5

  At Mournridge Den, the law is clear,

  Three must enter, none alone, none near.

  One shall live, one shall fall,

  One shall witness, bearing all.

  When both shall die, as fate decrees,

  Their spirits drift on unseen breeze.

  To enter, come in threes, beware,

  One to live, one to fall, one to bear.

  ?What are you doing here?”

  Mercer’s face was set into stone, no reaction.

  ?Mother’s orders, I am joining you on the-” He starts.

  ?Oh so you ask everybody that. Here I thought I was special.” Esmeray interrupted.

  ?You’re late. Mercers’ with us, we have to move now.”

  A slight touch of dismay covered Esmeray’s face, she quickly brushed it off with a grin.

  ?My apologies.”

  She curtsied mockingly.

  ?~ [?] ~?

  I could hear their boots pounding the earth, a rhythm of death, a countdown of inevitable violence. If they knew we were there, they did not care to show it.

  I glanced at Esmeray, her eyes gleam, sharp as the dagger strapped to her thigh. We knew the dance, the deadly waltz we performed until only one side remained standing.

  “I know you might not believe me but what happened at the old Inn won’t be happening again.” She whispered.

  I nodded.

  “I doubt we’ll be fighting small girls.”

  Mercer’s posture was cold and unwavering, his heavy blade resting at his back. The Crimson were circled around a fire, the air smelled of blood. Their voices faltered for a moment, just a moment—and I knew they've caught our scent.

  "Let them come first," Esmeray whispered, her voice smooth as silk. "We'll carve our names into them."

  I nodded once more, fingers curling around the hilt of my own dagger, feeling its weight settle in my palm like an old friend.

  "You know," Mercer said, his voice gruff but calm, as though discussing the weather, "I'd rather break their skulls with my fist than waste a blade on them." Then he threw his dagger, somewhere to the right.

  A thud.

  Silence again.

  Esmeray chuckled softly, eyes narrowing.

  "Five more. I’d say these missions are unfair but I’d be lying, they fall so easily."

  I let out a breath, feeling the tension coil tighter inside me. The remaining rats moved to draw their weapons, then stopped, staring at Esmeray.

  That was their first mistake.

  I darted forward.

  One of them noticed me just in time to raise a knife, but l was already there, my dagger slicing across his arm, the blade kissing his skin like a lover's farewell. He swore, as I slipped behind him, cutting through his thigh.

  Another Crimson moved to strike, but Esmeray was quicker, her knife a streak of silver. The man collapsed with a gurgling scream.

  Mercer swinged his weapon with force, carving through a man like wood.

  "Stay low," Esmeray hissed, her blade already buried in the side of a Crimson who thought he could flank us. She pulled the knife free, blood staining the steel.

  Another came for me. My dagger found the soft spot in his ribs, a place where the muscle gave way. I twisted.

  The man stumbled, his breath hitching in his throat. He opened his mouth to scream, yet his blood spilled out instead.

  I watched him fall, a ragdoll, lifeless and empty. The air tasted like iron, thick and coppery. There was a strange calmness in it, a stillness that comes when you know there's no going back, no running from the consequences.

  Mercer’s voice brought me back, his tone gruff as a rockslide.

  "Stay still.”

  He threw his dagger right into the man’s eye, he fell to my feet.

  ?~ [?] ~?

  ?Have a seat, Red Bird,” Mother poured me ale in a mug and gestured towards it. ?Drink.”

  I felt my hand unsteady while holding the mug, I gulped the drink down, it wasn’t my first of the day.

  ?You’ve done well.” Mother said.

  Mother’s eyes glistened with joy and something that seemed to be hope.

  ?Red Bird?” She was in front of me, examining my face. I felt as if we she was dissecting me, as if she was trying to search for beauty underneath an ugly appearance. I stepped back. She was drunk out of her mind, and so was I, except it wasn’t ale I was drunk on, it was fear, cold against my skin. I giggled nervously, I must have lost my mind. I wasn’t sure if I ever had it to begin with.

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  ?Please excuse me.”

  The Mother only showed her teeth, saliva dripping down her neck.

