The War's Beginning -- Mali and Skies

[tubercular skies]

Every war has a beginning.
This is a one on one between Malicious Lullaby and tubercular skies​

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plot

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characters

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reserved

 

[Malicious Lullaby]

• • • • • • • • • • • 
                      
                      
                      ”The war is coming. Just you watch.” She whispered, staring blankly ahead of her, her eyes narrowing between the two bars made out of pure silver that kept her retreated to the back of her cell. ”The war will come. The day will come. The dawn is just about due. The war will come. The lycans will prevail. I will prevail.” Looking up through the large hole where the moonlight shone down on her, she could feel the stirring inside of her and if it were not for the collar around her neck that prevented her from shifting, she would have broken out of here before they put her in there. The vampires. The blasted vampires. ”Just you wait. Just you watch.” She whispered once more, her chin still raised, her pale cheeks wet and stained with tears shed long before, but out of sight of anyone who could see. She let the pale moonlight bathe her skin, filling her with the strength and the courage she needed. ”The time is coming. And they will all pay. Just you wait. Just you wait Delphine.”
                      
                      

                      ---

                      
                      Many years ago, the first of the vampires migrated from Europe into the New World. Facing prosecution from not only the humans but also ancient vampires and the threat of the werewolves, they came to the conclusion that they needed their new land. See, this group was different than the band of Europe and they wanted their own power. But being fledglings in comparison to the ancient race of vampires across Europe, they held no stake or claim. They did what they had to, creating the house of Macris, a new coven in the New World. But just like anything else, life always found a way and along with those vampires, werewolves managed the migration as well. A predator always followed its prey after all.
                      
                      In the New World, on East Coast by the water, several villages were founded. Vampires and werewolves alike drove the natives on the land away or killed them. On those lands, castles and structures were built and so was a grand wall to keep the werewolves out. But that didn’t stop them. And upon the wall’s completion, a single werewolf was captured. She was put in the dungeons that they had made of silver that kept her at bay and it was discovered she was pregnant.
                      
                      The child she gave birth to wasn’t a werewolf. That is, it wasn’t born in the form of a wolf but in the form of a human. But the child’s mother protected it, knew it belonged to her. They realized that this child may hold the secret to taming the wild race of the werewolves. This child was a little girl and she was called Delphine. But more importantly, she was the first descendent of a werewolf that could turn back into human form and not succumb to the insanity of the wildness of her monstrous race. At last, the vampires had a way to control and enslave this inferior race. No longer were they the prey. They were the predators and the werewolves and ‘lycans’—as they dubbed Delphine’s kind—were subservient so long as they had Delphine and the ability to control and even kill her race.
                      
                      After her mother was murdered, just shortly after Delphine was born, the vampire elder and leader, Josiah, took her under his wing. He trained her, raised her, and made sure she always lived under the rule of thumb that while she was his ‘adopted daughter,’ she must always remember her place. She was a Lycan, which meant she was nothing like the vampires. Not like Josiah and not like his son, Elias. Elias…he was something else. She sometimes would watch him when she could. He seemed…different, in a way. While most men were almost clones of their fathers, something told her that Elias wouldn’t be. Of the vampires to hate, he was not one of them. No, instead she admired him. But always from afar, despite having grown up with him. She never said more than a single word to him each time, too busy she was bowing to him and other vampires.
                      
                      During her training, she would be starved and deprived of fresh meat and blood, so much so that when a human was sent in her cell, too much was she consumed with Lycan rage and blood lust that she would bite them. But that was usually the entire point. Josiah wanted more Lycans. He wanted more just like her. He wanted to build an army to protect the vampire race from the wild werewolves that had repopulated and multiplied in the lands, just waiting to conquer that wall and take their revenge. They were not so mindless, but in comparison to vampires, werewolves and any others spawned from it were the inferior race and vampires were the superior and ultimate power. Now that there was a Lycan army building, consisting of both men and women to be the vampires’ slaves and protection, the werewolves wouldn’t stand a chance.
                      
