azazele

ARC 7-Cursed Fates-109-Lane

Lane Macklemore felt like a waste. For all the resources poured into him and the advantages he was given, he’d done disappointingly little with his life.

He didn’t grow up privileged by any means but as the son of a moderately successful hunter, his family had been well off. His father ...

ARC 7-Cursed Fates-108-Mr. Richard

Mr. Richard thought it was about time to make his exit.

One glance at the anxious and, far worse, interested faces surrounding him was enough to tell him there was no salvaging the situation. Either he denied them and invited salacious rumors of all kinds or…nothing. He didn’t have any ...

ARC 7-Cursed Fates-107-Mr. Richard

He wasn’t intimidated.

As a merchant who’d braved the kingdom’s roads and wilderness for decades, he’d seen far too much to let three women, no matter their reputation or ability, intimidate him. By the saints’ grace, he wouldn’t lose his nerve before the king himself.

Tha...

ARC 7-Cursed Fates-106-Mr. Richard

Mr. Richard, and he was Mr. Richard to everyone, including his friends and sometimes to his family, looked over his party with a pleased eye. He wasn’t one for extravagance, being a practical man with few, practical vices, but the party was not a mere exercise in fun. In Harvest, there were all...

ARC 7-Cursed Fates-105

What does one wear to a slaughter?

After a fitful night of sleep, on my part and no one else’s, a small point of embarrassment despite the logical part of my mind insisting there’s nothing wrong with being hesitant over taking lives and that I’m not doing myself any favors comparing m...

ARC 7-Cursed Fates-104

“Gather around everyone. No need to be shy, we’re only plotting mass murder.”

“You don’t have to sound so damn happy about it,” Alana grumbles. She doesn’t see how strained my smile is as she raises a towel to wipe the sweat from her brow. I’m not happy at all. The whole sit...

ARC 7-Cursed Fates-103

“It is rare for you to ask me to spar.”

Across from me on the ruined Teppin lawn, Kierra stretches as she prepares for our bout. As for why I have willingly served myself up for my wife’s violent pleasure, I blame the storm of thoughts going through my mind. There was plenty rattling ...

ARC 7-Cursed Fates-102

“Tell me about—wait.”

I pause as Fen enters the room pushing a serving cart. The fare on it is simple, as all my servants have been too busy to properly stock the kitchen pantries with anything better. Several platters of sandwiches and pitchers of water. Nothing phenomenal but expert...

ARC 7-Cursed Fates-101

“Please, sit down,” I offer as I drop her hand. “You can tell the others to make themselves comfortable. Are you hungry? Of course you are. What do you eat? Do you drink? Alcohol, I mean. Please tell me you do. The lord of the house has a horrible collection of wine we’ll never make our w...

ARC 7-Cursed Fates-100

Should I bring a gift?

It occurs to me that despite having no violent intentions toward these estrazi, a human, their age-old enemy, intruding on a secret rendezvous and demanding they surrender might not be taken well. I refuse to bring Lancecain, both to avoid the odd chance they have a p...

ARC 7-Cursed Fates-99 (Little Water)

Should she kill them?

The longer the two strange females lingered, the more uncomfortable Little Water became. If the encounter was to come to violence, initiative would be valuable. The problem was their confidence. It gave her pause as she knew it wasn’t false, not a hint of fear or anx...

ARC 7-Cursed Fates-98 (Little Water)

Little Water hated the human kingdom.

She knew her journey would be difficult, expected to face hardships that could prove fatal. What she didn’t expect was to be so annoyed and the most unexpected things bothered her the most.

Chief among them was the lack of walls. The estrazi mad...

ARC 7-Cursed Fates-97

Lancecain presses his back against the door as I approach him, one hand blindly grasping for the handle. For a moment. Then he lets go, straightens his shoulders, and looks me in the eyes. “Please calm down.”

“Oh, don’t worry. I’m perfectly calm. We’re just going to have my thra...

ARC 7-Cursed Fates-96

Having enough gold to afford the best doesn’t guarantee someone has the taste to make the most of that wealth. The Teppin house isn’t a gaudy monstrosity, thank the saints, but it is practically empty by the standards of the capital, with a minimum of furniture, a sensible lack of extravagant...

ARC 7-Cursed Fates-95

[I bring troubling news, my summoner.]

As expected, Geneva returns safe and sound, having successfully completed her errand. With Kiera preoccupied with Lancecain, Yulia distracted catching up with the Stars, Talia monopolizing Fen’s attentions for her studies, Earl busy “educating the ...

