Even in her disoriented state Lucelia knew one thing for certain—she was not going to die at the hands of some starving beggar.
Her damp clothes clung to her body and lightning shot through her right hip in bursts as Edwin dragged her limp body across what she assumed to be the riverbank behind the inn. Despite Edwin's earlier beating, courtesy of Lucelia, he had somehow managed to retain some of his strength. Quite surprising for a man who had only known hunger his whole life. Clenching her jaw, Lucelia groaned as he yanked her leg once more without a single glance in her direction. That was it. If beating him physically isn't enough to take him down, then she is left with no other choice but to play dirty.
Lucelia maintained her slackened position as she bid her time waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike. Edwin had still not realized she was awake, but their only observer had. The curious moon hovered over them; the mischievous glint in her bright eye betrayed her thoughts. She was curious to see who will make it out alive. That is if either one of them does.
You have endured worse, Lucelia mentally reminded herself.
Grasping her right thigh Lucelia yanked hard, successfully managing to free herself from Edwin's iron clad grasp. Finally free, she quickly rose and distanced herself from him. Arms raised and fists clenched, Lucelia stood ready for Edwin's attack.
Edwin whipped around nearly snapping his neck. Through the layers of crusted blood covering every inch of his dumb, bruised face Lucelia could still make out the telltale signs of pure shock before realization hit him harder than she had. He glared at her through his good eye and flared his nostrils.
"Why so shocked, Edwin?" Her next snarky remark died in her throat as the taste of bile flooded her mouth, her senses had been suddenly assaulted by the fishy, damp smell that lingered in the air. Bringing her left hand up to cover her nose and mouth, Lucelia scrunched up her nose trying to get rid of the smell.
We were no longer at the inn that's for sure.
"You weren't supposed to wake up so soon," he fumed.
Lucelia instinctively touched her throbbing right cheek as Edwin's words sunk in. He had beaten her unconscious.
Men. Always resorting to violence when a simple poison would have done the trick.
The monstrous river to the left and the thick rope snaked around his left bicep revealed his true intentions. Lucelia matched his furious expression with one of her own as it dawned on her what would have become of her had she not woken up.
No one would have known where to look.
No one would have found her.
No matter how many near death situations she had encountered, Lucelia could never shake off the fear eating at her insides. The fear of ceasing to exist. The fear of ending the glorious life she lived.
Thinking quickly, Edwin took advantage of Lucelia's distracted state and reached down and grabbed a broken bottle from the pile of trash littering the riverbank. He wielded the red glass defensively as if it was a lifeline. Lucelia scoffed at his attempt to victimize himself. As if she was the one who planned to tie him up and let him sink to the depths of the river.
"Why did you kill them? Hmm? Why did you kill my family when we have done nothing but show you kindness?" His voice was rough as he stalked forward menacingly.
Much to Edwin's dismay, Lucelia let out a dry laugh as she watched Edwin lose his footing causing him to fall hard on his rear.
"I am a solider. I owe you no explanation."
Her entire life Lucelia had been raised to take orders from no one but the King and she wasn't going to stop now.
"Ah, a mindless killing machine," Edwin panted, still not fully recovered from their little dance earlier today. "If his cruel majesty orders you to slay a child, you do it. If he orders you to murder an innocent family, you do it. You're no better than Raksan," he spat.
How dare he compare Lucelia to damned Raksan!
"I have no interest in your feverish ramblings. It is true. I am here to slay you and your family. I will not leave until I have fulfilled my duties." Lucelia instinctively called her magic forth and a familiar warmth began making its way from her chest toward her cold extremities. Lifting her right hand, Lucelia directed her magic toward Edwin.
Edwin's eyes widened in disbelief, almost hysterically. His mouth agape as Lucelia wielded a delicate string of raging magic toward him. Breaking his gaze from the magic, Edwin looked at Lucelia and she could sense both his wonder and fear. It's a curiosity truly how something so breathtaking and frail can be capable of such aggression. A trickster is what magic is. An oddity. No other weapon quite like magic exists. At least not in this realm.
