WHAT LIVES BENEATH THE VEIL
Book One: The Unblooded Lamb
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CONTENT WARNING: This series contains explicit sexual violence, human sacrifice, psychological torture, murder of innocent characters (including children and family members), ritualistic killing, and extreme horror. No character is safe. Read at your own risk.
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Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Isolation of Darian
Year 9 – Twenty-Five Months After the First Sacrifice
Darian had become a pariah.
Not openly—no one accused him of anything, no one punished him for his accusations. But the castle had turned against him in the only way that mattered. They avoided him. They whispered about him. They looked at him with pity and suspicion and something that looked almost like fear.
He's mad, they whispered.
He sees things that aren't there.
He's dangerous.
Darian heard the whispers.
He did not correct them.
What was the point? No one believed him. No one would ever believe him. The princess had made sure of that.
She had cleaned the cellar. Erased the evidence. Made him look like a fool.
And now—
Now he was alone.
Not physically. There were still people around him—servants, guards, nobles. But he was isolated. Cut off from the trust and camaraderie that had once sustained him.
He had only Finn.
And Finn was just a kitchen boy.
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Liora – The Twenty-Fourth Victim
She chose a woman this time.
A midwife from the lower town. Her name was Elspeth. She was old, experienced, and respected. She had delivered hundreds of babies. She knew everyone. Everyone knew her.
She was visible.
That made her dangerous.
But also necessary.
If a midwife disappeared, people would notice. They would ask questions. They would search.
Unless—
Unless they thought she had retired.
Unless they thought she had moved away to live with her daughter.
Unless someone spread a rumor.
Liora smiled.
She was very good at spreading rumors.
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The Rumor
She started it in the market, where the women of the lower town gathered to buy and sell.
"Have you heard about Elspeth the midwife?"
"No. What about her?"
"I heard she's retiring. Going to live with her daughter in the city."
"That's a shame. She's the best."
"She is. But I heard she's been tired lately. Ready to rest."
The women nodded.
The rumor spread.
By the end of the week, everyone in the lower town believed that Elspeth had retired.
No one would look for her when she disappeared.
They would assume she had gone.
Just as Liora had planned.
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Elspeth – The Approach
Liora visited the midwife's cottage late at night.
"Elspeth?"
The old woman looked up. Her eyes were sharp, despite her age.
"Who's there?"
"It's me. Princess Liora."
Elspeth frowned.
"Your Highness. What are you doing here so late?"
"I need your help. My mother—the queen—she's with child. But she's afraid. The last birth was difficult. She wants someone she can trust."
Elspeth's eyes widened.
"The queen?"
"Yes. I can't tell anyone. It's too early. If word got out before she was ready—"
"I understand."
Liora let her lower lip tremble.
"Please. You're the only one she trusts."
Elspeth hesitated.
Then she nodded.
"Let me get my bag."
Liora smiled.
Thank you, she thought.
You're so kind.
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Elspeth – The Cellar
The princess led her through the dark corridors of the castle.
Elspeth had never been inside the castle before. The servants' entrance, yes—the delivery doors, the kitchen. But never the inside. The corridors were grander than she had imagined, hung with tapestries and lit with torches.
Fancy place, she thought.
Too fancy for the likes of me.
But something felt wrong.
The princess was too calm. Too quiet. Too watchful. She moved through the darkness like she belonged there, like the shadows were her friends.
Stop it, Elspeth told herself. You're being paranoid.
The princess stopped at a door. Old. Iron. Locked.
She produced a key.
"The queen's chambers are down here," she said. "Private entrance. No one knows about it."
Elspeth looked at the door. Looked at the princess. Looked at the key in her small, pale hand.
"After you," she said.
The princess shook her head.
"I'm not allowed. The queen would be angry. You go first. I'll follow."
Elspeth hesitated.
Then she took the key.
She opened the door.
She walked down the steps.
She did not walk back up.
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The Twenty-Fourth Ritual
Liora waited two hours.
Elspeth was old, but she was not weak. Her screams were loud, her pounding was fierce, but she did not know how to break a door or fight in darkness.
By the time Liora descended the stairs, the old woman was on her knees, praying.
"Please," Elspeth said. "I have delivered hundreds of babies. I have saved dozens of lives. Please."
Liora set down her lantern.
She opened her book.
"Then you should have known better than to follow a stranger into a cellar."
"Please—"
She was faster.
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The Power – Twenty-Four
The fire in her veins burned brighter.
Twenty-four sacrifices. Twenty-four souls. Twenty-four streams of darkness flowing into her, merging with her blood, becoming part of her.
She raised her hand.
The shadows answered.
They came faster now. More eagerly. They wrapped around her arms, her throat, her face. She could feel them inside her, in her lungs, in her stomach, in her mind.
More, they whispered. We need more.
Soon, she thought.
Soon.
She released the spell.
The shadows retreated.
She looked at the body.
A midwife. Respected. Skilled. Dead.
No one is safe from me, she thought.
No one.
She smiled in the darkness.
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Darian – The Despair
Darian had stopped eating.
Not dramatically—he still picked at his food, still swallowed enough to stay alive. But the pleasure was gone. The purpose was gone. Everything was gone except the vigil.
He sat in the library with Finn, staring at the fire.
"She killed again," Finn said.
"I know."
"Elspeth the midwife."
"I know."
"She's getting bolder. More confident."
"I know."
Finn looked at him.
"What are we going to do?"
Darian was silent for a long moment.
Then he said, "I don't know."
"We can't just give up."
"Why not? Everyone else has."
"Because someone has to remember. Someone has to bear witness. Someone has to be there when she finally makes a mistake."
"She's never going to make a mistake."
"Then we wait until she does."
Darian shook his head.
"That could be years. Decades."
"Then we wait years. Decades."
Darian stared at him.
"You really believe that, don't you?"
"I have to believe something," Finn said. "Otherwise, what's the point?"
They sat in silence.
Two boys.
One monster.
And a vigil that might last forever.
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Liora – The Evening
She sat in her chamber, reading by candlelight.
Twenty-four sacrifices.
Seventy-six more until the curse.
Seventy-six more until forever.
She closed the book.
She looked at her reflection.
The girl in the mirror looked back.
But the girl was fading.
Something else was taking her place.
Something older.
Something hungrier.
Soon, she thought.
Soon.
She smiled.
The darkness smiled with her.
And somewhere in the depths of the castle, in a cellar that no one visited and no one remembered, twenty-four souls whispered her name.
Liora.
Liora.
Liora.
She heard them.
She always heard them.
They were hers now.
Forever.
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End of Chapter Twenty-Nine