ARC 7-Cursed Fates-94

Geneva hasn’t returned by morning.

If it were anyone else, truly anyone, I might bother being concerned. Hells, I would be worried for Kierra, despite how capable she is. Had she failed to return from the same errand, I’d be out there searching for her after nightfall, at the latest. 2024-03-20 06:48:59 +0000 UTC View Post

ARC 7-Cursed Fates-93

Thankfully, Kierra knows how to handle horses, swear that elf can do anything. We stop by the Golden Feathers. I wanted to speak with Marcella, but she isn’t there when we arrive. I imagine she’s busy acting on Slaid’s information. Or getting back at the guilds for causing a ruckus in her h...

ARC 7-Cursed Fates-92

“Lady Tome!”

I swear softly and reflexively shut my eyes as a gust of wind blows my hair into my face. A moment later, I remember my ‘films’ and drop one to block the dust being thrown about. Then I look up.

Above me is Mr. Interim, eyes glowing with channeled mana and the air...

ARC 7-Cursed Fates-91

Before our imaginations get away from us, I bring my treasure-hungry elf and conspiracy-loving succubus back on track. Namely, figuring out what happened here and if it relates to us or the March. Unearthing any secret treasures or storehouses hidden by the guilds for centuries can wait.

Fo...

ARC 7-Cursed Fates-90

The roads are a mess as we ride toward the source of fire and fear. The complications are undoubtedly because we are going in the opposite direction of the heavy traffic, who are unilaterally moving away from the problem. The sight reminds me of farmers starting fires to smoke out vermin...

ARC 7-Cursed Fates-89

“G-g-g-good—”

I smile with a mix of amusement and nostalgia as the youngest Teppin makes a spectacle of herself in the doorway of our stolen bedroom while trying to greet us. I have a feeling that she’s a nervous girl by nature. Being the same room as the women that slaughtered her ...

ARC 7-Cursed Fates-88

Unfortunately, we linger too long and miss our opportunity to sneak off. As we whisper to each other in the dark, our guests are shown out and Rey serves tea. All is calm until Alana raises her voice. “What is your problem?”

I turn my gaze back to the parlor and find my lovely knight st...

ARC 7-Cursed Fates-87

In the stories, treachery is always done under the cover of deep shadows and discussed in soft whispers. Never blatantly discussed out in the open, spoken without the obfuscation of code or metaphor.

Slaid’s blunt statement of his devious and, possibly, nefarious intentions prove he isn�...

ARC 7-Cursed Fates-86

Fear, unease, nerves, tension.

A far cry from the happy atmosphere of my party. I wish all this slaughtering could bring me back to that time of music and bright lights. That’s what I’m fighting for. I tell myself that at the end of all this blood and tedium are more of those carefree n...

ARC 7-Cursed Fates-85 (Marcella)

“Fuck.”

Marcella was inclined to agree with the quiet exclamation, though not even a hint of disquiet showed on her face. Their journey to the Teppin estate was short and uneventful, a stark contrast to what awaited them. She knew it would be bad when she saw the broken fence that surro...

ARC 7-Cursed Fates-84 (Marcella)

In Marcella’s experience, the worst thing in business was not competitors or an unstable market, but surprises. She hated surprises. A loss she could handle. Problems could be turned into opportunities if used properly. But surprises? By their nature, they could not be foreseen, planned for, or...

ARC 7-Cursed Fates-83

The parents seem dismayed by the actions of their daughter, her mother watching her with poorly repressed horror while her father glares with disapproval. Do they expect her to face death with quiet dignity?

I can understand the romance of going out with pride. When Crowley Cain snatched me...

ARC 7-Cursed Fates-82

If I am a monster playing a being human, the man who opens the door is a rabbit playing at being a stoic servant. He’s an elderly man dressed in a nice white skirt, dark pants, and a half apron instead of a jacket. Dark eyes peer at me from a weathered face with wrinkles made more prominent by ...

ARC 7-Cursed Fates-81

A noble is in charge of every aspect of the land they govern. They are charged with taking stock of the resources of their territory and allocating them to serve the best interests of the people.

That rarely happens.

Most of the time, the people are given just enough to keep them aliv...

ARC 7-Cursed Fates-80

What is a noble?

That word has a lot of meanings. The most common, I think, references someone born into a position of power, those who are meant to rule by the right of bloodline. They are those that are meant to represent the best of humanity. The elite of the kingdom. This is the view us...