[i]"The young and naive courtier? Don't toy with him too much. He might break, I would think. Regardless, we will speak more at a later point. I bid you a fond adieu, mi'lady Evelyn."[/i]

She chuckled at the comment toward Kester, knowing he was entirely right. But it wasn't Kester she was too worried about; he'd be able to handle the task she'd ask of him. He was too innocent to be perceived as a threat, and her whole little plan hinged on that one aspect. 

For formalities, Evelyn curtsied back and gave Lucius a gracious nod, waving him off with a smile as he left the study. Heaving a sigh of relief in the sudden quiet after, Evelyn rested herself in one of the velvet chairs. The slight ring in her ears signified just how much talking had taken place earlier, and she was tired. Not enough to sleep yet, but soon. 

She paced the floor of the study in ponderous silence, but it didn't take long for the darker side of her thoughts to come crawling up from the hidden parts of her mind. Since there was no longer a plan to be formulated, there was nothing distracting her from a wandering, traitorous mind. Thoughts were living things, and Evelyn called these particular ones demons. They had tormented her for years.

Haunting images of a man set on fire burned on the backs of her eyelids, the first human being she had ever taken the life from. His eyes, wide in shock and grief. His mouth, moving without a sound. Ash fell from his lips, his burnt skin flaked away...

[i]No! Think of something else, anything else. The King, the nobles, your meeting tomorrow. Something...[/i] Evelyn thought desperately, but the burning man remained.

Children and widows of people she killed to further her own agenda weighed heavily in her mind. As she built up the thieves, so too did she multiply enemies. All those who swore vengeance against her who didn't even know who it was they were to hate and blame. She could sense it, the hurt and pain in the land caused by the thieves, assassins and spies working behind the scenes to make the honest man suffer. And she loathed herself for it. Despised herself for causing such grief. 

The raw hate choked the air out of the room, and Evelyn felt feverish. The thoughts, they wouldn't ever stop haunting her, reminding her. The children's dirtied faces, the loss of light in the lover's eyes. It was infuriating; they would drive her mad!

Angry tears seeped from her gray eyes as Evelyn gritted her teeth in a snarl. The empty wine bottle was the only thing in arms's reach, and her trembling hands snatched it up as she marched to her personal quarters. 

Without a second thought, Evelyn violently launched the bottle out the bedroom window, watching it spin through the air as it fell a distance to the courtyard below. Even in the darkness she could see it shatter to bits the instant it met the ground, and the sound of glass split the night. 

The ring in her ears calmed the torrent of demons clawing their way around in her mind, and she sucked in a breath of night air. [i]Calm, relaxed, collected. Get ahold of yourself, my dear...[/i]

The elf stared dully out the window, barely taking in the canopy of stars above and the expansive view below. Slowly, the blackness absorbed her, and she realized something so true, she had no idea how she didn't know it before. Standing there, facing the sky with the coldest of silver eyes, Evelyn bared her teeth. 

[b]"I am dead inside. The Reaper's kiss is upon my cold heart, and I will never shrink from this bitter cup again." [/b]

Empowerment filled every fiber of her being, and her eyes glowed a new evil. Her demons she devoured and consumed as she embraced a darker monstrosity. Never would she be weak again. If they wanted their revenge, she welcomed it. She would look them in the eyes and savor watching their soul being torn from them. Without even an inkling of remorse, she would be what she was destined to be.

With these thoughts, Evelyn retired to bed. The night that wrapped her up safely in obscurity would soon give way to morning.