Tyrant's Obsession With The Heiress-Chapter 25: Moonveil Will Never Be The Same

New arrivals had come at dawn, consisting of a rather large army on the horizon that had the sentries on the walls of Moonveil signalling the news with their war horns.

The early hours were filled with crows cawing and men shouting, the blush-shaded sky overhead promising a cold but sweet spring morning.

It appeared like any other normal day at Moonveil, except that it was anything but normal.

That morning marked their thirteenth day of hell under Van Merikh's rule.

Lady Karina rose early, gazing sleepily out of the lancet window of her chambers into the bailey below.

The massive iron gates, having since been repaired from Van Merikh's siege, cranked open, and there were a large number of soldiers idling in the war.

She noticed that the grisly army of scarecrows was still impaled there in their ice cases and she tried to avoid looking at them.

As the days went by and the stench faded with time, it was easier for Lady Karina to resign herself to Van Merikh's handiwork.

She pondered the identity of the incoming army but did not pay any excessive attention to it; it was not her business and she had no control over who entered Moonveil.

With a weary yawn, she turned away from the window.

She and Van Merikh hadn't conversed with each other in over a week. They had encountered each other every day as she set herself about her routine duties, but the man had hardly spoken a word to her during the entire time.

On occasion, Lady Karina had caught him staring at her, but he had very swiftly averted his gaze and distracted himself with other things.

The tension between them was nearing a dreadful stage and the lady had wondered if the black frost demon was finally considering putting her to death.

As long as Sir Dane's body was removed from the bailey and buried, that was all she was concerned with for the time being.

She hadn't yet questioned Van Merikh about the boy.

And as the sun rose, the lady bathed in warmed rosewater that Kairie had brought her and quickly donned her garments against the chill of her chambers.

She wore soft linen pantalets and a soft linen shift, layering on a complete bliaut gown designed from dark blue linen with a snug bodice, full skirt, and long, flaring sleeves.

The wound on her shoulder was almost healed and that was no surprise considering her hidden abilities; there was no more pain as the fabric brushed against it.

There was a belt of pewter link bing around her curvy waist with decorative weights that set it to hang neatly.

The neckline was scooped, making a nice presentation of the lady's plump and full breasts.

Kairie helped her roll on her fine wool hose and secure them with ribbons.

The petite servant then set about styling her mistress's hair, which was long and thick with no hunt of a single curl, like a sheet of crystalline gold that fell right over her buttocks.

Kairie took her lady's hair and plaited it into a thick braid, draping it over one shoulder. Then, she took a smaller section of hair and wrapped it around the base of the braid, against Lady Karina's head, creating a lovely artwork.

At least, this part of the morning served as a normal day for a little while.

It was the only moment Lady Karina could calm her mind and keep a clear head.

And there were moments when she was able to bury the reminder of the horrors of the past two weeks.

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However, once she had been dolled up, there were matters awaiting her attention in the solar.

Her body shivered at the thought as she once again remembered the circumstances they were under and the enemy knights currently infiltrating the walls of her beloved keep.

There was a chance that she would encounter Van Merikh, but she wasn't quite certain what sort of emotions that would bring to the surface.

An uneasy peace had settled between the two of them since the day she had pleaded with him to bury Sir Dane and due to the fact that they had barely spoken to each other, she couldn't tell what sort of mood he was in.

Lady Karina had put her thoughts to rest and left the confines of her chambers, finding that the second floor with the great hall and solar were relatively quiet.

A few servants milled about while a few of Van Merikh's men were wrestling till they were blue and bruised in the great hall.

Lady Karina moved across the entry and into the solar, heading straight for her father's desk.

There was the matter of a late spring harvest coming up for apricots and cherries; thus, she wanted to make sure they were prepared to trade the produce with the markets once picked.

However, there would be a heavy setback.

With all of their knights killed and most male servants either murdered or having fled for their lives, the burden of the harvest would fall upon the women.

Had it not been for Van Merikh's tight surveillance and the task of every Moonveil member capable of magic hiding their abilities, it would be a simple task to use the beasts to assist with the harvest.

But that was a risk that was way out of the question.

If Lady Karina wanted to use the beasts, she would need to create some sort of excuse or opportunity for Van Merikh and his men to venture out of Moonveil.

But it would not be that simple.

She shook her head and moved to a shelf next to the hearth, finding the tally journals for Moonveil.

They were carefully rolled sheets of parchment, secured with a strip of dried catgut.

Each year had a different roll and rolls from previous years were stamped with her father's seal and carefully stored on the upper shelves.

Lady Karina slid out the roll that recorded the tallies from the current year's harvests thus far.

On the lowest shelf at knee level, was a wooden box that held a quill, ink, a wax stick, and her father's signet.

And behind the box, on the back surface of the shelf was Moonveil's insignia. The marking glowed faintly with a silver light upon recognising her presence.

Lady Karina smiled but nearly dropped the box a few seconds later when a compartment of the shelf shifted and a little amber-red head with pointy ears poked out from behind.

She gasped as a tiny, amber-red fennec fox with fiery glowing fur and a fluffy tail tipped with black emerged from behind the compartment.

"Sparx..." Lady Karina's eyes softened. "You frightened me, little mischief."

The fennec fox, holding golden eyes that shimmered like flames, brushed its soft cheek against the back of her hand.

"Always hiding in here, hmm? You should not be in the castle. I told you to remain with the others down below, did I not?" She playfully tapped its button nose, making the fox scrunch its face.

Lady Karina set the box down, picking up the fennec fox into her arms, smiling kindly as she carded her fingers through Sparx's fur.

She sensed tension in the beast's body.

"You feel it too, don't you?" Lady Karina sighed, her smile fading. "Moonveil is simply not the same anymore."

A/N: Hi all! Thank you for reading this far. I will be setting some milestones to achieve in exchange for bonus Chapters!

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