Branch 2: Aezeti

The elf shared another hug with her favorite student before the girl followed her husband out.  As soon as the last one left and the door closed?  Her mind started working furiously.

"How do you kill a hero?"  Whispers ever so quietly.

If she could somehow turn his wives against him?  Could distract him while she slips a blade into his heart.  Or they could do it for her.  No man can easily turn on women he believes are his.

Wait, is the monster's heart even in the same place?

Better have sex a few times with him first.  Ensnare the husband and undermine the wives' trust in him.  Turn their loss of trust into resentment, and finally hate.  Yes.  Takes longer but never fails.  Those undead though.  How much divine magic will she need to suppress them?

But that 'bond.'  If he feels them turning on him?

The two hundred year old elf was happy her Edely had found a man.  But she was still her Edely.  Obediently telling her everything with just a look.  Her knight princess would get over him.  And she would comfort her fiery haired darling until the girl again understood that no man would ever be good enough for her.

"Has it been long enough?"  She mused.

Granya had been closed to her for a century.  Ever since her home was raided by the royal guard.  Her pets found and freed.  Only her achievements in manipulating the humans had convinced the royal court to spare her life.  But she lost everything else.

Staying on this side of the border had worked out for her.  Human girls were much more obedient pets than elves and dwarves.  Easier to break.  And their shorter lives kept them from becoming a bother.  Adorable but dense Edely had been quite the challenge.  No matter how many times she was tricked into asking for it?

She did not become a pet.

Being broken by those two idiots might have finally pushed Edely over the edge.  Instead?  The boy she guarded was far more terrifying and ruthless than the Clever Count implied.  And possessive.

How could her Edely give herself to a man so completely?  Is it tha-  She's not alone.

Sensitive elf eyes slowly sweep over the room while she sharpens her senses.  There!

*tingk*

The knife fashioned from a fork the guard forgot to collect after a meal, buries itself into the wall.  Its divine magic charge, given to it by the elf, melting a hole in the shadow it passed thru.

~Took you long enough.~  A thing of smoke and ink with a long coat and tall hat speaks snidely.

~How do you kill a hero?~  A second thing of ink and smoke except with bat looking wings, asks from the other side of the room.  ~Tenno also wants to know.~

If the knife charged with divine magic didn't work?  She doubted the stakes crafted from the bed boards would.  These must be the living shadows her Edely spoke of.

Maybe his undead can be turned?

"How much does he know?"

~What we know.  The One knows.~  The undead looking like a Metian inquisitor bows.  Aezeti can feel it smirking.  ~The Granyan agent who has spent more time in Tourin than any other sentinel?  The elf said to have committed crimes in Granya so deviant, that even your debauched kin wouldn't tolerate it?  The woman who knows everyone on the border?  Wouldn't know the two running the gate in Pearlden have a rape club?~

"Even I can't know every everyone."

~You certainly know enough everyone to acquire one bottle of a rare and potent aphrodisiac.~  The shadow with a hat shows off a terrifying smile.

The elf's mind is whirring.  How does she get out of here?  What spells does she have for undead besides [Smite]?  A weak two ring.  Against one maybe, but two?  Who brushed off what was supposed to be her trump card?  What will keep her alive?

~I am a mother.  I have a daughter.~  How can an undead express so much, disgust?  ~Lady Edelys sees you as her mother.  Wants you to be her mother.~  Such loathing?  ~That was not how a mother treats a daughter.  That was how an owner treats a plaything.  A pet.~

Would screaming for help do any good?  Would her Edely save her?  No.  She still believes in that man to much.  Too soon.

She slowly sits back down.

"What happens now?"

~The One considered blessing you.  Having you join his congregation.~  The elf shudders.  ~Or maybe just taking a hand.~  Aezeti glanced at her hands.  ~For now?  As you made others your pets?  You are now the One's pet.~

~You kept Lady Edelys weak.  All to suit your twisted taste.  A strong adult body and a weak child mind.~  The elf very grudgingly, nods.  ~Tenno has decreed you will help give the Lady a strong adult mind too.~

~Viscountess Barton is aware your interest in her is selfish, not selfless.  Yet no others cared for her.  Showed her love.~  A dagger appears in the witch hunter's vaporous hand.  ~She forgives you.~

Is her plan working?  Is the pet-to-be already turning on her husband?

~Tenno does not care how broken you are.  But you will be honest with his Lady now.~  The elf's eyes shake.

The elf sees another being of smoke and ink form next to the undead inquisitor.  Clearly a woman.  She looks like a priestess but even more holy.  Or unholy.  An oracle?

The witch hunter glides forward and slides his blade across the elf's neck.  So sharply that only one drop of blood falls.

He whispers in her ear as the oracle behind him raises her spectral hands.  The air in the cell vibrating.  Filled with a death magic incantation.

~So you will serve her in undeath.~