Cathedral bells rang out again throughout Arcania. Shopkeepers who were counting the change, customers who were browsing, guards who were patrolling the main streets, all of them stopped what they were doing and bowed their heads for a minute of silence. None of them knew who was sacrificed as their names weren't important to commoners. They only knew the sound of the bell meant another Viaticum had passed.
Kaelith's legacy was known only to a few. One of them was a foreigner, an oleander in a sea of poisonous spiders.
Taking a sip of his wine, Cassian savored it.
"We could have changed the world, Kaelith."
He was standing on his balcony, looking out at the majestic web palace hanging by strings like a giant chandelier. The setting sun cast long shadows across the city.
"I suppose I respect your choice."
Wine spilled onto the grass below the balcony. Normally Cassian would have been upset or furious that someone had jeopardized his plan. After all, Arcania's citizens would only follow a ruler if they had royal blood, but his daughter's training had finally paid off.
A woman with white hair and a blue flower in her hair walked into the balcony. A woman Corvus knew all too well. Aurelia stood behind her father with a smile on her face.
"You did a good job Aury," he said and patted her head.
Cassian had a high chin seeing her daughter's smile widen at his affection. He groomed—no— taught her to be everything he needed her to be. A flower to be admired, but a flower that could poison with a single touch.
"Thank you father. Your daughter will never disappoint you."
Aurelia noticed the bottle of wine on the table was empty.
"Agatha and Leonel are still busy strapping down the... cargo. Should I fetch you another glass?" Aurelia asked.
Cassian nodded, "Don't be long."
He looked back out to the city. Most people preferred to cast magic while being in total control, but he liked to let his magic flow freely. It was a way to let his anger out in a non-violent way. The violent way was reserved for someone else.
"I miss you," he whispered.
His hand reached for the pocket watch. Opening it revealed a portrait of a beautiful woman that resembled his daughter.
"Just one more year then I'll join you in the fog." he said.
Putting the watch back in his pocket, he noticed a guard running towards him. An act of disrespect to a man at his station. The guard fell to his knees.
"A letter from Mr Grehm."
The only thing they needed to talk about was Kaelith's replacement but they would have done that in person. So why send a letter?
Opening it, Cassian read the first and only line.
"She knows,"
He crumpled the paper and tossed it in the air. It floated for a second before a small dark green blob gently touched it. Poison worked as well as fire. The letter turned into a black dust before it even hit the ground.
Aurelia was returning with the wine when she saw the black dust.
"What's wrong father?"
She could see the ashen face of her father. He looked like he saw a ghost.
"Aury," he said, "Is it ready?" his voice was trembling.
Aurelia nodded.
"Good," he said.
He took the glass of wine from her hand and drank it all in one go. Then he took her hand and led her inside. Ambassadors usually resided in their respective embassy, a place where both diplomatic and economic ties were managed.
The Oleander ambassador built his own mansion in Arcania. The gardens were filled with Oleander flowers, a reminder of home. The servants were a mix of Oleanders and Nightshades.
Aurelia stopped in front of a door in the basement.
"Can I come with you father?" she asked.
Shooking his head, he entered alone.
There was a table in the middle of the big room. A single black chest lied open, revealing the tens of sigils. The sigil that Kaelith created. At first both of them created and tested them but Kaelith proved to be a better researcher than Cassian. Not that he would ever admit it to anyone.
Rummaging through the paper he found the ones he was looking for.
"Number 550 to 560. Hybrids," he read out loud.
He had to act fast. To test the ones Kaelith didn't or didn't write about.
Around the table were 20 black widows in a cage. Their bodies were covered in sores and their visages were weak. They were homeless people who were captured for his experiments.
Cassian chose a sigil and walked up to one of the cages.
"Forgive me, Selene."
His oleander flower bloomed, a dark green sigil forming in its center. He casted the sigil.
The black widow started convulsing. She died within seconds.
"A failure," he said with a sigh.
A poison strong enough to kill the matriarch was never possible. But a poison meant to weaken her and cause her to lose control of her magic was. If these prisoners died then it was a failure.
One test later, another failure.
Then a third. Each failure got him sweating more and more. After the last innocent victim died, he slammed his fist on the table.
"Shit."
Kaelith had told he succeeded. He created a poison that could weaken the matriarch. But where is it?
"Aury," he yelled.
The door sprung open and Aurelia entered.
Putrid smells of vomit, sweat and blood assaulted her senses. She was used to the smell of poison, but this was something else. She fought the urge to cover her nose.
"Is everything alright father?"
Cassian turned around and grabbed her by the shoulders.
"Where is it?" he asked.
His voice was a low growl, his grip like iron.
"What do you mean?" Aurelia's eyes widened.
"The sigil obviously!"
She winced at his tone.
"I didn't touch anything f-father. When I got it from Corvus, I only opened it to check the contents, then I brought it here."
He loosened his grip. His eyes darted to the black chest, then to the empty cages.
"Corvus, huh?"
His tone was soft.
Too soft.