Chapter Twenty Eight: Break Her, Cinder

“That fucking whore! I'll rip her tits off and shit down her neck! Make her husband watch as I guzzle the blood from her bleeding neck!”

Cinder did not take the revelation well.

I managed to convince her to return to The Red Citadel before I told her the whole truth. The walk through the noble district had been uneventful. We were shadowed by a dozen of her royal guards who seemed to be well-trained. Some of them threw looks my way but nothing more than a passing glance. It seems that they knew not to act out in front of their Queen. They didn't even flinch when we walked passed some of the mutilated corpses that marked the road towards the gates that led into the Citadel proper.

The castle itself was situated atop the large hill at the centre of the city, four huge towers of bright red stone pierced upwards into the skies with a building set between them. Cinder said it was one of the largest castles in Vita, second only to Marwenna's fortress in Callai. She told me about the many rooms it has from memory, but there was no joy in her voice. It was like she was reading off a script, prepared for foreign dignitaries.

The colossal five gates opened without a hitch, a veritable army of bowmen were placed upon each one, their eyes all alert and very aware of their surroundings. I did notice a hint of fear waft off them as we walked through each of the towering structures but I expect that fear was aimed at Cin, not me.

From there it was a straight shot towards Cinder's throne room. While I had only ever really been in two throne room's in my life, my own and Callai's, this one was definitely going for a different feel. The first thing I noticed was that it was very dark, very few torches lit the walls of the black stone that the room had been constructed of. Banners of crimson fell down from the ceiling, each one bearing the symbol of a woman holding a bow and arrow. Must be Cinder's royal crest.

As we approached the dais that lay at one end of the hall I noticed two massive statues standing behind the throne, both seemed to have been hewn from basalt, one a man with a large blade, the other a woman carrying some kind of blood red orb. These were known as Bilou and Ultalia, the founders of the Vampire Nation and the one's who constructed the Red Citadel. It was said that they led their brethren to the safety of Scarl Forest after they were persecuted by the other mortals of Vita, creating a safe haven for which their kind to dwell. They were idolised as the saviours of vampires everywhere, and stood in the throne room at the centre of their nation as a constant reminder that of what they had done to save all of them from death.

I had read bits and pieces of the history from back then. The church was around but it wasn't the powerhouse it would become and Vampires were seen as creatures of darkness that drink blood and steal children in the night. Wolf Kind were treated much the same way, but they could remain within the safety of Paltos and their military strength was formidable to say the least. In those times, the vampires did not have that luxury.

Finally my eyes fell upon in the throne itself, made of the purest ruby, it stuck up of the ground as if it had been called up with magic and perhaps it had. The throne stood at an angle, leaning to the right and directly in the centre there was seat carved out, which looked hard and uncomfortable. My thoughts were confirmed when Cin lazily threw herself onto the throne, squirming to get into a tolerable position and indicating at the chair that sat to her right.

I looked at the chair uncomfortably for a few seconds before I sighed and made my way up the dais to take a seat. I don't think that Cinder understood that to sit at the right of the Monarch means you are their mate. Perhaps she knew and just didn't care.

It didn't take me long to tell her the full story in detail. Even I have to say that it sounded fantastical, and I had lived it. I told her of Vitriss, Black Tusk, Xolumbrandir, The Knight Descendants, my suspicions of the Goddess and Samedus Exovan. I saved Marwenna's betrayal till last, I didn't want there to be anything left to say if I had to restrain her from running to Callai to kill the Elven Queen.

Like I said before, she didn't take it well.

I had barely finished getting the words out before Cinder was up and pacing, her hands clenching into fists and mana fluctuating around her as she screamed about all the ways she was going to destroy Marwen and her pathetic excuse for a husband.

“Gods be damned, I'll kill her, then I'll kill her whiny little fucker of a son, then I'll find this Goddess and gorge on her divine flesh. I'll eat them all while they yet live and listen to their sweet screams as I tear them limb from limb!” Cinder was raging, her guards had all left the room in a hurry, their faces turning pale at the sight of their terrible Queen.

“Cin, calm down. I know you're angry, but there's nothing we can do about it right now. I'm stuck in this situation. I don't know what's truth and what's a lie.” I said as I held my hands up to her in a placating manner. Even I was beginning to worry slightly at how crazy she was acting.

“This explains why Marwenna just left! I knew that she was hiding something when she took off with that fucking retarded zealot Valant! How could she do this? Even if she was under control she just abandoned all of us! If she hadn't left, Faral and Abhor would've stayed! That fucking bitch!” Cinder cried while splaying out her hand. A terrific amount of mana left her outstretched limb and the very air bended as ice exploded outwards, appearing out of mid air and slamming into the obsidian like wall of the throne room, shattering it to pieces.

