"Have you found anything on him yet?"
"I'm working on that too. Just ensure you keep staying away from him. What about the bottle, did you give him any of that?"
Belladonna suppressed a scoff.
"He hasn't given me any need to do that yet."
"Great." Kestra leaned back. "Just ensure to do as I say. Exactly as I say." She emphasized. "I will not lead you astray."
Astray.
That word.
Astray.
That was exactly what she wanted to do though.
All this while that she had been preparing her for the sacrifice.
The 200th bride.
"Of course, I know I can trust you, Lady Kestra."
She could see a flash behind her own eyes, her reality clashing together, her gaze became fixed on Lady Kestra's neck, watching every movement, blood running hot in her veins and her heart pounding more in her chest the harder she focused.
The needle in her hand would sink straight into that skin, puncture something and that would be it.
All their problems, gone just because of one needle.
She should do it.
"Yes, you can, Pretty Little thing." Lady Kestra reached for her hand, the one with the needle. It slip out of her hand to the floor and with a shaky breath, Belladonna realized that she had stood up to her feet and was about to strike Lady Kestra only a second ago.
What was wrong with her?
It was as if she had been possessed.
Her heart was thundering as if she had just been caught trying to kill someone.
Maybe because in her mind she was already committing murder.
If she did that, Eli would lock her up. Eli was one for justice and due process. If she tried to convince him about what Kestra truly was and what she had been doing, he would claim that her mind had been corrupted by the Bride Thief.
Belladonna flinched as Lady Kestra finally held her hand, bringing her harshly back to the present.
"You can."
It took a couple of convincing Belladonna's head for her to be calm again.
Attacking Lady Kestra right now held no guarantee of success, what about the Alterer on the people that were linked to her? If she didn't kill her the right way, it might affect the people.
Killing her right now would be stupid and lead to equally stupid and damaging results.
Belladonna wasn't stupid.
So, she took her seat and once again, her gaze flew to the door, as she wondered what exactly was keeping Nadia this long.
They talked about the weather, then other things. Nadia was still not back with the tea, Belladonna was tired of Kestra's presence and the time was starting to crawl.
Lady Kestra chuckled loudly, although Belladonna couldn't remember having said anything funny. She felt sleep deprived, her head hurt from the headache of a fruitless search and she was starting to feel the burnt of it.
When they had gone to the last place on the Black Book and found nothing she had surged the feeling off, because she didn't actually feel anything, but now, she was starting to feel everything.
The room felt small, the person in it with her, making it suffocating.
By Ignas, where was the tea?!
"That reminds me of this kids story." Lady Kestra said, throwing her head back casually like she had just remembered the fondest memory. "I'm not one for children's stories but I find this one very intriguing." A gentle pat on Belladonna's thigh, before she leaned back again. "You will like it."
"What is it?" Belladonna pretended to be interested.
"Snakes. Those little serpents."
Belladonna shuddered.
She wasn't particularly fun of those.
They were scary.
Lady Kestra wasted no time in telling her story.
It was about two snakes that were in love, the male shedding a scale anytime they were together and the female keeping it as a token and proof of theme undying love.
Belladonna, for one, couldn't care less about two snakes and their intimate moments. This was nothing but an unreal tale, even if it were real, why would she care?
"One day, a rabbit came inbetween them." Lady Kestra stood up, moving around with ease that almost made Belladonna doubt her blind state. She stood behind her, resting her hands on her shoulders. "Seduced the male and he was in love, a stupid obsession."
Some other lengthy words were said in-between, words Belladonna was too tired to process until she came to a part of the story.
"...the female arranged some of his scales right here," she trailed a line around Belladonna's collarbone, " to remind him of their love."
Belladonna stared ahead dumbfounded as she slowly realized what this story was about.
It wasn't about snakes and a rabbit.
Eli had not been pleased when she had those scales on, now she understood why. It must have skipped his mind to tell her about this, when he had told her about his relationship with Kestra some days ago.
Belladonna hadn't thought that she could hate someone more than she had hated Kestra before the story, but now, she did.
She was livid.
"The poor female snake could feel it anytime they were together. It was so painful. Isn't it so painful?" Lady Kestra squeezed her shoulders gently, "I don't think the rabbit will survive. The snakes love each other very much." Lady Kestra moved away. "What do you think pretty little thing? Will the rabbit die or live?"
The door pushed open at that moment and Lady Kestra's ears perked.
"My tea."
Nadia said an apology and handed the cup of warm tea to Lady Kestra, but all that was a blur to Belladonna, all that was playing in her mind was how she had agreed to allow Lady Kestra dress her that night so that she could show Eli that he didn't have to hide forever. Eli's reaction, everything felt different now that she knew what exactly the scales meant.
She had thought they were plastics, Lady Kestra had told her they were plastics. She remembered wanting to return them, but Lady Kestra insisted that she kept them as a "gift".
Gift, her foot!
Her environment remained a blur to her. The way Lady Kestra had spat out the tea, a large gulp of which she had swallowed, on Nadia, and complained that it was foul while slapping her across the face, Nadia's apology and Kestra's storming off.
All a blur.
By the time Belladonna snapped out of it, she raced to her study where she had kept most of her things and ransacked the drawers for the small box she had kept the scales.
Lady Kestra had known that she was lying to her, which meant that she knew that Belladonna didn't trust her.
The battle line had finally been drawn.
They were both just being too careful to boldly declare war.
She could find the box, she was starting to lose her mind, dumping things on the ground carelessly from the drawer, before something nipped her fingers drawing blood.
"Ouch." She stumbled back, the nip although tiny compared to the pain she felt.
It went straight to her brain.
Her breathing was loud and ragged, as her gaze fell to what had caused that momentarily jarring pain.
It was the necklace from Nadia's grandmother.
It absorbed her blood and a blue glow emitted from it as it broke into different pieces and formed different words.
Belladonna's heart was thundering, her body still as she watched.
"In the Underground Cave of Badura lays what you seek."
The words were fast but her eyes followed them quickly.
The Underground Cave of Badura was no longer in existence.
"Here is the key."
The words merged and formed a key.
Then like a faint whisper, she heard a female voice say, "Save us, Nahiri."
What?!
Nadia's grandmother was a witch? Also, she knew about the whole Nahiri situation?
How?