                      Even Delphine grew up fearing and hating werewolves. She believed her vampire family. She considered them her family, the creatures she loved. She believed that they saved her from an unspeakable fate, though they were too late and she became ‘poisoned’ by a werewolf and that was why she turned into one. Rather than hating herself, she swore to protect the ones she loved forsake the ones she hated and kill the ones who threatened her and her family. She had truly grown into Josiah’s little protégé, molded to perfection of a hard fighter and killer, highly skilled in the art of sword fighting and ripping out throats when she was allowed to turn for the sake of keeping the vampires safe. She was the highest regarded Lycan and the original one.
                      
                      But how long could she live like this? How long could she continue living in captivity, doubting it all. Because even after a day of being free among the other vampires, she was always sent back to her dungeons like a dog being sent to their kennel for the night. Living in dank arrangements, a cold cage, wet and her food rations were becoming sparser and sparser. For the expectation of her was to keep turning captured humans into more Lycans. Josiah was greedy that way. He wanted a powerful army at his beck and call and to expand his power and empire all across the New World’s coast.
                      
                      The day she turned nineteen it became clear to Delphine that everything she knew was not so. Her ‘family’ was not her real family. Her real family was out there, likely waiting or looking for her, if they cared to. If they thought she was still alive. If these vampires were truly her family, she wouldn’t be living like this. Everything Josiah told her was a lie. She was nothing more than their mutt to walk all over and depend on. Because at the end of the day, she was still sent to the dungeons as if she had done something wrong, treated horribly and had no real sense of regard among those she served. She was a dog. They were the superior race.
                      
                      But not for long. Not if she had anything to say about it.
                      There was a growing unrest amongst the other Lycans. Delphine wasn’t the only one. And she certainly wouldn’t be the last one. For that day was coming. The day that they would soon see and realize that the Lycans and werewolves were stronger and the vampires had no real power and authority anymore. Where they were weak, she was strong. Where they were stronger in the moonlight, she was strongest and at her true height of power. But they controlled that. With the damned collar made of silver that prevented her from turning unless they saw fit for her to do so. Only when it benefitted them.
                      
                      No more. No more.
                      
                      

                      ---

                      
                      ”The day is coming.” She whispered once more. Hearing the stirring from the cell beside her, she scooted over but careful not to actually touch the bars. She did that once already and the burn on her hand stung more while healing than when first inflicted.
                      
                      ”Lorraine? Lorraine is that you?”
                      There was a soft cough and then a spluttering of something. Peering closer, Delphine’s eyes widened seeing the blood that poured from her friend’s mouth, the blood that colored the ground of her cell, the blood that was flowing from her neck.
                      
                      ”You have to stop it. You have to control it! Otherwise you will die!” Delphine swore frantically, reaching out to grab the bars and hissing to herself when the silver burned her hands. She recoiled and held them to her tattered dress, watching in horror as her friend, a newly transformed Lycan could not control the power of the moonlight. She watched in horror as her friend turned, only to be ripped apart by the silver spiked collar around her neck. Her bloodied remains littered the ground and Delphine pushed herself back away so not to have been touched by it, her eyes wide in alarm, her cheeks sprayed with dots of Lorraine’s blood and anger pooling inside in place of her despair.
                      
                      Absolutely no more.​

 

[tubercular skies]

Elias was the apple of his father's eye. He stood tall and fought like a Chinese myth--he has style, he had grace,
he was Miss United States. Wait, what was the United States? Anyway, Elias had charm oozing from his finger tips
and it was something that his father hated, so it was Josiah's goal to keep Elias busy with fighting and diplomatic
situations. Through this, he became a very skilled fighter and no one was his match. Additionally, he was excellent
in diplomatic scenarios, but he had a short attention span. Peace between clans didn't interest him. Instead, what
did interest him was the constant battle between vampires and werewolves.

Over the decades, he'd amassed quite a kill count involving the savage beasts. Nothing confused him more than when
his father took one under his wing and trained her like she was his own, but she wasn't his own. She would never be
one of the vampires, and this was what his father told him over and over.

