How Familiar - 13. Larissa - The Iralian Guard

Larissa Willow

The moment she felt Jeannie's small, grey paw patting at her face, Larissa's eyes shot open. Jeannie mewed gently and turned her colossal green eyes, little moons in her face, to the left. Larissa heard what the cat had seen or heard. It was not the gentle wind that breezed through the plains and fields. Something or someone made that noise. She knew it. Quietly, she nudged Peeta awake, and the rhino's great black eye looked at her.

Keep an eye on things here. I hear someone, she silently told her Familiar, who gave a slight nod.

Don't get killed, Peeta had a dark sense of humour. I'm not done living yet.

Ronan was asleep under the black cloak Larissa gave him when they escaped. Despite her promises, they still had not stopped for proper clothing. Larissa gently took the cloak from the young Princeling, apologising under her breath for leaving him cold. Timi's wings would keep him warm, she told himself. The three children always slept in the shiny silver embrace of the great Pegasus, and neither Viv nor Lorcan ever seemed to get cold. As they travelled further north the weather slowly warmed. She shrouded herself in black so she would be difficult to spot in the night and quickly, silently, crossed the long grass towards the brush she heard noises from.

A woman, she saw as she circled around, making sure she wasn't making any noise. She did not appear to be armed, and Larissa's sharp eyes spotted the tiny tortoise she clutched to her chest. So she's not an immediate threat - but that doesn't mean she isn't a spy. Queen Ninon was desperate to find the lost Prince. She'd sent troops of her army to every corner of the country with intentions of finding him, and the Queen's men and women were omnipresent. After Larissa had narrowly defeated the bandits, she had not seen them again, but she had to keep an open mind. Ronan was a living fortune just waiting to be collected, and whoever returned him to Ninon and Melicent would be rich and have position and power. Anyone who did not comply with the crazy Queen she would no doubt make an example of. She shuddered to think what fate Warrick may have suffered. If the Goddess were merciful, the boy died when he fell from Peeta's back.

The woman seemed to be hiding, but Larissa needed to make sure. As the woman hid behind a tree, looking behind her, Larissa approached from the other direction, and when she was close enough, she grabbed the assailant and put her gloved hand over the young lady's mouth, pressing her dagger to the girl's throat with her other hand. The woman panicked and screamed into Larissa's grip, but Larissa tried to hush her.

"Who are you? What are you out here for?" Larissa interrogated her, whispering words angrily into her ear and pressing her dagger close. "Don't scream or I'll silence you for good and feed you to my Familiar. Nobody will ever know you were here."

The woman sobbed, but Larissa gently lifted her hand and put it on her forehead, leaning her head back further to expose her vulnerable throat. Even while Larissa threatened her, the girl refused to let her tortoise fall to the ground so she could defend herself.

"I'm Mollie," she whimpered quietly. "I didn't know you were here! Please leave me be. I will forget I ever saw you!"

"Alright Mollie, but what are you doing out here?" Larissa snarled into her ear.

It was Prince Ronan that she stole from the Queen of Ilaria, not a jug of her favourite wine. She could take no chances, and once she got the Prince on a boat to Ulisse, she would become an extremely wealthy woman. Wealthy enough to give Lorcan and Viv the opportunity to live any life they wanted. Wealthy enough to buy her own band of mercenaries and liberate the children who lived in slavery throughout the country.

"Please!" Mollie stammered, shaking in terror. "I need help!"

"You need help?" Larissa lowered her dagger, believing Mollie to be telling the truth. "That's why you're out here?"

"Yes!" Mollie turned around, but Larissa grabbed her arm in case she was trying something silly. "I am a priestess from a little Church down this road. The Queen's soldiers seized it for themselves some days ago."

"The Queen's soldiers are here?" Larissa asked, completely releasing Mollie and letting the young woman gratefully kiss her tortoise on the protective carapace. Its arms, legs and head had retreated inside its shell the moment Larissa struck. "Why?"

