WHAT LIVES BENEATH THE VEIL
Book One: The Unblooded Lamb
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CONTENT WARNING: This series contains explicit sexual violence, human sacrifice, psychological torture, murder of innocent characters (including children and family members), ritualistic killing, and extreme horror. No character is safe. Read at your own risk.
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Chapter Thirty-Eight: The Breaking of Darian
Year 9 – Thirty-Five Months After the First Sacrifice
Darian was falling apart.
Not physically—his body was still strong, still healthy. But his mind was crumbling. The constant watching. The constant fear. The constant, crushing weight of knowing what his sister was and being unable to stop her.
He had stopped eating.
Not entirely—he still picked at his food, still swallowed enough to stay alive. But the pleasure was gone. The purpose was gone. Everything was gone except the vigil.
He had stopped sleeping.
The nightmares came every night now. Not about the cellar—about her. About Liora standing over him, smiling, her eyes black, her hands covered in blood.
"You see too much," she said in the dreams.
"I know," he said.
"And yet you do nothing."
"What can I do?"
"Nothing," she said. "There is nothing anyone can do. I am already more powerful than you can imagine. And I am only getting started."
He woke up screaming.
No one came.
No one ever came.
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Liora – The Thirty-Third Victim
She chose a man this time.
A carpenter from the lower town. His name was Aldric—another echo, another coincidence. He was middle-aged, skilled, and alone. His wife had died years ago. His children had moved away.
No one would miss him.
Not immediately. The furniture would still be made—there were other carpenters. By the time anyone noticed that Aldric had stopped coming, his body would be ash.
He was perfect.
But this time, Liora did something different.
She used Darian.
Not directly—that would be too obvious. But she used the idea of Darian. The fear of him. The knowledge that he was watching, waiting, trying to stop her.
She let him see her leave the castle.
She let him follow her.
She led him to the carpenter's shop.
And then she waited.
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Darian – The Follow
Darian saw her slip out of the castle at midnight.
He had been watching for this. Waiting for this. An opportunity to catch her in the act.
He followed her through the dark streets of the lower town.
She walked quickly, confidently, as if she knew exactly where she was going.
She stopped at a small shop.
A carpenter's shop.
She knocked on the door.
A man opened it.
Darian couldn't hear what they said. But he saw the man nod. He saw the man step out of the shop. He saw the man follow the princess into the darkness.
She's going to kill him, Darian thought.
I have to stop her.
He followed.
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The Carpenter's Shop – The Kill
The princess led the carpenter to the back of the shop.
Darian hid in the shadows, watching.
Now, he thought. I have to act now.
He stepped forward.
"Liora."
She turned.
Her eyes were black.
"Darian."
"Stop. I know what you're doing."
The carpenter looked between them, confused.
"What's going on?"
Liora smiled.
"Darian, you shouldn't be here."
"I'm not going to let you kill him."
"Kill him?" The carpenter's voice rose. "What is she talking about?"
Liora sighed.
"You've been a nuisance, Darian. A thorn in my side. I've tolerated you because you're my brother. But my patience has limits."
"Let him go."
"No."
She moved.
Faster than Darian could follow. Faster than the carpenter could react.
Her hand closed around the man's throat.
"Liora, NO—"
She squeezed.
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The Thirty-Third Ritual
Darian watched.
He could not move. Could not speak. Could not do anything but stand there, frozen, as his sister performed the ritual.
She spoke words he did not understand.
She made cuts he could not bear to see.
She collected blood that should not have been there.
And when it was over—
She looked at him.
"You see now," she said.
"You're a monster," he whispered.
"Yes," she said. "I am."
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The Power – Thirty-Three
The fire in her veins burned brighter.
Thirty-three sacrifices. Thirty-three souls. Thirty-three streams of darkness flowing into her, merging with her blood, becoming part of her.
She raised her hand.
The shadows answered.
They came faster now. More eagerly. They wrapped around her arms, her throat, her face. She could feel them inside her, in her lungs, in her stomach, in her mind.
More, they whispered. We need more.
Soon, she thought.
Soon.
She released the spell.
The shadows retreated.
She looked at Darian.
He was on his knees, weeping.
"What are you going to do to me?" he asked.
Liora knelt beside him.
"Nothing," she said. "I'm going to let you live."
"Why?"
"Because living is worse. Living means watching. Living means knowing. Living means carrying the weight of everything you've seen and being unable to do anything about it."
She stood up.
"Go home, Darian. Go to bed. Try to sleep."
She walked away.
Darian knelt in the darkness, surrounded by blood and ashes and the body of a man he had not been able to save.
He did not move.
He did not speak.
He just wept.
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The Morning
Darian did not come to breakfast.
His mother sent a servant to check on him. The servant found him in his bed, staring at the ceiling, his eyes empty.
"He won't speak," the servant reported.
"He won't eat."
"He won't move."
The queen went to his room.
"Darian?"
No response.
"Darian, what's wrong?"
He looked at her.
His eyes were hollow.
"She's a monster," he whispered.
The queen frowned.
"Who?"
"Liora."
The queen sighed.
"Darian, we've been through this—"
"You haven't seen," he said. "You haven't seen what I've seen."
The queen looked at him for a long moment.
Then she said, "Get some rest. We'll talk later."
She left.
Darian stared at the ceiling.
He did not sleep.
He did not dream.
He just waited.
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Finn – The Visit
Finn came to see him that afternoon.
"Are you all right?"
"No."
"What happened?"
Darian told him.
Everything.
The follow. The carpenter. The ritual. The blood. The shadows.
When he finished, Finn was pale.
"She let you go?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because she wants me to suffer."
Finn was silent for a long moment.
Then he said, "What are we going to do?"
"Nothing."
"We can't just—"
"There's nothing we can do. She's too powerful. Too careful. She'll never make a mistake."
"So we just give up?"
Darian looked at him.
"Yes."
He turned away.
Finn stood in the doorway, staring at his friend's back.
Then he left.
He went to the kitchen.
He peeled potatoes.
He kept his mouth shut.
He survived.
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Liora – The Evening
She sat in her chamber, reading by candlelight.
Thirty-three sacrifices.
Sixty-seven more until the curse.
Sixty-seven more until forever.
She closed the book.
She looked at her reflection.
The girl in the mirror looked back.
But the girl was fading.
Something else was taking her place.
Something older.
Something hungrier.
Darian is broken, she thought.
Finn is hopeless.
No one else is watching.
I am free.
She smiled.
The darkness smiled with her.
And somewhere in the depths of the castle, in a cellar that no one visited and no one remembered, thirty-three souls whispered her name.
Liora.
Liora.
Liora.
She heard them.
She always heard them.
They were hers now.
Forever.
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End of Chapter Thirty-Eight