"Does it hurt?" Devi asked, looking puzzled at her sister as she hung her head off the edge of the bed.
"Y'know, I hadn't really bothered to ask myself that." I think I'm more numb to it now. I've gotten all my tears out I guess. " Levethina answered, looking down at the floorboards from her bed.
"You really loved her, didn't you? Plus, that's just such a stupid reason to leave you. "I mean," Devi was cut off by her sister's sigh.
"I guess leaving because she found out what i am is a bad reason, to a degree, but I lied. I lied to her Devs, and now she's gone." Levethina held herself as she spoke.
"I guess I wouldn't know. I've never experienced that." Devi wrapped her arm around Levethina's shoulder. "But now at least you don't have to worry about it, right?"
"Devi, I've known her since I was a kid. We've been friends my whole life, and when we started dating, I thought my dreams were coming true, and then she found out that I was a daemon, and daemon royalty at that. I'm never going to be 'innocent' in her eyes again." Levethina spoke softly, as if trying to fight tears.
"She's better than me, in every way. People flock to her, they always want to hear what she has to say. It's always 'Clara' this and 'the Blue Queen" that. Maybe people should see her for what she really is." Levethina no longer carried the weight of sadness in her voice, malice replacing whatever other emotions she felt.
I'm sick of her Devi, sick of the godhood she carries; her ego is bloated, and we all know it." Levethina paused to think for a second, her shoulder-length black hair glistening in the early moonlight, red reflections searing into her eyes from the hellish sky. Devi looked at her sister, confused at what she meant.
"What if we hurt her, caused her as much pain as she's caused me, made her feel the hurt of sitting in a shadow for so long? When I'm powerful, she's going to regret this. More than she will now." As Levethina spoke, she gripped her shoulder tight, drawing blood from her freckled skin.
"Regret what exactly?" Devi cocked her head to the side as she spoke.
"Regret the years of pushing me to the back, of forcing me to listen as she grew, of her shoving her achievements into my face, her talking about her speeches, her rallies, how great it is to be noticed, for people to see you as more than just a stain on the world. A regret the gods forgot to wipe from the world. I want to see her suffer. I want to see the very things she cares so goddamn much about be ripped from under her. I want her to feel more pain than she ever could. " Levethina got up from her bed and walked to her dresser, grabbing her sword and watching the metal glisten in the light.
Tonight she regrets messing with a daemon.
"What have you done" Clara whispered as Levethina's weapon clattered onto the hard ballroom floor. "What have you done!?" Clara yelled, still trapped and entangled in the vines holding her to the ground "nothing more than helping you" levethina bent down towards Clara and gripped the side of her cheek with a harsh clawed hand. Clara looked up, trying not to look behind levethina, her body shaking vision filled with tears. Using her foot, levethina pushed Clara's sword to the side, the metal scratching at the ground as it slid on the marble floor "you know you didn't need her, all she was doing was weighing you down" levethina smiled a smile full of malice and let go of Clara's cheek, blue blood covering her snow white skin. "I'll leave you to mourn, have fun for me wont you?" As levethina left the room, Clara reached forward towards Enine's body, now cold and lifeless. As Clara's finger tips brushed Enine's now ice hands she recoiled, trying to fight tears. Her hands wrapped around Enine's body, no longer joyful but bitter and gone. "I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry.."
As Edith unbuttoned Clara's undershirt, she revealed the scars that covered her chest and stomach, the war-torn skin of someone who had seen it all first hand. The most noticeable, however, were the tattoo-like markings. Three large rings around her lower torso stood out the most. Edith traced her finger around these rings, asking Clara how she got them.
"I'm an immortal, you know that."
"And that causes the rings?"
"Well, when I'm supposed to die, the gods bring me back. When that happens, I'm 'marked' so to speak. The rings represent my supposed death." Clara pulled the sleeves of her undershirt off, revealing her arms. More rings covered the scarred skin.
Edith's eyes wavered, opting to look at the floor instead of Clara's skin.
"I'm sorry for what happened to you"
"Don't be, the past has happened, the present is here. Try to live here, in the current." Clara clasped her hand over Edith's cheek. "Time heals, not everything, well, close to it. I just happen to still hold the marks of things long since dead."
"You know, Clara, I used to love you." Levethina straightened her hair, looking down at Clara from her throne. "When we were just kids, before you established everything, before you decided the world needed laws, before you became distant. Before you became cruel." Her tone was sad, resentful, almost angry.
"You wreck havoc, Lev! There's no space for you in a peaceful world. That's why you rule here. You had a seat on the council, but you ruined it. You ruined me." Clara sighed.
"Don't blame me for what you've done. We both know that if it weren't for me, you'd be dead."
