The White Raven (fanficiton)

[myagedparchment]

Andriana had not been wrong about it being a long night, but she had been a bit off from the exact reality of the first night with the Raven.  It had not been a long night - it had been the longest night of her life.

Nothing she had done had been right.

“I might as well bathe in the river, this water is so cold.”

Nothing she had done had been good enough.

“Do you actually feed your guests like this, or have you mistaken me for a sow?”

Nothing she had done had failed to annoy the Raven.

“Must you walk like such a villager?”

Or aggravate her

“By all means, take your time, I’ll wait.”

Or fall pathetically below her standards

“If you are an example of what your village has to offer, I should just wipe you all out and better the world.”

By the end of the night, when a whisper of sunlight shone on the closed door behind which the Raven (mercifully) slept, Andriana felt she would not survive one more night, let alone weeks of the insufferable woman.

When she tried to say as much to Lila, she was stunned when her concerns were met with an unenthusiastic shrug.

“She’s no worse than a very awful guest,” Lila rationalized. “And we can survive that.”

We can survive that. Andriana was taken aback, but supposed she was right, though it troubled her to think of tolerating that awful woman. It wasn’t about what the Raven was doing now - it was about what she had done, what she could - would - do. But, as Andriana strolled lazily to the cot, she allowed that she was too tired to care, too relieved to see her mother sleeping deeply on the other cot in the backroom, too mentally drained to wrestle further with it.

So she gave Lila a perfunctory nod and slipped into the cot next to her. Her body sank heavily, her muscles releasing with immense and warm relief. She was comfortably close to Lila, and their combined body warmth made her utterly content, physically. She fancied she’d fall right to sleep, but the thought of the guards outside the door, all around the tavern and inn, made her restless. That, and thinking of her father, of Natan, of everyone that was in danger. But with the Raven resting, even the guards seemed relieved - after all, they’d let her mother go to sleep, and had let Lila and Andriana wash up and get themselves something to eat. They hadn’t even bothered them inappropriately, which was a reasonable fear for two fairly pretty village girls surrounded by… deprived…soldiers. So the dragon sleeps, everyone relaxes, thought Andriana.

Lila, by this logic, fell asleep fairly quickly, leaving Andriana to lay awake, eyes wandering the ceiling, thinking too much. What irony, being safer so close to the beast, while Natan and her father were no doubt in awful danger so far away. She was only a floor away, and that struck Andriana as so very odd to try to imagine, the sleeping dragon at rest. Andriana stared up at the ceiling, through it, trying to imagine what the Raven looked like when she was sleeping. Did her pale eyelids close over her blue eyes softly, her tense features relaxed for once, letting her look almost peaceful? Or did her brow furrow in thought, controlled even in sleep? Or did she let her worries creep in when she dreamed, the fears of a seemingly fearless woman marring her sharp features with harsh lines?

These thoughts shifting and swirling in her brain, Andriana fell asleep some time past dawn and awoke what felt like seconds later to someone shaking her roughly.

“Wha-what is it?”

She felt like she’d barely closed her eyes, and thought that only her semi-consciousness could explain why she was hallucinating a soldier standing over her saying something that she couldn’t understand, and repeating it with annoyance and urgency.

“They’re here,” she finally managed to hear, and shook her head in confusion as she sat up, pushing the sleep from her eyes, the cot bouncing slightly with her shifting.

“Who are they?” she asked, breathing in deeply, her head swimming with oxygen and lack of sleep.

“The Raven’s generals,” the young soldier standing over her said, pulling at her shoulder impatiently. “You need to get rooms ready for them, and wake her.”

“Wake her?” What was she, a princess? Andriana considered it, then shook her head, got up and shook Lila awake. The Raven probably wanted to be treated like a damned queen, and she certainly couldn’t do that and ready several rooms alone. Her mother and Lila roused slowly, but got up with little complaint. For her mother, Andy realized, this wouldn’t even be much different from a usual day. Andriana remembered what Lila had said about surviving, and realized what she’d meant. They were a small village - they lived small lives. This wasn’t much more of an inconvenience than a particularly hard day’s work to those like Lila and Andriana’s mother, who actually worked. Andriana felt a tiny bit ashamed of herself, but still clung to the remnants of indignation at having to work so hard for a stranger. Doing this to support her family was one thing. To take care of this demon woman, that was another.