I heard screams come from the other side and removed my hand from where it had been shielding my eyes from the blast. It appears that there was a servants quarters directly right of the Throne room and Cin had just blasted a hole into it. Not only that, but the servants inside were shaking with cold, their faces turning blue as the power of the cold air surrounding the blast chilled them to their cores. They were looking through the large hole in horror, noticing their Monarch with her glowing red eyes.

Cinder's mouth curled up into a sneer at the sight of the servants and I felt mana rush into her yet again, this time with the intent to blast the servants into oblivion, to relieve some of the anger that was pouring through her body like a wave.

“Shit!” I said dashing forwards and throwing myself between the large gap and my daughter with but a second to spare before another blast of ice ripped forwards, slamming into my body.

I felt the cold sink deep into my skin making my body refuse to function properly, the temperature caused frost to appear on my clothing even as I was thrown through the air by the chunk of ice that Cin had summoned.

I immediately drew in mana and began to heal my wounds even as I manipulated my gravity and let myself glide safely back down towards the ground. I summoned Aspect of Fire and felt my blood turn to flame, banishing the cold before it did any lasting damage that I couldn't fix with my knowledge of healing.

Cin came to her senses almost immediately at the sight of me in pain and her eyes filled with worry and guilt.

“Father! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-”

I held out a hand to the girl as I sunk down onto one knee and tried hard to draw in a breath, cancelling the mana I was drawing in as I did so.

“It's... fine, Cin... no.... harm done.” I said with a smile through chattering teeth. Aspect of Fire was still active but I didn't want to use it at full strength, that would mean me turning to living flame and it wouldn't be good for anyone. I burned hot when I was in that form, using only part of it was convenient for situations such as this.

Cinder looked like she was panicking for a second as she tried to think what to do, finally she ripped down one of her banners that hung low from the ceiling and hurried to wrap it around me, which I accepted gratefully. Taking a full blast from one of my Knight's was a sure fire way to kill almost anyone. Thankfully, I had enough power to ensure that I was capable of surviving it, something I firmly believed was beyond the servants in the next room.

“What's going on here?! Cinder? Who is that man... did you put a hole in the Throne Room?”

“Palite! Help me, I hurt Father!” Cinder said, the panic that I had seen in her eyes earlier was now spreading into her voice as she turned towards the person who had just walked into the throne room from a side entrance. As the woman approached I immediately saw the resemblance to Bell, her eyes were the same shape as the commander, even the way she walked was similar although her hair was of slightly lighter shade. Palite looked like she had never been a soldier like her daughter, her bearing was too soft and the dress she wore was too constricting. With just a glance of my enhanced eyes I could see that she wasn't carrying any weapons even as she hurried towards us with a pale face, lifting her dress in front to run faster.

“You! Get a healer for this man immediately!” Palite shouted as she ran, her voice commanding and low, her declaration aimed at a servant on the other side of the wall.

“Yes, my lady!” The servant squeaked and immediately dove out of the room.

I raised my hand and waved it at the woman “It's fine! I don't need a healer, I'm capable of that on my own.”

Palite looked at me hesitantly, her eyes running over my young looking face then seeing the mask that was attached to my belt and the sword that hung next to it. She turned to the Vampire Queen, her pale face looking a little paler now.

“Cin... did you just say this was your... Father?”

Cinder didn't hear her, to busy fussing over me, her hands rubbing my shoulders as she attempted to move my blood a little faster through my body. I smiled gratefully at my daughter and turned to Palite.

“Hello it's nice to meet you, you must be Bell's mother. I've met your daughter, she should be on her way here now. It would be great if you could send a guard to tell her where I am, I told her team I'd meet them in the Noble District.”

Palite stared at me for a second with rapidly blinking eyes. She seemed to know who Cinder was talking about when she said I was her Father and I could tell she didn't know whether to bow before me or kick me out of the castle for being an imposter.

“Palite?” Cinder said, concern in her voice.

The well dressed woman immediately snapped out of the trance she had found herself in and directed her gaze towards her Queen.

“Right... Bell. I'll send someone to go and get her. She's ok, isn't she?” The end of Palite's sentence glowed with concern as she directed the last words towards me. I nodded and smiled at her, I don't know if it helped all that much but she seemed to relax slightly so I saw it as a win. Palite turned and made towards the door at a much slower and dignified pace that when she had walked in.

Once Palite was gone from the room I rose to my feet and pushed off the makeshift blanket that Cinder had given me. I had recovered extremely fast. Most likely thanks once again to this new body, it truly was incredible how resilient it was. I tested movement, swinging my arms and shaking my legs, but everything seemed to be fine and I had barely used any healing magic.

I deactivated Aspect of Fire and smiled at Cinder, who had watched with worry barely three feet away, ready to help if the need arose. When she saw I was fine, her face filled with relief before she aimed her face at the floor.

“I thought I... I thought I really hurt you” Cin muttered, her shoulder's beginning to shake.