Elias figured out quickly that she wasn't the same. She didn't have the same viciousness in her eyes, but there were
some similarities that he couldn't deny. His father was correct when he said that they were all savages in the end...right?
Elias couldn't help but remain curious about werewolves. The ones that his father bred were different from the ones
he'd sliced in the field. These ones could control themselves. How far could they control themselves? Obviously they still
needed to be contained like a virus. Werewolves were viruses.

This day wasn't any damn different. Josiah had been riding Elias all day like a prized pony to fight until his fingers became
stumps. Tired, sweaty, and dirty, Eli stood on werewolves his father had released to attack him. They were insane
with blood lust and wanted nothing more than to tear his vampire skin like sloppy, wet paper.

Eli looked at his father with as much hate as some of the wolves, hating that he put him through such turmoil. The
situation was remnant of first world problem tags. "Is that all you have for me, father? Have I killed all of your pets?"
Eli asked Josiah arrogantly.

Josiah wasn't pleased he snorted and walked away, leaving Josiah with the pile of werewolves. One order was yelled
out as he walked away, "Clean it up!" Eli snorted in return just like his father. Like he'd clean up the mess that his father
caused. Blood dropped from his arm, a gash one of the wolves had given him on an ambush. It had already begun to heal
slowly, but being an attack from a werewolf, it would take a bit of time.

"Get your servants to clean it up," he commented, dropping the sword with a clang against the cobblestone. Eli wanted to
relax and let his tired body rest.

Still dirty, sweaty, and blood, he began to walk around and eventually found himself in the lower quarters where the
werewolf pets were kept. For some reason, he found himself wandering around occasionally to watch the way the
wolves adapted. Thanks to the collars around their necks, they couldn't turn. Sometimes they would fight over food
and Eli would watch, throwing extra food in the cage to see what would happen. They didn't all fight, but the ones
that did reminded him more and more of the creatures he'd fought on the outside.

A voice echoed down the hallways of a girl screaming for another to do something. Eli was curious and began to follow
the sounds. It didn't take him long to realize that the voice came from Delphine. Eli's upper lip snarled a little, but he
continued to follow the yelling and grunting. What the hell was going on?

The moonlight kept much of the path lit, but Elias remained in the darkness while he watched so he wouldn't disturb
the scene. That was what he considered the death of Delphine's comrade--a scene. With curiosity, he watched as
she began to turn. Lorraine, the other wolf, apparently couldn't control herself. Eli continued to watch as he moved
closer for a better view. The silver spiked collar ripped through her throat and caused blood to flood the floor. By the
looks of it, she wasn't the first. Vampires never cleaned these areas.

Blood splattered on Eli causing him to jerk a little from surprise. Delphine continued to stare at the body and it felt
like forever before Eli opened his mouth. "That was violent," he commented. The sentence had a lack of empathy. It
was as if he'd watched two animals tear each other apart for learning purposes. There was an extreme detachment
for the fact that Delphine had just lost her friend or a fellow supernatural creature had just died in a cruel, violent way.

One of his hands came up and rubbed the splattered blood from his face. If there was anything he hated most it was
having werewolf blood on his face. It was bad enough that the gallows smelled like wet dog mixed with fecal matter, but
it wasn't like he had to have shit smeared on his face.
​

 

[Malicious Lullaby]

• • • • • • • • • • • 
                      
                      
                      Her eyes became wet, filling with unshed tears. Delphine had seen so many unable to truly grasp the control of being a Lycan. Sometimes it just didn’t work out and normally, she was able to remain detached. With Lorraine she wasn’t able to. There was just something about her. Perhaps because she was just so young and taken from her village just because the humans weren’t able to pay the vampires enough silver. So in retaliation, when that happened, they took their young as payment, but usually the young didn’t last very long. They would turn once and freely after they had been bitten and then after that, they would be collared and it wasn’t enough of a transition time. It took a long time to be able to control the force of the full moon’s rays. Delphine was able to because she was the only one that was born a Lycan. Everyone else had been turned.
                      
