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[Rough Draft] Chapter 34: A World of Monsters
“You were supposed to relax,” Hana teased as she combed Carina’s hair into a braid. “That’s the point of a bath.”
Carina sighed as she lowered her thumb from her lip and uncrossed her arms. “I know—there was just—something about that maid’s behavior.”
“The bath was fine,” Hana replied as she gestured to the satin ribbon on the vanity dresser. Carina picked up the scarlet strip of cloth and passed it back to the Viscountess. “Yours was fine, mine was fine, Ivy’s was fine. It’s good to be on your guard, but when nothing bad has happened, you should try to relax.”
Carina raised her brows and shrugged her shoulders as she messaged the uneasy feeling in her gut. “You’re right, but—I want to go check on Ivy before we head over to the waiting lounge.”
“She may have finished already,” Hana replied as she finished securing the bow and moved to collect the Duchess’s cloak, which she draped around Carina’s shoulders. “But we can check before heading down.”
‘I should have checked Ivy’s bath personally anyway. If they tried to slip in something besides poison, Hana wouldn’t know what to look for.’ Carina smiled absently as Hana slide the silver buttons of her cloak inside the silver thread loops.
In a strange way, Hana seemed to have taken over Ivy’s role of looking after Carina. While Ivy had been more of an older sister comparable to a motherly figure in young Maura’s life, Hana was something closer than family.
‘Perhaps it’s because she and Kirsi shared another lifetime together when Kirsi rescued Hana from slavery in Ventrayna?’
Hana turquoise-blue eyes shown as she smiled down at Carina, then brushed the still damp curls of the Duchess’s hair behind her ears. The warmth in those angelic blue eyes was more than mere gratitude. An emotion that Carina was entirely unfamiliar with yet oddly comforted by.
“We should get going,” Hana said softly as she pulled her hand back and turned towards the door.
“Yes,” Carina blinked, shook herself from her daze, and followed Hana out the door and down the hall.
At the end of the hall, Carina knocked on Hana’s door anxiously. “Ivy, are you still in there? I just wanted to check and see how you were doing before heading down.”
A lingering stretch of silence answered that cut like a knife through Carina’s expectations of Ivy’s calm voice replying in assurance.
“Ivy?” Carina repeated again, louder this time as she raised her hand to the door.
“Kirsi—” Hana caught Carina’s hand and pointed down to where the hallway carpet ended, and the marble flooring of the bath peeped beneath the door. A still pool of dark crimson liquid glimmered up at them like the eye of a demon.
Carina’s hand snapped to the door handle, which turned open freely.
“I locked it before I left,” Hana breathed out in surprise as she held onto the Duchess’s other hand.
Heart pounding, Carina pushed the door inward. It thudded to a halt barely two feet open, revealing more of the pool of blood that had collected on the floor. Behind the door, the dark verdant skirts of a dress with two humble, modest brown shoes peeping out of the disheveled fabric caught Carina’s attention. A twisted trickle of relief unclenched the muscles in her lungs as the Duchess looked away from the dress she didn’t recognize to search the bath and found Ivy, huddled in a towel, hiding behind the mirror.
“Ivy!” Carina pulled away from Hana’s grasp, lifted her dress, and stepped over the blood with care before she rushed towards the pale maid’s side. “Ivy—are you alright? What happened?” Carina reached for Ivy’s hands, but the older girl retracted them inside her towel as she shook her head and turned away from the Duchess.
The sound of the bathroom door closing behind them pulled Carina’s attention towards it. She exhaled in relief as Hana locked the door and stepped carefully around the unknown woman’s blood.
“Who is she?” Hana whispered as she circled the woman’s body.
Carina glanced at Ivy, who remained curled in a tight trembling ball, and rose to her feet before joining Hana. “We should find out. I don’t think Ivy is up to talk, and we need to deal with this quickly before someone comes looking.”
Hana nodded and took in a deep breath before she moved closer to the body, which coughed suddenly, spraying droplets of blood across the marble floor. “She-she’s alive!” Hana quickly knelt, took the woman’s shoulders, and rolled her onto her back.
The face of Lady Priscilla’s new maid stared up at Carina as disgust coiled through her stomach. “A spy from the house of Borghese?”
Miranda’s blue eyes fluttered open. Her gaze was unsteady as she stared first at Hana and then at Carina. “W-witch!”
