In the basement of the building, Luna bent and peered through the opened trapdoor. She sniffed gently and smiled. “I see that he is still down there. Shall we?” she asked and straightened. Her sister nudged her aside and set Evanna on her feet. The youngling stepped behind Luna, nodding to herself as her mother dropped through the door and disappeared. “Go on,” she said to the youngling and stepped aside for her to pass. She jumped through and squealed in delight as she fell. Chuckling, she dropped down after them, pulling the trapdoor shut behind her as she went.

“Five of them up ahead,” Estoria said from the pitched darkness. “Including him.” She smiled. “Should I go ahead?”

“Yes, Evanna and I will be here.” Estoria nodded as her sister put a hand on the youngling’s shoulder and melded with the darkness. She followed her twin as she swiftly moved through the tunnels. She didn’t know how long they had been traversing the twists and turns, but however long it was, she finally caught the dim light that was up ahead. She brushed pass her sister and stayed close to the wall as she sped up to block off their only exit at the top of the steep incline. Predictably, the group came to a stop a couple of yards away from the opening. Behind her, she sensed Adela as she cautiously approached them. The endahlian female wisely stayed out of sight of the opening, but stayed closed enough to hear. Are they safe? she telepathically sent to her. Knowing exactly what the assassin was asking her about, she nodded and pressed herself into the thick shadows created by an overhang of the building. She took in a deep breath and put up layer upon layer of barriers around her mind. From her position, she watched as Zero turned to face Estoria. If she hadn’t known better, she would’ve thought the white-blonde-haired, silver-ice-blue -eyed, silver-winged nairue female dressed in a matching loose-fitting grey shirt and pants, looking so much like the assassin that nearly sent her into a coma earlier, was Luna herself. She couldn’t see the assassin, but she could sense the nod aimed in her direction. She knew that she had no chance of hiding from the nairues, because their eyes could penetrate any source of darkness, but it was still better than standing out in the open.

“Luna,” the chancellor hissed, the sword of tenebris gripped in his right hand, and for the moment, pointed downward. A pool of shadows formed on the ground and slowly began to spread.

“Zero,” Estoria purred. “You didn’t think that you would escape so easily, did you?” She laughed softly and took a step closer. “If so, I’d seriously question your intelligence.” His four sentinels surrounded her and blocked her way to him. Adela could barely make her out as she took in deep, calming breaths in and out. “You’re not fit to lead our people,” Estoria continued, all but hissing at him. “You never were.” She gave him a sweet smile that practically dripped with venom. “Give me my sword, Zero, or I will take what is yours.” With lightning speed, she hit the ceiling of the tunnel, flipped backward to land on her feet, grabbed the female sentinel that was behind her, and punched her hand into her chest. Estoria’s fingers wrapped around the beating heart of the female and slowly squeezed. The tunnels were too narrow for wings, but they were high enough for her to do what she had just done. The female in her arms stiffened and froze on the spot as blood poured from her wound. Her instincts kicked in, and she didn’t move a muscle as she stared straight ahead. “What will it be?”

“Release her,” he snarled and gripped the sword tighter.

“Give me what is mine, and I will.”

“So you can run me through with it? I don’t think so.”

“Come now, Zero,” she said with an exasperated sigh. “This is childish.”

“I agree,” he drawled. “which is why you’re going to release her and walk away.” He smirked. “You’re going to let my people and I go.”

“Is that so?” she asked and gave him a cold smile. “Why, pray tell, would I allow you and your people to do such a thing?”

“I am the chancellor,” he snapped. “Do as I have ordered. Now.” Estoria closed her eyes and almost moaned aloud at the hilarity of the situation. Instead, she tightened her grip around the heart she was holding.

“No,” she said calmly a minute later and opened her eyes. “I think not.” With that, she pulled her hand out of the sentinel’s chest and took a couple of steps back. One sentinel down, three to go, she thought with amusement as the bloody heart fell from her hand to hit the ground with a splat. Her amusement turned into a grimace of pain as someone drove a shadow dagger into her back a heartbeat later. I really fucking hate my life, she thought and dropped heavily to the ground. Above her, a golden arrow streaked through the air like a missile. There was a gurgle, and she smiled to herself as her attacker also dropped. Hot blood rained down on her as the rest of Zero’s sentinels fell. She was surprised that Adela had taken down the last one with a solar dagger. She did it all while staggering and almost falling from the overwhelming pain of the deaths that had to be debilitating to her. Only Alessia’s hand on her arm kept her from faceplanting. As for Estoria, she was hoping that her sheer willpower alone would heal her spine within the next, oh, three seconds or so. Except, it didn’t, because she was never that lucky. The only thing she could feel was the contempt she had for the chancellor. Although, she had to laugh a little as she felt the rage that poured off him. He would have lunged for the nearest person to him, or perhaps, run someone through with the sword, but he didn’t do either of those things. Instead, he held himself very, very still, because for one: Luna was holding a solar dagger an inch from driving it into his left eye, and two: Evanna held a small switchblade against his groin. Of course, it was infused with pure light. Hell, the phantom heat from it had to be nerve-racking to him. The youngling stared up at him, her fangs bared and dripping with poison as she alternated between scowling and grinning, as if she couldn’t decide on what expression she wanted. Adela even aimed a golden arrow at his heart. Estoria must have briefly passed out, because she couldn’t remember any of them moving into position. It was that, or she was hallucinating. Damn, she thought. She really hoped that she wasn’t.

