Chapter 55: Karma.

Lita aggressively shoved her mother away. "Eliot? Please! No one calls him that mother! Everyone calls him the Masked monster or The freak of the rich! They say he has only one eye and maggots on one side of his face. Mother, have you not heard the rumors? They say the man is an absolute psycho. All of his ex-fiancées are so horrified of him that they either fled or locked themselves in monasteries! Those who dared to get close to him took their own lives."

She marched to the corner and grabbed her winged bear, squeezing the poor creature so tight its eyes popped. But it could hardly resist as she dragged it back to be used as a comfort toy.

"And that’s not even the worst part," Lita whispered, her voice cracking with pure, unadulterated horror. "The rumors say... he can’t even get it up! He’s completely useless down there! He can’t have children, Mother! you want me to live like a widow!"

Ursula sighed deeply, a look of profound exhaustion settling into the wrinkles of her face. She rubbed her temples. "Lita sweetheart... no matter what the rumors say, they are just rumors. You have never even seen him, so how can you know if these things are true? I am sorry honey, but no matter what you say, the marriage has been finalized. It must hold. You know how the top clans works. They will not stand for any kind of humiliation, especially not from a small clan like ours. The only way out for you is death."

Lita gasped in horror.

The bear gasped from the pain of her nails.

Ursula paused, looking at her beautiful, spoiled daughter. She leaned in closer, her voice dropping to a casual, cold whisper. "Look at the bright side. If... if it turns out to be true, and he truly cannot satisfy your sexual desires... you can always find another handsome young man on the side to satisfy you in secret. Just don’t get caught. You can have your wealthy cake and eat it at the same time."

Lita stared at her mother, completely flabbergasted. For a moment, she couldn’t even breathe. "Ahhhhh!" She let out a frustrated, roof-shattering scream, pushing the bear aside.

She threw herself on the bed, face down and screamed into her mattress. Her mother’s abhorrent solution would not take away the humiliation of being publicly known as the masked freak’s wife!

This had to be karma. It had to be! Ever since they successfully cornered and killed that useless trash Zyra, nothing had gone right.

This is heavens punishment, Lita thought bitterly, her heart twisting with a strange, sudden sense of dread. I killed Zyra, and my reward from the heavens is to marry a broken monster that no other woman in the entire country wants to touch with a ten-foot pole!

"Damn those Scorpions! This is all because of them!" Lita cursed out loudly, kicking the bedpost. "If they hadn’t come into our family, I wouldn’t be forced to marry that lunatic in the first place! All I wanted was to marry Hans...that was all."

Ursula frowned, her fingers twitching nervously as she smoothed down her silk robes. "He was never yours to begin with, Lita. He was Zyra’s husband to be. Wasn’t sleeping with him enough? Speaking of the Scorpions... have you heard about Ian? The mayor is keeping him in the capital, and he is going to attend one of the best academies there. Apparently, he thinks Ian has a promising future. I think he is bait because sooner or later, Zyra will go looking for him."

Lita froze. Then, a loud, ugly laugh burst from her throat. It was the most sarcastic, mocking sound Ursula had ever heard her daughter make. "Oh, Mother, stop! You’re going to give me a heart attack," Lita wheezed, wiping a tear of pure mockery from her eye. "The mayor is waiting for a ghost! Let me tell you what actually happened that night."

Lita leaned in, the humor draining from her face, replaced by a cold, spiteful satisfaction. She told her mother everything. She detailed the frantic chase through the old mine road and how Zyra’s three ex-fiancés had cornered the girl. She described the look of utter despair on Zyra’s face right before she chose to jump into the abyss, ensuring her death. "That useless bitch smiled before she jumped mother...It was creepy. Anyway, there is no Zyra coming back for Ian. She’s became beast food in the wild lands."

Ursula’s face turned completely pale. She winced, grabbing Lita’s arm so tightly her manicured nails dug into her skin. "Hush! Are you insane?!" Ursula hissed, looking terrified. "If the Divine Soul Maiden ever hears this version of the story, she will wipe us out. The official report says Zyra was kidnapped. That is what we are sticking to."

"Don’t worry, the truth is dead and buried with Zyra," Lita scoffed, waving her hand casually. "Who’s going to tell the divine soul maiden?"

Ursula looked out the window, her voice trembling slightly. "What if those boys talk? Young men love to brag when drunk."

"They would never," Lita said flatly. "They hate her memory more than I do. To them, she is a stain on their perfect reputations." She clenched her jaw. "Maybe I should get them to help me kill off the freak of the rich."

Ursula narrowed her eyes. Her daughter was becoming a little too comfortable with killing.

****

Meanwhile, across the city, the air inside the headquarters of the Linestrich Guild was thick with anger. Michael, Clifford, and Shane were with others that had gathered under one roof.

The leaders of the Rodrick clan had invited the leaders of the other small clans in the town for a talk. They were gathered around a large oak table, their faces twisted in absolute fury. A pile of crumpled papers lay in the center.

"This is total garbage!" Candy Duggar roared, slamming her fist onto the table so hard the teacups rattled. "The capital pulled back the hunt and claimed she was kidnapped. What is this nonsense?"

"Look at this order," Shane sneered, ripping a piece of official parchment in half. It had an explicit command on a document with a stamp marked ’Planetary Assembly: ’All private guilds and clans are to immediately cease the search for Zyra Scorpion.’ "They even pulled the bounty! The posters we spent days gluing to the city gates are being torn down by the police!"

Michael let out a bitter, venomous laugh. "So, what? If that little witch is somehow crawling around out there, she’s just... not a fugitive anymore? The mayor has lost interest?"

"The mayor has not lost interest he just had bigger interests to consider," a cold, sharp voice interrupted from the shadows of the room. Jade Duggar walked forward, his eyes gleaming with a dark, terrifying light. He looked at the three furious young men and crossed his arms. "But our interests are different."

The three ex-fiancés looked up, their breathing heavy.

"Zyra Scorpion is a criminal that killed my son," Jade continued, his voice dropping into a low, malicious purr. "We all know this, despite the police claiming otherwise. We continue our search and when we find her, there will be no need for a trial. No. We are going to give her clan justice. The moment she shows her face, if she even has a face left," he paused and said coldly, "it’s kill on sight. No questions. No arrests."

A dark, heavy cheer broke out across the hall. The members of the Linestrich Guild raised their weapons, their eyes full of pure malice.