Andriana bit the inside of her cheek harshly, chastising herself for allowing the thoughts in. She would have to swallow her pride and get through the day. Survive, she reminded herself. Survive.

The tiny cabinet that held the room keys creaked open at her mother’s push, and when she pulled out the shining, burnished key for the Raven’s room, Andriana all but snatched it from between her mother and Lila. The two of them eyed her in surprise, but the regretful look Andriana gave them explained it all. The last thing any of them needed was Lila or Andy’s mother trying something and failing. She’d saved Lila once - she wouldn’t be so lucky again.

Lila, for one, wisely did not argue. She accepted the key to a room for one of the generals and shuffled off, her eyes cast down, clearly embarrassed. Andriana and her mother graciously did not comment directly on this and instead went on collecting fresh sheets and such for the rooms.

“Be careful, dear,” Andriana’s mother said gently, cupping her daughter’s cheek for a moment and regarding her with naked concern for a split second. Andriana looked back with a confidence she hardly felt, trying to console her mother. There were tears in her eyes, for fears she would not speak aloud.

“I’ll be fine, mother,” she said, wanting to believe it herself. She slid her hand over her mothers and gripped it strongly, repeating, “I’ll be fine, I’ll be fine,” until she thought she believed it a little. She would not be afraid. She could not afford to be afraid.

“Alright dear,” her mother conceded softly and turned to go up the stairs to the left of the cabinet. Andriana watched her go, fingering the key to the Raven’s room thoughtfully.

“I’ll be fine,” she said quietly to herself. “I will be fine.”

She repeated her mantra as she headed up the stairs after her mother. At the top of the stairs, they diverged, Andriana going right, her mother and Lila heading left to the other set of rooms at the other side of the inn. The floor creaked loudly under Andriana’s feet, the sound seeming even louder with each step that brought her closer to the Raven’s room. Was it only one night since she’d thought she was going to die in her Raven’s arms? It seemed like forever ago, like eternity, since that strange feeling had intoxicated and hypnotized her. At the simple thought, her body tingled with remembrance, and she had to shake herself repeatedly to throw off the lingering edges of dizziness that crept back in on her so easily. With each step she took toward the Raven’s room, the closer and closer last night felt, and the more her body and mind forced her to remember it. The door seemed to stretch into the distance even as she got closer. Her footfalls felt immense and sonorous, echoing slowly down the long hallway, and by the time she reached up to knock on the door, her hand felt heavy and detached and her heart was stopped utterly. Could she face those powerful blue eyes again? Could she suffer that feeling of drowning, of drunken haze?

Did she have a choice?

“My… my Lord?” Andriana murmured against the door, her knuckles tentatively tapping the wood. She winced at the sound - would the Raven eviscerate her for waking her? Andriana guessed she was definitely the sort to “kill the messenger”. But after a few moments, she was certain she heard nothing on the other side. Gently she inserted the key, so hard and small in her hands, and twisted, opening the door just a fraction. Maybe she couldn’t hear her through the door. “My Lord--”

“From now on, you are to be here before I wake.”

Andriana tried not to gasp as the Raven, fully dressed, fully prepared, fully awake, swept out the door and past her. Andy hardly registered what was happening by the time the Raven was halfway down the hallway - she continued to dictate her requirements rapid-fire as she strode with grace and power down the hall, as though she were striding into battle. Her body left an energy in its wake, like a shark swimming past in the water, and Andriana shivered, feeling like the poor, innocent little fish. She mumbled her apologies submissively, moving as quickly as she could to catch up and listening hard to try and catch everything the Raven was quickly saying.

“My clothes are to be prepared, my breakfast ready, and I will dictate what I require of you for the day before sunrise.”

The Raven spoke offhandedly, but everything sounded planned and perfected. And even as she seemed to not breathe between demands, she easily skimmed the stairs , powerfully striding without looking where she was going, while Andriana struggled not to stumble as she navigated the stairs with difficulty behind the Raven. Still the Raven rattled off her instructions while Andriana barely managed not to trip and fall on her face.

“Today, you will assist Melean in preparing boarding for the commanding officers and horses, explain your village’s reserves, and inform him of any unknown layout information.”

She stopped abruptly at the bottom of the stairs and turned so sharply that Andriana nearly sent the both of them tumbling, and would have had she not desperately clutched the railing and hung on for dear life. The Raven seemed to not even notice her plight and quirked her head to the side to look at her curiously.