"They... they defaced our Church!" Mollie was shaking as she told her tale. "Worshippers of the Fell God! They took our head priestess and burned her as a sacrifice!"

The Fell God, Larissa thought with despair. What exactly was the Queen sending armies out to do? Destroy the commoners? Strike fear anew in their hearts? Or was she just insane? Did she worship the Dark God Diorae nowadays?

"But what did they come for?" Larissa repeated her question. "Why this Church?"

"They seek Prince Ronan, I believe," Mollie reached out and grabbed Larissa's arm. "Please. There aren't many, but we are a small convent of priestesses with no means of defending ourselves."

"Mollie, I feel for you," Larissa sighed, brushing her brunette hair from her face. She was not used to it being so greasy and dirty. "But why do you believe I can help you? I have no quarrel with the Queen's soldiers."

"Miss, I know you can!" Mollie pleaded, her amber-coloured eyes desperate and her light brown hair tied into a knot behind her head. "You have skills in combat, and you have a Familiar capable of eating me, don't you? Me and Shelly."

"Shelly? Your tortoise is called Shelly?" Larissa looked at her, almost amused. "I am sorry to hear of your plight, but I cannot help you. I am sorry."

"Yes, we can!" A meek voice piped up from the shrubs. Ronan's sweet, young face appeared, white as a ghost, outlined by his long, red hair.

"Go back to the others!" Larissa ordered him, furious that he had the nerve to follow her and interrupt. This kid's carelessness is going to have us all executed! "This is not our fight! We cannot afford to get involved in matters that do not concern us."

"It does concern us!" Ronan insisted with a boldness she had not seen from him, and Larissa's heart stopped when she saw Timi, the silver, shining Pegasus quietly approach the Prince's side. His massive wings glittered in the moonlight, and his blue eyes almost seemed to give off a glow of their own.

"By the Goddess!" Mollie gasped, clutching Shelly closer to her flat breasts. "You are Prince Ronan!"

Larissa's dagger immediately found its way back to Mollie's neck, and she looked intensely at her. Mollie squeaked and fell backwards over a root in the ground.

"Curse you, Ronan!" Larissa slapped her forehead in frustration. "Do you know what you've done? Now I have to make sure she doesn't talk!"

"No! I would never!" Mollie squealed. Larissa fought tears. She had no love of killing, but she would do anything to protect the three children in her care.

"I have to," Larissa aimed the dagger at the lady's open throat. "Nobody can know the Prince is here! It would mean the deaths of all of us. We cannot take any chances!"

"Larissa, don't!" Ronan begged, beginning to cry into his hands. "Please don't hurt her! Put the knife down!"

"I can't!" Larissa shouted through clenched teeth. Peeta would be proud, she supposed. At least there was one thing she could be happy about in this horrible situation. "I'm sorry."

Before Larissa could steel herself to run the blade through the terrified girl, a bird flew silently from the sky and snatched the dagger from her hand with its mighty talons. Larissa hissed in surprise and saw Jorge sailing high above on his wings, her silver dagger glinting in the moonlight.

"Lorcan!" She exclaimed, and the young former servant boy's dark eyes peeked out from over the brush, followed immediately by Viv's. They all came after me. They all saw what I was going to do. Oh, no. Peeta lumbered close from behind the shrub as well, her eyes full of scorn and disappointment.

"You cannot do this, Lady Willow!" Lorcan stressed with a shaky voice. "I won't let you!"

"You children don't get it!" Larissa was getting desperate, but she couldn't just kill Mollie now that the children had begged for mercy. There was no way to win now. If she let this woman go, she might talk to the Iralian Guard in hopes of reward or sanctuary for the other priestesses. If she killed her to silence her, the children might mount Timi and fly off. "If anybody knows that we're here, all of us die. The Ilarian Guard will find us and all of us end up like Warrick! I will not take any chances with your lives. I won't!"