"Why does he wish for my death," Edwin questioned, his eyes boring into hers. "You owe me at least that after my family and I welcomed you into our home."
Lucelia paused. The white strand hung in the air like a dove just inches away from Edwin, ready to strike. King Cyrus did not utter a single word to Lucelia as to why Edwin needed to die and she did not bother asking. She never did.
Questioning King Cyrus' orders meant bringing her loyalty into question and Lucelia simply did not question her Father.
Yet, she found herself stalling. There was something about the way Edwin looked at her. As if wanting her to see something as obvious as the two legs attached to her. It ate at her insides. What is so obvious that she was not seeing. Was there someone watching nearby? A helper of some sorts ready to attack Lucelia and free Edwin. Scanning the perimeter Lucelia could see nothing but foliage.
Lucelia stared intently into Edwin's eyes searching for answers but finding none. Anger began multiplying inside of Lucelia, quickly boiling close to the point of no containment. Lucelia is trained to recognize all, concealed or not. Yet, in this moment she cannot.
Lucelia searched for answers behind Edwin's unwavering, accusatory gaze when suddenly, there. Behind pure unfiltered hatred was—no, it couldn't be.
"I owe you nothing," Lucelia's voice trembled as she quickly closed the distance between the strand of magic and Edwin's heart, sealing Edwin's fate before she had the chance to change her mind.
Wasting no time, Lucelia crouched down to touch the slippery riverbed and acted as a vessel as she drained Edwin of life force and directed it back into the ground where it belonged. The entire process couldn't have lasted longer than several seconds, but his life force pulsating inside Lucelia's mind and body like wet, dirty sludge made it feel as if entire cycles had gone by.
No matter how often Lucelia had done this, she hated the hated the feeling. One breath in, one breath out, Lucelia chanted inwardly, a feeble attempt at distracting herself from the wave of nausea washing over her.
With the draining finally over, Edwin's lifeless husk collapsed to the ground and Lucelia called her magic back to her and locked its familiar yet tainted warmth inside the little box in her mind.
Like with every draining, exhaustion had finally won her over and Lucelia only made it a few steps before collapsing next to the river, the lapping waves beckoning her like a siren.
A mere twenty seven seconds of deafening silence save for the roaring river was too much to bear and the floodgates to Lucelia's mind burst open.
He was innocent.
His family was innocent.
His two girls and boy—
"Dear Gods, what have I done?" Lucelia voice cracked as she glanced at her cold, trembling hands. The roaring river, the thick trees covered in moss, the moon, all witnesses to Lucelia's slaughtering of an innocent family.
"No," Lucelia said shaking her head, "Father is never wrong. He wouldn't order me to slay a family unless they are aiding our enemies," she whispered to herself.
"Unless King Cyrus was fed false information. Yes, that is what happened. Father wouldn't hurt an innocent family." Oh! How devastated will Father be when Lucelia informs him of such.
Lucelia glanced in Edwin's direction and quickly crawled toward his lifeless body and began directing a string of her own life force toward his heart, the heat warming her deathly cold body.
"I didn't mean to. I didn't want to. Please don't be mad. Just stay with me. It'll be okay, but you have to trust me," Lucelia pleaded in between hiccups.
"Don't just stand there! Please, do something!" Lucelia yelled at the moon. She hoped she would believe her sincerity after all she was always a witness to Lucelia's killings. But for the first time in her life Lucelia could not read her mind.
Tears streamed down Lucelia's reddened face as she realize the moon had finally had enough of her and decided to abandon her when she needed her the most. Lucelia was all alone with the lifeless body of an innocent man who died at her hand, a week's ride away from from home, and worst of all she could feel waves of exhaustion washing over her.
5820 seconds passed before exhaustion had finally won Lucelia over. Lucelia's eyelids began to weigh heavily and her breathing began to slow. Yet, she still held onto Edwin fearing what would happen to her if she let him go. She blinked her eyes profusely, trying to stay awake, but it was all too much to bear. The last thing Lucelia remembered was the waves gently dragging her body into their cold embrace.