“You do know all of those things, don’t you?” she asked, in a sarcastic tone that Andriana frankly found insulting. She’d lived in this village her entire life - of course she knew all that! But she wouldn’t bite - she swallowed around the heavy knot in her throat that was her pride and nodded.

“Well, I’ve lived in the village for a long time, so yes, I think--”

“That’s all.”

The Raven casually tossed her hand in the air and turned away, leaving Andriana on the stairs, mouth agape, with a blank expression on her face. The Raven approached the nearest guard and started giving orders, but Andriana was still dumbfounded. That’s all? thought Andriana. What did that even mean?

The Raven suddenly looked over her shoulder and gave Andriana a withering look. Andy shrank back into the stairs. Those cold eyes bored into her, even as the Raven continued to give her instructions without looking at the soldier. Andriana felt like a cornered animal - was the Raven going to attack or simply toy with her? She felt a surge of pity for the mice the cat caught in the stables.

Yet, at the same time as she tried to become small enough to disappear, Andriana couldn’t not keep her eyes from eagerly searching the Raven. She hoped for differences between what she’d seen in the night and what she saw before her now, something to convince her that it had all been a trick of the moonlight, but…

Andriana could not combat the feeling that the Raven was just as fierce in the light of day. The only fact that had changed was that she perhaps looked more…real. Not more human, simply more real, like she actually existed, and wasn’t a fancy in Andriana’s idle brain, conjured up by the vapors of the night. There was still the immense grace and power of her body, feminine in form and yet masculine in its strength, a dangerous combination of both in its sensuality. Her skin was not as pale in the dusky light, but it did seem healthier, still porcelain, but with real blood flowing through her veins and coloring her neck, her cheeks, her forearms. Her face - Andriana stopped. She could not look at that face without inevitably catching those startling eyes. Her eyes, out of everything, were just the same, still carried that same intensity, that hypnotic quality that make Andriana quake, and once the Raven’s gaze locked with hers, Andriana could not force herself to want to look away, let alone actually break the spell.

The Raven’s attention was mercifully diverted, however, when the front door swept open and three hulking figures tromped in. The Raven’s head snapped in their direction and she left her quivering prey to pursue more important matters.

Andriana exhaled a breath she had been unaware of holding and clutched at her chest, desperately trying to pull herself together before she was subjected to another round of the Raven’s dark magic.

While Andriana gripped her tunic, sputtering and blinking stupidly as she eased herself down on the bottom step, she was being tightly (but covertly) observed.

“Can we use her?”

The first of the three men, the shortest and oldest of the three (but by no means small, and by no means old), removed his black and red helmet, inclining his head in the direction of the girl near-collapsed on the stairs. He threw his hand threw short black-grey hair while stretching a crick out of his neck. His blackish-brown eyes flicked over his commander as she looked at the girl, and he carefully observed her body language.

The Raven slowly tilted her head, looking Andriana over slowly while the girl remained utterly oblivious. She considered for a moment, then pursed her lips slightly, her eyes narrowing. The man remained silent, recognizing she was on the cusp of decision.

Andriana sat on the lower step, eyes gently closed, breathing heavily, and the Raven felt a surge in her belly at the symptoms that usually indicated a very different condition. The loose tunic and over-dress did little to hide the swell of a mature body, and the slow, deep breaths she was taking did nothing to help, as her chest filled and fell, filled and fell…

“Yes,” she said finally. “She’s soft as clay.” The Raven breathed in deeply, exhaling as slowly and controlled as she could manage, and put her hands on her hips as she internally forced herself to turn away from the girl to face him.

“I don’t believe she’s capable of even thinking to run - but if she does,” she arched a brow and lowered her voice, the gravity of her words sinking heavy, “The gods help you, Melean, if she does.” Her eyes cut him, searching out any weakness, but Melean only nodded somberly, giving away nothing of his concern, though he was sweating inside. Looking over the girl again, though, lessened his fears. A simple village girl, a pretty little thing… She couldn’t cause any trouble.

The Raven brushed a smooth hand through her cloud of hair and her features settled, as though she was now ready to combat the day. She gave Melean an almost imperceptible nod.

“That’s all.”

Melean didn’t so much as flinch at the utterly natural end to their conversation, shifting with ease, mentally and physically, from the Raven. If serving the Raven for so many years had done anything for him, it was engender an unshakeable calm - even in the roughest of storms, he could stay balanced. For no one, no situation, could be as abrupt as the Raven.

