"Just as how you killed Luria."
Nheera’s cup froze midway to her lips.
For a heartbeat, the room seed to still. Slowly, she lowered the cup and placed it back upon the table. Her gaze never left him as she did so.
"And do you mind telling ," she asked calmly, "what led you to that conclusion?"
Her eyes were empty, void of warmth, void of emotion. She stared at him with a soulless intensity, as though she were stripping him bare, peeling back layers until only his truest self remained.
"It’s because I know you, Nheera," Laheir said, his fangs flashing briefly as his lips curled. "You kill to get what you want. And the girl had been testing your patience then, poking her fingers into matters that were none of her concern."
A faint noise sounded in the parlor. At that, Nheera’s gaze snapped away from him, sharp and sudden, as though she had sensed sothing amiss.
Her nostrils flared slightly like she were scenting the air. She caught a whiff of sothing earlier and she didn’t think too much about it then. But now it was all she could focus on.
"If you truly knew as well as you claim," she said icily, "you would know better than to make baseless accusations, especially when you know the walls might be listening."
With that, she rose smoothly from her seat. Her movents were controlled, and precise, yet they carried an unmistakable nace. She crossed the room in long, decisive strides toward a narrow door on the far side, a door that led to a small, seldom-used closet-like space.
Without hesitation, she wrenched it open.
She ca face to face with a wide-eyed human woman.
Before the woman could react, Nheera seized her by the arm and yanked her forward, tossing her harshly onto the marble floor. The woman barely had ti to brace herself before landing painfully on her hands and knees, a sharp cry torn from her throat.
Most people understood, in so distant way, how powerful the queen was. But many only saw the lavish gowns she favored, the jewels she wore so effortlessly, and mistook elegance for fragility. It was a mistake, one that often proved detrintal.
"Are your servants fond of eavesdropping on private conversations between you and your guests?" Nheera asked coldly. "That would be most disappointing if so."
Laheir’s eyes widened despite himself. He had not noticed anyone listening, and had not sensed another presence at all. The realization struck him like ice down his spine. Such an oversight could have been disastrous.
He masked his shock quickly, schooling his features before Nheera could notice and exploit it.
Now his gaze flickered between Nheera and the woman trembling on the floor. He recognized her vaguely; she was one of the many servants in his household. He employed too many to bother learning all their nas.
He remained silent as Nheera crouched before the woman, her movents slow and deliberate.
"Is there a reason you were hiding in there," Nheera asked softly, "listening to what we were saying?"
Her voice was low, and glacial. There was no warmth in her tone or her gaze, only cold appraisal, as though the woman before her were nothing more than an inconvenience to be dealt with.
The woman began to tremble uncontrollably, fully aware of the predator looming before her. She shook her head frantically, words failing her.
Nheera’s hand shot out, gripping the woman’s jaw with bruising force and forcing her to look up.
"You can speak, can’t you?" Nheera asked, her pale eyes boring into hers. Her grip tightened until pain flared sharply. "Speak."
The woman trembled harder, fear rolling off her in waves. "I—I wasn’t—I—"
Nheera released her only to draw her hand back and strike her across the face before she could finish. The sharp crack echoed through the room. The woman’s head snapped to the side, and a red mark blood on her cheek where Nheera’s ring had cut into her skin.
"I will not repeat myself," Nheera warned. "Why were you there, and how much of what we discussed did you hear?"
When the woman still didn’t speak, Nheera grabbed the woman by the throat, lifting her gaze once more, this ti snapping it toward Laheir, who had fallen uncharacteristically silent.
His lips were pursed, his expression tightly controlled, yet she could see the storm of thoughts churning behind his eyes.
"The next ti you feel the need to accuse of a murder," Nheera said, her voice low and edged with sothing dangerous, "let it be this one."
Before the woman could even draw another breath, Nheera struck. Her fangs sank savagely into the woman’s neck, piercing flesh with effortless precision. A sharp scream tore from the woman’s throat, quickly muffled as Nheera drank deeply, greedily, the rich warmth of blood filling her mouth. The woman’s body convulsed in her grasp, fingers clawing uselessly at Nheera’s arms as panic took hold.
Nheera did not stop. When she had drunk her fill, she cruelly bit down harder eliciting a strangled cry as pain flooded the woman’s senses.
She thrashed wildly, heels scraping against the floor, nails tearing at fabric and skin in a desperate attempt to break free. It was futile. With a sharp, brutal motion, Nheera ripped her throat out.
Blood gushed forth in a grotesque torrent, splattering the floor and staining the air with the tallic sll of blood. The woman’s once smooth, unblemished neck was reduced to mangled flesh. It did not take long. Her struggles weakened, then ceased altogether as her blood spilled freely from her body, pooling beneath her.
Life slowly drained from her eyes, leaving them dull and vacant.
When the woman was well and truly dead, Nheera released her and rose to her full height. She did not bother wiping the blood from her lips or her face, nor did she spare a glance for the dark stains spreading across the front of her dress. She looked every bit the predator she was.
"Make sure to clean this ss up," she said calmly to Laheir, as though discussing a minor inconvenience rather than a brutal execution.
She turned away, already dismissing him.
"If that is all, I shall be leaving now. I have an appointnt with the king."
Her heels clicked softly against the floor as she walked away.
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