The cold metal of the blade pressed into Alesandria's hand, drawing tiny rivers of blood as she laid in the cold bed, keeping her lips shut as she listened to the movement of maids outside of her tiny infirmary room.

She had been hoping to be placed in the same infirmary room as the emperor. It would make her missions so much easier, but the maids had informed her that very few people could recover in the same infirmary room as the emperor and she was not one of them.

"For safety and privacy reasons" they had informed her before showing her to one of the much tinier infirmary rooms for the common people including staff and citizens. It wouldn't be that much of a hassle if it wasn't for the fact that she was nowhere as sick as she had pretended to be earlier in the morning.

"I must say. Your acting skills are incomparable" Heather teased as the hybrid slowly made her way out of the bed. She slipped her feet into a pair of slippers and carefully removed the cold wet cloth from her forehead and placed it on the bed. Her dark hair was wet and clung to her like a second skin, disguising her to be more detrimental than she seemed.

"It's easy to do so when you're lying" Alesandria replied, slipping the knife underneath her white dress and securing it on her hip with the sash she wrapped around her waist tightly. The weapon stuck to her skin, the sharp edge digging into her waist. "How does Onyx do this every day without bleeding to death?" she uttered, readjusting the weapon so that it would not cut through her skin.

"Never mind that. You have to be quick before you get caught or before they realize that you are not in the room" Heather informed her through their bond. Alesandria nodded and tiptoed her way to the door. She opened it quietly, observing the silent hallway before sneaking her way through the slim corridor. Her footsteps whispered against the floor as she ran through the hallway and stopped at a pillar that curved into a turn.

From the corner of her eye, she could make out the tall, double doors that led to the infirmary Draco was currently being held in. Three guards stood watched at the entrance, gold spears in hand. Their steely gazes rotated around the halls, ready to attack any unwanted intruder to protect their emperor.

"What are we supposed to do now?" Heather whispered. Alesandria pressed herself against the wall so that she would be out of their peripheral vision. "They won't let you in for any reason!"

"Would you shut up and watch?" Alesandria hissed, watching them from the corner of her eyes. Heather's voice remained silent in her mind, holding her breath as the hybrid watched the guards intensively. She momentarily flipped her gaze over to the window where she could see the sun reaching its highest peak in the sky in a slow ascent.

"What are we waiting for?" Heather asked as the rising sun casted shadows among the walls.

"Just watch" Alesandria replied. She counted on her lips, starting from ten and slowly making her way down to zero. At the last number, the sun settled in the sky and the guards moved from the door, ending their shift and signaling for the next guards to start their rotation.

In a flash, Alesandria slipped from the wall and made her way to the door. She opened it with ease and made her way through, making sure to lock it so that no one would interrupt her mission. She held her breath as she heard the new guards take their positions behind the door, pounding their spears on the floor to signal the start of their shift.

"I never realized you had a brain in that pretty head of yours" Heather commented. Alesandria rolled her eyes, looking around her surroundings. The room was dark, and the curtains were drawn to block out any sun. The smell of herbs and alcohol reeked in the room, the coppery stench of blood lingering just underneath.

Alesandria crept over to the covered body of the emperor. He was completely covered in a thick, velvet blanket, only his fingers hanging from the slight opening at his sides. She could make out the rise and fall of his chest and the slight glow of his magic as it crept up his arm and through his veins.

Holding her breath, she gently peeled back the blanket to his midsection to reveal his bruised face and scarred body. Though the black and blue cuts could not hide his beauty, it was clear that the emperor was unresponsive. His skin was cold and slick with sweat and his scars were caked with blood and scabs.

"Such beauty. What a tragedy. And I never had my turn with the illustrious Draco Vaolcris" Heather taunted. Her words sent a chill down Alesandria's spine as her fingers lingered down to his torso where torn skin was still ripped apart and filled with solid blood.

"Oh, please. There is more than one prize in this world" Alesandria replied, sneaking her hand up her skirt and retrieving the dagger from underneath. The cold metal was shaking in her hand as she revealed it in the hair, the crafted weapon glinting in her grip.

She ran the blade across his chest, seeking an entryway that would allow her to stab him directly in the heart. The jagged scars across his chest crisscrossed with one another, attempting to heal as they created a bloody canvas that was impossible to navigate through.

"How am I supposed to do this? I can barely locate his heart" she whispered, resting a hand on his pec. Heather's heavy sigh rang through her head, followed by a curse underneath her breath. "Use your brain, Alesandria. He's unconscious, not dead. At least not yet. That means he can still feel something."

"So, all he needs is a little pain" Alesandria finished off her thought. Swiftly, she lifted his limp arm into hers and used her sharp nails to sink the sharpened points into his skin deep enough to draw blood.

His arm twitched slightly, and his veins began to glow a rusty gold color. It rushed up to his arm and around his neck until his entire body was practically glimmering in the presence of his magic. Through that, his magic traveled up his torso until his chest glowed. Right below his collarbone and a bit to the left was his heart, particularly pulsing underneath his skin.

Raising her dagger in the air, Alesandria's hand shook as she lowered it in a slow descent towards his heart, her fingers losing their grip on the weapon. "I don't know about this, Heather. Maybe there is a better way-"

"THERE IS NO BETTER WAY! THIS IS WHAT WE HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR!" The tribe leader hissed, her anger seeping into her words. "YOU PROMISED US THAT YOU WOULD HELP US IN ANY WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM! DON'T BACK DOWN FROM YOUR WORDS OR YOU WILL BECOME AS USELESS AS YOUR PARENTS WHO HAD PROMISED TO PROTECT YOU!"

