Lilith was on her knees, dripping in sweat and covered in dirt, dressed in rags as she was dragged to the guillotine. Her knees burned as the pebbles and tiny rocks grind against the scrapes that were already there, she hissed in pain however, she refused to cry. “Y-you,” she tried to mutter, “You…h-have to believe me.”

The man pulled her hair, making sure she was looking up at him, “Shut up,” he spat, before kicking her to the ground, her forehead scraping against a sharp rock. “Murderers don’t deserve to live.”

She was dragged to the guillotine, pushed up the stairs with her arms tied behind her back, her legs shaking with each step, her knees on the verge of giving out, and the rope rubbing against her skin, its coarse material shearing it.

She felt blood dripping down her face as she finally looked up at the mob that demanded her head be cut off. The rising sun blinded her as she searched for her father, perhaps pleading to him one last time for her innocence may soften him enough to save her.

But he was nowhere in her sight, as usual, but she did spot front and centre:

Fawn.

Fawn stared back out her with her teary emerald eyes, her blond hair sticking to her cheeks as she cried like a waterfall, and her plump lips trembling as she wailed for the guards holding her back to let Lilith go. If she weren’t in this predicament, Lilith would’ve rejoiced in Fawn’s misery.

Her younger stepsister cried out to stop the guards from pushing her to the ground, to have her head in place. This would be the only tragedy in young Fawn’s life, as Lilith’s attempts to ruin her have all failed.

She closed her eyes, accepting her fate, and the last thing she heard was Fawn’s screams before the world faded away.

*****

Her eyes opened as she gasped for air, blinded by the light coming from the curtains her maid, Elise opened. She shot up from bed, pushing away the heavy lilac covers off of her as she inspected her pale arms and hands, pinching and slapping her cheeks as Elisa looked at her with concern.

She was alive?!

She recognized her bedroom, which exuded refined elegance with the soft and muted hues of pale lavender and ivory adorning the walls, draperies and upholstery, emitting an atmosphere of sophistication, femininity, and tranquillity.

The scent of lavender filled her nose from the fresh floral arrangements she had made sure to be brought every morning, it sat in a glass vase on the bedside table beside her bed, infusing the room with his serenity and natural fragrance, a reminder of the outside world.

She took a deep breath as she began chewing the bottom of her lip, her eyebrows drawn together, was this all a dream? Never had she had a dream so vivid and clear, where she remembered and felt every sense.

However, that was the only rational explanation for this.

Right?

“Good morning, my lady,” Elise said, “I made your tea just to your liking with only one sugar cube, no cream, a slice of lemon and a spoonful of honey,” her hands shaking as she gave Lilith the teacup, her smiling fleetingly as her eyes tensed and darted to anywhere but her, her bottom lip quivering.

“Elise,” she said, her tone cool, “What day is it?”

Elise jumped at her voice, “Oh, uh, well…it’s the eighth day of the fifth month.”

Her brother was alive then, in her dream, he died at the end of the ninth month just as they were approaching autumn. It was highly probable at this point that this was a dream and that her body had manifested it due to her brother’s sickness.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

She dismissed Elise to prepare her bath as she stared ahead at the wall across from her bed, where a portrait of herself and her mother when Lilith was still a young child. The painter had captured her mother’s ethereal essence well, her soft and delicate features blended perfectly through the slight contour of her face, her soft smile and wide-set blue eyes, whose shade had always reminded Lilith of the sky on a crisp autumn day. Her dark locks elegantly pulled back into an updo at the nape of her neck, revealing the silver pendant in the shape of point shoes with crystals embedded into them, adorned with sapphires.

Lilith touched the necklace her mother had given to her during the rare moments when she had enough strength to stay awake long enough for Lilith to visit her in her chambers, she let out a small smile before turning to the mirror above the fireplace beside her bed.

However, she did a double take, her head whipping back to the mirror as her eyes were drawn to the new horizontal scar on her neck that was never there before, she ran her fingers over the faint scar, her mind riffling through for any logical explanation.

It was the fifth month.

Months before her brother had been poisoned and she was falsely accused and executed.

It wasn’t a dream.

That meant Jasper was murdered…

And someone tried to frame her.

Somehow, Lilith was resurrected months before Jasper’s murder, but this wasn’t possible, it went against the principles of magic that existed in their realm. Elementalists only had the ability to manipulate one of the four elements, air, earth, fire or water. Not time, or life, or anything else and unlike Jasper, Lilith did not possess any ability to use her mana to even be considered an Elementalist.

Unless this was the work of the divine.

Mana was the energy within an individual, it allowed living beings to exist, everyone had it, however, only a select few were able to use it to manipulate the elements. It wasn’t understood how, but many speculated it had something to do with one’s family history. Their father was an Elementalist, however, their mother wasn’t, therefore, each of their offspring had a fifty percent chance of being an Elementalist themself. And that fifty percent went to Jasper.

It didn’t matter, someone was clearly out to get her and she was killed once before for it, therefore, she needed to save Jasper before it was too late for both of them.

She needed to survive.

But how?

She took a sip of her tea as she watched Elise pull out a day dress from her wardrobe, she had chosen a pastel yellow fine cotton gown, with puffed short sleeves. The colour reminded her of when she and her mother would go out on a bright sunny day to the garden and Lilith would pick flowers for her to make crowns together. It had a high empire waistline and cinched delicately with a matching satin sash, its low scoop neck accentuating the delicate curve of collarbones.

It made her look naive and innocent, ridiculous considering she was anything but. That was part of her problem, unlike her shiny younger stepsister, Fawn, Lilith was more interested in accidentally spilling red wine on her new white ball gown, or making sly comments about Fawn’s lack of aristocracy parentage in front of the mothers of eligible bachelors.

But Fawn remained the diamond of the season, easily employing her innocent charm and beauty to flatter any gentleman to dance.

While Lilith approached her third season with no prospects, despite being the daughter of a duke with a sizable dowry.

In the end, it was easy to pin the murder on Lilith, second born to the House of Durant, she’d be next-in-line as heir if anything were to happen to Jasper. She had meaning and motive, and a history to evident this type of behaviour.

She needed to rehabilitate her image.

Her young maid appeared again, her slender and tall figure too small for the black muslin gown she wore as her white apron allowed the gown to be cinched to her waistline. She needed a new gown that fit her properly, perhaps Lilith would suggest a tailor for Elise to go to later if she was feeling generous. Her red curls were flowing in her white cap and her caramel eyes continued to dart at anything but her. Her freckles were more prominent the more red her face seemed to become the longer Lilith stared at her.

It was amusing.

She had demanded Elise as her lady’s maid, wanting to take away the only one amongst the household staff who seemed to be able to tame young Fawn’s lion’s mane of a hair. It was quite the tragic scene she had witnessed when Fawn came down and her new lady’s maid had brushed Fawn’s curls out, now resembling a clown.

However, that would’ve been insulting to the clown to make such a comparison.

Lilith had every right, Elise was the daughter of the Head Maid, Louise, who had been her mother’s lady’s maid and caretaker when she fell ill. It was disgusting of Fawn to protest…

Not that she did.

Louise was loyal to her mother, not the House of Durant, perhaps she’d use Elise in her scheme.

Decision Point:

Should Lilith enlist her lady's maid, Elise in helping her execute her plans?