"how did this happen?" Aria mumbled over and over, feeling the tentacles of insanity claw at her frail sanity. Her tired brain was overworked.
She heard the screams from downstairs and rushed to find a servant coughing up black blood. Nothing could stop or slow it's progression. She'd ordered a lockdown immediately and had everyone checked and the castle swept but the grand hall of Ravensdale Castle had become a scene of bloody chaos by mid-morning.
Aria stood frozen at the top of the stairs, one hand gripping the banister so hard her knuckles turned white. Below her, servants rushed between makeshift cots laid out on the polished marble floor. Blood stained the linens in dark, spreading patches. One young footman convulsed, black-tinged fluid leaking from the corner of his mouth. Another maid clutched her stomach and coughed up dark red spatter onto the floor. The air reeked of copper, sweat, and fear.