I walked up the girl and gave her a hug. In many ways Cinder was the same as she had been four hundred years ago. She was powerful and terrifying, our enemies of the past feared her because of her brutality and love of violence. But at heart she was an emotional creature, always had been.

“It's ok, little one. That was my fault, I knew telling you about Marwenna would have this kind of reaction.”

“Don't say that bitches name! She doesn't deserve that. I don't care if she was being controlled, or whatever, by that Goddess. She should have fought harder. She should have stayed with us. Instead, she chose Valant. We all thought she was just in pain over your death. Next time I see her, I'll kill her.” Cinder declared vehemently, her face still buried in my tunic.

A sad smile crawled onto my face as I held Cinder for a second and stroked her hair. That was something I would have to deal with sooner or later. I couldn't keep Cin contained forever. The other's always thought that my control of Cinder's actions was absolute, but that was not the case. If I waited too long Cin would just go and deal with the problem herself. Marwenna was powerful, perhaps the most powerful of all my Knight's in terms of magical ability. But after seeing a small part of what Cinder was now capable, I would be hard pressed to call a winner. Cin was a monster in a true battle, she shined the brightest when the opponent was more powerful. The wounds she sustained only made her more determined and there was little to nothing one could do to stop her once she caught the scent of her prey. If Marwenna had been sitting on her throne for the last four hundred years then she would lose, even if Valant helped her. That didn't sound like Marwenna though and I had feeling she was keeping up with her training, despite becoming Queen of the Elves. I didn't want my loved one's to get hurt. I had long ago decided to forgive Marwenna for killing me, but I wouldn't forgive her for abandoning the Court, especially for that fucking zealot. Didn't mean I wanted her dead, although even then I couldn't be sure. If she was in front of me right now I don't know what I would do. Perhaps I should just let Cinder do what she wanted. One thing is for sure, if Valant says a fucking word to me I'll gut him, he'll be dead before he or Marwenna can do anything about it. I felt my smile turn to a grin and Xolumbrandir began to hiss in response to my emotions, almost sounding like it approved.

Cinder pulled away from me and looked at me with serious eyes, her hands wrapped around her stomach “I will do it, Father. With your permission or not.”

I sighed, the grin gone as I regretfully looked at my daughter. I know she was being truthful, I couldn't stop her, but I could at least compromise.

“You can't kill her, Cin. That's just not an option.”

“But-!”

“But nothing. I'm as pissed off with her as you are but we'll need her help for what's coming, that's if she's still not Vitriss' puppet. I have an alternative. I know you will go after her whether I approve or not. So you can do what you want. Break her, Cin. But you can't kill her.”

I had thought about this at length. I would need the support of the Elves if Samedus Exovan was as dangerous as Vitriss claimed. Fuck, I would need the Elves to deal with Vitriss' herself. She still had followers in Vita, followers which could organise with but a word from her. Perhaps I didn't need to be this cautious, but it was better to be paranoid than dead.

Cinder's eyes glowed with anger but I knew that she would accept my terms. I felt a sour taste in my mouth when I said the words but I wouldn't be able to contain her, at least this way Marwenna lives.

“Fine!” Cin spat the word out like it was poison. “But what about Valant? I want some time with him as well.”

I shook my head “No, I'll deal with him when the time comes.”

Cinder stared at me for a brief moment before she nodded, the glow in her eyes fading as she accepted my new deal.

“What about Abhor and Faral? Once they know, it'll be hard to stop them from going after her. Abhor won't give a solitary shit that she was being controlled and Faral even less so.” Cinder asked curiously.

I sighed, I had forgotten about my other two Knight's. They would be pissed but I believed I could talk them down, Abhor would do so immediately. Faral would be a bit tricky but I think I could convince her, given enough time and the promise of another spar between us.

“I'll deal with Faral and Abhor when I see them, hopefully they don't find out before we're there to tell them. I plan to go and see Abhor soon, but until then it should be ok.”

“I'll hold you to your word, Father. She must be punished. I know you love her, although I can't for the fucking life of me understand why. This is beyond even you now. She didn't just betray her King, she betrayed The Court. Reparations must be made.” Cin said in a serious voice and I nodded with surprise in my eyes.

“When did you get all grown up?” I said with a smirk in my voice.

Cinder laughed “I've been full grown since I became your Knight and you know it.”

“I suppose so. But you'll always be my little girl, Cinder” I chuckled as she hit me in the ribs, her face turning red with embarrassment.

It was at that moment that the large doors at the end of the hall opened once again and five figures strode in. Bell walking in front besides her mother with the rest of Black Tusk following behind, their eyes wide with awe as they examined architecture around them. It was as they were examining that Ada noticed us, her face splitting into a smile.

“Hey, Corus! This place is amazing. I never thought I would see... wait... why is there a fucking hole in that wall?”