Queen's Chaos

Tamesis’s eyes shifted left then right as she crouched low in the bushes, the dark waxy leaves brushing her pale face and neck. She breathed in deeply and slowly, the scent of damp earth and ice air filling her nostrils, she let the breath out slowly, clouding in front of her face.


She slipped forward slowly, finger tips tracing just above the ice laced leaves, the frost melting instantly as her body heat hit them, feet barely moving half a centimetre above the leaf cover, as it cracked beneath her careful tread like tiny bones.


Her white hair was pulled back from her head, falling like water down her back to her waist, her black eyes devoid of all emotion.


She reached behind her back carefully, slowly, in a fluid movement. She could have whipped out the arrow and fired in the blink of an eye, but she enjoyed the anticipation, the slight rattle of the arrows as they jostled behind her back, the feel of her bow in her hands as she took aim. She breathed in, holding her breath in a tight bubble in her chest.


Tamesin’s eyes focused carefully on the spot she’d need to hit. She held the arrow steady as her head popped and banged from lack of breath, as her lungs burnt for air and just before her eyes could loose focus she let the arrow fly, letting her breath out carefully as it thudded into the animals flank, taking it down.


She crept forward slowly, no need to rush. The deer lay dying at her feet, blood dripping from its wound, steaming in the cold air, breathing laboured, eyes rolling in its head as it died.


She crouched down swiftly and pulled the knife across its throat, killing it instantly. She laid the head down gently, hands covered in blood, red and sticky.


She skinned the creature carefully; her knife sharp enough to cut her finger off if she wasn’t careful, she knew because she’d nearly sliced the tip off on her left hand the other day. The tiny cut she’d escaped with hurt like hell fire, but she ignored it as she worked.


The deer’s hide felt soft under her hands, slimy where she had stripped it from the flesh, the tan skin folded back on it’s self as she peeled it back, revealing the flesh beneath.

She ripped out chunks with her bare hands, the blood cooling as it ran down her already bloody arms, slathering her plastered hands in more gore.


Tamesis took a huge bite from a piece of still warm flesh, red lines dripping down from her lips and spattering onto the leaf cover beneath her feet. She swallowed the lump with a large gulp, the crimson liquid helping the meat go down easier.


She was tearing out another piece when a loud squawk caught her attention, her sharp eyes looked up into the beady orbs of a crow, she glanced around and saw a murder of them had settled in the branches, all watching her intently with glassy intelligence, the Queen’s crows.


Lucius stepped out in front of her.


“What do you want?” Tamesis asked, with barely disguised anger and disgust as she ripped off ribbons of flesh with her bare teeth, the crows eyed her hungrily, but didn’t move. Even they feared Tamesis.


Lucius gave her an equally disgusted look back, “Dear gods, your manners have got worse since the last time I saw you.”


Tamesis grinned, showing blood stained teeth and bit of flesh.


“Please, don’t do that, I’ve just eaten.”


Tamesis turned her attention back to the corpse, “Make this fast Lucius,” She muttered, deliberately burying her head in the animal’s innards, still warm and slimy, covering her with more blood.


Lucius showed no signs of horror at the display, but Tamesis knew him well enough to know he hated it. You didn’t show weakness and live long where they were from, but there was little he could hide from her.


Tamesis’s brother lacked the savagery of his sister, the all out blood lust she felt and the thrill of hunting, but he knew how to speak politely, how to navigate his way threw Court, he had a deadly grace when fighting in mock battles or small arenas for amusement and he knew how to flatter their Queen.


When it came to the crunch it was his stead fast nature and loyalty that had earned him pride of place as the Queens personal guard and assassin, his dark hair and skin, smooth and silky, his bright pale blue eyes alert to any and all danger, but it was his sister that got the most dangerous missions, the true tests of skill, it was a constant thorn in his side.


She carefully regarded the scar on his left cheek, the slightly puckered ridge of badly healed flesh; it matched the scar on her right one. The only time they had physically fought each other, and both had found neither could gain an advantage, it had been a silent agreement that they would not try to directly kill each other again, as it would ultimately lead to them both dying.


Tamesis by contrast to her brother was flighty, never content with being confined. She was the better killer, but there was no guarantee it wouldn’t be the person she had been assigned to protect that she would kill on no more than a whim or to watch how slowly they died.


Tamesis confined herself to the wilderness, only returning when specifically required and usually taken kicking and screaming, clawing her captives, most of who still bore the scars. She licked some of the blood from the ends of her razor sharp nails, remembering the last time.


“You’re needed sister.”
“I know that Lucius, I hear things, even out here,” her eyes glittered madly as her head cocked gently to one side and Lucius had to wonder how they had ever been born together. He fought the shiver that came when looking at that insane stare.


“Then you will also know that I have been assigned to take you back with me.”
“I won’t go willingly brother,” She replied, popping an eye ball out, rolling it back and forth in her finger, before swallowing it whole, he looked slightly ill when she did that. Poor Lucius, always trying to be evil, to fit in with the Dark Court they were born to when they both knew he was soft natured and didn’t have the stomach for some of the bizarre acts preformed there.


Lucius watched the lump go down his sister’s throat and for a moment wished she would choke on the damn thing and die, or better yet that his hands could be the ones to take the life out of her.


Tamesis thought about how different life would have been for her brother in the Light Court. Still if he was ever sent away it would kill him. He’d learnt to thrive in the dark, learnt to thrive in the night, in the same way Tamesis had learnt to shun the dark and live in the light, hunting in the open, instead of hiding in a confined space or cave.


“I’ve not failed before; do you think you’ll be the first?”
Tamesis smiled evilly, but made no reply, she turned her attention back to the mutilated deer.


Lucius snapped his fingers and Tamesis was surrounded by guards, she barely noticed, examining the deer’s intestine, deciding if she should eat it or not…


The guards carried chains and Tamesis laughed, spraying drops of blood from her lips, splattering her brother highly shined leather boots. Everything about him was so damned neat and precise; it made her want to vomit.


“Come now brother, how often has that failed to capture me?”
Usually Tamesis fought until she had done suitable damage to re-establish fear then let some loathsome, cowardly guard that had stayed out of the blood shed grab her and take her back. The knowledge that she could snap his neck easily giving her no small amount of pleasure.


The chains lashed around Tamesis and she instantly started to scream as angry red welts rose all over her skin, flesh bubbling where the metal touched her.


“Its iron, sister. Not enough to kill you, but enough to hurt and make you more pliable,” he watched her with a cold malice she had to admire, it called to her own spirit, reminding her they were twins. It was only now she noticed the gloves the guards wore; she’d not make that mistake again.


“I hate you Lucius,” and he knew she wasn’t lying, he hated her too. They were born to be different, to hate each other, but they also needed each other, that’s why they tolerated each others existence, while secretly wishing they could scratch the other eyes out.


“Take her away, I’ll meet with you later, and do not remove those chains until I expressly give you the order!”


He disappeared, with Tamesis kicking and screaming, cursing him and secretly praising him for being the first to catch her without one man being hurt.


The crows lifted from their branches, but instead of following Lucius to their mistress they landed on Tamesis’ kill, plucking at the flesh and cawing laughter as she was dragged away.