Chapter 6 - The Bad Guy
Chez was crazy to suggest that I cooperate with that strange girl.
In all my centuries of existence, I had always worked alone.
Always.
The incident with the explosion was my punishment for thinking otherwise.
I didn’t need anyone else’s help. Besides, normal humans were incredibly fickle creatures. Not to mention all their capacity for any action would always be hindered by emotions. Such things made one weak.
I clutched at my chest again.
The heart inside me was full of disquiet. It was making me even more tetchy than usual. Notwithstanding the more frequent bouts of anger, I was beginning to succumb to mood swings, finding it difficult to concentrate on my work—on anything. Adding fuel to the fire, my temperament was getting so volatile that it was no longer practical to receive any more companions.
Allie had also been making it a point to ignore me altogether. She wouldn’t touch her trays of food. She would sulkily work through the night with her noisy machines and loud banging.
I needed to get rid of her so badly.
If there was ever any argument for how emotions incapacitated power, it was this. Me. Right this moment.
I sensed the cat’s presence before I heard the mewl as Chez padded through the doorway as it shut behind him with a clang.
Tossing back the last of my wine, I pushed my chair back.
Chez’s giant yellow eyes met mine—sober, unlike usual. “It’s time again.”
I nodded once. “I know.”
The cat hopped up to the back of the couch beside me so I could unlatch a rolled-up scroll attached to his collar.
With a flick of my hand and a spell, the scroll floated in mid-air, and, amidst a golden haze, unrolled itself.
I almost didn’t need to read it all the way through.
The Queen of Hearts’s seal was blood red on the bottom.
Regardless of my unstable condition, potentially waning magic, personal problems, and whatnot, I couldn’t ignore the Queen’s bidding. The Queen still needed to eat. And I needed to hunt.
After a moment, the scrap of paper ignited into a small fireball, hefting it up into the air; the fire consuming the note like a greedy ghost as the leftover ashes disappeared into the ether.
I pursed my lips. “The Queen wants to take Veridia.”
“The next mission is a target? Not a hunt?” Chez mused. “The Queen hasn’t asked you to do one in a while. There must be a really big threat.”
I stood up to get ready. “The kingdom of Veridia has been a hold-out for decades. They’ve never recognized the Queen’s authority. Plus Veridia’s princess is expected to wed into another powerful family and there have been rumors that they are growing in strength and support. This union would make them even stronger.”
“A wedding? Ouch. Two strikes. Is this princess deliriously happy? We all know the Queen can’t stand that.” Chez stretched out on my desk. “Well, Her Majesty has already heard about this one so you can’t delay.”
I took the other trinket dangling from his collar and stared at it for a moment. If only the coeur burned, I could capture it right now. Shaking my head, I pocketed the miniature Heartlamp. “I know my job, Chez.”
Hearing rustling from the studio downstairs, Chez quirked his head. “What are you going to do about Allie?”
I groaned at the mention of her name. I didn’t want to be bothered with her for now. She just needed to stay the hell out of trouble.
I gave Chez a pointed look. “Do you think you can keep her here?”
“Sure. We’ll play Parcheesi. Where do you keep the board games?”
Ignoring Chez’s snide comment, I merely shook my head before disappearing with my usual burst of smoke.
The Kingdom of Veridia was perched atop a rugged mountain peak. Its thick stone walls seamlessly integrated with intricate brass and copper embellishments as steam billowed from vents placed along the castle’s exterior, blending with the mountain mist.
It might have been beautiful. But, to me, it was just another kingdom. Just another target. Just another day.
As I coasted closer, high in the air, the royal courtyard’s embellishments appeared even grander. Tables draped in rich fabrics were set with exquisite center pieces and floral arrangements, and brass lanterns emitted a gentle steam-infused glow, as the bride and groom stood at the top of the wide aisle laden with rose petals, big, joyous smiles on their faces.
Blissful.
Oblivious.
Unaware.
Honestly, they should have seen this coming.
Seen me coming.
All the kingdoms in Wünder, no matter how powerful, how innovative, how unique, would always succumb to the Queen of Hearts. No attempts to overthrow the Queen in the past had ever succeeded. And they never ever would.
Because of me.
As I rode in on a dark cloud, the sky lit up with lightning and I grabbed the bride. She screamed as we lifted into the air, her struggle against my grasp futile.
All at once, a barrage of arrows and swords and magic came whizzing right at me from all directions but I barely needed to wave my arm to summon a thick fog that disabled them and enveloped the entire kingdom. A fresh surge of energy boosting my powers, everything seemed easier today.
So easy.
With another wave of my arm, multiple copies of myself set upon to attack the rest of the guests and guards in the courtyard, in barely visible shadowy blurs, bathing the air in horrified screams, slashing, breaking, and generic terror.
Just another day. Just another—
A deep stabbing in my chest caused me to suck in a gasp.
What—
Blinking, I cast a confused look around but the princess and I were all alone, aloft in the air. There was no culprit. No enemy. No dagger. No arrow. I glanced down at my shirtfront. No crimson stain. No wound. No visible injury.