“If you call out for help,” her sister purred into the chancellor’s ear. “I will drive this dagger into your eye so fast, you’ll be a helpless vegetable.” She smiled. “Unable to do anything as you silently writhe in agony for eternity.” When he didn’t move or speak, Luna nodded to herself and gestured for the youngling to step back. When she did, the assassin moved, until she could see everything.

“Twins,” the chancellor hissed with disgust. Whether it was aimed at himself or them, she couldn’t tell. “I should have known.”

“Yes,” she mused. “you should have. You should have scented us.” She laughed. “After all, we don’t really smell like each other,” she said in a staged whisper. “Like, really.” Her free hand shot out, and he stiffened as she grabbed hold of his testicles. She slowly squeezed, and his eyes widened with horror as she fought his every instinct to jump back, violently push her away, or both; anything to stop her from turning him into a eunuch. “Now,” she purred. “drop my sword, or I will slowly remove what you value the most. You have five seconds to do as I say.”

“You wouldn’t.”

“Five, four, three, two—” With a snarl, he released his hold on the sword, allowing it to hit the ground with a clang. “Good. Good.” She smiled and gave Arild a nod. With a shudder, he stopped cupping himself protectively and came over to them. Giving her a pained look, he bent and picked up the sword. “Now, where were we?”

“You were going to let me kill him,” Estoria hissed and smiled up at the chancellor as she slowly sat up.

“I was?”

“Mm-hmm.” With a sigh, she pulled the dagger away from Zero’s eye and went to stand by the female endahli, who was giving her a confused look as she made the dagger vanish. She smiled, taking the bow and arrow out of her hands.

“Shhh,” she said and returned her attention to her sister and the chancellor. She melded with the shadows and silently moved up the incline that led out of the tunnel. Turning, she solidified and gripped the black wood recurve bow shot through with silver in her left hand. Since she was careful to not dislodge the barbed black arrow with a dark blue feather from the string, and since the endahli had already infused it with solar, all she had to do was aim and fire at her target. Adela could channel both the sun and the moon, but unlike the redari and the nairue race, the endahli’s version of solar or lunar was nowhere near as strong when it came to infusing it with anything. Oh, it was nothing to fuck around with, because a solar arrow through the brain was still an instant death to whoever was unlucky enough to be in its path. Luna lifted the bow to just under her chin and steadied the arrow as she slowly pulled the string toward herself. When she was as ready as she was going to get, she held her position, smirking to herself as she glared a hole into the back of the chancellor’s head. Her sister got to her feet and grinned at him.

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“Helpless, defenseless, weaponless and cornered,” she said casually to him and began to circle him like the predator she was. “How does it feel to be prey?” she asked with a soft hiss that nonetheless made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. He technically wasn’t weaponless, but the problem was, they were not, either. It all came down to who could move faster. Since he was outnumbered in every way possible, they knew that he had no chance of avoiding what was to come. Adela, Evanna and Arild watched from the shadows as Estoria continued to circle the chancellor. Behind Luna, unseen by all, Alessia and Zella stood guard, their senses on high alert. “No answer? No… witty remarks? No… scathing comments? How disappointing.” She stopped her circling, and a second later, a beam of moonlight hung in the air between them. She grabbed it, ripping it in two and opening up a portal. Arild and Evanna were the first through it, followed by a reluctant Adela. Estoria grabbed the chancellor and all but dragged him into their own dimension. The sound of a crowd suddenly died off, and Luna smiled as she changed her aim. “Citizens of Rislyn,” her sister called out to them. “if it’s not much to ask, may I have your undivided attention for a minute? My sister, Luna of House Rayne, has an important announcement to make, and we would like you to witness and spread on the message to all.” After a moment, she grinned evilly and gestured her sister through. Luna rolled her eyes and stepped through the portal. The moment she, Alessia and Zella were on the dark side of the portal, it vanished just as silently as it had appeared. She took aim at the chancellor, and before his brain could register what was about to happen, she fired. The solar arrow streaked through the frigid air like a comet, slamming into the side of his head. A cold smile came over her, and she shuddered, even as her people began to scream. At that thought, Luna paused, and then blinked, because they were, in fact, her people. She lowered the bow and let out a silent groan, watching as the corpse of her predecessor went up in blue flames.

