Hatred (Part 1)

“In the Shrouded One’s name, what has happened here?!”

Selena raised her head just in time to witness how the high priest stomped into the tower. He was holding a brass key in his hand, ready to open the locked door to her chamber and storm in. But after seeing the shattered remains of the entryway, he just stopped at the threshold, his eyes wide open.

He quickly assessed the situation. Busted doors, a broken window, and foul-smelling red splatters on the cracked walls. Not to mention the fallen bells below, which almost prevented him from getting upstairs. He knew something was happening, once he heard those bells ringing. However, he did not expect to find a whole tower in such a disarray.

His eyes met the holy saintess. His shoulders relaxed once he realized she was still in the tower. He was afraid he would find this room empty, seeing that there were no locks in place anymore.

“Is that… the servant?” he asked her, motioning with his chin towards the bloody wall.

“What servant? Oh, you mean Elias?” Selena answered him. “I killed him. Because he was a fuckin traitor.”

She thought that once she realizes what she has done, she will feel guilt growing inside her. She thought she would be scared, shivering in the corner of the tower, awaiting the punishment for the murder. But nothing like this happened. There was nothing inside, only a dark, empty hole gaping.

There was no one to scold her, there was no one to belittle her. Right now, she just confessed she killed a human, and this priest was just looking at her, saying nothing. He was the high priest of Lunaria, the head of this religious kingdom! And he said nothing!

Why should she punish herself when people who punished her in the past did not exist in this world? Why should she punish herself for something they forced her to do?

She laughed. For the first time in her life, she was not hating herself. She was done playing a polite young weakling from a rich family.

Hearing her laughter, the high priest scoffed. She could see disgust in his face. Was he not fond of her antics? She found it funny. Before, there was always a hunger mirrored in his eyes, maybe even lust. After all, he was planning to marry her and take her to his bed.

“You don’t like your little holy saintess?” she mocked him.

“How did you do it?” he asked her, ignoring her comments. “You do not have any tools to do that, therefore, this must have been done with magic. But only powerful magic can do something like this. Have your powers fully awakened? But how come I did not see the red moon outside?”

“You want me to show you?” Selena laughed. “I will make sure it hurts.”

Realizing the saintess was getting more powerful, and the holy magic had driven her to the brink of madness, the high priest turned to the broken doorway.

“Bring me the concoction! Fast!” he shouted below.

“Are you going to drug me again? How will I ride the horse tomorrow? We need to get to the border. Did you forget? Do you think you will win the war if there is a ragdoll bouncing on the horseback?”

“Silence! What has possessed you? You speak like a devil himself!”

“Like a devil?” she echoed. “There is only one devil in this room. And it isn't me.”

She could kill him right now. In fact, she desired his death more than anything in the world. She envisioned in her head, how his blood would paint another wall of her chamber a fiery red, right next to the stains from the traitor. She would compare which blood would look richer in color. Would the blood of the high priest of Lunaria look different? She did not think that. No matter if the person was a servant or a high priest, they will meet the same end. She will guarantee that.

But she had to be patient now. No. She will wait until tomorrow when they will start traveling to the borders. She will wait until the war begins. And right there, in the middle between two armies, she will obliterate everyone. She smirked, content with her plan.

Three strong men dressed as priests appeared in the tower. One of them was holding a flask out of glass, full of clear liquid. They stopped abruptly once they found out she had no veil on her face. It was the first time they had seen the face of their saintess.

The high priest gestured with his hand, angry that they realized right now the saintess was a human. There was no time for personification or empathy. He needed to sedate her quickly, otherwise, the risk of her escaping was too high.

“Hold her down and feed her the potion!” he ordered them.

“But, Lord High Priest, if you feed it to her directly… it is a very potent mixture. We should dilute it first… And we shouldn’t let her drink it fully.”

“Do it!”

“…”

“As Lord High Priest wishes.”

She was not fighting those two men. She was feeling quite unstable, and she was afraid that once she loosened the reins on her power, they would all just disappear in the bloody rain as it had happened to Elias. She needed to test her power first, to learn to control it.

So she decided to just lie down, letting them force open her lips, drinking the bittersweet liquid they poured into her mouth. She could feel the cold drug running down her throat, spreading in her body. But this time, it did not affect her.

She now finally understood how to use these powers to her advantage. The key was to feed her own emotions. So she was just lying there, nurturing her hatred towards them, towards this world. The anger warmed up her insides. The boiling hot blood in her body evaporated the cold drug out of her system. Realizing it worked and that her muscles are not sore or hard, she relaxed in the armchair, pretending to be sleepy.

“Good, now go back!” the high priest barked. “We depart tomorrow at dawn.”

Three priests nodded and left the tower immediately.

Once they were alone in the tower, the high priest turned to his saintess again. Convinced, she is sluggish enough, he dared to step closer to her.

“Don’t you dare to run away tomorrow,” he warned her. “If you do, I will catch you, and I will let you bleed so hard, you will be unable to move. Maybe I should cut you into pieces and let my brothers eat them.”

Selena swallowed hard, trying to control her rising anger. She needed him tomorrow to safely lead the whole army to the borders. She needed to endure this. Only one or two days and she will be free.