Hot tears streamed down Alesandria's face as she regained control of the dagger, her fingers blistering red as she gripped it tightly in her hand.

"THINK OF EVERYTHING THEY HAVE EVER DONE TO YOU! THEY DON'T CARE ABOUT YOU! THEY LEAVE YOU OUT OF THEIR PLANS AND PRACTICALLY SHUN YOU FROM THE ROOM! THEY ONLY CARE ABOUT ONYX AND HER DESTINY AND SHE DOESN'T EVEN SEEM INTERESTED IN YOU! NONE OF THEM CARE!"

Heather continued to curse, pushing her words out like a stream of poisonous water that seemed to drown Alesandria's thoughts until she could see nothing but red, angry flames and hear only her screams of agony as she fought to be like them, but knew that they would never fully accept her as their own.

"KILL THEM ALL!"

With a powerful thrust, Alesandria plunged the tip of the sword into Draco's chest, pushing the weapon deep into his skin. A river of blood spewed from his skin and coated her fingers and dress, trailing down his abdomen as his body began to shake and quiver. His skin glowed a brilliant shade of gold and red as his body began to convulse. Blood spilled from his nose and mouth as he drowned in silence.

Draco opened his mouth to speak but was quickly drowned out by his blood as he reached out for help. His eyes seemed to move, only flickering once or twice before they too were blinded with blood.

"YES! ALES, YOU HAVE DONE IT!"

Alesandria nodded despite the knot that formed in her stomach as she rose from the bed, pulling the dagger from his chest and holding it in her bloody hands. "We need to get out" she whispered, backing up to the door, her back against the gold knob that dug into her spine.

She held her breath, hand over mouth as she watched the emperor die in front of her eyes. He fought and attempted to scream but fell in death's arms with his last breath. Holding the blade close to her chest, she sat in the silence and watched with teary eyes.

"Why are you crying, Ales?" Heather asked through the bond. "You did what you had to do. Nothing to cry over. Draco was a tyrant and a fool. His destiny was written the minute he took Onyx away. He got what he deserved and together, you and I will the Inner Circle and give rise to a new world. A better Asxairo."

"I guess it's taking me a while to accept this" Alesandria replied, wiping her tears away. "I would have thought it would be an easy adjustment."

"Nothing is ever easy for an immortal, but we adapt to it and so will you. That is a promise."

Alesandria nodded once more and pulled herself up, getting ready to plot her escape through the window when the tiniest movement of his foot caught her eyes. Cautiously, she turned back around to see the toes of his feet curl into the bed and his dying magic flooding his body once more.

"Impossible" she whispered underneath her breath as she got closer to him. She saw the strings of his magic flood his dead body with rivers of life, highlighting his fading scars and seeming to sew his heart into the live vessel it once was.

"No!" she hissed, withdrawing the knife and plunging it in his chest once again. The knife broke through skin several times as she stabbed him repeatedly, keeping her grunting at a low volume so that the guards on the other side would not be able to suspect a thing. Blood splashed on her hands and face, leaving a bitter copper taste in her mouth.

The magic in his body glowed brighter, overwhelmingly blinding until she could no longer see what was in front of her. With a final stab, she withdrew the knife from his bloody chest and held it close to her chest. She watched in horror as the blood in his eyes dissolved and she could make out the brilliance of his green and blue eyes that were ringed with a ruby circle.

A faint groan escaped his lips as he began to move, his arms reaching for the nearest thing to hold. With a sigh, Alesandria twisted his hand away from her direction and raised her dagger once more to slice his throat. As soon as the blade met the soft flesh of his skin, a silence filled the room before a blinding light unleashed and exploded into millions of starlight that collided into her body with the force of hurricanes.

Blood and magic danced in the air as a mighty force pushed Alesandria's body out the door and into the hallway where the screams of maids and palace guards deafened her ears. She could still feel the slick blade in her hand as the curve of a hallway met her eyes.

A blinding pain shook her body as her face collided with the marble pillar in the hallway. Scarlet blood pooled from her lips and nose, her body cracking on the floor and breaking underneath the sheer force that was pushing her into the ground. Her head snapped against the floor, blood painting the floor in a mortifying labyrinth as a crack formed at the base of her skull.

Ashes and dust flew in the air, clouding her vision as the palace descended into a scene of chaos and confusion, bloody footprints leading to nowhere.

Delirious and losing blood, Alesandria turned on to her stomach to crawl to the nearest exit, but a strong force pulled her back and drove her into a cramped spot between two pillars and the edge of a wall.

Feeling her back arch to release the pain that broke through her spine, Alesandria reached over for the dagger which was inches away from her fingers. She struggled and grunted as the deadly weapon finally landed in her grasp, slippering from the blood.

Whether it was his or hers, she was unsure of.

Hammering the final nail into her plan, she drove the blade into her abdomen, a piercing pain meeting her body as the weapon tore through bone and muscle until it finally pierced a vein and blood began to seep through her dress.

With a final breath, Alesandria closed her eyes and indulged in her bloodbath. 

A/N: And that is the end of Chapter Thirty Five!

Alesandria is going to be in big trouble! You shouldn't have done that, Ales! Tsk, tsk.

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