He brushed a broad hand over his thick, matching black-and-red-and-white leather cover armor and took a heavy step toward the pawn that the Raven so valued and had placed with confidence into his capable hands.

“Andriana, is it?”

Carefully and warmly as he had spoken, the little bird still startled. Her gaze snapped to his face, and he felt suddenly probed by her warm brown eyes. They ran quickly over his square jaw and squat forehead before laying back on the safety of the ground. Her long hair settled a bit messily around her face and he instantly felt sympathy for the poor thing, but still fought some irritation. Civilians were always like this, so easily… affected by her. Such weakness.

“Yes?” she said eventually, her small voice sweet as her face. Oh, he was beginning to worry for this one. She never could resist breaking the sweet ones.

“I am Melean, the Raven’s first general.” He straightened slightly. “You will be assisting me today.”

Andriana’s shoulders rose with her breath, and she seemed to shake off some of her dazedness. She was slowly gathering herself now that the Raven was gone.

Good, Melean thought, nodding to himself. Given direction, the girl could compose herself. That was the most important and advantageous asset one could hope to have when dealing with the Raven. Still, the wounds the Raven had already inflicted were still fresh, and the best way to comfort an injured animal was to soothe the most raw of the wounds.

“She’s demanding,” he offered, a question in his voice, commiserating.

Andriana looked at him with such relief he nearly laughed aloud at her. So predictable. The Raven really was going to have a time with this one.

“Yes,” Andriana agreed, oblivious, “You must know better than anyone.”

Melean did laugh then, a sound tinged with remembrance and some regret.

“Anything you’ve seen her do, anything you hear from her, I’ve heard and seen worse - much, much worse.” He felt comfortable coming closer and sat next to her on the steps. “You’d be better off to remember that. A time will come when you won’t believe it, but she is capable of…” his voice trailed off. He shook a memory from his mind’s eye and returned to the girl watching him intently. “She’s capable of so much worse,” he said cryptically, but Andriana accepted that she did not really want to know.

Andriana nodded, though it troubled her. Coming from this man, though, it was easier to hear, easier to take hearing. He had big, worn features, like her father; it was oddly comforting. Still, Andriana bit her bottom lip, uncomfortable with what could possibly be worst than cutting out men’s tongues.

As she thought, Melean watched her soft features working, long eyelashes fluttering like humming bird wings, mentally noting that she was actually very pretty, under the meager frock and slightly unkempt hair. He could almost predict exactly how things would play out for her with the Raven, and he felt something of a pull of paternal protectiveness tugging at him, but he could tell by the young woman’s body language that at least the warlord had yet to wet her lips with her. The violated always had something of a broken look to them - Andriana’s body and mind still held on to that naïve purity. It was almost sad, considering what Melean thought would happen to her.

“I’ve done my fair share,” he said to her, wanting to remind himself of who he was as much as warn her to stay on her guard, “But you can expect a bit more… courtesy from me, at least.” He didn’t want to scare her, either.

The relief in her eyes, oh, it was beautiful and tragic. The smallest bit of compassion, and he was good in her eyes. As nervous as that made him for her, it would go a long way in making things easier for him, and for the Raven, which was always the goal. As long as Fean and Daein didn’t mess anything up, things could indeed go according to plan.

Melean rested his hand on the sword at his hip and gestured toward the door.

“As long as you’re cooperative of course.”

Andriana nodded vigorously, rising with enthusiasm. “Yes,” she said, tentative at first, then more firmly. “Yes. Yes, I will… cooperate,” she said, the word clearly tasting odd in her mouth and sounding strange to her ears. But she nodded, sincere. She looked eager to prove that she could do whatever was asked of her, no doubt to prove her usefulness. That, too, was a good thing. Stay useful, stay around, Melean knew. The second you weren’t useful to her, you were no longer needed. Best to stay useful for as long as the little thing could, because after the Raven got what she wanted, he wasn’t certain about her fate.

Melean nodded to her, trying to shake the concerns from his head. They weren’t his concerns, he reminded himself. He hated this sort of thing; it was so much easier to command willing troops than to deal with the Raven’s games.

He rose gradually, the weight of his armor giving him some difficulty. He would be glad when he could take it all off and rest, but as long as the Raven was awake, he could not rest. He tried to imagine her watching him at all times, to help himself do exactly as she wanted. That helped snap him back to attention.

