table of contents

| chapter 1 | chapter 2 | chapter 3 | chapter 4

━━━━━━━━━━━━━.⋅ ✦ ⋅.━━━━━━━━━━━━━

For the first time in ten years, Prince Ridley Wood entered the Arusite dungeons with a glass lantern in hand. He was not one to visit such a place—in fact, the last time he had stepped foot across the cracked marble had been to greet his eldest brother Esmond in prison, who, of course, was long gone now.

It was rather funny, the prince thought—both of his brothers were now dead. Such a notion put him at ease.

He would be meeting with the murderer of the second brother quite soon. Perhaps he would praise them for driving a knife through the man’s heart. Ridley laughed at the ridiculous idea—he would not be able to do such a thing if there were any other eyes.

The hatred that the prince had carried for his second brother Eldridge had been hidden from the public for years. He doubted anyone but his family knew about their rivalry. And with the absence of Esmond, Eldridge and Ridley had lingered before his vacant position for five years now—but Eldridge was dead, and the fight was now over.

Oh, to think that Ridley had taken what both of his brothers had so deeply desired. The throne had practically been handed to him, all because someone else had decided to murder a man.

The prince turned down the hallway with a wide strut, lantern flickering across the pallid stone walls with its lazy yellow light. His thoughts moved on—there was no room left to worry about Eldridge’s death. Now, it would be best to focus on how he would enter the prison cell of the murderer. He would kill them, of course, but not yet. He wanted to talk first.

As the narrow passage turned once more, Ridley was faced with a set of stairs. He remembered the looming feeling of the darkened hallway that would guide him to the last chamber. These stairs led to the same place where Ridley had been kept ten years ago, before his execution.
Ridley let a smile slip and continued with the lantern dangling from his fingertips.

He reached the top of the stairs, and the orange glow of candlelight grazed sharply against the features of two lonely guards standing afoot the prison gate. It was too dark to see beyond the iron bars, but Ridley’s heart beat quickly for he knew the man who had killed his brother lay past the shadows.

The guards turned in confusion, hands on the sword by their hips. Ridley lifted a dark brow.

“I see you still aren’t comfortable,” he said bluntly, eyes dropping to the slightly draw weapons. Both guards immediately allowed their swords to fall back into the sheath, sinking into a bow.

“I apologize, Your Majesty,” one guard said hurriedly. Ridley struggled to hold back the smirk that curved at the edge of his lips when he was addressed by such a name. He could get used to this.

“Apologies are not needed.” Ridley raised a hand and the guards stepped aside, exposing the thick iron bars that separated the three of them from the murderer that dwelled inside. “The two of you may leave your positions until I call you back.” He knew such a request was strange, but it would be best to talk to the prisoner without any prying eyes.

Ridley didn’t turn at the sound of retreating footsteps echoing as the guards left without any dare to question the prince. He removed the cell’s keys from his pockets, turning the cold metal into the lock with a thump of his heart. It was exciting, finally being able to match a face to the man who had unknowingly helped him take the throne.

The door clanged behind Ridley with a rattle, and he brought the light of his lantern forward, jagged flames pressing against the dark.

His eyes fell, and he stepped back with a sudden shock. The two golden eyes that met his own carried such an expression that he had rarely seen before. They stung with so much revulsion and hatred, yet at the same time, it was almost as if they were lifeless, flashing with a solemn bleakness.
The owner of those hateful eyes was a woman who looked to be older than him, hair tied back in an unruly mess of pale blonde locks against dark skin. She was scrawny, and Ridley recalled her refusal to eat the food given to her. She was barely fit enough to stand on her own—had she really been the one to drive a knife through such a powerful man?

Her gaze did not falter from his own, and Ridley regained his footing, flashing a light grin.

“If you have come here to speak, then stop staring and do so,” she said flatly, eyes shifting across the prince’s face.

“I am only trying to familiarize myself with an ally,” Ridley responded with a raise of his chin, stepping toward the prisoner. In all honesty, he had not expected the assassin to be a woman. But at the same time, it felt as if he had expected it to be her—though he did not recognize her at all. “What is your name?”

