Heart of Darkness

Angel? Did he just call her Angel?

‘Now tell me, Angel’, she suddenly heard his voice inside her head. It seemed to be a memory, but only of his voice and nothing else. He had called her Angel before, but when?

She met his gaze and, being this close to him also felt familiar, even though she could never recall being this close to his face.

He released her hands and she took a step away from him, but not in fear. “You have bad manners, My Lord.” She said, rubbing her wrists. “You might think that I can’t do anything, but if you keep mistreating my brother because you enjoy it, then I’ll stop sending him here if I have to. He looks up to you and if this is how you behave, then I don’t want my brother to aspire to be someone like you.”

The smirk on his face disappeared, and his gaze hardened.

Angelica looked him in the eyes as she curtsied. “Have a good evening, My Lord.”

Turning her back to him, she walked away.

Rude and ill-mannered, she muttered to herself. He truly seemed to enjoy mistreating her. She saw that gleam in his eyes and it was disturbing. She had seen enough men who took pleasure in seeing a woman helpless. It was not something she wanted to see more of.

When she went back home, her father was still absent. Maybe she was worrying for no reason since the King seemed to be fine despite her father’s absence. He could be away doing other things and not planning the murder of their King. That is what she wanted to believe, at least. But if he didn’t come home tonight, she would have to decide what to do to protect William and herself. She prayed that she wouldn’t have to make such a decision. Her father was still her father and no matter how bad of a parent he was, she didn’t wish for his death.

Hopefully, he cared more for his life than killing the “killer”.

During dinner, Angelica noticed her brother couldn’t even hold his spoon because of his bruised hands.

“How did you get those?”

“When the sword is knocked out of my hands, it hurts.”

Angelica nodded. “We could find you another trainer if you like?”

William shook his head. “No. I want Lord Rayven to train me.”

“What about Lord Quintus? I heard he is a skilled swordsman as well.”

“Lord Quintus teaches me the laws and politics. He is closest to the King and the King takes his advice seriously. He is a respected Lord and he made many good changes in his town.” Her brother explained. “I am learning from everyone what they are best at.”

“It is a smart thing to do,” she said.

Lord Quintus made his town better, while Lord Rayven did nothing when people were dying in his town. She hoped the king would step in and do something. Her heart ached every time she heard about another death of a young woman. She should have lectured Lord Rayven on human decency. ρꪖꪕᦔꪖꪕꪫꪣꫀ​ꪶ​

“What is the King’s speciality?” She asked.

“Charm.” Her brother replied simply.

Charm? Yes, he was charming, but that couldn’t just be it.

“He knows his charm works on everyone, and having people on his side makes him more powerful. It is a good trait as a king. It makes people blind to his mistakes because they want to believe he is good.”

Angelica doubted the King again. Did this mean that he was so good at charming people that she didn’t want to believe that he was the killer? Did his charm work on her? She didn’t know what to think or believe anymore.

The night was cold and the moon peeked out from behind the dark clouds. Angelica watched the gloomy night sky through the window while tucked up in bed. The killer could be out looking for his next victim at this hour while she lay comfortably in her bed.

Why young women, she asked herself. Could it be because they were an easy target? Or did the killer do something to them before the murder?

She shook her head at the disturbing thoughts that came to mind. Then what about people thinking it was an animal that killed the woman? Thomas had told her that they had found bite marks caused by a wild animal’s teeth. They had also found marks from claws on their bodies. That certainly didn’t sound like a human was killing these women.

Maybe it was an animal, but Angelica felt like there was more to it. Something that wasn’t human or animal. It sounded absurd, but she couldn’t find another explanation.

“Do you believe that there are beings other than those we know of in this world?” She asked William, after sensing that he was awake.

“I don’t know, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there were.”

Angelica saw a black bird fly by her window and then it came back. It was a raven and it sat in the tree outside her window. A raven was also a symbol of death.

The death of the previous King was still suspicious and the arrival of the new King and his men had made many things better in their kingdom except for her town. This made her question if Lord Rayven was the problem, like everyone said. The symbol of bad luck and death.

She couldn’t deny that there was something dark and disturbing about him.

‘Tell me Angel,’ she heard his voice in her head again. She didn’t know what disturbed her more. The fact that she couldn’t remember when he called her ‘Angel’ the first time, or the fact that he dared to give her a nickname.

She touched her wrists, remembering his hands around them. His strength still surprised and frightened her. She questioned how she had even dared to confront him.

Looking outside the window again, she watched the raven sitting on the branch of the large tree. She often looked outside the window and she had never seen the raven before. Why outside her window tonight? Was she the next victim? Was this a sign?