บท 70: A Fitting Collapse
She had been sitting still for the better half of the past hour: watching from up high, observing all possible entry points as well as the areas she had to avoid.
The Ruenen had but one maximum security prison, high in the mountains, on the backlot of a steep drop off. An old ruined castle, rebuilt for discomfort. It was here that the three surviving members of Kieren's guard had been sent to await their death.
They would be held three stories below, in a rune filled ward, most likely beaten and for good measure starved. Violet focused on the back corner of the building, the one facing the drop-off. She made a mental note, it was the least guarded, best for a flamboyant triple suicide.
She was perched in the corner of a turret, wearing all black and a long coat. She hummed her appreciation at the weather, despite being just after eleven p.m. it was pitch black, cloudy, windy, and pouring.
The perfect conditions for her daring rescue.
Well, if she could find a way in.
The voices of multiple guards drifted up from down below: distorted, muffled, but loud enough for her to catch their meaning. They were whining, it was freezing at least twenty below, why all the extra shifts? If the traitors had been caught then why were they guarding the outside and not the inside? A senior guard member approached the two younger males and threatened them with cutting their tongues off.
She let out a soundless sigh, here to rescue, not kill, easier said than done. All the extra security, Violet leaned back against window and closed her eyes, true she had refused help. If Kieren or anyone else was discovered acting on her side it would destabilize the situation irreparably. She wasn't quite prepared to give up her multiple trump cards.
Not that the decision had come easily, Kieren had been so caught of guard by Zen's death that he had almost exploded into action. It had taken a few well chosen words from Violet, her hands around his chest, and the promise that she would bring back the rest that temporarily calmed him down. Thirty-two hours later Violet wondered if she would have to bring back the corpse for him to believe it.
Violet stretched her legs and made up her mind, she didn't HAVE to kill them, disabling them would be enough, and if she could sneak past the two first sentries while only sacrificing a bit of blood, that would make it easier.
The familiar dagger emerged as she pulled her sleeve back. After a few seconds of careful deliberation she carved a rune into her skin, "hidden", ran along the wall, and dropped soundlessly in front of the two young men.
"How much longer before we-"
His eyes went white as he slipped into unconsciousness, his partner opened his mouth to call out and nearly died of fright as he felt, but could not see, a hand clasped around his mouth and nose. He fainted quickly.
Violet tied them together and entered the darkened hallway, she followed the flight of stairs in a hurry. Carving runes into her skin gave her a maximum of twenty minutes, and that was only if she lessened her healing abilities.
It was musty and derelict in the brick prison, she could hear the squeak of rats and mice by her feet. She ran past another guard who looked up only momentary with a confused gaze as several mice moved out of nobody's way.
Choosing to fling herself past the next set of guards and down another flight of steps proved harder than she thought as she realized there was water waiting down below.
Cursing silently Violet grabbed a hold of the railing managing to skim the water with her toes. Multiple eyes in ver direction, "Did you hear that?"
"It's the rats, now get moving, we should have burned the body more than an hour ago, if she comes to visit and discoverers that we haven't disposed of the traitor it'll be our heads on the block."
She lowered herself carefully into the water holding back the irate disdain in her eyes, she followed the guards as they led her into a chamber. Violet watched as they pulled a body from the corner of the floor and moved to carry it by the hands and feet.
Violet stared angrily at the body, the eyes gouged out, the multiple fire wounds, she took a deep breath, it's not like they were even that close. Alex's face swam in the back of her mind. "Fuck you all."
They dropped the body and turned in shock attempting to find the dismembered voice but not before the first of them dropped to the floor clutching at the blood pouring out of his throat.
Violet stuck her knife the second guards eye and pulled back coldly. " I can never just do the job. I go and get attached and then I just kill everyone."
She leaned down and wiped the blood from her blade, "I haven't even shown them my real weapon, just keep slicing throats with an inscription blade. You could have avoided your death but no, you just had to kill Zen. Mother fuckers! Kieren's pissed and I need him to wait, I have a few more to kill before I can go all out and this wasn't meant to happen!"
