“I’m sorry,” he says with his head hung low. Why? My voices ask in a chorus. Why? They start incredibly low, the lonely word echoing in my head as I stare at Osric Adelard in shock.

“I’m so sorry, my lady,” he says it again for me to hear. But I only think it as absurd.

My heart throbbed and my blood boiled. The voices in my head are in chaos, commanding me to end his life. From the corner of my eye, the paper knife glints silver as if it wanted me to pick it up.

“What did you say?” My voice trembles as I ask him once again.

“The letter and the seal…they are all real.”

“That’s impossible!” I scream and the voices in my head scream with me. Something tugs at my heart—it is cold but is also very familiar. “Unfortunately, my lady. Zale Circe did in fact leave the house under temporary leadership of Lord Darhen’s son.”

I hear a strange buzzing in my ear as I sit down. “Do you know who is behind this?” I ask.

Lord Adelard closes his eyes and heaves out a burdened sigh. I brace myself for his answer but nothing came out of his mouth. He stayed silent. “What? Is this something I shouldn’t know?” I frown at him. He shakes his head in disagreement but he does not open his mouth.

“This is outrageous! How can someone not of Circe blood become a head?” I can feel the slight tug in my heart grow stronger as my anger rose.

“This is only a temporary leadership, my lady. I will see to it that he gives back the seal when you are ready.”

I glare at him. The words he uttered were disgusting, it was something I could not accept. A person who was not even a part of the Circe bloodline sitting on my brother’s seat. How despicable.

“Get out,” I command.

Osric does not move but when I flash him a threatening glare, he gives me a deep bow and walks out of the room, leaving me alone with the voices in my head grumbling. I sit on my chair and massage my temples. I know for a fact that Lord Darhen, that mouse, wanted the position of Head ever since my brother passed away. I tried protecting my brother’s seat, but there is nothing I can do right now. My brother’s letter was proof enough that he wanted Lord Darhen’s son to succeed as temporary head.

Sundown. My head is spinning. I spent the entire afternoon sitting down in my brother’s office. I told Marie and Coleberg to refuse anyone who wants to talk to me.

I look out the window and set my eyes on the gazebo in the garden. I wanted to go for a walk, but I know that I would only be reminiscing memories about my brother and I. I don’t really want that, not now. My thoughts wander back to Osric’s report earlier this morning. It just doesn’t make sense.

My brother wasn’t the type of person to hand over the management of the house and territory to someone who isn’t part of the family. I know him well enough to predict his next moves, even in chess. My brother will not move to carelessly.

“My lady, are you not going to have dinner?” Marie asks from the other side of the door.

“I’ll have it in my room. Thank you, Marie.”

I stand up and organise my desk. Piles and piles of documents and paperwork stacked up on each other made my head hurt. I have to deal with these matters about the mansion as soon as possible, and there was the appointing of a temporary head. What chaos.

I look outside and stare at the gazebo one last time before I walk out of the room. My thoughts were chaotic as I walk back to my bedchamber. They whisper inaudible words at me. They hiss and growl as I pass by numerous portraits of all the Household Heads and silence only when we pass by my brother’s. Come to think of it, the voices only settle down when my brother’s voice echo in my head or if we pass something that was in possession of my brother. I wonder why that is. I have never thought of it as something, but it is just fascinating.

My room is dark, lit only by the fireplace Marie had turned on. A tray of untouched food was sitting gingerly on the table, right beside a glass of milk and half a bowl of caramel candy. Marie knew just how much I loved to eat caramel whenever I am stressed—she somehow always knew when I would be needing it the most. I sit down and start to eat, but I cannot taste anything. I’m sure the chef did his best to make my dinner delicious, but for some reason, I am unable to taste.

From the corner of my eye, I see a shadow. It flickers as it moves from darkness to darkness—completely avoiding the places with light. I follow it’s path with my eyes and it stops. The little shadow creature turned it’s head and looks at me with menacing purple eyes. It glows in the darkness as it stares at me. And in a blink of a eye, it disappeared. I scan my room to look for it, but it was as if it was never there.

Weird.

I must be tired. I sometimes see things when I’m tired.

I stand up from my seat and change out of my dress into a silk nightgown. It’s cold in my room even though the fireplace was in use. I lay awake in my bed and stare at my bed chamber’s ceiling. The corners were donned with silver and gold flowers and swirls. I close my eyes and drift into sleep.

♠♠♠

I wake up lying in a patch of beautiful flowers. The sky was clear as clouds silently pass by, blocking the sunlight from me. My arms are outstretched as I stare at the spotless sky.

The wind blows gently, caressing my face and swaying the flowers around me. I look to my side and see my mother sitting down with a smile on her face. Father sits next to her, his arm around her as he pulls her close. He stares warmly at me and his lips curl up into a loving smile.

I sit up and see my brother run toward me with a childish grin. He grabs both of my hands and pull me up with a smile. He leads me toward a big tree in the middle of the meadow and turns around. Now he was facing me. He smiles at me but this time, it sends chills down my spine.

“Nerisia…” he calls for my name.

I look at him in confusion and extend my hand toward him, asking him to hold me. But my brother, instead of taking my hand, he takes one step back as he hides both his hands behind him. “Brother…what?”

Suddenly, The once bright sky turned black and the flowers around us wilted into nothing but dead and ugly flowers. Even the once beautiful tree we were under lost its leaves, leaving only dead branches that stretched downward. It grows more until it traps me within its thorny cage, separating me from my brother.

I reach for him but I can’t grab him. He smiles at me as red and irony blood drips from his eyes as if he cried blood. He takes one step toward me and his face turns different. He was no longer the healthy and handsome older brother, instead he looked like he was starved.

His cheeks are sunken and his hands were bony. He almost looked like a whole skeleton. I flinch as he takes two more steps toward me. My brother raises a bony hand and caresses my face—it felt cold. Then suddenly, I feel a sharp pain pass my left cheek and cold blood drips onto my ragged white dress.

My brother looks at me and smiles, but his eyes were full of rage as he leans forward to my ear. And he whispers, “I’m dead.”

There was a strange buzzing in my ear as he whispered to me. “He killed me, Nerisia.” He says to me through gritted teeth. “Kill him. Avenge me. Kill him. Make him suffer the way I did.” The voices came rushing all at once, morphing together with my brother’s, creating a sinister sound.

“Leave the house,” the voices shout. “Kill the seventh prince!”

I grab my brother’s bony hand and cry. But when I opened my eyes, my brother’s hand turned to ashes, and I realise I was staring right into the eyes of my dead brother. His already decapitated head was hanged by the hair—eyes and mouth wide.

I take a step back and clench my jaw.

“Revenge…”

The word echoes loudly in my head.