(3)

“Alert the men sleeping in the barracks,” Skinner ordered, pointing at a member of the WC. Black blood glistened on the end of his silver sword. “I want hourly patrols. Search the city by night, the sewers by day until we—”

“Skinner—” The Spider King interrupted, “Just how foolish are you?”

The word ‘foolish’ was followed by a resounding click, like a tongue being sucked on the roof of his mouth. Skinner looked complexed.

“Your Grace?” Skinner replied, his jaw locking, the men about him froze.

“I'm beginning to believe your incompetence is capable of breeding,” The Spider King said flatly. Skinner chose not to respond.

“Sabrina, my child,” he said turning to Sabrina. He raised a cold hand to her cheek and smiled. “So…” he searched for a word, “beautiful.” He finished.

Sabrina wanted to look away but held his gaze, it was her father after all, but something about the way those glossy eyes looked at her made her feel uncomfortable. Skinner was still standing idle, presumably unsure what to do next, her father noticed this and clenched his teeth.

“You still don’t get it, do you, Skinner?” He spat, the last word rolling off her father’s lips in revulsion.

“I’m afraid I don’t, your Grace,” Skinner said with as much pride as he could muster.

“Fear keeps this city under our control, not power,” her father said, “Don’t you understand that?”

Sabrina looked over the corpses that lay shrewd across the ground. She had already become accustomed to their smell. The scent of blood was thick on the air, and Sabrina found that her mouth had begun to water from its metallic fragrance.

“How many soldiers did you just lose? Six? Seven if you include the turn cloak?” her father went on, “Now you want to expend more on a manhunt?” Skinner went the colour of curdled milk. The Spider King threw up an arm.

“I’ll never understand you, humans, always trying to fix your incompetence with more incompetence.” The King sat down on his throne. “Send more soldiers after Thana and you’ll receive more corpses,” he clarified. He raised a long finger towards Skinner causing him to retreat slightly. “Protect-my-city-captain,” he ordered.

“Yes, your Grace,” Skinner replied swiftly. He began to give his men orders, no doubt eager to get out of this throne room as soon as possible. The WC began to move the corpses, or rather, pieces of the corpses. Sabrina noticed her father’s nose give a twitch.

“Skinner—What are you doing now?” her father said exhaustible.

“C-Carrying the dead outside your Grace, to be burned,” Skinner answered.

Her father sucked in air and despite not having pupils, Sabrina could almost see his eyes roll to the ceiling. He tapped his lips with his index finger as if to consider ending Skinner’s life—there and then.

“Leave. Them.” He said coldly. Skinner obeyed, making his presence scarce immediately. When Skinner and his men left the throne room, Sabrina heard her father let out a groan. It was just the two of them now and Sabrina felt her heart rate increase.

“Are you hungry?” He asked her, gesturing at the piles of mutilated flesh, “I’d avoid the turn cloak if I were you, wreaks of death. Thana must have taught him how to mask his scent like her.” Her father stood and approached a small banquet table off to the side, his voice echoed around the throne room, giving audience to the stone pillars that held the room.

“She was so young when she was bitten,” he said. Sabrina looked up confused, “Bitten by a Vampire at the age of eight.”

Her father looked out at the entrance to the throne as if to see Thana return. Sabrina found herself trailing him, keen to know more about Thana…and her mother. Her father poured a deep violet wine and offered it to Sabrina; she accepted the goblet absently. Her father poured some violet for himself, his face sullen yet somehow serious at the same time.

“If not for your mother, I suspect Thana would have been captured within the year. How fortunate for her to have a big sister, a sister with a curiosity for strange and unorthodox creatures.”

He raised the violet wine to his lips and Sabrina mimicked him. The idea of anyone, let alone her mother being a guardian for Thana seemed unimaginable. The image she conceptualised of her mother in her head, altered slightly, like the shifting of colour in a painting. Her mother was now taller than Sabrina had previously imagined, and empathetic.

“Your mother fed your auntie from the blood of cats she killed, and dogs when she found strays. She never drew attention to herself, fearing people would find out about Thana,” he took a sip.

“She was never concerned with getting her hands dirty for those that she loved,” Her father paused, placing his goblet on the banquet table, “Then she met me.” He added smiling, and the room seemed at that moment to dim slightly. Sabrina leaned against the table, staring into her goblet.

“Small...Weak, too small to harm anyone, and imprisoned in a Dungeon. Even my mind was only capable of processing the most basic of needs.” He winced at the memory as if it gave him pain.

“Dungeons were constructed by the Gods,” Sabrina murmured, recounting a tale she overheard in the Orphanage. “Created before time. The creatures inside them cannot escape, can they?”

Her father grinned malevolently, then chuckled.

“Not unless they grow more powerful than the spell that binds them there,” he said, “Your mother helped me grow strong. When she found me in that dungeon, rather than slaying me—she instead found an appealing quality to me. I remember my adolescent mind seeing her only as a food source at the time of course. I would scurry along the walls to meet her every time she visited me. Soon I became strong enough to hunt for myself—more importantly, think for myself. While your mother was out collecting food for her sister, I got to work feeding on everything that passed my way. Before long, the entire Dungeon became my feeding ground and I swelled to strength beyond what even the God’s could have originally conceived.” Sabrina watched as her father coiled his hands into fists.

“But it wasn’t enough,” he continued, “I needed to consume more power, power only the outside could provide if I were to be absolutely free. Your mother aided me in that, and when I was strong enough to leave…We made you under the darkest of nights. Your mother gave birth to you right here in Leeside. Passing you over under the watchful eye of Thana, until you were ready. Until you started to change.”

Sabrina felt her knees buckle. All this time she thought her parents were dead and now she realised her aunt had always been there, watching over her. A mere month ago she was merely a teenage orphan. Now she was the daughter to the King of Spiders. Tears began to form unbeckoned, her father leaned in, his icy aura chilling her blood.

“There, there, my princess,” he said, wiping away her tears with a long pale finger, “I’m here now, and I’ll never leave you again.”

He took her in his arms and strangely it felt comforting. Sabrina wrapped her arms about him, rocking gently as he swayed. His embrace was firm, shielding; but she heard no heartbeat against his hard chest. She felt him stroke her hair as they circled around the empty throne room. For the first time in Sabrina’s life, she felt completely at peace.

“We only have each other in this world now child,” he whispered, “We must avenge your mother. To keep us both safe.”

Sabrina sniffed, looking up into her father’s shiny black eyes. Inside those eyes, she saw herself, small and distant, tears were running down her face.

“I need you,” he said, “To kill Thana for me.”