“I’m sorry!” Ivy sobbed hysterically from behind them. “I’m sorry—I’m so sorry!”
Carina quickly returned to Ivy’s side and grasped the older girl’s hands through the towel. “It’s alright. I promise you. Everything’s going to be fine. Can you tell me what happened? Who—”
“I did it,” Ivy sobbed weakly. “I had to! She-she was going to tell everyone that-that you cursed me!”
“Cursed?” Carina echoed incredulously. “Ivy—” She sucked in a breath, bewildered as Hana approached them, “—why would anyone think you are cursed?”
“Because she is.”
Carina’s head snapped from Ivy to Hana with a bewildered frown. “She’s what?”
“Ivy,” Hana said gently as she knelt beside Carina. “You can’t hide this from Kirsi anymore.”
The pounding in Carina’s head returned as she turned back to the trembling Ivy, who shook her head and continued to sob as her head dropped down against her knees.
“Then—forgive me,” Hana whispered as she grasped the edge of the towel and pulled the woolen fabric off Ivy’s shoulder.
The blotchy dark gray skin with spider-like black vines came into view. Carina’s knees went weak as she sagged onto the floor. Her mouth opened numbly. Disbelief barred the questions deep in her throat as she fought for the strength to stand, then moved into the narrow space between Ivy’s back and the wall and pulled the towel back further.
Carina was reminded of the sickness in the slums almost instantly. And yet—there were stark differences. Those patients had visible rot across their skin, while Ivy—appeared to be rotting internally. Oddly enough, she lacked the smell one would expect from such a grotesque infection. The blisters that formed along Ivy’s back like lumpy scales were beyond painful to look at.
‘How has she—how has she managed to—’ Carina sucked in an angry breath as she glanced from Ivy to the silent Viscountess. “Why—did you hide this from me?”
“Ivy did not wish to worry you,” Hana explained with an apologetic smile. “I have been treating her as best I can—”
“Treating her how? Look at—” Carina pressed a hand to her mouth as her stomach flipped unpleasantly. “Does Ivy look like she’s getting better?!”
“There is no cure,” Ivy whispered.
“Don’t be ridiculous!” Carina snapped as she turned on the maid angrily. “I have access to the best doctors in Lafeara. I will find you a cure and—”
“It is a witch’s curse, Kirsi,” Hana interjected firmly. “Mortal medicine can’t do anything to cure it or ease the symptoms.”
The Duchess blinked, anger receding beneath a cold blanket of fear as she clenched her hands. Carina looked down at Ivy’s deformed back as her heartbeat slowed to a dull, methodical beat.
‘This—feels the same as the sickness in the slums, even it is different. If—this is a witch’s curse—then the people in the slums—none of them can be cured?’ Carina exhaled sharply and shook her head to clear away the sharp ring of panic. ‘No, the plague was cured before. Maura never saw the symptoms up close. She only read about them in the papers. It could still be the same plague or a mutation of that plague.’
“Kirsi,” Hana hissed urgently.
‘The whole point of creating Cerberus was to combat the idea of superstition and combat the plague with the use of logic and science. If I accept that a curse is responsible then—’
“Kirsi!”
Carina’s attention snapped to Hana, who pointed behind the Duchess to where Miranda had rolled onto her side. Ivy’s mother had quite the nasty cut above her right eyebrow that was already swelling as blood continued to pour down the right half of her face.
“What do we do about her?” Hana asked somberly as the injured woman wheezed out a laugh.
Miranda cracked a crazed smile. “Let no—witch—live!”
‘She is going to be a problem.’ Carina exhaled tensely and rubbed her temple. ‘Ivy is not a violent person by nature, and yet—she struck her own mother to this extent.’
“If let you live—” Carina lowered her hand as she approached the woman, “—what will you do?”
“I’ll see you all—burned!” Miranda spat venomously.
“She’s deranged,” Hana murmured, unsettled by the hatred in the woman’s voice.
‘If only it were that simple.’ Carina bent towards the woman and studied her features intently. Ivy had clearly inherited her mother’s hair, but those dull blue eyes were nothing like Ivy’s gentle jade green eyes. “Why did you do it? Sell your daughter into slavery?”
Miranda’s loathing expression faltered for a moment. “Because—her father was a traitor!”
