Ryleth stood with the other four witches. His hands were covered by the dry blood of those so-called innocents. He kept them behind him and pushed his chest out. The others around him felt rage or fear but not him. He felt pride. Everything went according to plan. He riled up the witches that needed blood and human sacrifices the most. Then, when they were on the brink of running away he gave them a valve to let out the steam. The first coven raid in three years. Even that was, surprisingly, a success. For the most part at least. He did not expect the witches to run off and kill children. Unlike them, there was no child blood on his hand. For one he didn’t have to. Blood was not his gift, bones were. But he also knew Alexina’s rule. Her most cherished law. Maybe he could’ve made sure the witches didn’t kill children as well but that was out of his hands now. The only thing that did matter now was the consequences. Outside the castle walls, the hunters would find the village. Its inhabitants killed, drained and sacrificed. Ryleth may not have a part in the death of children but priests were fair game to him. So he turned it into a symbol that their god had abandoned them. Now the hunters’ hands were forced, as was Alexina’s. For that, he felt proud.

Then Angela, an elder witch, hissed back at her coven leader. Ryleth knew she never liked the Queen of the Woods. Not even in the time of Medusa. Yet for her to step forward in such a brazen way, that was not planned. No, he was supposed to face the brunt of it. He was supposed to be chained down and imprisoned for years. Or at least that was what he expected Alexina to do. He wouldn’t stay a year in a cell. When the hunters attacked, they’d need him again. That was the plan but when he saw Alexina lift his friend up from the ground he felt that plan fade like dust in the wind. Then the body fell from Alexina’s grip. [b]“No!”[/b] Ryleth screamed out and rushed towards Angela’s body. He tore off his own shirt and tried to stem the bleeding. It wasn’t enough. The cloth turned red as she tried to say her last words. [b]“No, no, no. Save it. Save your breath. You’re okay. You’re okay. You’re okay.”[/b] Ryleth kept saying as he tried to stop the blood. To no avail. Angela died while Alexina gave her monologue about protection.

When she was done, Ryleth rose from the corpse of his friend. His arms covered by blood. Splatters of it covered his white-scarred chest. [b]“Then what judgment may we face, oh Queen of the Woods.”[/b] Ryleth might have appeared vulnerable but he had no intention to die. He couldn’t die and leave the fate of the Coven in the hands of a delusional fool like Alexina.