Violet finished her rant in one breath kicked the body twice for good measure then ambled over slow to Zen's body. "Fuck me and fuck this and fuck then."
She knelt down, removed her coat to cover the body, and rubbed her eyes wearily, "this is bullshit… Time is limited if he's coming back to make sure they disposed of your body… alright… I'll be back before we go."
She chuckled sarcastically, "like you're listening…"
— — —
They were huddled together, not out of fear or the freezing temperatures, but of a desire to keep Alex stable.
"We love you"
Ted sighed, they had been sitting in the cell for so long, in pain, in silence, and upon finding the need to reassure Alex he realized his voice was hoarse.
He looked to his twin, Tom's expression mirrored his own. They had grown to love Kieren, to respect him, to want him to live. In the process they had signed their own demise.
Alex sniffled into Ted's sweater: they had tortured Zen in front of them, made them watch. The three of them had bit back the retorts, the anger, the desire to lash out.
Zen's last words had been Alex's name, whispered gently, a determined smile.
They had refused to break, no tears were shed in his presence. They had killed him.
Eventually they had been led back, in runed chains to this damp prison cell inscribed with more runes. Objectively it was a wise decision to keep their powers restrained, for the grief was causing flares within them.
After the first hour Alex had broken down: sobbing, kicking, screaming. A hysterical break that the twins had held her through as they too drowned in the pain.
She had eventually stopped crying, out of numbness. She had curled herself into a ball and allowed the heat from the twins bodies to sustain her.
Four hours later Ted has broken the silence in an attempt to check on Alex.
Alex wiped a stray tear from her cheek, "are we meant to sit here waiting for our deaths. He killed him, I have too… I have…"
They tightened their hold on her, "how Alex? Kieren will have learned of this. We betrayed his trust, do you really think he would take us back after learning this? Where are we to go? Our families?"
Tom continued his brothers tangent, "and if our situation wasn't already bleak, then look at the bars of this cell it's runed, we are fucked."
A bright all too familiar voice chimed in from above, "those are all technicalities… oversights even. I've always found the Ruenen's way of confinement irrational, apart from that rusty lock they're trusting the runes to hold you in. This window doesn't even have a lock, only a rune… hilarious really."
Three heads swiveled in the direction of the window, a raven haired beauty watched them resolutely from above.
She continued ignoring the panic on their faces, "you can get out you know? I didn't specifically teach you about rune resistance for no reason. So, how badly do you want out?"
They took calming breaths and rose to their feet apprehensively, "but Kieren, he won't-"
Violet cut Ted off, "yeah… right… betrayal… planned murder" she waved her hands around, "like I said, technicalities which would only be blatantly upsetting if we didn't already know."
Their mouths fell open in unison, "what?"
"Exactly, we already knew, so are you willing to throw your life away? If not, we have exactly twenty-seven minutes to get lost, or fall off a cliff… catch my drift? So get out, or don't. If you decide you want out, meet me at the main guard post." She paused, "I'm picking up Zen's body. He deserves to be buried." She shot Alex a gentler smile than the rest and turned to jump down when.
"Wait Violet!"
"Yes."
"I'd like to think that at this point nobody could want him dead more than I do, but I have a feeling you're more involved than we thought. In the of-chance we don't make it out of here, there is something you need to know."
She took a deep breath and ignored the questioning glances from the twins, "Zen once told me that he felt so frustrated around you because you could discern things at an astounding pace. You were making fun of the road to Kieren's rule, something about illegitimacy. It's the opposite Violet, the one trump card that can destroy Senrio would be for Kieren to produce an heir. The line remains unbroken, do you understand Violet?"
Violet paused for a millisecond as her eyes lit up. "Well well… that would be one hell of a explanation. Alex, Ted, Tom, I think you deserve to live. Twenty-five minutes now."
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