                      Lorraine had been special and Delphine had taken her under her wing to make the transition to this kind of life a lot easier for her. It was her mistake for getting so close because losing her felt horrible. She never really felt much of anything when others hadn’t made it. But this was different. This was Lorraine. She was only fourteen. Brought there because her family couldn’t contribute their share of silver. Her life had been taken from her. And did any of these vampires care? No.
                      
                      Before actual tears could fall down her cheeks, she smelled him before she heard him. Looking up, her wet gaze full of hate and rage met his indifferent cool gaze and she looked like she could kill. If there was anyone that could match Elias’ ability in fighting, it would likely be Delphine. They were both trained by the same vampire, Josiah and Delphine had taken so well to it. But it was forbidden for a vampire and a Lycan to spar like that, unless it was for execution purposes. Either execution of a Lycan or execution of a vampire. Yes, vampire executions had actually existed.
                      
                      For Delphine, she had taken part in three, all three times killing a vampire by ripping its throat out with her sharp teeth. Those were the three times she had been allowed to turn because her collar had been taken off. She had enjoyed it too much but she never thought about it. Until now. And it made sense. Vampires and Werewolves were truly enemies. As if it was bred into her unknowingly because of her genes. Probably not possible. It was likely just the anger and now that it was really sinking it, it felt right. Like right now, for his lack of sincerity, it was the first time that Delphine entertained the idea of killing Josiah’s disappointment of a son, Elias. Normally, she admired him from afar, found him intriguing how he seemed to go against everything his father said or wanted for him. That rebellious nature of his…that was probably what drew her to him. But right now? Now was not the time. And he wasn’t helping matters. No, he was making them worse.
                      
                      In her grief and her anger, Delphine screamed and she clung to the silver bars, adrenaline coursing through her so intensely that she didn’t even feel the stinging burning. ”If you think that was violent wait until I get my claws into you. Then you will know true violence!” It wasn’t like her to let her emotions get the best of her. This was perhaps the one time since she was just a little Lycan that she had lost her control, let alone in front of him. But she had never cried in front of anyone before. She’d never let them see her cry.
                      
                      ”Why have you come here?” She asked with a pained grunt, peeling her burned hands off the bars with just a wince, the skin of her palms melted and leaving residue behind. They already began to heal but it was slow. After all it was silver burns and those were a real pain. It took a little longer to recover from that, as well as some fresh meat. ”Have you come to slum with your father’s dogs? Or are you here as a snack for me? I’ve tasted vampire blood before after all. I can see why my kind truly enjoys ripping yours apart like the rabid dogs we are.” It was almost frightening how easily she was showing her cards but at the same time, no one would ever expect that the original Lycan, Josiah’s little pet, would ever rise up. Sure, there would be some unrest, talk of rebellion being thrown around but with the way that the vampires kept their ‘army of dogs’ under wraps and control so tightly, it would be impossible to rise up against. So they believed.
                      
                      They truly and really underestimated them far too much.​

 

[tubercular skies]

What a feisty little creature. The death of Delphine's friend would impact the rest of her life, but in a few days time, Elias would have forgotten the scene altogether.
What he would remember was how angrily Delphine fought against the bars to get to him. It was a little comedic. They surely burned but she was so angry at the little
comment that she was willing to harm herself to get to him. Of course, he was out of reach. Eli wasn't stupid enough to stand right next to the bars when she noticed
him standing there. Other vampires had been stupid enough to test the wolves and shared the same fate.

Delphine was especially dangerous. Being raised by his father as a prized fighter, Eli wasn't going to test anything. She'd handled executions of vampires he'd known of
in the past and he didn't want her to catch him and be a mockery. Whenever werewolves killed a vampire, it was always a shameful death, especially if it was an execution.

It wasn't like he doubted his own skill. Eli was sure that if the two were put in an arena, he could mop the floor with her skinned fur. He was the greatest fighter according
to the vampires. No one would say that a dog would be better than the superior race. That was how Eli grew up, so he had to believe that much. He'd seen her fight, but
up until this point, she hadn't had a long list of formidable opponents. One day he would surely see.