“He was not!” Ivy whispered, then clambered suddenly to her feet. “Father was framed! You know—”
“Silent girl!” Miranda shouted as she glared past the Duchess at her daughter. “Do not speak of what you do not know! Better yet, do not speak at all unless you want to have your head removed before they burn you at the stake!”
The cold anger in Carina’s stomach burned brighter as she stared at the woman. “What does her father’s treason or death have to do with Ivy? Even if he was guilty of some crime—that hardly implicates a child!”
“That—” Miranda’s gaze faltered once more. “Blood will always out.”
“Blood?” Carina snorted and knelt until she was at eye level with the woman. “I think I would rather have the blood of a traitor over that of a monster like you.”
Miranda’s eyes widened, though her right eye appeared slightly squished beneath the swelling of her brow. Then her lips curled and pressed back as she gathered spit in her mouth.
Carina’s hand slammed over the woman’s mouth and nose with surprising force as Miranda’s head slammed down against the marble floor with a loud crack.
“Krisi!” Hana quickly grasped Carina’s shoulders as the Duchess watched Miranda’s eyes roll back as she groaned against Carina’s hand. “Kirsi, she can’t breathe!”
A soft, cynical laugh slipped past Carina’s frigid lips as she removed her hand and shook off the frozen spit caught against it. She rose slowly and shook of Hana’s support as she gazed about the room. Aside from a fallen candlestick not far from Miranda’s body, nothing else appeared out of order. Carina quickly moved to the candlestick, picked it up, and turned it over to find the crack along the base coated in blood with a bit of blonde hair trapped against it.
“What do we—what should we do, Kirsi?” Hana said quietly.
“You will go downstairs,” Carina answered calmly. “Find Captain Isaac, pull him aside, and explain what’s happened here. Ivy was attacked. She struck her attacker, who happens to be a servant in Marquess Borghese’s house. We need to dispose of her quietly without being seen.” The Duchess’s gaze moved to the window curtains behind the tub. She moved towards them and swept the curtains back to gaze out at the back lawn of the Manor. “Tell him to fetch knights from camp, enough to look like a patrol and not draw suspicion. They should bring a rug or something to wrap a body in. Let them know what window to look for and signal me when they are outside.”
Hana’s expression was conflicted as Carina turned to face the Viscountess.
“They should avoid torches or anything that will draw attention to them.”
“And what—do they do with her?” Hana asked.
“They can’t bury her safely,” Carina reasoned aloud as she studied Miranda dispassionately. “Too many hounds and other wild animals would dig her up. If they tie her to rocks and toss her in the river with ropes strong enough to keep her down for a few weeks, that should be more than enough time for the fish to make her unrecognizable.”
“Kirsi!” Hana looked queasy for a moment as her gaze moved from Miranda back to Carina. “You want to drown her.”
“Oh, she won’t be breathing for much longer,” Carina replied confidently as she approached the Viscountess and took Hana’s hand. “You should leave now. Return after giving Isaac my instructions. I will need help moving the body to the window and getting it outside.”
Hana’s conflicted expression faded as she glanced towards Ivy, still trembling behind the mirror. “Alright,” the Viscountess whispered breathlessly. “You’ll need help getting Ivy back to camp, I expect.” She squeezed Carina’s hand and offered a timid smile. “I’ll be back soon.”
“Thank you, Hana.” Carina smiled and pulled her hand away as Hana hesitated.
“You—don’t have to do this, Kirsi,” Hana whispered anxiously. “Personally—I mean.”
“Oh, Hana,” Carina murmured as an amused smile traced across her lips. The Duchess stepped forward lightly and pulled Hana closer as she kissed her cheek. “You should hurry.”
Hana flushed, nodded, and turned immediately towards the door, stepping over the blood carefully once more before she opened the door cautiously, then stepped outside.
Carina’s ice-blue eyes focused on the lock as frost quickly wove itself around the handle and sealed the door shut. Confident no one would be able to enter, even with a key, Carin looked down at the candlestick in her hand, then turned and went back to Ivy.
The Duchess knelt on the floor and wrapped her arms around her shaking friend. Ivy’s pale hand reached from beneath the towel to grasp Carina firmly back as she sobbed against the Duchess’s arm.
“I’m sorry—”
“You have nothing to apologize for,” Carina soothed as she gently ran a hand down Ivy’s damp hair. “It is I who should ask for your forgiveness.”
“For what?”