  ?~ [?] ~?

  Esmeray was waiting for me at the training deck, this time with no men bleeding at her feet. Ever since our first fight we had found a habit in unleashing our demons upon eachother. I thought, in my state, I should not train but the man’s wailing in my ears was stronger than my rationality. If I even possessed such thing.

  ?Shouldn’t you be somewhere else, Crimson?”

  ?Thought we were past that.” She laughed as she tied her hair back.

  ?I am slightly mad, you said so yourself.”

  Esmerays’ smile didn’t vanish. She pulled out her dagger.

  ?Shall we put on a performance, then?” She launched. I parried her strike with a swift motion, the clash of metal ringing out as our daggers met. She evaded my blow and countered with a strike of her own. I felt the bite of her blade against my shoulder, a sharp, searing pain as blood dripped down my arm.

  “You should start praying to the Valley, sister.” She smiled.

  I launched myself forward, our blades met, the force of the impact sending shockwaves rippling through my arm. I grabbed the switchblade with my free hand and held it against her throat.

  “Surrender.”

  A voice echoed through the hall, cutting through the air like a knife through butter.

  “Enough! Red Bird what do you think you’re doing?”

  ?Order her to drop her weapons or my switchblade will find a shortcut through her throat.”

  Mothers’ eyes remained calm, yet there was a hint of fear in her voice.

  ?Drop them.”

  Esmerays smiled sheepishly as she dropped her daggers. It was now or never.

  ?Why did you order her to kill Spider Lily? If you even consider lying, you will die alongside her. I swear before the Valley.”

  ?You think I fear you?” Mother spat.

  I pressed the blade harder against Esmerays’ throat, small droplets painting it red.

  ?Next time you say anything I don’t want to hear, the blade goes through. Start talking.” I might have been harsher than needed as a slight sense of terror made an appearance in Esmeray’s eyes.

  ?I ordered her to kill Spider Lily because I wanted her dead.”

  ?The Valley forbids kinslaughter.”

  Mother smiles. ?Esmeray was not one of us.”

  ?Right, she’s Vaelens’ daughter. Did that information slip or are you blatantly refusing to acknowledge it?”

  Mother smiled viciously yet I saw the fear spreading in her eyes as she chose her words.

  ?I offered her something the Crimsons couldn’t.”

  ?And what’s that?”

  ?A secret.”

  My hand tightened around the blade, Esmeray’s blood dripping on my boots. I raised my head to meet her eyes. She was searching mine, trying to find the truth behind my charade.

  Mother grinned like a madman, like my father.

  ?It was her, Esmeray. She’s the one that murdered your sister like a blood thirsty animal.”

  ?What is she talking about?” Esmeray managed.

  I felt my fingers loosen around the blade, causing it to fall. I stepped back.

  ?It was me. I forced Keloid’s hand and now she’s dead.”

  Small droplets of blood trickled from Esmeray’s throat as she retreated, her steps small and careful as if there was an invisible cliff behind her.

  ?Kill me if you wish, I am a monster after all.” I smiled.

  ?You ought to remember one thing, Red Bird. Kinslaughter is forbidden in the Valley.” Esmeray retaliated.

  She threw a dagger in Mother’s chest, it seemed as facile as breathing.

  ?You’ll pray for me, won’t you?” Mother laughed, her white teeth covered in blood. She collapsed, her eyes still open. ?Finally, Vaelen, you can feel what I felt.” She murmured, although I cannot say I heard it well.

  ?Long live the Valley of sins.” Esmeray whispered.

  I heard the tide coming for me. This time on the boat was none other than my father.

  Alive, smiling.

  ?~ [?] ~?

  Within our code, to wield another as a blade is within the bounds of our den, Yet to summon death for selfish whims, therein lies the forbidden seed. Thus decree the laws of our realm, where honor's path must ever lead.

  We buried parts of Mother in different pits, so that her soul would never be at peace. The death of a traitor.

  We sat there, the two of us, hands torn and bloodied from the work.

  For one reckless second, I wanted to reach out to smooth the hair from her face, to carve some comfort into the cruelty of the night.