Her threat made him snort and even grin slightly. The corner of his mouth stretched upward smugly. Delphine reached through the bars, but Eli didn't even flinch or take
a step back. "That's a bold threat from a dog that's behind silver bars," he mocked her, leaning forward ever so slightly. While still out of her reach,
Eli was testing the space between them.

The silver did its job and she jerked back in pain, asking why he'd come down to the cellars. Eli's eyes watched as the wounds had already began to heal. As she moved,
his head followed. Was her healing factor better than his? Impossible. By now, much of his wound had already healed, but it wasn't as though he could compare apples to
oranges. This wasn't a gash, but a burn.

Had he come to slum it with the dogs? Or was he---a snack? Once again, Eli snorted just like his father and rolled his eyes. His head turned away from her and looked at
the leaking body. "Maybe I just wanted to see something interesting. That mutt's dribbling body seemed to have done the job. In fact, all of this is
entertaining...Delphine, right?" he asked her, his eyes turning back to her.

"I find it hilarious you speak such haughty words when you're behind bars. It isn't like you can reach me and you honestly pose no threat. You're about
as dangerous as," he paused and attempted to remember the girl's name. "L-" he tapped his lip. "Lillian," he guessed
and shrugged. "Whatever her name it doesn't matter anymore. She's dead like the rest of them and will be thrown in a ditch," he commented bluntly
and snapped his fingers for a guard to come.

One of the vampires that looked after the werewolves walked over and Eli snatched the keys from his hands. The door to Lorraine's cage swung open and Eli stepped in,
keeping his eyes on Delphine. His foot kicked the body to the side and the collar fell from her neck, tapping the ground quietly. "There it is," he commented and leaned
over, picking it up. His hands were already bloody with werewolf blood. A little more wouldn't make a difference and it was worth it for what he wanted to do.

The blood still dripped from the collar so Eli shook it violently in the direction of Delphine. The blood would spatter into her cage. It was his goal to smatter the blood on
her body. "The funny thing is, if you hadn't been such a rabid animal, I could have seen that your friend here didn't get thrown in with the rest of the trash,
but I guess we need to learn to speak before our mouths open," he informed her, yawning slightly as his sentence concluded. He walked out of the cage, kicking
the door closed behind him.

There was no need to lock up a dead body.
​

 

[Malicious Lullaby]

• • • • • • • • • • • 
                      
                      
                      She could feel her temper flaring but she practiced major restraint and control to bring it down. Of all vampires, she did not understand why this one, Josiah’s son of them all, riled her up so but he did. Perhaps it was because in secret she admired him and in return, he treated her the way every other vampire treated a lycan or werewolf. Her admiration of him was not purely sexual or chemical but more of admiration of his skill. The things she could learn from him if she was ever given the chance to spar with him…then he would be eating his own smug words when he realized just how truly great of a worthy match she would be. Not that she didn’t think she wasn’t worthy already, she was. But she had yet to prove it because let’s face it now, executing vampires of treasons wasn’t entirely a fair fight. No, they were restrained and it was the lowest order of execution if a lycan did it.
                      
                      ”Those are haughty words for a vampire standing outside of this cage. If I am so little of a threat to you then please, step inside of my humble abode.” By now her temper was under control. What more could he possibly insult her with from the other side of the cage. As far as she was concerned, Josiah’s spawn had only proved that he was at his maximum threat if he was outside of her cage. Inside…well he didn’t come in then, did he?
                      
                      Even as he goaded her with his ‘failure’ to remember Lorraine’s name, to which she said, ”Lorraine.” in a disgruntled tone when he called her Lillian, even going into her cage to tarnish her remains so disrespectfully, Delphine felt her blood boil but she didn’t show it. She sat there on her knees, cradling her healed hands—though she still felt the linger of the burn from the silver—watching him like a hawk rather than what he was doing. She didn’t even flinch when some of Lorraine’s blood splattered onto her as he shook her collar free of it. It was almost like she was in this calculative meditation stance and all she saw was her prey; Eli.
                      
