THE ASSASSIN TAPS her fingers against the table, once, twice, absentmindedly, with her brows furrowed in concentration. The interviewer watches, fascinated by the way her fingers move. Her brown skin is littered with scars — some barely noticeable, others deep and jagged and ugly.
"So Eleanor pretended to be Mauve at the rally?" She had stopped in the middle of describing her encounter with Eleanor, leaving off at the mention of Claudette seeing her red hair. "What happened to her? Where is she?"
She laughs once, an uninterested sound, and waves her hand. "She's unimportant."
"She's an accomplice."
"An incompetent one. I had to get rid of her, unfortunately."
The interviewer's stomach turns in revulsion. "She's dead?"
"Six feet under right now. Can I continue?"
They stare each other down, brown eyes against green, before he finally nods curtly.
"After the rally, as you know, is when shit really hit the fan."
She smirks and he gives a wary sigh. "People were terrified of you."
"Of me, of my cloak, of the mere mention of my name. It was beautiful. Fear is a powerful thing."
It's true, he knows it. Fear helped fuel the flames that burned the kingdom to the ground.
And now, Antares is little more than ashes.
"Please continue, Maisie."
Her lips purse as the name leaves his mouth. "Maisie, Genesis, Mauve. I'd prefer to not have a name anymore."
"How will we talk about you in the history books?" he asks sarcastically.
The silence grows between them until he starts to fidget uncomfortably, unnerved by her relentless stare, by the eyes she inherited from her father. Right as he opens his mouth to break the quiet, she gives him a grin that makes the hairs on his arms stand straight.
"Just refer to me as the woman who smashed the Costa throne into a thousand pieces."
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THAT TIME OF THE MONTH
the monthly flora & fauna
newsletter
MAUVE: MINDLESS KILLER
OR FEMINIST ICON?
written by: Claudette Banks
We all know who Mauve is by now. The infamous assassin that's causing royals everywhere to, for once in their glorious lives, cower in fear. Much like the people living in the slums do everyday.
Well, what if I told you that there's a method to her madness?
I know, I know. There's always a reason, isn't there? But what if I told you that I know part of the reason why she's been offing royals?
It's simple, really. It has to do with Saint Rowena's Academy for Young Girls.
Yup, the oh-so-brilliant Academy that "turns girls into proper ladies." Of course, I don't think it's part of her end goal — not even I have figured that out yet — but it's how she picks her targets. See, for those of you that have been living under a rock, the Academy houses nearly every royal girl in Antares from the ages of five to eighteen, training them until they become of age.
The thing about the Academy is that the people in charge don't really give a shit about those girls. All they care about is the money they make from turning them into perfect little royals. The girls only get to see their families during the holidays — which means Christmas and Easter and no more, not even summer — and spend most of their time under Madame Rose's strict regime.
Now, you're probably wondering why I even care about the lives of royals. Well, I most likely wouldn't if the boys went through the same thing. But they don't. Royal boys are educated by tutors during the same hours that kids from the slums go to school. Then, they do whatever they want; things like sports, playing video games, throwing wild parties that shut down half of Cape Carnelian (do you guys remember that one? I actually attended it, funnily enough — I snuck in with the King of the Streets, Mister Aiden Cooke, who got so wasted that he ran across the Big Square completely naked. My eyes still burn.)
Girls, on the other hand, don't get to do whatever they please. Their after school activities are chosen for them! Ridiculous, right? They get to do things like reading silently by themselves — in order to educate themselves, of course, no fiction works are allowed in Saint Rowena's — and shit like knitting. Fucking boring, right? I'm sure girls their age don't want to do any of that.
I think I'm getting off track here, but you get the point right? Although we've all known it for awhile, the lives of royal women suck. So how does Mauve fit into this? Is she secretly a royal, fed up with the way the men run things? Well, I don't know for certain but I do know one thing: Mauve is very much a feminist.
Ok, I know, straight up murdering people is a bit insane. But she's got the right intentions, I suppose. She's trying to send the royals a message: Stop treating women like shit or you'll find yourself face-to-face with a purple cloak and a scary ass assassin.
Those men who've become her victims so far all have one thing in common — they all have daughters who they've sent to the Academy. Some have more than one. And if you guys remember (I'm sure you do), our fair King Gabriel once had a daughter. The Princess Selene Costa, and remember what happened to her? She was kidnapped on her way to the Academy, sent there with only two guards. Two guards! For a princess! Thus begs the question: did our king even care about his only daughter? Did he even attempt to pay the ransom? Did he refuse and that's why she was murdered?
Don't believe everything you're fed, folks.
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you know, I'm really curious as to whether or not you guys have any theories or anything.
are you just so confused that you have no idea what's going on? do you guys have an idea as to what maisie's plan is? do you know what she's really after? will I ever stop being vague and confusing? (the answer to that one is no.)
anyway, short chapter but I hope you enjoyed it nonetheless!
