Chapter 48: The Duchess Is A Witch?
The journey from the Alvarez Estate to the Imperial Capital was akin to a descent into a living purgatory.
As the ducal carriage, flanked by a full regiment of the North’s elite cavalry, crossed the border out of the Alvarez territories, the change was jarring.
Behind them lay a land where the rhythmic thrum-thrum of steam pumps had turned the dust back into mud and the mud back into life. In the North, there was water in the basins and hope in the air.
But as they rolled toward the heart of the Empire, the world turned grey.
The imperial highways were littered with the carcasses of livestock that had simply given up. The trees looked like skeletal claws scratching at a sky that remained the shade of a sickly green.
The further they traveled, the drier was the air.
Inside the carriage, the silence was heavy.
Ace sat across from Evelina, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword, his eyes never leaving the window. He hadn’t slept properly since Malphas had darkened their doorstep.
Every time the carriage slowed, his body tensed, ready to cut down anyone who dared approach.
"You look like you’re preparing to fight a dragon," Evelina couldn’t pretend to not see him anymore, "Relax. We aren’t even at the city gates yet."
"A dragon is still a simple beast," Ace rasped, his voice rough, "The Capital is a nest of vipers. They are poisonous, sweetheart and that kind would always look for a surface to spew that poison.’’
Evelina fell silent, a hint of heat rising on her cheeks. One couldn’t know what she was thinking.
Later, as they entered the city walls, the crowds watched with hollowed eyes. Rumors had preceded them, fueled by Selene tireless efforts: The Duchess of the North found the world’s last water and kept it for herself. She is a witch who has cursed the Emperor’s soil so her own would bloom.
The carriage arrived at the Imperial holding chambers, a guest wing of the palace that was effectively a pretty cage in disguise.
While Evelina was being settled into her quarters, the venom that Ace spoke of, continued to spread.
Selene stood at the center of a circle of high-born noblewomen in the palace conservatory. Even the exotic plants here were dying, their leaves curling into blackened ash.
Selene looked like a vision of perfection as she had donned a gown of shimmering silver, her hair braided with pearls.
"It is heartbreaking, isn’t it?" Selene whispered, her voice a practiced melody of sorrow, "My poor sister... I always knew she was desperate for power, but to bargain with the dark forces for the North’s water while the rest of us suffer? It is a cruelty I cannot fathom."
"Is it true, Selene?" a Countess asked, her voice cracking from a dry throat, "Did she truly build a machine that sucks the life from the Southern rivers?"
"The Inquisitors saw it themselves," Selene cried, "She is hoarding the Empire’s lifeblood. She wants us to beg at her feet for a single cup of water."
The seeds of hatred were sown. Selene watched with hidden satisfaction as the women cursed Evelina. She wasn’t just destroying Evelina’s status at this point, she was preparing the pyre.
The night before the trial, the air in the holding chambers was heavy scent of stagnant dust. Evelina sat at a small vanity, brushing her hair, when the door creaked open.
She didn’t need to turn around to know who it was. The scent of cloying lilac perfume gave it away.
Selene stepped into the room, closing the door behind her. She looked at Evelina’s reflection with a small smile.
"I expected to find you trembling, sister," Selene said, walking toward the center of the room, "But in such a small amount of time, you have defied all my expectations."
Evelina set her brush down slowly. She turned, her voice full of worry as she spoke... "It’s good that you are here, Selene. I wanted to ask how Father is, but I guess... he is too busy trying to figure out which of his creditors to hide from first. And, has he beem giving you trouble?
Selene’s smile flickered for a microsecond before hardening, "Why don’t you drop the pretense now? Gloat while you can, Evelina. Tomorrow, you will be standing in the furnace Malphas has prepared for you. They say the trial by fire is quite thorough and brutal."
Evelina activated [Merchant’s Eye].
The world shifted. Gold and red lines traced the room, settling on Selene.
[Target: Selene Snow]
[Financial Status: Assets seized by creditors]
[Physical Status: Dehydrated]
[Transaction History: Quite some time ago, Target ’Selene’ secretly purchased gallons of Alvarez northern spring at 1,000% market markup via black market smugglers.]
Evelina let out a soft laugh, a sound that made Selene’s skin crawl for some reason.
"You really are a tragic actress, Selene," Evelina said, standing up and walking toward her sister.
Selene stepped back instinctively, "What are you talking about?"
"You are gloating over my downfall and yet you’re currently surviving because of me," Evelina reached out, her fingers almost touching Selene’s jaw as she added, "You’re wearing an incredible amount of lead powder today, Selene. It’s a bit thick, don’t you think?"
"It’s the fashion in the Capital," Selene snapped.
Evelina’s voice dropped to a pitying whisper as she spoke, "It’s to hide the fact that your skin is peeling from dehydration. Your family estate is a graveyard. You’re bankrupt and you kept spending the last of the Snow liquid assets buying my water from my people at ten times the price just to keep yourself from looking like a shriveled raisin."
"You are overthinking!"
Evelina couldn’t be bothered to argue with her so she simply shrugged, "I have the records. For somebody who is trying to burn me, you are still relying on me. You are suffering and trying to kill the only person who can provide the cure. It’s not just wicked, Selene. It’s pathetic at this point."
Selene’s face contorted as she raised her hand to strike Evelina, but the door burst open.