"Please, my Lady," Mollie begged, and Larissa looked to her. The young woman's hands were pressed together in prayer. "The Queen and her devil worshipping savages are no allies of mine. I would never betray your confidence - I swear it!"

"Oh, dog's balls!" Larissa conceded. She extended a gloved hand to the priestess, and Mollie hesitantly took it. In a way, she was relieved. She did not enjoy killing people, nor did she have any desire to kill Mollie in cold blood. "I apologise, Mollie. I pray you understand why I can't afford loose ends."

"My Lady Willow," Mollie knelt on one knee in her long, modest golden garb. "In the name of the Goddess, I thank you for showing mercy as She would have."

"I am no longer a Lady of the court," Larissa replied gruffly, pulling Mollie to her feet. She was taller than Larissa, albeit not by much, and skinny. "Larissa is my name. Do not thank me. Thank my children." They are the angels on my shoulder, she thought. Peeta is the devil. I only do what is necessary.

You are weak, Larissa! Peeta scolded her, lowering her head and letting her Human see her huge, dangerous horn. Fuck off, Peeta. I don’t need your attitude right now.

I cannot afford to scare the Prince, Larissa shrugged at her. I would not have liked it, but I would have done it. Don't presume to call me weak!

"Prince Ronan Alae?" Mollie asked Ronan, gingerly approaching him. Ronan's big, round eyes looked at her, and he nodded. Ugh, Larissa thought. Naive and indiscreet. He is making this harder than it needs to be. "You're the one they seek. The Ilarian Guard."

"I am so sorry that this happened to your Church," Ronan's voice was barely a whisper, and he guiltily reached out to take her hand. "It's my fault."

"It's not your fault!" Viv told him, her cat carefully coiled around her shoulders. "Their orders were to find and return you, not sacrifice innocent people to the Fell God!"

"If I did not escape... then this would never have happened..." Ronan sniffed and stifled a sob. "Please forgive me. I never wanted... any of this!"

"How many soldiers occupy your Church, Mollie?" Lorcan asked her, scratching at his young face.

"Currently seven, but they work in shifts," Mollie explained, looking again to Larissa. Shelly had finally come from her shell, peeking black, beady eyes out at the small group of Humans and their Familiars. "Fourteen currently farm the countryside looking for signs of you. The Prince and the Lady who stole him. I did not imagine you would have come this way, and I escaped to find bandits or mercenaries who could help."

"You would put your faith in bandits?" Viv asked, surprised and disgusted. "They live only for themselves. What price would they ask for?"

"I would choose the lesser evils!" Mollie defended her decision, biting her lip. "Please help me. Help us. They starve us, they beat us and by night they take us. They burned our head priestess alive and forced us to watch! My best friend! I cannot bear to let it go on!"

"Come with us," Larissa offered, ignoring Peeta's snort of derision. "Leave them. Our only priority is to get Prince Ronan to safety. We cannot risk foolish missions such as this."

"No!" Ronan put his arm around Timi's great neck. "I am the reason these people suffer, Lady Larissa! I will not run and pretend it isn't happening!"

"You will!" Larissa turned to him and pointed. "You are free because I liberated you. You may be the Prince, but you do not give me orders. I am in charge here! We go north! North! Nowhere else! We do not put your life at risk!"

"Th-then... I-I'll d-d-do it w-without you!" Ronan stammered, and Larissa watched with scorn as he tried to mount Timi. He failed and slipped. Timi had to kneel before the frail, weak little Prince could hoist his other leg over the feathery back of his Familiar. Please, Ronan. A stiff breeze would knock you down and shatter your body on the soft ground underneath.

"I'm coming too!" Lorcan fearlessly decided, and Jorge gave a caw of camaraderie from above, still carrying Larissa's prized dagger in his talons. The young boy climbed onto Timi's back, and the Pegasus whinnied and pawed at the ground with a great hoof.

