The TwiceBorn

The Blood Is Sweetest After The Hunt

"I will find that special person who is wrong for me in just the right way."--Boyd

Alain had been sloppily prepared.  Even in the dim glow of the candlelight Alora could see that.  She sat down on the bottom step and willed her stomach to settle.  She was winded from the short walk down the steps and, again, swore she’d never touch Shadowjack again.  The concoction was made weaker or stronger dependent upon the ground bone used and she knew that what she had consumed had been extremely powerful. 

She still felt fuzzy and she wondered, uneasily, how long it took to wear off.  No matter though.  It wasn’t going to wear off in time to make what she had to do any easier.

She stood up and made her way over to Alain, who lay nude on the wooden serving table in the middle of the room.  His chest had been peeled open and the ruined flesh and muscle hung in thick ribbons that, Alora noticed queasily, were infested with slow crawling flies.

“Darius work, most likely.”  She thought as she struggled to keep her eyes from settling on the busy flies at work.  As soon as he had found out no self-respecting priest would touch his brother, Darius had apparently had his brilliant idea of summoning her to be the SinEater and had eagerly prepared the body.  He hadn’t even bothered to stitch his brother closed.

“No love like family love.”She said out loud only to hear something other than the droning of flies. She studied his once handsome face. It was bloated and had taken on a greenish tinge as the skin stretched tight across his features.  The eyes bulged in the sockets and in their depths Alora could see the pain of the illness that had eaten away at him. Eaten until there was  no more life left to take.  The pain added a flat shine to his eyes.  Alora noticed there was also a dark anticipation in those flat depths.  An eagerness for what was to come. 

She leaned over as her stomach hitched again. Nothing came up but burning air.  The smell in the cellar was so heavy it made her eyes water.  She took a step back and covered the lower part of her face with her forearm.  The aroma of belladonna drifted up her nostrils.

Yzebel and her bargaining.

 Alora looked at Alain’s body, exasperated with her run of thoughts. Her black eyes took in  his martyred posture on the table.  Then skipped over to the battle armor that Darius had chosen for the final burial.  She walked over and ran her fingers over the bejeweled buckler that bore the family crest then studied the forearm bracers.

 Yzebel and her horse trading.  Bune, Abigor,Belphigor, and Verdelet and whoever else might have had their talons dipped in on this queer little arrangement. 

All of it over Alain’s soul.  Alora started to smile.  It was a sly smile that grew wider as an idea settled into place.

Yzebel wanted the soul and the sins intact for her bargain with Bune.  And Darius wanted his brother to be buried on hallowed ground to preserve his family name.  And what did Alain want?  He wanted to sit his own throne in the UnderRealms.  As promised.

And now The Twiceborn was going to add her own wanting to the list.  It was so simple she couldn’t believe she hadn’t thought of it sooner.  The soul was nothing more than a container.  And apparently Alain’s container was filled up with a precious substance that made the overall package very desirable to certain parties.

Darius wanted his brother to be buried on hallowed ground.  It would keep the body safe, and if she took the sins and soul that would be possible.  The family name of Buron would remain intact.  It would be am empty husk but propriety would be preserved. 

What if…she simply took what the container was filled with?  She would take the sins and leave the soul.  Alain would be buried on hallowed ground but he would also be accepted by Brede.  Which would be torture for him, since he had embraced what was Below.