Blood on Nobody’s Hands
Erin Kaye
Blood on Nobody’s Hands
Blood On Nobody’s Hands
Erin Kaye
Copyright Page
Contents Chapter One: Fifteen Years Prior Chapter Two: Headless Jungle Chapter Three: A City the Same as Any Other Chapter Four: Creature in the Basement Chapter Five: The Silent Screams of Servents Chapter Six: Blood Chapter Seven: Identity Chapter Eight: The Princess’s Demon Eyes Chapter Nine: Wars of Parliment Chapter Ten: Death Whispers Chapter Eleven: Searching for a Head Chapter Twelve: Warrior Princess Chapter Thirteen: Dilemas Chapter Fourteen: Dishourable Chapter Fifteen: Slinking Waters Chapter Sixteen: The Vadma Massace Chapter Seventeen: Indigo Fires and Bronze Rains Chapter Eighteen: The Crocket Cutlass Chapter Nineteen: Deceptive Queen and Truthful Apothecary Chapter Twenty: The Vengence of Slinking Waters
Chapter Twenty-One: Sorrow Chapter Twenty-Two: Rebellion Chapter Twenty-Three: The Second Storming of the Fortress Chapter Twenty-Four: Praising the Faithful Chapter Twenty-Five: As she Dances in Blood Chapter Twenty-Six: The Dark Bells Chapter Twenty-Seven: Fallen Vadma Chapter Twenty-Eight: The Hollars of Pain Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Chamber of Dispair Chapter Thirty: The City of Creatures Chapter Thirty-One: Blank Chapter Thirty-Two: The Betrayal of the Prince Chapter Thirty-Three: Everybody Has to Die Chapter Thirty-Four: She Chapter Thirty-Five: Husband Chapter Thirty-Six: Courage to Carry On Chapter Thirty-Seven: I See You Chapter Thirty-Eight: Whiplash Chapter Thirty-Nine: Begone Evil Chapter Forty: Hopeful
Chapter One:
Fifteen Years Prior
“Great Overlord!” screamed a messenger as she barged into the Overlord’s chamber. “It is an alarming tragedy!” The Overlord sat in his exquisite palatial throne. His humongous body was decorated in splendid fabrics and scarves disguising all human features. His voice was deep like the ocean and as bleak as a thunderstorm. “Speak girl!” he ordered. “It is the Bustillo family! They are slaughtered! Vadma is without monarchs! Chaos has already began to ascend! The royal guards are fighting swarms of Creatures as we speak! By sunrise we probably will have lost the Vadma Royal Fortress!” “Did the Creatures murder the King and his family?” “Nobody knows, My Lord,” He paused as took a long foreboding gulp from his chalice. “I will do nothing presently.” The Overlord declared. “B-,” the messenger checked herself – remembering her training as well as her mentor’s warnings – she bowed and exited.
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Chapter Two:
Headless Jungle
The nauseating snarls echoed against the furious splashes. The continuous spillages of blood contaminated the water. Two children huddled together behind the waterfall as their attacker approached them. The creature was as black as coal, its skin charred and flaking. With each new piece that slopped off, dirty red puss oozed beneath. The creature moved stiffly but quickly. Its hands ready to grab them. The smell of it turned their stomachs. But they were fixated on the neck erupting gallons and gallons and gallons of blood from the creature’s headless body. The girl’s name was Gloria. She was remarkably short for a fourteen year old, strangers would often guess her age to be around eight or nine. Another unusual feature was her dead straight hair that hung past her shoulders down to her hips and was the ghostly colour of bone. Her eyes resembled the blackness of panther fur. If it were not for the jubilant glimmer that sparkled within them, she would have been considered scary. Every item she wore reflected that she was wealthy. Her voice sweet like a nightingale showed she was a lady. Her mannerisms exposed her as a princess. She had her shaking arm around her twin brother (Alfred) attempting to offer him some form of comfort. He whimpered pathetically. His refined blue eyes were drowning in fearful tears. His boyish body shrivelled inward as he buried into his sister. His hair was as black as a raven’s feather, damp with sweat and cluttered with leaves. His opulent clothes were stained with mud. The creature jolted towards them. Alfred screamed. An arrow shot itself straight through the creature’s chest. Gloria pushed her brother’s head down preventing him from being injured. 12
Suddenly their older sister, Rosalind, came racing through the waterfall. “Get up!” she ordered “I don’t think that will be enough to stop it!” she grabbed Alfred’s hand as she violently tugged at him to move but his legs were still weak with terror. Gloria pushed his back. But all to quickly the river became too deep to run, their feet struggled to touch the ground. “Alfred get on my back!” Rosalind yelled. “Now!” she trusted Gloria to take care of herself. The creature’s snarls were rapid and angry. It throw itself into the water as it thrashed its limbs around chaotically but it boosted its speed. The loud splashing behind them provoked the princesses to go faster which allowed them to create a decent amount of distance between themselves and the creature. The whole river was surrounded by banks several feet above the water. Rosalind’s eyes darted around wildly looking for one they could climb up. “Rosalind, this way!” called Gloria as she speedily darted sideways with her sister promptly at her heels. Soon Rosalind could see Gloria’s intended destination. There was a dip in the bank. Gloria allowed her siblings to climb up before her but the sandy mud was too slippery and Alfred weighted Rosalind down causing her to fall back into the water. All the while the creature was getting, Closer… Closer… Closer… “Alfred get off me!” boomed Rosalind as she forced his hands off her. He sunk briefly then she grabbed him and began to hoist him over her head. He scampered his way onto the bank and retreated into the deep vegetation of the jungle. “You next!” she repeated the process with Gloria. When her sister was on the bank she offered