"This is madness!" Larissa cupped her face with her hand. "You win, Ronan! If I cannot stop you from walking into certain death, then I suppose I have no choice but to humour you just this once. We will eliminate the soldiers currently occupying your Church, Mollie, but do not think we will do this free of charge."

"Bless you!" Mollie raised two fingers to the middle of her forehead - the sign of Lata. "Most will be asleep, but one will be doing sentry duty. There are seven in all."

"Thank you Lady--" Ronan began to speak, but Larissa was in no mood for him.

"Stay down and stay quiet!" She barked at him. "This is the first and last time I will humour you, little Prince! We have already lost a life saving yours. I see Warrick every day and every night!"

Ronan looked down at his grubby hands, ashamed and guilty. Good. That will keep him subdued, she thought, unhappy that she needed to play on his emotions to prevent him from doing anything stupid. Peeta obediently crouched so that Mollie could climb onto her back as Viv hopped up onto Timi with the other children. Larissa took a seat behind Mollie. Last time she rode in front, she lost Warrick. She did not even remember when it happened. One minute he was there and the next he was gone. It haunted her every time she looked at Ronan and remembered.

"Lady Willow!" Lorcan got her attention and pointed to the sky. Larissa looked up and saw something falling in the light of the moon, and she caught her dagger with her left hand. That is the last time I let that little brat get the drop on me.

The band travelled slowly and quietly as Mollie directed the way. She needed both hands to ride Peeta's back, so Larissa held Shelly for her. The tortoise's gaze made her uneasy, but Shelly nuzzled her head against Larissa's fingers. It seemed she was just as grateful as Mollie for sparing their lives. As much as Larissa hated the situation she now found herself in, she was glad she did not kill Mollie in the end. Jorge flew overhead, but the falcon never told Lorcan of any dangers. That was a relief. They needed to strike at the Ilarian Guard currently inside the building and liberate the priestesses inside, and then they needed to vanish as quickly as they came before more troops found them. This is not what I signed up for, she thought angrily. I'm going to demand a bonus when I get paid for the complications.

"The woman on patrol circles the perimeter every ten minutes," Mollie explained to her quietly. "The others were asleep when I fled, but they may have woken since then."

Iralia was a brutal place in many areas. It was a country that valued little more than strength above all. Bandits roamed the countryside free of consequences for their barbaric actions, and the Ilarian Guard would not face penalties for the rape of helpless women - or men. The more Larissa heard about the injustices at the Church, the more she was determined to end them. By the time they arrived and waited in hiding for the patrol to come by, Larissa spotted a burned pyre a dozen metres away from the Church's back entrance and knew Ronan had made the right decision. Someone needed to stop them. The smell of ash still lingered in the air. A sacrifice to the Dark God? What the hell is going on in this country? She shifted on Peeta's back and grimaced, putting her hand on the injury she suffered at the hands of the bandits. Viv did well enough to stifle the flow of blood and bind the wound, but that was the best she could offer.

"I can fix that for you," Mollie offered, noticing with her keen eyes that Larissa was in pain.

"That would be most kind, but a change of dressing would do well enough," Larissa thanked her with a reluctant smile. She was in a foul mood and cursed that Mollie came to them in the first place.

"I have my Holy texts inside the Church," Mollie insisted, moving Larissa's hand to inspect the injury herself. "I have studied the works of the Goddess my entire life."

"No offence, Mollie," Larissa snapped at her, eyes focused on the Church in the distance. "But prayer and faith are not steel. I have no use for the Goddess in this."

"I have a deep understanding of the magic that surrounds the Goddess Lata," Mollie continued, failing to be irked by the blasphemous words of her companion. "Perhaps I cannot harness Her power the way the Zyrians can, but I know many things that can be of assistance to you. For instance, if I had my texts, I could accelerate the healing of your wound."

