Lore/Story The Courts Of Ragni - Chapter Two

The Courts of Ragni
A story about a kingdom
By Kra3tys

Chapter Two

A tall regal woman stood over a shirtless man. The man was tied to his bedposts, sweating. He opened his mouth to scream, but the woman waved a hand, and his mouth shut with an audible clacking noise.

“Oh come now,” She spoke, in a seductive voice soft as silk, “Wouldn’t want anyone to hear that, now would we?”

She walked to where his head lay, and slowly walked her finger to his throat. She hovered her finger directly over the windpipe, and plunged it in. Her fingernail broke the soft flesh and penetrated the windpipe. The man began gurgling. Blood spurted out of the wound, but any that hit her fizzled away. She soon acquired a soft red glow, and pulled her finger out of his neck.

“Do you feel the blood magic? You should, it’s slowly draining your life away. Your pain has the opposite effect on me, however. I couldn’t feel more alive.”

She gave a wicked smile as the man just gurgled. She pulled a dagger from the folds of her dress and sliced open her hand, dripping crimson blood onto the carpet, then began to wipe her hand across the man’s chest, drawing an intricate rune. When she was done, her blood boiled, searing the rune onto the man. She leaned down close to his ear, and whispered.

“I just love this next part, you won’t though.”

She gave a sweet smile as the man’s torso caved inward. He screamed as he began to turn into dust. His screams followed him out the window as unseen magic drew him to another realm. She used the handkerchief to clean her hand again, and then bind it. She walked out into a long hallway, where a small dog walked from its hiding spot behind some curtains, and followed her faithfully. She turned into a staircase and walked a floor down, and stopped a servant on the way. The man immediately broke out in a nervous sweat.

“H-hello milady. How may I serve you?” The manservant asked.

“You can drop the act, did you do as I asked?”

“Yes, milady. I put the powder in the king’s tobacco pipe. If I may ask, what will it do?”

“It will help him sleep,” She said with a smile on her lips, “Just like I will help you sleep.”

“Milady?”

“Well I can’t have you telling anyone that I had you drug the king.”

“D-drug? Why would you do that! Isn’t he your husband?”

“Only until he’s dead.”

“Dead? Talking like that is treason! Help! Gu- Agh!” He collapsed, clutching at the dagger in his chest.

“Shh, it’s all right now, just go to sleep.”

She removed the dagger from the servant and wiped the blood on his clothes. Sheathing the dagger, she turned into a large room. Recently having drained someone, her eyes adjusted to the dark instantly. She saw a man, her husband, reach down beside the bed and grab his spear. After stepping into the light, he released it, making a soft ‘clink’ on the floor.

“Out late?” He asked sarcastically.

“Hush up,” She snapped, “I don’t need that from you, who sent our son to die.”

He sighed and she knew she had won. In reality she didn’t care about their son. She ‘had’ him while her husband was at war. She was barren because of her magic, but it was a worthwhile trade. She took a child from a local mother, after hypnotizing her. Her husband fought, but she decided to kill him. Men were worthless creatures, only good to stomp underfoot. Her mother taught her this philosophy.

Thirty five years ago, her mother told her the story. The story about a young woman in a witch’s coven, being lured away by romance. A soldier proclaimed his love for her, and she renounced her coven by falling in love with him. Not much longer after that, they were married. They had a daughter, and named her Melanie. They had a happy life. Yet one night, she caught her husband with another woman. Enraged, humiliated, and upset, she fled to her old coven and pleaded for her magic, so she could destroy her husband in the most painful way possible. They agreed, on one condition, that her and her offspring would be barren, ending her magic line. She stormed her own home, and released her power on her husband and his lover. She took her daughter and fled the city, never to be seen there again. The Queen remembered that story, and took action because of it. She only preformed her magic on men.

She climbed into bed and evened her breathing, so her husband would believe her to be asleep. Soon after the drug in his system took effect, and he slowly fell asleep. She waited a good while after this before taking action, so he wouldn’t wake up in the process. She sat up and turned him on his back, splaying her hands over his chest. She began an incantation, and tendrils of darkness reached out from her fingers. The darkness reached into his torso, pulling out tendrils of light. The darkness snapped, severing the light from its host, and devoured it. The queen stopped chanting.

“Oh, that’s interesting, I’ll be finished with you quicker than I thought,” She spoke quietly, “Soon you’ll be my puppet and the world will be none the wiser.”

She turned her husband back over and climbed out of bed. She was tired, but there was more work to do. She made it into the hallway, that’s when the screams started.

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-=+] Chapter Three [+=-