She scoffed and turned her face, gaze falling away with disgust. “I wouldn’t dare to let your lips utter my name.”

His mouth quirked upward. “Names are quite meaningless; I doubt it matters who is to speak a trivial little word.” It was a lie, of course.

“It matters if the man is you,” she said bluntly.

Ridley paused, eyes scanning her profile for any sort of bluff, but all her gaze held was hatred. The thought was sudden, but he realized quickly the true intentions hidden behind those golden eyes. She had not meant to kill his brother, had she?

“That blade was meant for me,” he spoke, and the woman flinched, head still turned away. “Was it not?”

She did not respond, but the silence said everything the prince needed to hear. He laughed, raising a hand to tug at the collar of his shirt.

“Of course, in order to get to me, you had to rid yourself of Eldridge’s advances. It’s a shame you weren’t fast enough to reach me before you were caught.”

His words hovered with yet another wave of silence, and he began to grow increasingly frustrated. This woman knew how to avoid his words—still, he had no information whatsoever about her or her intentions.

Ridley lowered the lantern to the floor, and the light hit an untouched tray of food beside the chains that bound the prisoner. So, it had been true that she had refused to eat for the two days of imprisonment.

Still, she was silent as the lantern’s handle clattered from Ridley’s hand.

“Speak to me,” he said rather roughly, straightening to try and catch her gaze once again. Her brow furrowed, yet her eyes stayed toward the ground. He hated how unbothered she was by his words.

With yet another scoff, Ridley fell to crouch in front of her, reaching out and grasping her chin, fingers curving under her jaw to force her face back toward his own. Something like a shock fell through his body as her eyes met his again, and in a moment of hesitation, he saw a familiar face in her own. He had seen this woman before. However, at the same time, she felt like a stranger to him.

“Tell me your name,” he pressed hotly, grip tightening against her rough skin.

Her lips parted, and she lifted her chin. “My name is Edlyn Aldrich, but you knew that already, did you not?”

Ridley felt taken aback. Her words were most certainly untrue, but he felt as if he had heard the name before.

“It seems as if your hatred for me runs quite deep,” he spoke, brow furrowing as he released Edlyn’s face, allowing her to recoil in aversion. “Though I do not know you at all.”

“You killed my husband.”

“Ah.” He resisted another smirk, pushing back raven hair from his eyes. “So, this is a revenge story?”

She scrunched her nose and eyed him as if he were a stray dog on the streets. “I do this only for my own pride. My husband’s death only made it easier to go through with it.”

Ridley laughed again. “So why not kill me now? I am unguarded, and you have an assortment of weapons around you.” He gestured toward the chains that bound Edlyn, then to the utensils by her plate of food that sat neatly next to her closed fist.

“If I knew I could, I would have done so already,” she spat.

His lips twitched, the grin faltering. Perhaps she knew of his secret, the kind of protection he had given himself before entering the cell, but he doubted the thought. There was no way.

“Then, it seems that your life has come to a waste,” Ridley said in an attempt to distract his thoughts from the searching golden eyes that held his own. “You’ve failed to kill me, Aldrich. Was it worth coming this far only to die?”

“Death won’t be the end for me.” Her eyes burned. Against the quivering candlelight, they looked just like a deadly flame, as if she carried a thirst for blood. “I will find you, and I will kill you.”

Ridley scoffed and brought himself up from the crouched position, rising from the ground. His eyes fell back to the tray of food and once again a pitying grin found his lips. “I shall wait for that day, then. Though, I worry it may never come.”

table of contents

| chapter 1 | chapter 2 | chapter 3 | chapter 4

━━━━━━━━━━━━━.⋅ ✦ ⋅.━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Edlyn Aldrich had watched many people die before. It was hard to avoid such a string of endless deaths when the war was one step out of her homeland. In fact, death had practically been infused into her daily life since age fifteen when her father had been murdered on the battlefield.

That was why she hated Prince Ridley so. He was the cause of the relentless bloodshed, the torn families, and the reason why she had suffered so much. Edlyn had possessed this undying hatred toward him from the very start.