Carina swallowed as the memory of Veles’s warning echoed in her ears. “For dragging you into all this.”
Ivy pulled back and looked at Carina in confusion. “Maura, you—are not to blame—for the decisions of others!”
Carina closed her eyes and sighed.
“I—” Ivy continued, “We must all live with the decisions we make.”
Carina nodded and opened her eyes to meet Ivy’s jade green gaze once more. “Then—please forgive me—for the choices I have made to protect you.”
Ivy stared at her numbly and shook her head as Carina pulled back. “No!” Ivy quickly wrapped her arms around Carina’s waist, the towel falling uselessly to the floor as she clung to the Duchess tightly. “No. I did this—I should be the one to—I am already tarnished past redemption.”
Carina placed a hand gently on Ivy’s shoulder. “I will not allow you to carry this guilt.”
“That’s not your decision to make! Please, Maura!”
Carina knelt down and set the candlestick aside as she took both of Hana’s hands and raised them to the older girl’s ears. “Now, close your eyes,” she commanded gently.
“Maura,” Ivy whispered. Hopeless despair filled the older girl’s jade-green eyes as the Duchess ran a hand gently down her face and sealed Ivy’s eyes shut with a layer of ice.
“You are not responsible for the choices others make,” Carina whispered against Ivy’s ear, then pressed the girl’s palms firmly against them. Another layer of ice soon insulated Ivy’s hands and locked them in place.
The Duchess turned to face the room and slashed her hand through the air. Cold rippled across the floor like a mist that quickly locked Miranda in place as the blood upon the marble froze and then cracked as the temperature plummeted.
“I-I knew it!” Miranda whispered, fear more than surprise or the cold trembled in her voice.
“You work for Priscilla Borghese,” Carina commented casually as she picked up the candlestick. “Why did you come here tonight?”
“T-to warn Ivy—about you!”
“To warn your daughter?” Carina raised a brow. “Why warn her if you were just going to help the Borghese’s blackmail and destroy her?”
“I didn’t t-tell them about Ivy’s abortion!”
“Oh? Then why would Priscilla hire you?” Carina asked as she set the candlestick on a dresser and slowly unbuttoned her cloak. “How exactly do you prove useful to them?”
“T-they thought I might be able—to convince Ivy to s-spy on you—”
“So you were going to blackmail her either way,” Carina rationalized with a sinister smile. “Even though you’re the reason she had to have an abortion, to begin with.”
“W-what?”
Carina draped her cloak over the dresser and reached behind her back to undo enough buttons to remove her dress as she continued. “You sold Ivy into slavery. The abortion was the result of Ivy being raped by my half-brother, Lincoln Turnbell.”
“If she seduced her master and got—”
“Oh shut up, you disgusting, heartless bitch!” Carina’s voice grated like a knife across the stone as she yanked off her dress and tossed it to the dresser. “Monsters like you will always assign the blame to someone else. Your despicable actions had consequences that will follow Ivy for the rest of her life. You—” she gripped the candlestick tightly and turned to face Miranda, “—sold your own flesh and blood so you could escape the tarnish of your husband’s ruined reputation and death!”
Miranda’s face twisted with displeasure as the Duchess kicked off her slippers and stepped forward across the ice in only her chemise.
“The day you exchanged your daughter’s freedom for a few measly coins was the day you condemned Ivy to the worst of human depravity,” Carina continued harshly. “But I don’t expect someone like you to show remorse for your actions, even now, when you’re about to die.”
Miranda swallowed as panic and disbelief twisted her visage still further.
“I used to think that killing was something to be avoided,” Carina murmured resentfully. “Perhaps if I had killed Maura’s family a long time ago, Ivy would have been spared. Perhaps if I had just accepted this power and embraced it sooner, I might have been able to choose a different path for all of us.”
A mist-like frost glided around the Duchess’s body as she knelt and straddled Miranda’s stiff form. The scarlet ice beneath the Duchess’s bare feet cracked and splintered as Carina shifted her weight and studied the woman beneath her.
“But now I realize there’s nothing wrong with removing monsters from this world. You’ve had your second chance—you chose wrong.”
“No—” Miranda wheezed out frantically. “No, I’m not—I didn’t—”
“Save your excuses. I’m a cold-hearted witch, remember?” Carina interjected with cold annoyance as she raised the candlestick above her head. “For Hana’s sake, I’ll make this quick and relatively painless.”