He walked out of the inn, the girl on his heels, and felt fairly confident this would be easier than anticipated.

“First, your stables,” he said, turning in the direction of the horses. “We have to take care of Agamemnon.”

Andriana skittered to Melean’s side, eyes wide with genuine interest. “Who’s that? Another general?”

Melean laughed, heavy and amused, and Andriana looked a bit dejected.

“Not a general. But just as important as one.”

Andriana’s brow furrowed, and she turned away, into her thoughts for the rest of the walk to the stables. What did that mean? Was there a position as important as general that wasn’t a general? Like a… master of arms, or a… a high commander? Her mind dashed over everything her father had ever taught her about military command rankings, but she couldn’t think of anything as important as she thought she understood the Raven’s generals to be. She was still chewing on the problem as they entered the stables, and she didn’t even notice when they stopped in front of a closed stall. She did notice, however, when a strong BANG rocked the shut door of the stall, startling her out of her thoughts.

“What --”

“Agamemnon,” Melean said knowingly, unhitching and swinging open the top of the two-part door to reveal a massive, grey-white horse, fuming and walking restlessly about the space. He circled the stall, his long head bobbing rhythmically, angrily, if a horse was capable of such anger. It seemed like he was unable to stay still, his entire body shaking with tense energy: He stomped his hooves, blew sharply from his flexing nostrils, enormous eyes blinking hard, like he was trying to rid himself of a lightning-quick energy bouncing around inside of his immense form. Andriana marveled at the beast - she’d seen (and dealt with) some willful and intractable horses, but nothing compared to what she was seeing now. She inched closer - He circled the stall again, hesitated, then with shocking swiftness turned around and shot his hind hooves at the lower door again. Andriana stumbled backward - he reared on his legs and neighed wildly - she pressed her back to the stall behind her, stunned, almost paralyzed by the pure force of him.

“You’ll need him clean and ready soon,” Melean said, his voice booming over the noisy, unpredictable horse. Andriana looked at him in utter disbelief.

“Are you insane?!?” she exclaimed, Agamemnon’s white form reflected in her wide eyes. “He’ll crush me! Is he wild?!”

Melean, impossibly still and calm, turned back to watch as the beast bucked and fumed. His eyes watched the creature with a fascination and understanding that Andriana, in turn, was fascinated by, but could not comprehend. How could he be so calm, so in control with this crazed beast so near, separated only by the thin barrier of wood that was threatening to break with each strike from the horse’s massive hind legs?

“He’s only as wild as his master,” he said simply. Andriana looked back at the horse, now pacing tensely, but otherwise quiet, and it hit her.

“He’s hers.” It wasn’t a question. She should have known it, should have sensed it. The same power that the Raven had in her calm, Agamemnon had some of that in his fury, his intense and brutish power. No wonder Melean was so calm - he’d probably dealt with both the horse and the Raven for years now.

Andriana was less afraid than intensely intrigued. Her mind settled around the reality: she had dealt with horses for years, since early childhood. It was ridiculous that she should let one horse, no matter who it belonged to, erase all she knew from her mind. This was something she knew so well, something she knew she could do.

She peeled herself slowly from the stall behind her and approached Agamemnon on tentative, careful feet. He spun toward her, wide eyes trained on her. He huffed and kicked some, but kept watching her. Each time he twitched in her direction, she paused, waiting until he had settled to move again, and all the while he continued to watch her.

Each watched the other as intently. Their bodies slowed, Agamemnon’s body slowing its feverish movement with each step she took. Andriana kept her eyes locked on his, wary for any sudden move.

Melean watched with utter amazement as Andriana came closer and closer to the beast, their bodies swaying and settling as one. Agamemnon’s immense head swayed to and fro as she watched Andriana - the longer she stared into his wide eyes, the more still he became, but his head continued to sway as though she was hypnotizing him.

And hypnotized Andriana felt he was. Soon she was inches from him, her feet bumping up against the stall door. She stopped her body, but continued her movement with her right arm, never, ever breaking eye contact with the horse. She continued to reach toward him.

Melean held his breath as her fingers touched Agamemnon’s face.

“There we go,” Andriana sighed, not hearing the small gasp of surprise from Melean, as the tetchy horse shut his eyes and eased his head into her hand. The horse seemed to exhale too, and he rubbed his head roughly and eagerly against Andriana’s hand.