But she had failed to kill him. Twice. She had failed, so now all there was left was to die.

These thoughts did not leave Edlyn as she kneeled on the cold stone of the prison cell, her arms bound with chains only loose enough to perform simple actions with her hands. It had been two days since Ridley had visited her, and still, she had not eaten. But what was the point of eating, when she knew death was near? There was no use in keeping up with the struggle to live.

Edlyn was shaken from those thoughts as a pair of footsteps sounded, the guards stirring from their sleep. In the hallway’s candlelight, she watched as they straightened positions, heels clicking together as the looming silhouette of a woman ascended the stairs.

“Good evening, Princess Lavinia.”

Edlyn stiffened as she heard the name, lowering her eyes as Ridley’s younger sister approached the gate. It rattled open, then closed, and with her head tilted down all Edlyn could see were the tall black boots that stopped before her.

“He did not mention he had a sister,” Edlyn spoke first, voice rough and dry from lack of water. “Have you come to mock me as he did?”

“My brother does not care for Eldridge’s death, but I do,” Lavinia responded heatedly, stepping forward into the flickering candlelight. “So whatever is to happen to you today, I will make you pay for your sins.” This time, it was the princess who carried a hateful spitting of words, and Edlyn couldn’t do much more than raise her head to meet her gaze. Raven black locks of hair curled tightly down her waist and dark eyes, Lavinia closely resembled Ridley—though in looks only.

She flinched when their eyes met.

“You say that something is to happen today,” Edlyn spoke, lifting a brow. “Has your brother finally decided to kill me?”

The princess glowered at her before shaking her head. “The Crown Prince has ordered you to be dressed and brought to him. He will talk with you again in a more proper setting.”

“I think a prison is far more fitting for him.” Humor edged at her voice and Lavinia stepped forward, grasping the hair of Edlyn’s head, forcing her face up.

“How dare you speak of him like that!” she hissed.

“I doubt he felt much remorse for his older brother’s untimely death, and I fear he will be the same with you,” Edlyn pressed, searching for a reaction, daring Lavinia to strike her across the face.

But the princess could only release her just as Ridley had done, turning away.

“Guards.” Lavinia moved back toward the gate. “Call the maids, and tell them to find a suitable dress that will not upset the prince.”

“I look best in red,” Edlyn raised her voice slightly, a smirk daring to crawl onto her features. Lavinia turned, her gaze fiery as she met Edlyn’s once more. But once again, the princess said nothing—although her clenched fists shook rather harshly.

“And tell them to bathe her filthy body while they’re at it.” She gripped the iron bars of the gate, turning her nose up before yanking it open with a furious jolt, brushing past the guards toward the stairs.

⚔

He sat at a table layered with lace and trays of lavish foods, cheeses and baskets of fruit that spilled over in a fountain of rich aromas. Edlyn stepped forward, the guards that had surrounded her pulling back to the sides of the room in tense silence.

At the sound of her footsteps, Ridley looked up from his feast and stood, failing to control the grin that curved at the corners of his lips. He swirled a glass of red wine in one hand, the other supporting his weight as he leaned against the table. The prince had been fitted into a loose white button-up, chest exposed, sleeves unrolled so that they fell toward his wrists. She despised how relaxed he seemed as she stood there, gripping the fabric of the white dress she wore.

“Ah, now I recognize you,” Ridley said with a humorous chuckle, raising his glass toward Edlyn. “I believe your father was Sir Atreadian, was he not?”

“You killed him as well.”

He raised his brow and lowered the glass. “I did? That’s a shame.”

Their breaths lingered in the silence once again, Edlyn’s eyes flitting to the table before returning to the dull gaze of Ridley. She stepped forward.

At her sudden movement, the guards positioned at the walls drew their swords. Ridley raised a hand, his gaze never failing to leave Edlyn’s, and they retreated once more at his silent command.

“I am surprised you have only made one step. Many times have I met with men who wanted to kill me, and they always seem to either throw themselves at my feet or attack me with their bare hands. Yet you only step forward.”

