Poison

Cerebrius sat in the chair next to me fiddling with my long black hair which sat on my shoulder. I turned my neck to face him with a scowl. He chuckled and continued to run his fingers through the tips of my hair. He brought it up to his mouth and kissed it.

I pulled back my head quickly and grabbed my hair from his hands. I pulled one of the daggers from the straps at my thigh and cut off the tips of my hair which Cerebrius had kissed. His golden eyes lit up with amusement. Faster than the sped of lightning I felt his soft lips touch my palm. He looked up at me with a half smile. My face boiled as I felt heat creep up my neck and my ears.

"Are you going to cut off your hand now because I kissed it, my sweet little prey?"

Son of a bitch!

I slapped his hands away and stood up. With all of my strength I scooted the golden chair closer to Varkish who was sleeping on his throne. Cerebrius's thunderous laugh filled the now empty room which only housed him, Varkish and I.

"Oh my little prey you are getting more and more interesting. I never thought that foxes could be such fun individuals."

I looked at him with scorn.

"And I never thought that vultures could be such idle individuals."

My voice dropped with poison. I went over to Varkish and whispered,

"There is free barbecue at the bazaar."

Varkish opened his eyes immediately and jumped out of his throne. The ground trembled as he ran towards the door. My stomach and sides burned as I laughed. He still fell for my trick! After knowing him for this much time, this is the only way I have found effective to waking him up.

The mahogany door slammed open as a disappointed Varkish walked in. He looked at me with menace. His pale eyes alight with anger. I wiped the tears which leaked out of my eyes as I laughed and walked over to him.

"Please forgive me Varkish! An emperor such as you shouldn't be sleeping after all."

Varkish turned his face away. I walked over to face him only for him to turn his face the other way. I turned with him. His lips quivered before he laughed. He then patted my head and smiled.

The hairs on my neck stood as I felt a chill run down my back. I looked back to see Cerebrius's golden eyes darken with anger. Varkish's hand on my head was reflected in his eyes. I smirked. How pathetic. I then walked back to my seat with my hand on Varkish's arm.

It was hilarious watching Cerebrius's anger. As I laughed a thought crept into the corner of my mind. Why was he always angry when other people touched me? Was it because I was his "prey?". And why does he call me that? Sometimes I feel like the closer I get to Cerebrius the more mysterious he becomes.

I chuckled. Suddenly I looked at the hand which I had laughed in. Spots of red dotted my palm. Where did these spots of crimson come from? The world around me started to blur as I heard Varkish's voice call out to me in the distance. What the hell?

Is it because I did not eat breakfast this morning? Knives started to pierce my abdomen. The excruciating pain causing my knees to buckle. My cheek kissed the rug on the ground. I tried to move my limbs successfully. They feel heavier than the mountains which occupied the goat clan's territory.

My hearing suddenly stopped as Cerebrius and Varkish's screams filled the room. A piercing pain striking my temples. I didn't know I was screaming until my throat burned. A sort of liquid started to leak out of my mouth. What was happening to me? This must be poison. I am sure of it. But who gave me the poison? It can't be Varkish. Cerebrius did not give me anything to eat. I have already eaten the food from Alesha, Darsha, and Varsha before.

Shit. My thoughts were scrambling all over the place. As I felt my consciousness slip away a single memory filled my mind. Five years ago when I was studying the different clans one stood out for me.

A clan which was renowned in its use of poison to coerce its enemies. A poison which would weaken the vital organs' functions and slowly shut off all systems of the body. If not treated the poisoned individual would die in the time of an hour. Oh God damn it.

What was the clan's name?

I could almost taste the clan's name on my tongue.

Ugh this poison was making my mind turn groggy. My thoughts disappeared as soon as they manifested. Shit. Shit. This was really bad.

Scorpion. That was it. The scorpion clan. Those little pieces of shit. If I recover from this poison I will burn down their whole entire clan!

Wait calm down.

What did I do to anger the Scorpion Clan?

Oh yeah. Are they still holding the grudge of three years ago? How petty. All I did was-

"You husband stealing bitch! How does my poison taste? I made it especially for you! You should feel honored! Do you know how long it took me to cultivate it? Three weeks! If it weren't for your sweet little brother I would never be able to find your location."

Oh God. I knew that my good days were being tallied. Of all the bitches to encounter me this had to be the worst. This was the only empress which I have ever pissed off. Because I have "stolen" her crush from the Peacock clan who asked me out in the formal Animaliari Kingdom coming-of-age celebration three years ago. Her name is Edola Krakus of the Scorpion clan.

Despite her shitty personality she actually has a good head on her shoulders. She is the smartest poison concocter in all of the Scorpion clan's history. Her affinity for hurting others is used by multiple clans whether it be for succession to the throne or warfare. Under her reign the clan prospered.

I coughed out the purple fluid once more.

Because of a dirty, cheating bastard like him I was now counting the stars which floated above my head. Shit. How am I supposed to get the antidote. My throat felt as if it had dried up.

Through my blurred vision. I can see the empress of the Scorpion clan's flaming red hair and burning amber eyes. As usually she wore skimpy clothes in hopes of gaining a husband.

"You won't get a guy that way you stupid bitch."

My throat burned as I hoarsely whispered those words. Her annoying high pitched voice rung out once more.

"Cherura Lutious. This is the day that I have been waiting for, for over three years now! Is that all you have to say?"

My body screamed in pain. It felt like the tissues which made up my cells were being torn apart. I have never felt this much pain in my whole life.

"It feels nice to hear you scream Cheru-"

Suddenly, Edola's voice was muffled. The last thing I could hear before the world around me turned black was Cerebrius's voice threaten,

"If you say one more word, I will rip off that tongue of yours. For every minute that passes by with Cherura screaming I will remove a fingernail. Once I have removed all of your fingernails I will cut out an organ next. Since you have nodded I can assume that you have understood."

I heard the noise of the safety of a gun being flicked.

"Now Empress Edola as you decide if your going to heal Cherura or not why don't we play a game. This game will let me find out have many shots it takes to get to the center of a Scorpion clan member. Should we begin?"

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Thank you so much everyone! I can't stressed how happy I am with all of your support! Stay safe my luvs❤️ fifth day of quarantine!😷