“That… now that’s interesting.”

Andriana turned toward his lowly spoken words, and was perplexed by the wonder on his face as he watched Agamemnon in amazement.

“Oh, it’s nothing,” she said sheepishly. She turned back to Agamemnon and brushed his face with both hands before unlocking the bottom half of the door and entering the stall without incident. The horse watched her patiently as she reached for one of the brushes hanging on the wall of his stall. Still, Melean looked on in wonder.

“I’ve been taking care of horses my entire life,” she said with a shrug. “I know how to handle them.”

“You don’t understand,” Melean said, shaking his head in disbelief. A second ago the girl was trembling, and now she was tending the impossible beast just like any other horse? He didn’t know why, but it made him feel uncomfortable and intrigued at the same time.

“What don’t I understand?” Andriana asked innocently, smiling up as Agamemnon bent his head down for her to brush his face gently. Melean simply watched, stunned.

“No one can touch him except her,” he explained, shrugging his shoulders. “He won’t even let me near him,” he said. “Frankly, I didn’t expect you to be able to do it. I wonder what she’ll think of this,” he said, pondering it a moment as his voice trailed off.

Andriana tried to contain her smile. She could do something only the Raven could do? It made her feel… special.

The average girl felt… special?

Andriana leaned in and pressed her forehead to Agamemnon’s as Melean went off to another part of the stables to think.

“If you like me, it shouldn’t be so hard to deal with her, right?”

Agamemnon bobbed his head up, looking at her as if to say something to the contrary.

“Oh, you just wait and see,” she whispered. “Just wait.”

“You’ll see.”

*

By the time Andriana had completely finished with Agamemnon, showed Melean around the town, and given him all the useful information she could give, it was well deep into night and she was more than happy to lay her head down on her pillow. Most of the guards, and Melean himself, in fact, put their heads to pillow. Most everyone was asleep before the moon was fully risen in her black sea.

Most everyone, but not everyone.

The Raven, very much awake, stood very silently at the crest of mountain pass, flanked by the silent army of trees on either side of her. They stood vigilant around her as she looked out over the valley below, the smoke from her other troops’ evening fires far in the distance drifting into the deep-blue night sky. The fires were slowly being extinguished for the night, and soon only the moon would lay its light on the silent night. The Raven stood under the trees, already shaded in darkness. The canopy of leaves cast shifting shadows on her back that she felt she could sense like a touch and she shut her eyes, concentrating on the feeling, like a hand on her shoulder. She really could almost feel it. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end, an unnatural electric current dancing through them. She could feel… She could almost feel…

“Hello father.”

She didn’t need to look to know he was there, his hand replacing the shadows on her shoulder.

“Don’t call me that,” the familiar and amusingly annoyed voice said. The Raven snorted.

“And what should I call you, father?”

She did not turn to face him. She could see the look on his face without looking.

“Very funny,” he said, setting both hands more firmly on her shoulders. “How about a little respect for your old man, then?” he asked, his voice not devoid of irony. He gripped her shoulders, not unpleasantly, and she shut her eyes, easing into it. “It’s the least you could do for the one who is going to help you rule the world.”

The Raven smiled slowly, darkly, and her eyes slid open, their light flashing out like the sun streaking over a cold horizon. She stared into the distance, seeing the victory he promised her. The fading smoke in the distance was like a veil, behind which lay the slowly moving pawns of her perfectly laid plans, moving ever closer to perfection, to her success, to her destiny as she saw it and rightfully claimed it. It was, after all, the will of the gods, she thought with a great deal of amusement. Well, at least the will of one god…

He had told her she could take the East, and she had. If he said that she could have the world…

“You can have it all. Everything,” he said, leaning over her shoulder. “Everything your heart desires will be yours, if you can do pull this off.”

The Raven licked her lips predatorily, tasting it, the indescribable taste of victory, like fresh blood from the first fall of her blade.

“Yes,” she said softly, almost prayerfully. “I shall have everything… I shall have all my heart desires.”

She could practically hear his smug smile as that electric current tingled on her skin once more.

She turned around to the empty black air where he had been, her eyes lit ice in the darkness.

“I shall have everything my heart desires,” she said softly.

She walked deeper into the darkness, the moon left watching the empty patch of ground where she had been.

“Everything.”