Chanting the words in her head, Alethia approached Rebecca, who began stumbling backward before breaking into a run towards the door. Alethia didn't slow her walking pace or lift up the dangling sword in her hand, it scraped against the ground as she dragged it forward. 

If her mother wanted Rebecca dead, then it would happen even if it weren't by Alethia's hands. The mercy was letting it be. Rebecca banged on the door, calling out for help and glanced back at Alethia between each call.

Once she was within arm's reach, Rebecca slid to the ground, shaking her head. Snot dripped out of her nose, sliding over her mouth and mixing in with the tears falling from her eyes. Rebecca pleaded for her life, screaming that she had done nothing wrong. Slowly, the words stopped reaching Alethia as she blocked them out. 

A cold blanket of ruthlessness fell over her as it always did in the moments before she killed. Her heart pounded in her ears, but the emotions were gone, and soon, everything would be over.

With a calmness she had never experienced before, Alethia gripped Rebecca's hair, forcing the girl's head to tilt back. Rebecca was the only servant who was willing to talk and listen to her. The only servant who was willing to see to her wounds. The only one who wasn't deathly afraid of her, who could look her in the eyes without flinching. The only person who had been a constant and comforting presence in her life outside of her sister. 

Rebecca had been a welcoming sight. Always.

The least Alethia could do was give her a swift death. She looked into Rebecca's teary eyes while drawing her sword across her throat. Rebecca's body thudded to the ground, snapping Alethia out of her trance. She stared down at the servant. The pain radiating from her stomach was no comparison to the pain coming from her chest.

"You little disposable, magicless, wretch," Queen Liliana shouted, drawing Alethia's attention. "I gave you one task. I told you to rip her to shreds. Are you incompetent? Or do you want your sister to suffer? Do you want someone to feel the same pain that you've felt for years? Is that it, girl?"

Alethia flinched at the words, each one stabbing into her chest more times than she could count. "Punish me. But please, leave Roxana alone. I beg of you, mother."

"You beg me?" Her mother's face twisted into an ugly scowl. "You beg to no one. I warned you of the repercussions for defying me. Obedience is loyalty. And loyalty is everything."

The room seemed to shrink in on itself at her mother's words. Roxana struggled to move out of her mother's grasp as she stood from the throne.

"Your sister will receive twenty lashes, and you shall watch as I administer them." The queen yanked the curled-up whip from the belt over her waist and pushed Roxana to the ground. Alethia's chest tightened, and she ran as fast as she could for her sister. 

She could take any punishment her mother wanted to give, but she knew Roxana couldn't handle it. Her mother yelled at her, bringing the whip down toward Roxana, who was facing forward, hand outstretched towards the ground.

The porcelain floor began to crack as solid mud slowly rose out of the ground. The whip slammed in the mud, lodging into it as Alethia reached her sister, wrapping her arms around her.

"You foolish girls," her mother scowled, gripping her amulet, leeching magic from it. The ground shook again, throwing Alethia off balance. 

Both her and Roxana sprawled out on the shaking floor as mud floated upwards and began to form the shape of daggers. One by one, they shot towards them. Alethia pushed Roxana behind her, and her heart pounded with the knowledge that she was going to die. She was going to die by her own mother's hands. 

The anger that she had kept bottled up on the inside for so many years spilled out. She didn't want to die. Not like this, not right now, and not by her hands.

Arms coming up instinctively to shield herself, Alethia felt a powerful rush go through her. It was as if the blood in her veins was never flowing and had just started. A blissful warmth rushed from the pit of her stomach and spread throughout her body. She shut her eyes as the unfamiliar feeling grew unbearably stronger. 

The warmth reached burning levels of heat. Alethia's eyes flung open, glowing a bright blue as they latched onto her mother's surprised face. She gasped from the pain of her wounds and the internal burning sensation.

As Alethia fell to the ground, darkness entrapped her.