                      As he began to take his leave, Delphine brought her hands up to the bars once more, ignoring the stinging burn on her sore hands and she peered in close, her nose just an inch away from touching the ominous bars. ”Aye, very funny indeed, Eli. Next time come in my cage and say that. Perhaps by then you will have grown to learn what courage and bravery truly is. You best beware when I am let out of this cage. Pray I don’t come find you first to feast on your carnage.” Her tone was even, calm and even ominously gentle as she spoke her bold threat. It was one thing to threaten a vampire but to threaten the clan leader’s son? Well only Delphine would feel comfortable in doing such a thing. There might be consequences for it tomorrow but they would be well worth it if it meant Eli knew well what a coward he was for playing his haughty game outside of her cage and that she was not only a worthy match to him but better than him.
                      
                      The day would come when she’d be able to constantly remind him of it and never let him forget.​

 

[tubercular skies]

Dephine's temper raged and that was exactly what he wanted. It was perfect watching the werewolf squirm with anger. Her comeback was
something about how he was standing outside the cage while she was inside. Well, of course he was outside the cage and she was inside.
Between the two of them, only one was apparently a rabid animal. Vampires weren't rabid. Maybe after they'd succumbed to blood lust,
but they were known for being high class.

Eli couldn't help but snort and nod. "There it is again. Your little threats...." he paused and shrugged, and kicked the heap of
dead meat again. "Maybe if you had less of a mouth, you wouldn't be in the predicament you're in. Maybe...just maybe you wouldn't
be behind bars and you'd have the power to help your friends," he added, being sure to look up at her with a smug smile.

It wasn't completely true. Vampires would never trust werewolves no matter how good they controlled themselves. They were always animals and they
would always be animals. It was written in the stars...or whatever. Eli never listened to the elders when they talked about werewolves and how
they would always be beasts. It wasn't that he didn't completely doubt the idea, but he was just sick of hearing it.

"Lorraine, right," he repeated, nodding and taking the collar outside the cage while listening to more of her little threats. The calm
nature didn't worry him. If anything, he was used to the behavior. Josiah, his father, was always calm--even when he was getting ready to kill someone
or punish his child.

After she finished her sentence, Eli dropped the collar to the floor out of her reach. It made a loud clang as it slammed to the ground and continued to
ring as it rolled to lie flat. "You seem to think that I'd stoop myself low enough to fight you. You realize that's a joke, right?" he
commented and grinned a little wider. "Between the two of us, you're the one that my father would, I don't know, throw to the wolves
or some other thing," he absently said to her.

One arm came up over his head as he stretched himself out, yawning. Her attitude was growing boring. It wasn't fun when she was calm. "Honestly,
I just came to see how riled up you could get and to see if you would end up like your friend, Lillian. I'm a little disappointed you didn't, to say the
least," he sighed.

Moving in a little closer, he took a glance at her, sucking his teeth. It was almost like he was examining her for a sale block. Shaking his head, she
obviously didn't make the cut. His curiosity was satiated for the moment. The little Delphine could keep herself from turning even when he prodded
her like a bull. Eli wasn't too sure what to expect. Would she have turned into a wolf if he was a little harsher and end up like the pulp of meat in the
other cell or would she have remained calm?

Then an idea crossed his mind and the smile returned a little.

"You know what they do with the dead bodies? They just throw them in the woods and they rot. Maggots feast on them like your
people do....rubbish, I guess," he added with a slight shiver that should have resembled a shrug.

"Your friend is going to join the rest of them and rot, and rot, and rot away until she's nothing. She'll smell and--really, it isn't any
way to treat an animal, much less a friend. But, if you apologize," he stopped and stared at her for a moment. The wheels of his mind were rapidly
turning, turning red while he thought of an offer the girl may agree to, even if it was unlikely. "Apologize on your knees and say
something very polite to me. Maybe something like," he paused and raised his voice "Oh, Elias! You are a gift from the gods!"

The sentence was an act. His hands raised to a little before one ended up on his hip and the other on his chest. An exasperated sigh concluded the
act and his eyes made contact with hers again. "Do that and I'll see that your friend is buried properly. Maybe I could even swing a visit
or two for you," he concluded his offer.

