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Trinity

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The Fae who screamed had done so when she came across an extremely gory sight. Directly in front of the woman was a pristine, white wall made of beautiful carved bricks. I had seen the wall and knew just what the carving on it meant. It was a carving that represented the light, and all the magic that it encompassed.

However, the wall was no longer pristine and white. It was dirtied and covered in stains.. Red stains. Bloody red stains. And stuck right in the middle of the wall was the body of a Fae woman.

I almost mistook it for a child at first since the body on the wall was that small. She was no taller than five feet, if that. And her slight frame, tiny hands, and narrow face made me think that she was so much younger than she truly was.

However, I instantly recognized her light green hair, pale complexion, and the vivid purple color of her eyes. It was Frida, the woman who had tried to stop her husband Grier over two years ago, and the woman who had been controlled and sent to rescue Curtis from the dungeons.

She had been killed, but that wasn't all that they had done to her. Frida had her throat slit, and the blood was pouring down the front of her soft, pale pink dress. There was a silver sword stuck through her chest and pinned her to the wall. There was a large gash across her belly, so deep that aside from blood, entrails had started to slide from within her body.

And to top it all off, they had cut her eyelids off. That was why I had been able to see the vivid color of her irises and knew exactly who she was. Who would do this to her? Who could have done this and not gotten sick.

Above Frida's body, written in her own blood, was a message. I had just finished reading the message when Aunt Glory made it to the scene, surrounded by her knights.

"Oh, Frida?" She looked saddened, but she didn't let it show on her face too much.

The message that had been left was a clear warning for Aunt Glory.

'YOUR DAYS OF REIGNING OVER ME WILL SOON COME TO AN END! PREPARE YOURSELF MY QUEEN FOR YOU ARE ABOUT TO FALL FROM GLORY!'

The woman on the ground was still sobbing when Aunt Glory made her way over to her.

"Shh. Shh. Hush now, Hibiscus. Shh. Shh." She was trying to sooth her as she brought the woman to her feet.

"Sh..sh..sh..she's dead." The woman, evidently Hibiscus, was still sobbing, but she was a little more in control than she used to be. "Sh..sh..sh..she's b..b..b..been ri..ri..ripped o..o..o..open." I could tell that the Fae woman was having a hard time with all of this while Aunt Glory took her over to one of the guard knights.

"I know." Aunt Glory was still soothing her. "I will take care of this, just please do your best to calm yourself."

I was watching them walk and thinking about the way that this whole scene must have played out. The blood wasn't even dried yet, hell, it hadn't even stopped flowing from the poor woman's body yet. Which meant that the murder had to have happened at the most seconds before Hibiscus stumbled onto the scene.

If it was that close of an encounter, then she must have seen something, right? She might have seen the killer, and so maybe she could lead us in the right direction.

"Hibiscus?" I called out to her. "Did you see anything else? Anyone else?" I wanted to ask her these questions before she left the scene. I needed her memories that were fresh in her mind.

"N..n..no." She was shaking her head. "I didn't see anyone else."

I don't know why, but when she looked at me I felt like she was lying. There was something that was off about her. I turned to look at Gabriel and then Vincent before I spoke to the two of them telepathically at the same time.

'Is she telling the truth right now?'

'I sense nothing from her.' Gabriel's words came first, and I started to feel relieved.

'I feel nothing as well.' Vincent added. 'And as in nothing, I mean that I can not read her at all.' Those words froze me in place.

'I'm sorry, what was that?' I asked him to repeat himself, but it was Gabriel who responded.

'It is like there is nothing to read. It is like she is a shell.'

'Is it possible that she is being controlled by someone?'

'I do not have the information to answer that question just yet.' I felt an emotion from Gabriel then that was the equivalent of him hanging his head in shame.

'I think we need to investigate further.' I told them.

'Agreed.' Vincent said firmly.

'Exactly what I was thinking.' Gabriel added before I ended the connection.

"Queen Gloriana." I called out to her in a more official capacity than I usually did.

"Yes, Queen Trinity." She looked at me with sorrow filled eyes that still held an edge of authority.

"I believe we should take Hibiscus back to the castle. There are a few more questions that I think we should ask her."

"Can it not wait?" She was looking at me incredulously now, as if she couldn't believe what it was that I had just said to her.

"No, Queen Gloriana, I do not think that it can."

"Very well then." She nodded at me. "Do you feel up to some questions, Hibiscus?"

"I..I..I don't know anything." She sobbed and looked between me and Aunt Glory. "I..I..I didn't s..s..s..see anything. N..n..n..nothing a..a..at a..all." She was trembling and fearful as she spoke.

"Please, it will only take a few moments. You never know what you might remember." I tried to encourage her and push her along toward the castle.

"O..O..OK." Finally, she consented.