“I am merely closing the distance between us. I have never seen you in good light, so I feel I should take this opportunity to truly know my enemies’ face.” Edlyn took another step, now reaching the table where the feast stood, her hand falling to the wooden frame. A knife glinted, and her fist closed around it.

Perhaps, if she was as strong as before, she would be able to quickly plunge it into the Prince’s heart and finally finish what she had come here for. After all, he hadn’t glanced down—she doubted he knew that her fingers covered the blade of a knife.

It cut against her skin, a pulse of red blood dotting her fingers as his gaze did not waver from her own.

“Is my face what you expected?” Ridley asked with a sickening smile, closing what little space remained between them, taunting her. She did not move.

“No,” Edlyn answered dryly, her eyes falling and then raising as if to scrutinize the Prince. “You’re far less handsome than others claim you to be.”

His jaw tensed, and the corners of Edlyn’s mouth twitched before allowing a slight smirk to slip past.

“You have nerve, speaking to your Crown Prince in that way,” Ridley said, his dark eyes narrowing under the shade of his hair.

“My Crown Prince?” Edlyn laughed, though it came more crazed than she had intended. “You are no more than filth to me.”

“Then it seems we carry the same views for each other,” the prince spoke. His hand lifted toward Edlyn. She flinched away out of pure instinct but realized too late that he had only been raising his glass toward her.

“You must be parched.” It was his turn to smirk, dangling the wine in front of her in a tease as she recoiled.

Edlyn recovered, snatching the glass from his hands. The tension was high, and it seemed to be more of a fight for words than anything now. “Do you really expect me to drink from your cup?” she asked.

“Of course not.” Ridley’s smirk did not vanish. “But you still took it from my hands.”

She glanced down at the deep reddened color of the wine, at her fingers wrapped around the neck of the glass. Without hesitation, she drew the cup forward, thrusting it toward the prince, the bloody maroon seeping into the fabric of his white shirt.

Immediately, Ridley was grabbing her wrist and pushing it back, forcing her to drop the glass so that it shattered beside their feet. Shards pricked at her ankles, just as the knife had done to her fingers as it still lay under her palm.

The prince pressed her back, gaze furious—perhaps now was the time to draw her weapon and thrust it deep into his chest. But the angle was off and her arm could not draw back anymore, being held against the table like this.

“It seems I’ve found your weakness,” Edlyn spoke, tilting her head up toward him. “You only grow angry when someone ruins what you believe is yours. You don’t dare to care about the corpses in which your castle stands or the ruins of your kingdom caused by the war you started. You only care to feel threatened when wine has been spilt on your clothes.”

She was thoroughly enjoying this moment of holding the upper hand, despite the prince’s grip on her wrist. Word after word that came from Edlyn’s mouth being spoken so firmly that she grew addicted to this feeling of power over someone she hated so profusely.

However, to her dismay, Ridley’s eyes ceased to carry the hatred from moments before, and once again his lips found their humored expression. His gaze lowered to Edlyn’s hand that still rested on the table.

“You are not the only one who has found a weakness in their enemy.” He released her hand, allowing it to fall back to her side. “You are far too easy to read. Though, I am impressed. Not many use their time to find a weapon.”

“How did you-?” She glanced down at the trickling puddle of blood seeping below her fist, and her eyes widened in a slight surprise. It seemed to immediately click—Ridley had purposely placed that knife there, far from the rest of the cutlery, to provoke her. He had known all along that she held it.

“I don’t ask just anyone to meet with me face to face,” Ridley continued, glancing down at the shattered wine glass. His boots scuffed the tile, brushing the pieces to the side with a crunch. “Especially not someone who has already attempted to murder me once. You should have known I would have another motive for this meeting.”

She didn’t understand. The prince had given her a weapon—so why was he acting as if helping her kill him had been part of his plan all along?

“So,” he continued, leaning forward once more. “You have a knife, and I’m right here. Kill me.”

Her hand shifted over the sharp point of the knife, fingers finding the cold wooden handle. But she didn’t lift it. He must have planned something. Perhaps attempting to kill him was exactly what he wanted. Either that, or the prince was bluffing.

“It won’t take much to kill you,” she spoke, voice lowering. The prince scoffed.

“Then do it.”