"You'd prefer it that way, wouldn't you? If I had died, If I wasn't such a pain, If I hadn't ruined you? When you became a queen, you left me behind. To rot in your shadow. It's crippling, you know that? To watch someone you loved and cared for so deeply forget you."
"Clara!?" Enine rushed to the queen, drenched in blood, her hands shaking. "Clara, honey, are you OK? I told you those jobs are dangerous and you need to be careful. How did this happen? Can I-" Clara dropped her sword, still dripping with hot blood, and pushed a finger to her wife's lips.
"I'm alright dear." She spoke shakily, her tone a bit pained, a rarity for her.
Enine moved Clara's hand away from her mouth. "Darling, you're covered in blood." Enine looked her wife up and down, noticing mostly red blood splotching her white blouse and skin. Clara stumbled forward, falling into her wife's arms a bit.
"I'm fine; I'm just exhausted." Clara smiled, but pain was evident in her eyes.
"Hun i-" Enine struggled to lift Clara and help her back to her feet. "Hun, I think we need to have a look at these wounds. You don't seem like you are doing OK." Enine spoke more hurriedly than usual, worried.
Clara nodded and limped to her feet. As the two walked up the stairs to the bedroom, Enine wrapped her arm around her wife's waist, helping to steady her. When the two finally reached the bedroom, Enine helped Clara to sit, Clara's hands shaking as she struggled to move, in pain but trying to hide it. As she sat, she gripped the bed pole, steadying herself. As she did so, Enine sat down in front of her, helping Clara to remove her boots. As she did so, she noticed what was causing Clara to limp so severely; a broken ankle.
"Hun, your ankle is broken. It is already bruising. Do you want me to get the maids to help? I can't really do much in terms of ice for you. " Enine looked up at Clara, as she winced in pain while Enine looked over the wound.
Clara took in a shaky breath before holding Enine's cheek in her hand. "Why would I need a maid to help me when I have my beautiful wife right here?" Clara's usual harshness was replaced with pure sensitivity. Enine leaned into her wife's hand and smiled, starting to wrap the broken ankle.
Levethina sat on the ballroom floor, clutching the broken amulet, her red eyes glowing in the dim light.
"Lev?" Clara said as she backed away from the girl, her disguise broken. "Lev, you're a daemon?"
Levethina struggled to speak as she held the amulet against her chest, tears starting to stream down her cheeks. "I, Clara, I'm so sorry I didn't tell you. Um, I thought you would think of me differently and-"
Levethina was cut off by Clara, her deep voice echoing in the now empty ballroom. "I do think of you differently, now at least. A daemon? you... You lied to me. Why would you do that? You tricked me."
"I'm, uh, um." Levethina attempted to choke out words but struggled to even make a noise, her face wet and glistening in the mere candlelight, snot dripping from her nose as she cried. Her chest heaved as she struggled to breath. "Clara, I'm so sorry."
"I don't want your apology. You think I care? You're nothing now. You're nothing but a daemon now. Is lavender even your name? Or is that fake too? You had to mess with me, didn't you? My reputation matters more than your entire existence. I can't believe you." Clara stopped for a moment, running a hand through her hair and taking a deep breath.
Levethina crumbled more, no longer attempting to sit up as she curled over her knees. pooling tears onto the marble floor. My name is Levethina. Levethina Fornmoore. " Levethina managed to choke out her name as Clara stared down at her in the dim light, her muscular frame backlit by the torches along the wall.
"I really couldn't care about you anymore, Levethina. I'm royalty, and it appears that you are as well. you have better things to do than meddle in the lives of those higher on the chain than you? I know you did this just to ruin me. Is that what you were hoping for? to make a mockery of me? " Clara rolled her eyes and shook her head, anger painting her usually calm and collected expression.
"Clara, I'm sorry, please! I love you." Lev sobbed into her knees.
Then I guess you'll be stuck living the rest of your life knowing that the person you ruined never loved you back." And with those final words, Clara left the room, leaving Levethina to soak in her new-found sorrows.
"I always knew I was going to have to mourn her. I always knew that, I always knew I was going to have to bury my love. I knew this, why does it still hurt so much. I- I knew." Clara looked down at the ground, tears forming in her eyes. Her mouth forming into a contorted smile, like she was trying to fight her feelings. Asio had never seen Clara upset, let alone cry.
"Long life-spans aren't what they are cut out to be, are they?" Asio smiled slightly and put her arm around Clara.
"Asio you don't get it. I knew she was going to die one day, I knew it, I knew how to deal with that pain. She was taken from me. I watched the life get ripped from her, I felt her heartbeat stop and I couldn't do anything." Clara started to sob, her face became wet with tears.
"I, um, im sorry. I just, y'know I. At least you'll see her in the afterlife someday?"
Asio mumbled over her words, unsure of what to say.
"Yeah. If the gods finally let me die."