Except for this agonizing sensation of gouging pain in the core of my body.
Swallowing hard, my eyes widened in almost knowing dread, as suddenly—the supposedly lifeless heart in my chest began to beat…
Hard.
Strong.
Fast.
I groaned at the sting, almost dropping the princess of Veridia in my shock. Although, perhaps I should have. Her screams were grating in my ears.
But dammit—what the actual hell was going on?
I forced a couple of blinks and an overwhelming wave of force struck me, a concussive impact like a physical blow, and a momentary burst of light seared my eyes.
When I opened my eyes again, for some reason I was seeing the world as though I was outside myself.
I realized exactly what was going on.
Allie.
Allie was here.
And more than feeling her feelings, this time, I could see what she was seeing.
From some dark corner of the courtyard, Allie was watching the dozens of copies of the monstrous sorcerer decimate all the guests at the wedding, blood spraying everywhere as I whirled in the air, on the ground, and in between tables as I attacked everyone.
Allie’s heart hammered even harder in my chest.
The princess’s screams rang in the air as I slaughtered each and every one of her loved ones. At the same time, the accumulated mystical power contained in her heart grew and grew, because the more of her loved ones I slew, the more powerful her heart was going to be once harvested.
When the last of her family was slain, I, the monster, reached into the princess’s chest and extracted her still-beating heart. With its substantial power, it glowed in my hand, ever so much more than the last ember I had collected.
As I slowly descended to the courtyard, my feet touching down on the floor, my vision returned to me.
The princess of Veridia went slack in my grasp. She crumpled to the stone floor to her knees.
Her mouth still open in silent horror, the princess lifted her wide eyes to me, as if to watch as I drew something from my pocket. With another spell of my finger, the little trinket from Chez grew into a full-sized Heartlamp.
I slipped the glowing heart ember within the glass containment and the princess of Veridia’s eyes rolled into the back of her head. Her face turned ashen. Her body fell limp to one side—lifeless.
On cue, all the ghostly instances of myself vanished with a poof into the carpet of gray fog that remained around us.
I took a deep breath.
Mission accomplished.
Taking a moment, I clenched my teeth to rein in the initial shock at the overwhelming feelings I’d felt from Allie. The rapid beating of the heart in my chest turned from incredibly alarming to merely disconcerting.
Cracking my neck in the strain, I strode across the courtyard.
Allie was crouched beside one of the marble balustrades. Her eyes were wide, her face pale.
All around us, wildfires still crackled, smoke and fog lacing the chilly night with a ruinous omen, the flickering fire the only glow in the darkness, but the courtyard and the kingdom had gone otherwise silent.
Because I had killed everyone.
As I approached Allie, the heart in my chest beat a bit faster again, accompanied by a heavy dread. There was a sinking feeling in my stomach, as though every hair on my body stood on end, every nerve was alert, alarmed. My mouth was dry. My skin cold.
I tilted my head.
Was this…fear?
I let out a slow breath.
I was feeling Allie’s fear.
I hadn’t felt fear in a long, long time.
The vision of those terrifying shadows came screaming back into my mind. I couldn’t move. Instead of Allie, it was me crouched low on the ground, my head covered with my arms. I didn’t want to see. I didn’t want to hear. I didn’t want to feel…
I forcibly shook my head to clear the disturbing images.
Not now.
Steadying myself, I held my hand out to help Allie up. “Come, we must return to my tower.”
Allie’s face was blank. It was as if her brain had churned to a halt after attempting to process too many thoughts. Her voice was flat when she asked, “What-what are you?”
I cleared my throat. “I told you. I am the Queen of Hearts’s most notorious assassin.”
Her expression didn’t change. “You’re…the bad guy.”
I sniffed. Well, at least now perhaps she finally believed how powerful I really was.
She extended a finger toward the object in my hand. “And what-what is that?”
“It’s called a Heartlamp.”
“You killed everyone. And you…stole her heart.”
“That is my job. The Queen of Hearts tasks me to fetch fresh hearts for her to eat.”
“Eat?”
“In a manner of speaking. Hearts contain powerful mystical energy. I bring the Queen the hearts and she extracts their energy magic.”
Allie clutched at her chest. “I had a feeling… I couldn’t feel mine…” Her tone hollowed. “Did you give my heart to the Queen too? How am I still alive?”
“You’re lucky. You are too weird for me to give your heart over to the Queen. But hers…” I lifted the Heartlamp in a gesture, referring to the heart from the princess of Veridia. “Will make the Queen even more powerful than she already is.”
Her forehead creased. “So, my heart is…?”
“Here.” I tapped my chest. “Outside a body, without a Heartlamp, your heart would have withered away.”
Allie’s chest began to heave, like she already knew the answer to her next question, but knew she still must ask it. She swallowed hard. “Are you…going to give me my heart back?”
“No,” I replied clearly, meeting her watery gaze steadily. “It’s mine. Like I told you. You are mine now.”