Edlyn lifted her eyes toward the guards again, to the silent tension that filled the room. They seemed to be unsure of what to do, especially after Ridley had first ordered them to stay back. Half of them could not even see the knife she held.

It would be a shame to lose such an opportunity, she thought

Edlyn thrust the knife toward Ridley’s chest, one swift move, and for a moment she thought it was finally over when the knife came to a stop. She thought it had buried itself into the Prince’s heart.

But he was still staring down at her, lips quirking with a smirk, a sickening purple hue to his irises. She looked up and realized that her shaking hand had come to a complete stop, the knife’s point only tearing at the shirt he wore. It hadn’t even touched his skin—no, it couldn’t. No matter how hard she tried, her hand would not move.

He grinned.

“I told you to kill me. Why aren’t you doing as I said?” His words were cutting as his hand lifted, grasping Edlyn’s wrist again.

“Don’t mess with me like this,” she hissed, attempting to pull away—but his grip was firm as he turned the knife toward her instead.

“I must say, it’s too amusing to stop,” Ridley said as his boots moved forward with a clack against the tile, turning to trap her against the table. The knife, still in her grip, now pressed against the collar of her dress, small droplets of blood appearing where the blade cut.

“Killing me won’t get rid of me forever,” Edlyn warned with a sharp inhale as his hand pressed the knife closer.

Ridley stared down at her, his gaze faltering for a moment as if he truly believed her words for a moment. But, once more, the smirk returned. “I admire your confidence, but I’m afraid your corpse will not be able to accomplish much once it has been thrown into the water.”

Her gaze narrowed. “I’ll kill you, Ridley Wood.”

“I’m sure you will.” His lips quirked, and with a brisk flick of the prince’s wrist, Edlyn fell limp against the table.

GASP CROW IT BEAUTY

i see their names are changed :0 its very interesting! there's lot more info now, which is interesting. gonna wait until more comes to theorize but so beautiful crow!!! <3

--galaxi-- wrote:

GASP CROW IT BEAUTY

i see their names are changed :0 its very interesting! there's lot more info now, which is interesting. gonna wait until more comes to theorize but so beautiful crow!!! <3

THANK YOUU <33 i changed their names so its easier to remember >:-D also I wanted to take out a lot of unimportant stuff in the rewrite so I'm glad the info is clearer and more apparent!! I'll be posting the next chapter tomorrow maybe bc I already have that one typed out too hehe

wow murder story I've never went into a discussion before but…. FJGEHROGHRHGOHAOHROG THAT IS SOME WORK

butter_pancake wrote:

wow murder story I've never went into a discussion before but…. FJGEHROGHRHGOHAOHROG THAT IS SOME WORK

BAHAH yes murder story :-D

table of contents

| chapter 1 | chapter 2 | chapter 3 | chapter 4

━━━━━━━━━━━━━.⋅ ✦ ⋅.━━━━━━━━━━━━━

She rose from bed when the screams came, the room flecked with shadows of red and yellow. An intoxicating smell of smoke seeped past the fluttering curtains as Edlyn slipped past the comfort of the bedsheets. Her husband, Wesley, stirred awake at her movement.

“What is it?” he asked, slowly sitting up as she threw open the windows.

There was hesitation in her actions, a small breath of nauseating fear.

“The church is on fire.”

He quickly scrambled from the sheets of the bed, joining her at the window. Outside, the glare of flames suffocated the scene, a distant cloud of smoke pressing against the skyline. From the hill where her father’s house sat, Edlyn could see perfectly the pile of rubble that remained of the building.

Something like thunder pounded inside her chest, a sense of overwhelming fear beginning to overcome her.

“They’ll be here soon,” Wesley breathed.

Her stomach clenched and she turned, grabbing Wesley’s coat that hung from the doorknob of their armoire. “Put this on,” Edlyn said quickly, holding it up to him. He turned, and she slipped it across his shoulders, hands lingering at the fabric for a moment before falling away. She seemed hopelessly distraught.

When he turned back around, Edlyn averted her eyes. “Do you intend to stay here?” she asked quietly, her voice mixing with the fumes of fire and the shouting of townspeople from below.