"Well, I won't deny that's an attractive prospect," Larissa smiled in spite of her foul mood. "Viv does well with what she knows, but we could certainly use your expertise. Still, I will go in alone. Lorcan, I'm counting on you, Peeta and Jorge to keep everyone safe, okay?"

"Kay!" Lorcan smiled up at her with his amber-coloured eyes under the greasy black hair. "Jorge will spot 'em a mile away!"

Young Lorcan was always thrilled when Larissa gave him jobs to do. He liked to feel useful, and Jorge the falcon was as valuable an ally as she could ask for. She credited Lorcan and his Familiar with the fact they'd travelled so far with minimal incident. She shot a glance to Viv, who was not combat savvy but had a useful set of skills. She foraged well and knew what fruits, berries and nuts were edible and what would cause belly aches, and her cat often slept through the day so she could keep her eyes open at night. There were no useless members in their party - except the bloody Prince and his coward of a Pegasus, she thought grimly. One can't do anything, and the other one won't do anything - except make everything harder!

"Stay safe, loves," Larissa blew a kiss to the children, squeezed Mollie's shoulder and sprang into action, hopping from Peeta's back and sprinting silently across the grass to the walls of the Church. The sentry appeared too soon from around the corner of the stony building, and Larissa's heart almost stopped. She was eight feet away from her and paused in surprise. Before she even thought about what she was doing, Larissa threw the dagger at her. She was fast enough to kill her before she raised her double-edged axe, but the crow on her shoulder cawed before the light inside it was extinguished with the death of the Human it was bonded to. Shit, she thought. If the wrong people inside heard that... She took the dagger from the woman's throat. That was a lucky shot.

Be ready to come in and stomp some people. I want to make this clean and quick, but if things go wrong, come and do what you do best, she told Peeta as she crept along the side of the little building.

Understood. I am watching, Peeta reassured her. Good.

The Lady Willow gently tested the wooden door, and satisfied that it would not creak, opened it and stuck to the wall. She immediately heard someone chuckling.

"Pass her over!" A woman snickered, and Larissa heard a squeak of displeasure from another woman. Her blood burned. "Be a good girl."

Larissa gripped her blood-soaked dagger and crept silently along the wall. I will kill all of them. Not just for Ronan. Not for Mollie. For all the girls who suffer under the Iralian Guard in this miserable shack. In the barracks, she decided. That's where they'll be. Seven of them, Mollie said. I already killed one. At least two are awake, and there are priestesses as well. Well, it's showtime. The army's lowest-ranked members were cannon fodder. Larissa was far more proficient in combat than most of the Iralian Guard - except perhaps Iralia's three Generals. These fools should not be a match for me if I take them out one by one. The bandits only came close to beating me because they all attacked me at once.

The door to the barracks was already open. Larissa peered around the corner to survey what was going on. Blood stained the stone walls, and it smelled terrible. Three soldiers, two women and one man, slept in beds of hay alongside their dogs and one small lizard. There was no sign of the fourth, but she sighted two men and a woman with a naked young priestess. They were all in their undergarments, and fire warmed the room from the hearth.

Make some noise, Larissa decided, slipping behind the door and grasping her dagger. Eliminate those who exit, and I will execute anyone who lets their guards down from inside.

Peeta roared. Larissa smirked as she heard the rhino's cry - loud enough to be heard, but not loud enough to rouse the three that were fast asleep or their Familiars.

"Come with me," a woman commanded. From her authoritative tone, Larissa guessed she was in charge of this small unit. "I don't like the sound of that and Irma hasn't been back in."

"Do we wake them?" Another woman asked, and Larissa heard them grabbing weapons.

"Oh, I don't imagine there will be any need," a merry sounding man decided. "If there's nothing to worry about, then we don't want to wake them for nothing. You want Orson to cut your fingers off?" The trio giggled. "Don't go anywhere darling," the man must have been talking to the young girl held hostage. "I'd hate to have to kill a girl so pretty."

Three on their way, Larissa told her Familiar. Kill them all. I'll kill the others.