Rosalind her hand. “Hurry up Rosalind! It is getting closer!” “I am trying!” she snapped, jumping about in the water not getting enough height needed to reach Gloria. She could feel water crashing against her body originating from the creature’s determined swimming. Gloria grabbed a hold of a firm-looking rock to anchor herself as she lowered down further. “Rosalind!” Gloria screamed in desperation. This time Rosalind was able to reach her hand. “Alfred help us!” she screamed feeling the strain of trying to lift her sister’s body. “Alfred!” He did not reappear. The creature was leaping upwards trying to grab Rosalind, in response she swung her left leg onto the bank. This allowed her to heave herself and Gloria’s semi-suspended body to safety. Without wasting a second on the bank, she took out her bow and an arrow, took aim then fired. The arrow shot right down the creature’s throat tearing apart the larynx (voice box). The snarls were silenced. Suddenly, it was limp and 13
lifeless. Its buoyant body drifted down the river. “Alfred? Alfred!” Gloria began to call as she headed into the jungle. Rosalind took in a few deep breaths, stood up and hesitantly followed after. The mud squashed beneath her feet and she was irritated by having to bat away gigantic leaves and flimsy branches. “Alfred are you alright?” Gloria asked. “He’s fine,” Rosalind stated grumpily. “You two are more trouble than your worth!” Gloria grabbed Alfred’s hand pulling him up as they followed their sister “It was not my fault you see-,” “Alfred ran off, you went looking for him, then you both get into a pickle,” Rosalind interrupted patronisingly “yes, yes. It’s the same stupid story with you two.” She huffed. “Did the guards shoot the arrows?” Alfred asked. “Do you see any guards here?” snarled Rosalind. “The guards travelling with us are bloody useless. Incompetent fools who look like grandpas,” “Rosalind.” Gloria tutted. Rosalind had transformed herself into a muscular and determined warrior. She wore her bronze breastplate and greaves constantly. Also, watching her walking around in a knee-length tunic raised a few eyebrows, they had been told in Vadma women were supposed to wear their tunics down to the ankles. Rosalind complained that this restricted her movements. Her once delicate skin had been hardened by her labours of practice. She had induced her maid to place her chocolate hair into one taut, long and bulky braid. “Its true if it were left to them you’d both be dead. I don’t know how you’re going to cope without me,” “Are you really going to go?” “Of course.” She assured them “it’s what I have been training for,” “I am glad she’s going. Rosalind’s mean,” Alfred whispered into Gloria’s ear. “Hush,” she instructed. “I am sure everyone will be happier when we reach our new abode,” Gloria suggested to them both. “I don’t want to see our new home,” he sulked “I want to go back to our old home! I hate Vadma I hate the Iyramilas Citadel! I won’t live there and you can’t make me!” “Don’t be silly Alfred,” Gloria smiled “you cannot say you don’t like the Iyramilas Citadel because you haven’t lived there yet, you haven’t even seen it. Besides with all new things there is a period of adjustment. Remember the first time you tried a tunic? You declared you hated it and now you like it. In addition, Owhoumana needs Mother’s leadership. The roads taking us to civilisation are overgrown and dreadful that is why it is taking us so long. Coming all this way to turn back again would be pointless. Soon Mother will make everything as it should and it’ll be more 14
comfortable. Then you may find you like it,” “What about the heat?” he grumbled. “Well I doubt anyone can do anything about the heat,” she laughed. “This isn’t a game you two!” Rosalind yelled. “Vadma is a dangerous country with an unstable political, economic and social climate plus it has these monsters running around. And these monster don’t just live in the jungle. They roam the cities, terrorising the people,” Alfred began to sob profusely. “Rosalind, why would you do that?” Gloria asked hotly. “Look Gloria,” she pulled her sister in close “I know Alfred is… fragile but you can’t hide the truth from him. He’s fourteen not four.” She let go of Gloria’s arm “maybe it’s time for us all to stop babying him,”. With that Rosalind stomped away with the twins reluctantly following. Soon they re-joined the fleet of carriages and coaches with loads of seeds, materials, jewellery, livestock, documents and the rest of the Farrell royal family. The majority of guards swarmed the three as they approach concerned with their welfare while the remainder bolted off in various directions to call off the search parties. The two older sisters barely glanced at them as they got into their prospective carriages. Their mother nodded at Rosalind approvingly from her carriage window before ordering her driver to move on. “I didn’t mean to run off,” Alfred said. “I know you didn’t,” Gloria replied. “Is this place really full of monsters?” “You don’t need to worry about that, our new home is completely safe and we won’t go anywhere with guards,” Gloria assured him. The wheels of the carriage forced their way through the mud causing the carriage to jolt forward unpredictably “Not long now until we are in Iyramilas. Do you remember what makes Iyramilas so special and why we are going to live there?” Alfred thought for a moment. Then beamed proudly, “It’s the capital city!”
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Fifteen years ago, the royal family was slaughtered. Now the Montjoy family have arrived in the new colony, Vadma, to take their place. While there, the family have to navigate political battlefields, overcome social adversities, and either submit or resist their true natures. As Princess Gloria Montjoy attempts to settle into her new role she can’t help but attract the notice of those who are hellbent on burying her and her family in Vadma soil.