“We have to follow along with the plan, do we not?” Wesley countered with a raise of his eyebrow as his hands lifted to button the coat.

Her heart seemed to falter at his words.


“I don’t think it will work,” she blurted, raising a hand to stop him from clasping the next button. “We should both run instead.”

“Edlyn,” he spoke with a soft voice that countered her fearful tremors. “We spent years planning this out. How could it not work?”

She shook her head. For once, she hated the fact that he was just as stubborn as she was.

“But you’ll die,” Edlyn tried one last time, her hands faltering from his coat.

Wesley raised his eyes from the buttons to meet her own with a questioning look. His red curls fell in a frame around his eyes as if mocking the flicker of flames from outside. “No, I won’t.”

He turned back around toward the window, Edlyn standing there hopelessly as he yanked open one of the drawers of a small wooden table.

“We don’t have much time left,” he continued, retrieving a small silver revolver that had been carefully wrapped in cloth. It shone in the nauseating orange glare as the fabric fell from its barrel. “Take this.”

“You should take it instead,” Edlyn pressed, taking one step back when he held the gun toward her.

“You’re the one running.” Wesley reached out and took her hand, pressing the weapon into her palm. Exasperatedly, she gave in, allowing her fingers to close around the cold metal. Her heart raced.

At that moment, a thunderous knocking erupted from downstairs, and Edlyn returned her gaze back to Wesley’s in a fearful shock. His expression matched her own, but only for a moment before he composed himself and started toward the door. As the knocking continued, he pulled the door open with a creak, and Edlyn followed beside him through the open hallways.

Moonlight seeped through the dark curtains that covered every window, dusting the wooden floors with its light. She realized, with each somber step, that this would be the last time she would be able to wander these hallways.

When they reached the bottom of the creaking wooden stairs of their empty estate, Wesley stopped for a second, turning back toward her.

“You remember what to do, right?” he asked her, reaching out a trembling hand to clasp her own. Edlyn nodded in response, not allowing herself to speak for fear that her voice would give away how scared she truly was.

Wesley gave her palm a small squeeze, his searching green eyes lingering on her face for one last moment.

“I love you,” he managed to say, though the words now carried hints of a goodbye. But, she hoped, if everything went right, they would be able to reunite soon.

Edlyn only nodded again, her eyes falling to the rug where her bare feet were planted.

The knocking sounded again, and in a jolt, he released her hand. They didn’t dare to say a single word of farewell, instead hurrying to follow along with the plan that they had never expected to even use.

Edlyn pulled up the rug where she had stood moments before, revealing a wooden hatch that led to the cellar. Another booming knock made her shaking hands stumble over the metal handle, hurrying to pull it open. Her ears rang with each thump of her heart, knowing that if they did not hurry, the men outside would resort to kicking down their door.

Down the wide corridor, Wesley waited for the next round of knocking to finish before tugging open the front door, just as Edlyn slipped under the cover of the rug with shaking breaths. She covered her mouth, unsure whether she would be heard.

“Good evening, gentlemen.” She could hear the muffled voice of Wesley from underneath the thin planks. “What brings you here so late at night?”

“Is your wife home?”

Edlyn gripped tightly onto the cold metal railing of the ladder on which she stood, glancing over her shoulder at the dark, dirtied tunnel that stretched on far past the cellar. It had been dug out a year ago, but she had never thought they would need to use it.

“She isn’t. I was actually about to leave to meet her up north at the capitol.” He was holding himself together far better than she would have been able to. Of course, all he had to do was restate the story that they had planned together—Edlyn would take the carriage to the capitol where their close friend, Arion Magus, lived, and Wesley would meet with her there later in the week. They would stay there for a day only, to clarify the story to the citizens, and then the three of them would pack once more and head toward the outskirts of the country.

It could have been worse, had she needed to leave something behind. But the only thing Edlyn held close to her in this small town was her husband, and he was coming with her. There was nothing left to be wistful about.

Edlyn heard the footsteps of men as they entered the house, and she closed her eyes in a silent plead that they would not step across the rug and find that the wood was hollow beneath.

