster, the kind that parents tell their children in the nights. She had grown up in a world that feared her and her father. They were to rule together, but that night. Oh that night. When she had listened to her sister for the last time...oh Demi. She had always been so slight, sickly. Not the one that her father had chosen to give the kingdom to, no. He had chosen Evelyn.

She sat up, her tears still hot on her cheeks; her body sore from her sobs. She just sat there in a field of wildflowers, sharp against the light blue of the sky. She had pressed those memories down until they had been just unpleasant to think upon...but this place. Her mind was raw with what she had done. She remembered the feel of the knife sliding into her sister's chest. Her sister begging her to kill her, as blood pooled at the corners of her mouth. She realized, with sudden clarity, Eveyln had played right into her father's plan.

1. Her eyes flew open and she sat straight up. Nearly knocking into Styx's head hovering over her.

"I must find my father!" She started as she grabbed him by the lapels. Her eyes, wide and harrowed twinkled in the small room. "Where is he?" She asked. Her voice raw, but steady. Her throat burned, but that would not stay her anger.

"Uh...calm down, okay? Hey, Chaunce!" He shouted over shoulder. The elf appeared over him like a shadow. His hair, was down and he was covered in mud, Evelyn stared at him, wide eyed, unsure.

"You're awake," He said quietly. His eyes were bloodshot and puffy. Had he been crying? Eveyln shook her head, his emotions were not worth her time right now. She had to get out, formulate a plan, find a way to redeem herself. She had to find her father and make him pay.