The Marks that Define Them

Chapter 5:

Reaching over to grab the documents that Ammon was looking at. Reading the faded letters on the wrinkly old paper. It was about the impact on taking another's power. Aine was aware of the consequences but her greediness blinded her from seeing all of the wrong she could inflict onto the world. As she continued to read it she began skimming until she found what she was looking for. So the more I drain the boy the more aggressive he becomes, more depressed and paranoid he becomes. Mental side effects include over thinking, possible madness, and unawareness to everything and the worst of all a robotic mindset. This is everything that I need,

Setting the papers aside, Aine leaned back in her chair smiling at the people outside, They had no idea what was coming for them.

Aegus:

He sat sobbing for hours. What have I done? The moment he agreed to the deal he instantly regretted it. Thankfully he hadn't told Aine everything but he was sure that soon she would be coming back craving more information and he would be forced to tell her. In Aegus' mind, there was no other option for him. It was either him or her and somewhere he decided that Astraea wasn't as important him.

I shouldn't have betrayed her. But think about Cairo, what happens if you find him. But Astraea is now endangered because of me. No, Astraea was endangered the day she was born. Eventually, I will have to tell the Queen that she is markless, the queen will kill her and it will be all my faul-Stop it right now, it is not your fault that Astraea has no marks it is her own fault for not reporting herself. If she gets caught who cares she is a danger to this world, to the balance of this world. The only wrong you did was harboring her, growing connection with her, loving her. That is the only thing wrong that you did. Now forget it and let's get to work. I guess you are right. Astraea was doomed for death the day she was born, we all knew it but chose to lie to ourselves about it. Let's get to work.

He was a broken man who sat his chair having a battle between himself and another him in his mind. Both of the people inside of him fought for dominance but ultimately the monster won, like always. To an outsider's eye they would see an old man that was mumbling incoherent words in two different voices like someone was there with him. But he was only alone to the outside, internally a village of himself sprung to life each one of them voicing their opinions loudly. The ruckus inside brought pain and frustration to Aegus. He needed to get a hold of himself. Some Aegus' knew that others denied it. Other stressed about it.

"Aegus, I need to see the papers that my mother gave to you. The ones about changing the line of succession." Yanked out of his village of people, Aegus started shuffling through his papers to find what Eloy was looking for.

"Here it is." Plucking the paper out of his hand Eloy angrily read the paper.
"My mother wants the (council) to approve of her proposition that my sister should surpass me in the line of succession. Do you think they will approve of it?"

"Considering it is your mother proposing this instead of your father, they might agree out of fear. But knowing how irresponsible your sister is and her age they could say no. It's about 50/50."

"What is your decision on this?"

"I am not allowed to tell. You know the rules" In reality, Aegus hadn't made up his mind because he too along with the others were afraid of the Queen.

"Well, I will see you again. Don't you have a meeting to go to about this predicament." Aegus started walking to the meeting hall with urgency. He didn't want to be late to the meeting and further the others reasoning to replace him. Time skipped by as he arrived and Aegus was lost in his mind until the voting began.

A blunt knife was passed around along with the bowl of water. As each member responded to Aine's proposition and cut their palm letting the water drop into the bowl Aegus became nervous. Looking at his palm he saw droplets of sweat form along the faded scars of past votings. The room was filled with ayes and nays.

"Aye."

"Aye."

"Aye." When the bowl and knife were passed to him, Aegus knew that he had to make a decision. Knowing full well that his nay would end the conversation because of his upper status so his rule would be the result of it all Aegus did what he thought was right. Instead of feeding into his selfish personality.

"Nay." The cut stung worse than any other he had before. It was a symbol of the pain he would most likely face later for his choice. The younger member held grim faces as they exited leaving Aegus to think he wouldn't have this position for long.

Astraea:

Astraea was late for the Queen. Weirdly enough the door was barely open. Inside she could see the back of Catriona's head. But she wasn't alone inside the room was also the Queen and it appeared to her that they were in a conversation. Astraea pressed her ear to the door frame to listen in. Their voices were muffled to Astraea but she could make out the sentences.

"So, as you know Astraea has been serving me and my family for some time now. And I have a deal for you."

"If you are asking me to sell my soul then I won't."

"But what about your son. I know that he likes the girl why not let him have her."

"And have my child stuck with her. Never. You're a fool if you think that I would agree."

"Don't you want revenge on her mother. That girl that took your man away from you and doomed you to the imbecile you call husband. She is to blame for all of it."

"Fine, but I want to know what you want."

"Information."

"Okay, I saw the girl with your son so I slapped when she got back to her room."
"That's all? Please tell me you have more so I know that you are not as worthless as you seem." There was a pregnant pause made fear bubble in Astraea's stomach.

"The girl has no marks." How could she? Astraea slid down the wall letting the tears go. That's it. My life is over now. I am going to die. Her wailing was heard by the Queen and Catriona, They walked outside to see Astraea outside crying.

"It appears to me that we have a nosy person. Time for you to be punished."

"Are you going to kill me? Now that you know."

"You are too valuable for me to kill. For now at least." They carried her off to a Khora and strapped her to the table as an Ekklafina walked in holding a knife. Spotting the life Astraea began to struggle against the restraints that confined her.

"No, no, please. Please." They ignored her pleas as the Ekklafina took the knife and dragged it across her face. Lights in the room started to blur before turning to blackness.

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A fire rested upon Astraea's face when she opened her eyes. Taking in her surroundings there was a noticeable difference between the rooms. She couldn't recognize the room because the only thing she could see was the ceiling. Chastising herself for not paying more attention to the rooms. Fearing that more pain would be inflicted onto her she fidgeted. Her only restraint was herself because some of her movements felt like they were ripping her face apart.

Astraea craned her neck to the side to see a plant that rested in front of the window in the room. Her room. Relaxation flew through her muscles finally letting her calm down. She picked up a mirror on her nightstand so that she could see her face. Seeing herself killed her. If she didn't think that she was a monster before she was sure that she was one now. She could see that the Ekklafina did her best to ruin her face more. Astraea wasn't saddened by the loss of her looks but more of the loss of people seeing her has somewhat human. But now she knew that they would see her as a monster. And that only. No matter how hard she tried to see around it, she couldn't, but Astraea was happy that she couldn't see around it because other people won't be able to see it around. So she needed to get used to it.