She should be fleeing already, down the long passageway, but how could she when her husband was up there, on the verge of being found? Of course, unless they had retrieved the papers hidden in the now burning church, they would not know that he had such an alliance with her. For years, Wesley had only been known as her husband, as the poor man who had become stuck with such a shut-in, and they had done well with covering up his reputation so that only Edlyn’s had been damaged.

But if the church had been tampered with, Edlyn feared the papers had been as well. Someone must have found them. Why else would such a building burn in the middle of the night?

She feared the silence of the men upstairs had gone on far too long, the only noise being the thudding of their footsteps. Were they searching the house? It was hard to tell when the only thing she could rely on was sound.

The footsteps halted.

“She’s here, isn’t she?”

Edlyn froze, a small tremor of terror shaking her as she gripped the ladder. Wesley was silent. Were they bluffing? Or, perhaps, they had known all along.

“No, she isn’t,” Wesley said, cutting his response short before his voice could begin to shake.

A laugh echoed through the house, and a boot thudded just above Edlyn’s head, where the hatch rattled under the rug from the force, and she clamped a hand across her mouth to silence her gasp.

“So, you’re in on it too,” one of the men spoke. Wesley was once again silent. “Who knew you, of all people, would be one to scheme the death of a prince?”

“Anyone would do the same, that is, if they had the courage to.”

Edlyn cursed silently, but her words stopped when she heard the click of a gun, footsteps drawing near to where she crouched under the trapdoor. They were right above her.

“You dare to speak out against the royal family?”

“I figured I’d go down with some memorable last words.”

Edlyn didn’t have any time at all to process the brave stupidity of her husband’s voice, neither did she catch the second click of the gun fast enough before it had already fired, leaving a vicious ringing in her ears. Through the noise, she heard Wesley cry out, but it didn’t last long because the wooden trapdoor was already being pried open just above her head.

“She’s in here!”

With a fumble of her gun, Edlyn broke free of the shock and clicked back the barrel, aiming it hastily toward the sliver of a face that peeked through the now-opened hatch. She pulled the trigger, and the man fell back, clutching his right eye with a shout of a curse.

She had to run. That was the only thought that came to mind as she stumbled back, off the ladder, feet thudding loudly against the cold tiled floor. More shouts came, but there was no time to linger on the voices dancing around her, and neither was there time to plead that Wesley would speak, that he would show that he was alive.

After all, she couldn’t bear to lose him again.

Edlyn threw the now empty silver gun to the side, for they had only owned one bullet, and darted toward the long passageway.

The last time she had run, Edlyn had been completely alone just as she was now—but that time, she had been running toward something. She’d had an endpoint, a place to go.

Now, she could only run away.

Leaving her father’s house behind, her husband, her belongings, her life. So many things that she had ruined. These thoughts left a sour taste in her mouth, but she could not stop running. If she did, she was afraid she would turn back and allow herself to be shot dead by the men who pursued her.
She could not give away Wesley’s sacrifice—if he truly was dead—and so she continued, step after step with her breaths faltering in the biting cold air.

Edlyn swore she would not fail again.

DANG OKAY BACKSTORY

arion is the same ahaha og club amirite-

but wow so many ideas :0 they weren't actually married??? were they??? they'd been plotting against the royals??? can't wait for more crow it's beautiful <3

i will now
wait for
edlyns lesbian (bisexual) awakening
do not mind me
>
but
like
awakening
for that
she needs to be alive
HOLY C(R)OW SHE"S DEAD

cosmorose wrote:

i will now
wait for
edlyns lesbian (bisexual) awakening
do not mind me
>
but
like
awakening
for that
she needs to be alive
HOLY C(R)OW SHE"S DEAD

LMAO

wait wait wait
lesbian awakening ? >;-D

WOAH WAIT I JUST READ THIS ?!?1!2!?
CROW ITS SO GOOD :OOO I LOVE THE NAMES SMMM

either this is gonna be a ghost story that deals with what happens once a person dies in this world (maybe has to do with some magic), or..
edlyn is just unconscious lmao

also also, this was probably mentioned in the last version, BUT what do you all think the magic is that prevents ridley from being harmed?
(and i probably just read it wrong, but was the magic making the knife moving toward edlyn or was ridley pushing it forward?)

