"I smell blood" I whisper to Perry while staying vigilant, investigating a scream at night was hardly a clown's duty but I felt like I had too. Perhaps I wanted to avoid a difficult conversation "just up ahead, through these trees" Perry says sensing something I couldn't. We pass between two thick oak trees and enter a small clearing. We spot the source of the late night disturbance kneeling in the center of small lake "what on earth am I looking at?" i say quietly to myself the water was now dyed a deep red. The source was 4 bodies each missing something , an arm here a leg there. Bandits by judging their attire, a hodgepodge of stolen armor pieces and dull chipped swords. Finally my eyes fall upon the women at the center of it all. Pale white skin now pink with drying blood, a tattered red dress presumably once beautiful flowed past her slender legs into the water as she rose to her feet with a huff "do you want to kill me as well?" she asks without even turning to face me, I couldn't tell if was confidence or resignation "no, I heard a scream and came to see if anyone needed help" I say with my best attempt to sound confident "Oh? You're not the type to play concerned citizen" she says. Her voice plucked my heart strings like a bitter breakup, but there was something familiar buried beneath the surface. "have we met miss?" I ask but I already knew the answer. "It hasn't been that long has it? Josef" she said. Her pale white skin, her long auburn hair shone like spun copper in the moonlit night even while caked with blood, her long arms and legs despite her small frame, the razor sharp kitchen knife she clutched in her right hand so hard the knuckle turned white, and finally her voice that flowed like the proverbial ribbon on top of it all. "Delilah" I say now certain " tell me Josef" she says while turning to face me at least her red eyes burring through me, a taunting smile actuating the on the scar across the bridge of her nose running parallel with her eyes "How long has it been? Did you finally kill mommy?" stretching her smile even wider.
"No, I didn't kill her." I say in a small voice "of course you didn't little weaking, even in her weekend state she could have ended you with one finger. But for some reason she wanted to play mother with you on this moon forsaken continent" Delilah spits " it must be pretty hard living without mommy should your dear aunt Delilah end your suffering?" Delilah suddenly directly in front of me, gently touching my nose with her knife still drawing blood due to its otherworldly sharpness "no thanks Aunt Delilah! I'm doing just fine!" I say forcing a wide smile and holding it even as blood drips onto my bottom lip "TSK TSK that just won't do Josef" she says touching her knife to the left corner of my lips with less care than before. I stand like smiling statue bearing the excruciating pain even as my cheek slightly splits, my vision goes white, and warm bloods drips onto my suit blending perfectly with the already red fabric. "oh sorry am I hurting you" she says while removing her blade wiping the blood off on my jacket "Come we're going home" Delilah says extending her hand. I hold onto to her smooth hand her thin finger interlocking with mines "Our house was destroyed by a pair of angels, by then mother hadn't been home for at least 4 days. After torching everything they sent me to the academy. There's nothing to go back to" I say to Delilah "I'm not talking about that rundown shack, I'm talking about our homeland" she says her eyes now closed and her face deeply focused "homeland?" I ask "of course she didn't tell you. That's just like her" Delilah says with a dismissive wave of her slender arm. Before I can ask more questions blood is pulled from the nearby corpses encasing us like morbid cocoon "what is this?" I ask in equal parts amazement and disgust. As the shimming blood swirls around us "did you think we were walking?" she replies with a smirk
"You've been suspiciously quiet, that's not like you at all" I say to Perry without speaking aloud "I'm just a bit surprised you're related to The Red Queen" Perry say using our telepathic connection "is that a big deal?" I ask "why use the last name Grey if you're really a Tudor" Perry replies "You'd have to ask my mother, seems like you'll get the chance soon" I say. The thought of seeing her after 6 long years was deeply terrifying but another feelings was bubbling within me underneath the surface.
The ruby red blood melted away revealing a stone path leading to a large manor constructed from oily black stone, it wasn't exactly ostentatious or ornate in its construction. It seemed to come right from a story book, the home of some evil magistrate who sucked blood form virgins to maintain their eternal youth. How could this place harbor any relation to me? Whist deep in thought about what revelation I would discover shorty. The rusted black gate creaks open on its own, almost as if it was ushering us inside. "Come Josef" Delilah say still holding my hand as if I would run off the second she let go, the thought hadn't even occurred to me. Delilah was not Aasir the gap between our strength was vast, I stood no chance against her as I was so I followed her to the red wooden front door.
The door opens to the foyer, I scan the large room. The black marble floors, the large spiral staircase leading to the second floor. The red curtains forbidding even a single ray of moonlight from entering. Nestled directly under the large portrait of a middle aged women with a black dress complete with red accents wearing a smile that said "i know something you don't". There she was. Giorgia Gr- no, Giorgia Tudor sat at a small table lit with a lamp with an empty seat in front of her.
"Sit" she said in that familiar tone, the one that forced my body to obey even before my mind had the chance to resist. "Truly Fascinating, you've grown well" she says with a genuine smile "where have you been mother? I thought I'd never see you again" I ask trying to keep my voice even but it cracks like a dropped vase the torrent of emotion to strong to hold back "Oh? Has my little boy grown brave in my absence" she says while taking a sip from her tea cup with practiced elegance. Setting down her cup gently on the saucer "would you believe me if i told you that i left to keep you safe?" she says while studying my expression almost like her question was test. "No" i say finding my courage. Why would this wicked women do anything for my sake? She always been the devil ruling over a hell she created for me and me alone. "Would you like some tea?" she says motioning towards the tea pot and extra cup. Before pouring it anyway "No mother! I want answers!" i say raising my voice at her for the first time in my life. Her red eyes lock on to me, and even without words i can tell it's a warning. "You're getting blood on my table cloth" she dabbed a cloth napkin on her tongue and pressed to the corner of my lip. It stung like hell, but the caring gesture was not at all like her. This cold women had never done anything motherly for me in all 17 years of my life, she was different in a way that should have unsettled me but the years of craving her affection won over distrust. After dabbing she griped the back of neck and pulled me towards her "You look like your Grandfather " she said with surprising warmth. "While taking that tone with me will NEVER be acceptable, i do owe you answer i suppose" she said still holding my neck. "But it'll have to wait, go bathe and rest. We'll talk in the morning." She released my neck and grabbled a small bronze bell from the table RINGRING.
A servant emerges from a door behind her "Follow me Young Master" she was slender, abound 5'8, a beautiful tan complexion to her youthful skin, and an accent i couldn't place. She was far too gorgeous to be hidden in this manor. I push away those thought and follow along quietly. As we walk through the long corridors of the manor that apparently belonged to mother. The poised maid maintained her quiet professionalism until eventually we arrive a door with a red J mounted to it. I thank the maid with a smile and walk inside. The room is larger than the house we occupied up until i was ten years old, the wooden wardrobe in the corner filled with perfectly tailored suits. The bed was large, much larger than the ones in the academy's grey quarter. The room had its own attached bathroom with recently cleaned white tile floors and a large bathtub that i immediately put to use scrubbing 3 days worth of blood and forest grim from my skin. After i finish i flop into the biggest bed I'd ever seen and black silk sheets drag me to restful sleep in a hurry.