Chapter 2
Love and Hatred
Château d'Arielle, near Ladrieu, Arielle, Bonaventure
In a bare underground chamber, the only decoration was a pentacle painted with fresh blood and the naked youth stretched out upon it. His limbs were tied to stakes at the points and atop those stakes were candles that provided the only light in the room. A cloth draped over his loins to cover his modesty was a small consideration not usually extended to the offering, but this offering was special.
It was traditional for witches of the Old Rite to perform their arts 'skyclad' as they call it, but in a further consideration to the offering, the two young witches wore black scapulars to cover what needed covering. They circled around the pentacle, each carrying a small bucket of the blood of the sacrifice. Stepping inside the circle, the witches stooped down beside the youth—one on the left and one on the right—and dipped brushes into their buckets, then began to draw markings on the youth's skin. The youth squirmed as the blood was painted on him, but the ropes held him firmly in place.
The two witches' faces were as stone masks and their voices were cold and emotionless to match.
"Jojo mustn't move," the elder of the two said.
"Jojo must be still," the younger added.
Despite being born three years apart, the two witches would speak and act as twins in perfect synchronicity. When they reached an age where three years was not so great a difference, they might look the part as well.
'Jojo' was young Master Joseph de Ladrieu, nephew to the late Count Stephan and heir apparent to the seat of Count of Arielle. The two witches were his cousins, the daughters of the more recently deceased Countess Ariana. They both had their mother's mismatched eyes, one fairy purple and the other demon red. As their eyes were mirrors of each other, so too was their hair. The younger, Iliana, had the same snowy white hair as the Countess but with a shock of her father's black while Mariana the elder had black hair with a white streak to mark her mother's portion.
As the two witches continued to scrawl markings on their cousin's body, Mariana said, "Jojo is weak now."
"But we will make him strong," Iliana added.
"We will make him a strong Count," Mariana continued.
"A great Count."
Their words had a hypnotic quality as they went back and forth, one speaking after the other, like the swinging of a pendulum.
"Mother was wrong."
"She was wrong."
"Mother used hate as the source of her power. She hated Father."
"She killed Father."
Of course there were few who doubted the Countess' hand in her husband's death, but if young Joseph's mind were not beginning to drift under the influence of their voices coupled with the rich incense filling the air, he might have found it more shocking to hear the girls so openly speak of their father's murder.
"She took many lovers," Mariana then said. "She hated them too."
"She killed them too," Iliana said.
It should have come as little surprise that the there was more than a little truth to all the stories of the infamous Black Widow of Arielle, but as before, young Joseph's mind was too distant to fully appreciate what was being told to him.
"The more she hated, the more her power grew," Mariana said. "But it wasn't enough."
"And so she was killed," Iliana added.
"It will not be the same with us."
"Not the same with us."
"Love is stronger than hate."
"Love is stronger."
Mariana clasped her hand to Joseph's, interlocking their fingers, and said, "We love Jojo."
Iliana took his other hand and said, "We love each other."
"We will bear Jojo strong sons."
"We will bear Jojo strong daughters."
Barring a more advantageous match, it had actually been proposed that Joseph be wedded to Mariana to strengthen his claim. It would not be so strange. Both sisters, however...
Mariana gripped Joseph's hand more firmly, saying, "Together we will be stronger. Our love will give us strength."
Iliana began to dig in with her fingernails, gritting her teeth as she said, "Strength to defeat the one we hate."
"The man who killed Mother."
"The coward who killed Mother."
"Barz Falkner."
"Giger Taus."