Larissa prayed that they would not think to look for her as they strode out, armed with weapons but not wearing their breastplates, and they did not check for her. Careless! She was grateful, though. As soon as the three soldiers exited through the front door, Larissa sprung into the next room and immediately buried her dagger in the first man's chest, then she sliced the second soldier's throat. The noise woke the third soldier, but he was unarmed and unprepared. It didn't take long for Larissa to grab him as he attempted to flee and open up his throat from ear to ear as well.

Covered in blood, she turned to the four priestesses in the room. They all shared similar Familiars: two tortoises, a tremendous yellow toad and a fat, blue lizard. They were shaking, some of them naked, and all of them Mollie's age.

"Be quiet!" Larissa shouted over their screeches of terror. "I am not here to cause any harm. Hush or I'll have to silence you!" The girls all stopped their cries of panic and shock and placed two fingers on their foreheads. They're praying, Larissa realised. "Mollie found me and begged me for help. Please, get your clothes and anything else valuable. Go."

"Bless you in the name of Mother Lata," the girl who had been molested by the guards whispered, kneeling on the floor. All of the women clutched their Familiars and found Holy garbs in their hampers. Some were dirty and others stained with blood, but there was no time to be picky.

The fools were no match for us, Peeta smugly informed her, and Larissa smiled. She had no doubt Peeta would deliver. She always did. I killed them with help from the bird. We should leave before any other troops come back.

"Mollie!" One of the girls cried out - the one who had been molested by the soldiers - and ran to the priestess who had come inside. "I'm so glad to see you made it!"

"Kathleen!" Mollie kissed her on the forehead. "Thank the Goddess you are safe. She looks out for us indeed. And Lady-- my Lady, of course! I cannot thank you enough for what you've done for me and all of the Sisters who live here."

"Everyone needs to take their things and begone," Larissa was anxious to leave before any reinforcements arrived. "Find your families, or find another place of worship that is not so easily taken. I fear... problems such as these are only just beginning. Please take care of yourselves."

"I beg your leave to join you," Mollie decided, taking Larissa's hands in her own. "I will give anything to see you and your children to safety - even my life."

"You say you can heal wounds?" Larissa managed to smile, wiping the blood from her face with an even bloodier sleeve and making a mess. "I would be grateful if you would find your books and come with us. I know my children are fond of you already."

"Mollie... where are you going?" Kathleen asked, her eyes flickering between the two women. "Who are you, my Lady? Though, I already have my suspicions."

"I will keep her safe and return her to you," Larissa promised, and Kathleen managed a smile and bowed her head. "Bandits arrived and routed the Iralian Guard in the Church. You all escaped while they fought and looted. Let it be known. Tell everybody that is what happened. Nobody can know another story. Will you do that for me?"

"For Prince Ronan..." Kathleen had a pretty smile as she left the Church. "I would do anything to help. Farewell, Mollie. Don't do anything I wouldn't do!"

So much for being incognito, Larissa thought. She knew she could trust the Priestesses of Lata to hold their tongues, but she was beginning to get paranoid about how quickly she was recognised. Keeping Ronan a secret could not last for much longer.

"You did it!" Lorcan lurched at Larissa and put his little arms around her when she and Mollie returned to the brush. "I knew you could!"

"You're amazing, Larissa!" Viv, saddled up on the Pegasus, was cuddling Jeannie. "You should be the Queen of Ilaria!"

"I can't imagine anything worse," Larissa winked at her, before reaching Peeta and collapsing into giggles. The rhino seemed to be smiling, her horn coated in blood. "You're just as much a mess as I am!"

It looks good on you, Peeta bowed her head. Come. Let us leave this place. I'm proud of you, Larissa. Maybe you'll get us out of this mess alive after all.

"My Lady..." Ronan whispered, his voice almost taken by the breeze. "Thank you so much. I feel like... maybe I'll sleep tonight. Maybe I won't have those awful dreams."