  Instead, I watched her chest rise and fall, counting heartbeats I wasn’t brave enough to share.

  ?What about your sister?” I found myself asking.

  She nodded towards my shoulder. ?We’re even.”

  ?Was the whole revenge story a lie?”

  The young woman brushed her hair from her face, leaving a trace of dirt on her forehead.

  ?No, I meant that.”

  ?Would you have killed me if the oath had not existed?”

  Her gaze flickered for a moment, as if searching my face for something she couldn’t quite name. She hesitated, her breath catching in the quiet space between us.

  Finally, she spoke, her voice low and heavy with something unspoken.

  ?If the oath hadn’t existed...” She swallowed, her fingers tightening around the edge of her shovel, but her eyes softened. ?I don't know. Maybe... maybe I would have.” Her voice trailed off, but her gaze lingered, a mix of regret and something else I couldn’t place.

  I could feel the tension between us, the unspoken words, the distance that was no longer just physical but buried deeper. We’d come too far to go back, but the weight of the choice still pressed on both our shoulders.

  “And you?” She asked quietly.

  I dropped my shovel, the pain from my shoulder growing. I liked the pain, it grounded me. There’s a stability in it, agony shields you from elusive things such as joy.

  Esmeray wiped the dirt from her hands, smearing it across her torn tunic like war paint. I watched her out of the corner of my eye, pretending I wasn't. Pretending I didn't care that she still stood, that she hadn't yet abandoned me like the rest.

  She glanced over, and for the first time, there was no mischief, no malice. Only something older. Something more broken.

  “You're stubborn,” She said, when the silence had grown roots in the soil. “And cruel.”

  I said nothing.

  She stepped closer, close enough that the heat of her body cut through the cold.

  “But still...” Her voice dipped low, softer than I'd ever heard it. “You burn so bright.”

  She reached out — just a brush of her knuckles against the torn cloth over my shoulder.

  “Bright One.” she whispered.

  And I, foolish creature that I was, let her call me that again and again.

  As if I deserved it.

  ?I wouldn’t have killed you,” I finally answered. ?Although I’d dream of it.”

  Esmeray’s chuckle is swept by the cold wind.

  ?~ [?] ~?

  ?My brothers and sisters, it is with no sorrow that I inform you of Mothers’ death. She has betrayed us, her lust for power bigger than her loyalty to the Valley.” Esmeray said as our brothers and sisters watched, all together in the Cove of Sin, the only place where slaughter was forbidden.

  ?She would never have done that. You lie.” Said a sister.

  Silence.

  ?Then believe me, for you know who I am.” Said a deeper voice from the back, Mercer. ?I heard her order the death of Spider Lily, our sister, just as I saw Belladonna leave us. Do you trust me?”

  A tempest of rage brewed in the eyes of all.

  ?I trust you.” Said one sister, ?I as well.” Said another.

  I found myself walking towards him.

  ?You swear it?”

  ?I swear it before the Valley.”

  ?Why did you not act, Mercer? This could’ve been prevented.” I found myself tugging at his collar.

  ?I couldn’t doubt her ways. She said it was for the Valley.”

  ?Then why speak now? What difference does it make?”

  Mercer grinned, an expression that never met his face. ?She’s dead.”

  ?Who will lead now?” A voice asked.

  ?The Valley of Sins needs a protector,” Said another. ?It has been so since the first Mother graced the Cove of Sins by spilling her blood.”

  ?Red Bird should lead us,” Mercer’s voice was louder than anyone elses. ?Her loyalty to the Valley is unbound.”

  All eyes were on me, expecting to sacrifice myself for the cause, to lead their souls to the Valley of Sins and bring the devil to its’ feet.

  ?Her suit was untouched on her first kill, her hair already stained with the blood of our predecessors.” Continued Mercer, his voice a chant in the air.

  ?I refuse. I will not lead.” I said. If the Valley wanted their souls she should have taken them.

  Mercer gripped my wounded shoulder. Blood dripped through my bandage down my shoulder and on the ground of the Cove of Sin.

  ?It’s been done. Long live the Valley of Sin. Long live the Red Bird.”