opportunity- wrote:

WOAH WAIT I JUST READ THIS ?!?1!2!?
CROW ITS SO GOOD :OOO I LOVE THE NAMES SMMM

either this is gonna be a ghost story that deals with what happens once a person dies in this world (maybe has to do with some magic), or..
edlyn is just unconscious lmao

also also, this was probably mentioned in the last version, BUT what do you all think the magic is that prevents ridley from being harmed?
(and i probably just read it wrong, but was the magic making the knife moving toward edlyn or was ridley pushing it forward?)

aa tysm!!
to clarify your questions, ridley does use something to protect him, hinted to at the beginning, and was the reason why edlyn couldn’t use the knife against him! but he didn’t use magic on the knife, he only pushed it forward with his own hands :-D

letsnotdothat wrote:

opportunity- wrote:

WOAH WAIT I JUST READ THIS ?!?1!2!?
CROW ITS SO GOOD :OOO I LOVE THE NAMES SMMM

either this is gonna be a ghost story that deals with what happens once a person dies in this world (maybe has to do with some magic), or..
edlyn is just unconscious lmao

also also, this was probably mentioned in the last version, BUT what do you all think the magic is that prevents ridley from being harmed?
(and i probably just read it wrong, but was the magic making the knife moving toward edlyn or was ridley pushing it forward?)

aa tysm!!
to clarify your questions, ridley does use something to protect him, hinted to at the beginning, and was the reason why edlyn couldn’t use the knife against him! but he didn’t use magic on the knife, he only pushed it forward with his own hands :-D

nppp!!!
and ahaha thank you :0 time to cook up some theories about what this magic is and how he has it B]

gonna read and edit (if you want me to do so only) later, already sounds super good, rip nokia/naveen the froq (

verdeiia wrote:

gonna read and edit (if you want me to do so only) later, already sounds super good, rip nokia/naveen the froq (

you don’t need to edit i just wanted to see what u thought!! <3 muah
and no more nokia hahaha

letsnotdothat wrote:

verdeiia wrote:

gonna read and edit (if you want me to do so only) later, already sounds super good, rip nokia/naveen the froq (

you don’t need to edit i just wanted to see what u thought!! <3 muah
and no more nokia hahaha

OMG NOKIA I REMMEBR HIM
but his boots
fantastic boots

cosmorose wrote:

letsnotdothat wrote:

verdeiia wrote:

gonna read and edit (if you want me to do so only) later, already sounds super good, rip nokia/naveen the froq (

you don’t need to edit i just wanted to see what u thought!! <3 muah
and no more nokia hahaha

OMG NOKIA I REMMEBR HIM
but his boots
fantastic boots

AHAH everyone wanted to steal them sobb

letsnotdothat wrote:

cosmorose wrote:

letsnotdothat wrote:

verdeiia wrote:

gonna read and edit (if you want me to do so only) later, already sounds super good, rip nokia/naveen the froq (

you don’t need to edit i just wanted to see what u thought!! <3 muah
and no more nokia hahaha

OMG NOKIA I REMMEBR HIM
but his boots
fantastic boots

AHAH everyone wanted to steal them sobb

is that why he has fled?? >:00

wow, your writing is beautiful~ unfortunately I am on my iPad with potato battery, but as soon as I can get on my computer I’m definitely reading it!
I haven’t used forums before - hope I’m not messing anything up ;w;

opportunity- wrote:

letsnotdothat wrote:

cosmorose wrote:

letsnotdothat wrote:

verdeiia wrote:

gonna read and edit (if you want me to do so only) later, already sounds super good, rip nokia/naveen the froq (

you don’t need to edit i just wanted to see what u thought!! <3 muah
and no more nokia hahaha

OMG NOKIA I REMMEBR HIM
but his boots
fantastic boots

AHAH everyone wanted to steal them sobb

is that why he has fled?? >:00

LE BOOTSSS

he fled cuz le subjects of crow are after them