It was up to her now.
​

 

[Malicious Lullaby]

• • • • • • • • • • • 
                      
                      
                      Her shoulders shrugged and she considered her words carefully, slowly peeling her hands off the bars, not even showing so much of a wince. At first it hurt, but compared to the pain she experienced when she was punished in the past or even for the sake of heightening her threshold for pain, this was nothing. She had felt worse. Even if some of her skin peeled off in strings from the silver bars, she barely flinched. No, she was the first lycan to be born, all the lycans being spawned from her and so on, from one bite alone. She was a lot more powerful than any vampire would care to admit or acknowledge. Which was why they made an example of her and kept her in lockdown, just like the rest. So long as she was restrained, how would she ever rebel against her masters?
                      
                      ”What you may find to be a joke may not be a joke to anyone else. My apologies for bursting that fantastical cloud of yours.” Okay, even now Delphine was impressed by her own ability to keep alarmingly calm. Here he was, insulting her and doubting her credibility to be a formidable opponent to him on the sole basis of her race. She had to refrain from snorting, and even if she was feeling her blood boil again, she tampered that rage down. Delphine knew that any more outbursts would not do anything for her. And when he left, she could feel the true inner and emotional pain that she was currently bottling up. But in front of him it wasn’t an option to show her defeat. She would never let them see her cry. She had already shown her emotions and her vulnerability and it made her a joke. She was not a joke. She couldn’t slip like that ever again.
                      
                      As her hands healed, she cradled them to her lap and looked up at him, her head tilting slowly, one eyebrow raising. That was why he came? For his own sick amusement. For a second, her eyes flashed to the eyes of a lycan, as if she might turn. Even her teeth grew into fangs and sharp teeth, strong enough to rip his throat out if she wished, but she quickly restrained herself again. But her eyes and teeth stayed the same, for she had better control of her turning than any other lycan. She smiled slowly, her tongue trailing over her her sharpened teeth before she was able to turn the off switch, her eyes going back to her human shade and her teeth forming back into regular human teeth, though if she tried hard enough, she could likely bite his throat off even then. ”I think watching that happen would give you too much satisfaction. I have filled my satisfaction quota of the day for you vampires. You missed your shot.” With a mock pout, she sat back on her haunches, sliding off to her side so her bottom touched the ground in her dress, her legs folded beside her.
                      
                      Rather than leave like he seemed intent on doing earlier, he only got closer. Delphine’s spine straightened and she raised her chin, seeing him get so close, his face could have touched the bars. He was doing it again. Goading her. Probing her. Trying to rile her up. The only give away that he was actually getting somewhere to her was the way she swallowed, a noticeable bob in her throat. As much as she would have loved for Lorraine to have a proper burial and not be fed to the maggots, her only recourse in death to rot away until she was nothing, Delphine couldn’t give into that either. Though Lorraine had been young, a lot of their talks were that of lycans and not as humans anymore. She even said that she would rather be dead than have any kind of debt to these monsters. She, like Delphine, believed that the vampires were the true monsters with their treatment of lycans and humans alike.
                      
                      ”So she will rot. But at least she will go back to nature and whether she is given a proper burial or not, at least the same end goal is there. But you are right. I do owe you an apology Eli.” She even gave an apologetic sigh, lifting her chin up to meet his gaze. Though he decided to be even more pompous, she still looked apologetic. ”I am sorry.” The frown never left her face and she seemed to look serious. ”I am sorry that Master Josiah neglects you so much, mistreats you as badly as he must if you have turned into a shadow of what you could have truly become.” She gave a soft click of her tongue and then shook her head. ”It is truly sad. That such a gift of the gods, as you solely claim yourself to be, can only feel anything good about himself by following in his father’s footsteps. And here I thought you wanted to be better. Not a carbon copy of him.”
                      
                      She stood up now, wanting to be on his level, even if she was behind bars and he wasn’t. At least they would both be standing. ”And here I thought that you were different. But you’re not. You’re just like him. And you and I both know that that isn’t a compliment. Correct?” She smiled now, but it was a little condescending, her eyes showing not empathy but laughter. Laughter at his expense without outright doing it. ​