“Silence!” she yelled over the panicked screams a long minute later. Blessedly, they immediately fell silent. She looked around the market square and laughed under her breath. “Members of the Caustra,” she continued, no longer yelling, because there was no point since everyone could hear her just fine. “in the ways of our people, I am now your chancellor, as is my right.” She scanned her surroundings and the people around her. Some of them were just staring at her, and a good few of them were either eating or drinking while staring at her. “If any of you try to detain me, I assure you that you will not like the outcome.” She smiled. They were the police force of her people, and they knew how to do their jobs well. Sometimes, too well. “Now, are there those who wish to challenge me for my position?” When no one came forward, she nodded and handed Adela back her bow. “Thank you,” she said to the endahli and glared at the dome that bathed the female’s face in light.

“Anytime,” she said and smiled at the assassin. “Would you kill me if I congratulate you?”

“Yes, as a matter-of-fact, I would.”

She sighed. “Such a buzzkill.” The female nodded and smirked as Arild wrapped his arms around the assassin from behind. “Would you kill him?”

“Wait,” he said and scowled at the female. “what’s this about killing me?”

“Oh,” Luna said and patted his arm. “nothing for you to be worry about.”

“If you congratulated her on becoming a chancellor, will she murder you?”

“Ah,” Arild said and tightened his hold around her. “Well?” he drawled when she remained silent.

“Depends on how you went about it,” Luna purred, and then laughed as his erection pressed into her ass. The meaning behind her words couldn’t have been any clearer if she tried.

“No,” Estoria said and grabbed her sister, pulling her away from him. “No, no, and no. Did I say no?”

“We didn’t do anything,” he called after them as Adela followed in the twins’ wake, snickering to herself as she went.

“I have a proposition for you,” Luna said to her as she fell into step on her other side a couple of minutes later. “If you are interested?” The endahlian female nodded. “Excellent, see me after… whatever charade my sister is planning.” Adela smirked, inclining her head in acknowledgement.

The female endahli was still smirking as Estoria led her into a small home about ten minutes later. While the exterior of the home was white with pale blue trim, the interior was made up of dark blue walls, purple draperies, and in the case of the furniture, black. The only bright color in the place was the large stuffed unicorn on the floor, which was the color of cotton-candy pink. “Come, sister,” Estoria said and led them into the kitchen. “A drink is in order.” Covered in blood, old and fresh, she released her twin and dug into the silver icebox with enthusiasm. Luna smiled and leaned against the counter as the others slowly filed in.

“I hate your sister,” Arild growled into her ear, low enough for only her to hear. She laughed softly and snuggled into his side as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

“You poor, poor baby,” she said and looked around for Evanna. When she didn’t find the youngling, she reached between his legs and stroked him. “I’ll make it up to you later,” she purred and snickered as she reluctantly dropped her hand. For one: her sister was all but drilling holes into the back of her head, and two: their daughter, Alessia, was on the verge of stabbing them both in the eye with a fork that she was casually twirling between her fingers. Arild nuzzled her neck and groaned as Evanna bounced into the kitchen. Smiling, she gave him a quick embrace before pulling away. She took the glass of alcohol from Estoria as she raised her own.

“To our newbie chancellor!” she proclaimed and chuckled. “May she reign long and… prosperously! Or something!”

“Humph, fuck you, sister.”

“Now, Luna, anything you would like to say?” she asked and grinned.

“Yes, all of you, please, do me a favor and drop dead.” Laughter broke out around her, and she had to smile as she raise her glass to the room at large. “In all seriousness, though, thank you. Here’s to…” She paused.

“The future?” Estoria suggested and smirked.

“Yes, here’s to our future, and here’s to not being assassinated within a night of my reign.” Her smile grew wider as she held out a hand and harness the moon. A narrow beam of moonlight shot from her hand and arced through the air. It punched into the chest of a nairue that she didn’t know, instantly killing him and pulling him out of his shadow form.

“I was beginning to wonder if you had noticed him,” Arild mused.

“Oh, I did. I just wanted him to sweat. The killing is more fun that way, you know?” She smirked. “Besides, what’s a celebration without a couple of murders thrown in?” She drained her drink and grabbed a second one from the counter. “To our future,” she said and clinked glasses with her twin. “Oh, and here’s to not dying, too.” With that, she drained her second glass, before reaching for a third.

“I’ll toast to that,” Adela said and held up her own drink. “By the way, you don’t happen to have another can of tomato sauce on you, do you?”

“As a matter-of-fact,” the assassin said sweetly and clinked glasses with the endahli. “it just so happens that I do.” The second intruder only had time to widen his eyes before something hard slammed into the side of his head. Luna sighed, shaking her head with amusement. “Such a travesty,” she said and drained her third drink, as if nothing had ever happened, as if there weren’t two bodies creating a nice pool of blood on her sister’s kitchen floor. She supposed that she shouldn’t have been surprised. After all, she was just getting started, and for nairues, the night was forever young.