"After all you've done to blackmail me, I should hope so," Larissa quipped, hopping aboard Peeta's shoulders and helping Mollie climb up as well.

"I can help with that," Mollie piped up cheerfully, clutching books to her chest with Shelly hiding snug inside her garb. "Sleep is something I specialise in. And now… let me find something that can help your wound close up."

"Look at that!" Larissa laughed as Peeta and Timi began their steady trot north, leaving that horrible building behind. "She's already paying for herself."

~ The Queen's Orders ~

"It's been weeks, and you still haven't found that pitiful little Alaeyan?" Queen Ninon barked furiously at the three generals before her, throwing her drinking chalice on the ground in a fury with a loud clang. "You're Iralia's elite, are you not? So what's the problem? One seditious bitch is too much for you, is she?"

Melicent smiled from the throne next to her mother's, Po the Griffin gently scratching at her bared shoulders with her mighty talons. She agreed with her mother. How hard can it be to find Alaeyan scum, a treasonous Lady and two filthy servant children? I should have pursued them myself. Po and I would have subdued and returned them within the hour! They deserve to die screaming for stealing my chance at being Queen from me - the same way that Warrick boy did.

"My Queen, I apologise sincerely for--" Tanya, a woman who never seemed to have her Familiar with her, tried to explain herself, but Melicent knew it would do no good.

"I can't do anything with apologies!" Ninon screeched at her, and the massive Griffin behind her squawked in agreement. "Get me that Prince! Cut off his hands and feet if you must! And that Willow woman who took him - I want her to watch as we burn her two brats alive in Diorae's name, then we will force her to eat her own beast until one of them dies! Are you listening to me? Tanya. Aleida. Cassius. You find them! Reports are that they seek asylum in Odesh, but I do not believe such rumours. A Pegasus stands no chance of crossing her borders without Erika Ode tossing him right back out. The Zyrian abominations would execute him for trespassing if he went to Alaeyas. That means he has gone south or north to the child Queen or the fish Queen... or he is still hiding here. Turn over every rock and put every village who denies you to the torch. Put the fear of Diorae in their hearts. Anyone who does not comply with your search goes on the pyre. Whichever of you brings Ronan back to me alive wins my favour. The other two will fight each other to the death in front of the court. I care not which of you succeeds, so long as that Prince marries my daughter! Now, get out of my sight."

"Mother..." Melicent spoke when the three generals of the Iralian Guard quickly vanished from the throne room with their Familiars. "I understand your desire to have Ronan back. I share such a desire, but are you not going overboard? Tanya, Aleida and Cassius have been here for you since before I was born. They've been my only friends. To threaten them with death is--"

"Hmph," Ninon looked at her with hazel eyes, almost golden. They didn't have the shine and warmth they once had. "They're all traitors in the end, Mel. Give them a chance, any of them, and they'll lance you in the back! There is no other way to be safe."

"You know you can trust me, don't you mother?" Melicent asked, feeling a little unnerved by her mother's increasing paranoia and devotion to Diorae, the Fell God. When Ninon narrowed her eyes and nodded, Melicent stood from her throne, her Griffin firmly holding her shoulders with its talons. "With your leave, I will go in search of Ronan myself. If I return with him, will you spare the lives of the Generals?"

Ninon gnashed her teeth and growled, raking her nails through her brown hair and even pulling some of it out. Melicent shivered. It pained her to see her mother having one of her spells. She suffered terrible headaches and voices told her... horrible things.

"Do it!" Ninon answered with violent nodding. "Do it! Get that Prince back, and I will spare your treasonous friends! Fail, and I will kill all of them! All of them!! Go! GO!!"

Melicent nodded and strode away with Po at her back, but she stopped to look back at her mother, who was again talking to herself.

"... Yes, dear. Everyone who betrays me will pay for it. I will kill all of them."

Thanks to everyone who reads my stuff.  
Ellis in Odesh comes next.