"I feel stupid." Stella grumbled in her disguise. Kora and Ludis agreed, also miffed. Ian had given them the ugliest brothel get-ups they had ever seen. He had even stuck horsehair to their faces, so they looked like they had patchy beards.
"It itches." Ludis complained. Kora sighed.
"Let's get this over with, so we can clean up, I can smell myself." Kora sat cross-legged under the falling leaves of an oak tree. She closed her eyes, and the earth began to ripple slightly. Kora frowned and tightened her grip on the earth's magic. The ripples stopped, and she felt the roots zooming through the earth, twining with other trees. Winding itself into a thick rope, she felt Ludis and Stella jump in, their magic spreading along the roots. She quieted the trees, explaining in the ancient tongue of the Fae that this was for protection and who the enemy was. The trees bristled and began to grow stronger, wanting to stop this enemy. She felt them beginning to reach the other side of the city, and the river. They halted. Thinking, Kora directed the roots over. They created a bridge, elegant and twisting, over the river to connect to the other side. She smiled at her handy work. The old bridge that had been there needed replacing any way, after crumbling during her reign. It was big enough to fit three wagons abreast, and sturdy enough to hold 5 times as many at once. There would be talk of the bridge, but the conclusion would be that they had needed one, and hadn't there been one back in the days of the empire? No one would think to look at it too closely and if they did, the magic Ludis and Stella were boring into it would look nothing more than strength and durability. Common spells for a bridge. The other two women began to sag, and Kora came to support them, her root network finished. Stella was sweating, her face pale. Ludis too looked ill. But they both nodded to indicate they had finished. Ian met them in the alley closest to the city, and helped Kora get the women back home to their men. Royce and Malik immediately took the women to be bathed and fed. Kora winked at Ben, who looked as if he was barely containing his laughter.
"Just a few coins for the night, sir. I am a pleasant ride." Kora sashayed around him and winked. Ben laughed now, tears forming in his eyes. He grabbed Kora around the waist and almost kissed her before his nose wrinkled and pulled away.
"Bath young lady/sir. And march!" Laughing, they headed to their rooms.
Drew stood in his bedchamber, looking into the fire. He was still unable to see Koraline. Without her precise location and doings, he was losing faith quickly. He still had the element of surprise, though. They would not expect anything to happen during winter. He just needed something that would shake Kora to her core. Something that would make her lose herself, and her grip on reality. He turned, pulling open a dusty shelf. Looking through bottles and bottles, he finally found what he was looking for. A large cobalt glass bottle, with one single black braid wrapped around it. The hair was coarse and curly. Human hair. He gripped the bottle and smiled, his teeth showing. Kora will pay for what she did to Amelia, and he knew just how he was going to do it. Leaving the bedchamber, he headed for his most private workroom, deep within the Fief. Reaching the room, he slammed the doors open and began to pull ingredients, and large tools from different shelves and cubbies. Mixing this and that, he began to laugh to himself. He loved this plan. It was evil, and he was overdue for some dark magic. Holding the bottle up to the light, he watched the contents splash angrily.
"Don't you worry Ikalla, I finally have a use for you after all." His quiet laughter began to grow, almost hysterical now. His perfectly slicked hair fell out of place. Drew's blue eyes were wild. The fief's inhabitants could hear him through every hall and window. They cowered in fear.
Ikalla felt herself drifting. She felt like she had been in pain forever. But now there was peace. She was in an ocean of nothingness. Floating towards no destination, it did not bother her. Nothing did anymore. She felt a quiver in the water. Small at first, but then it began to grow. The water began to lurch around her and suddenly the ocean was roiling, like tea brought to boil. The pain was back. But this time it was pulling her under, trying to drown her. She felt something pulling her. She screamed; no sound came. Ikalla tried to fight, but she was too weak. She felt herself being squeezed by the water. Smaller and smaller. She could not breathe. Like wool being drawn through a comb, she felt the fibers of her separating, the water no longer felt like water. It felt like knives. Cutting her up and shredding her to fine pieces. The pressure never stopped endeavoring to crush her. Ikalla wanted to give up. She wanted it to be over. Something in her would not let her. She struggled harder, trying to break free. Ikalla opened her eyes for the first time in 1520 years.