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 Forty-Three: The Weight of Years
Year 11 – Sixty Months After the First Sacrifice
Five years.
Thirty-seven kills.
A cellar full of ashes and shadows.
And Liora Veyne, age eleven, had become something that no longer resembled a child.
Not in appearance—she still looked young, still looked innocent, still looked like the sweet princess everyone believed her to be. But inside—inside—she was ancient. The dark had aged her soul, stretched it, reshaped it into something that had never been young.
The old texts called this stage The Maturation.
At forty sacrifices, the body changes. At fifty, the blood. At seventy-five, the bones.
At one hundred—
She closed the book.
Sixty-three more, she thought.
Sixty-three more until the curse.
Sixty-three more until forever.
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Liora – The Thirty-Eighth Victim
She chose a woman this time.
A potter from the lower town. Her name was Elara—another echo, another coincidence. She was middle-aged, skilled, and alone. Her husband had died years ago. Her children had moved away.
No one would miss her.
Not immediately. The pots would still be made—there were other potters. By the time anyone noticed that Elara had stopped coming, her body would be ash.
She was perfect.
Liora approached her in her workshop, late at night, when the streets were empty.
"Elara?"
The potter looked up. Her hands were covered in clay.
"Yes?"
"I need your help. My mother—the queen—she needs a special vase. Something no one else can make."
Elara frowned.
"The queen?"
"Yes. She asked me to find someone. Someone skilled. Someone discreet."
Liora held up a silver coin.
"I'll pay you double her usual rate."
Elara looked at the coin. Looked at the child. Looked at the coin again.
"Where is she?"
"In the castle. I can take you to her."
Elara hesitated.
Then she nodded.
"Let me get my things."
Liora smiled.
Thank you, she thought.
You're so kind.
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Elara – The Cellar
The princess led her through the dark streets of the lower town.
Elara had lived in this town her whole life. She knew every alley, every courtyard, every hidden passage. But tonight, the streets felt wrong. The shadows seemed deeper than they should be. The silence seemed heavier than it should be.
It's just my imagination, she told herself.
I'm tired. I haven't been sleeping.
But her instincts were screaming at her to turn back.
She looked at the princess.
She was walking ahead of her, small and pale, her white dress ghostly in the darkness.
She's just a child, Elara told herself.
She needs help.
That's all.
She ignored the screaming in her gut.
She kept walking.
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The Thirty-Eighth Ritual
The same cellar. The same door. The same key.
Elara walked down the steps.
Liora closed the door.
The lock clicked.
"Princess?" Elara called up. "What's going on?"
Liora did not answer.
"PRINCESS?"
Silence.
Liora sat on the top step and waited.
Patience.
Always patience.
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The Power – Thirty-Eight
She waited two hours.
Elara was strong for her age, but she was not a fighter. Her screams faded. Her pounding softened.
By the time Liora descended the stairs, the woman was on her knees, weeping.
"Please," Elara said. "I have children. Grandchildren. They need me."
Liora set down her lantern.
She opened her book.
"Then you shouldn't have followed a stranger into a cellar."
"Please—"
She was faster.
The fire in her veins burned brighter.
Thirty-eight sacrifices. Thirty-eight souls. Thirty-eight streams of darkness flowing into her, merging with her blood, becoming part of her.
More, the shadows whispered.
Soon, she thought.
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Darian – The Silence Continues
Darian had not spoken in over a year.
He sat in his room, staring at the wall, not moving. His body was thin. His skin was pale. His eyes were hollow.
The servants had stopped bringing him food.
There was no point.
He didn't eat.
His mother had stopped visiting.
She couldn't bear to look at him.
His father had stopped shouting.
He had given up.
Darian was not alive.
He was not dead.
He was just there.
Thirty-eight, he thought.
Thirty-eight people.
And I couldn't stop her.
I couldn't stop any of them.
He closed his eyes.
He did not open them again.
Not for a long time.
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Finn – The List
Finn added another name to the list in his head.
Elara. Potter. Thirty-eight.
He recited the list every night before bed.
Thirty-eight names.
Thirty-eight faces.
Thirty-eight souls.
He lay in his corner, staring at the darkness.
He did not sleep.
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Liora – The Evening
She sat in her chamber, reading by candlelight.
Thirty-eight sacrifices.
Sixty-two more until the curse.
Sixty-two more until forever.
She closed the book.
She looked at her reflection.
The girl in the mirror looked back.
But the girl was fading.
Soon, she thought.
Soon.
She smiled.
The darkness smiled with her.
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End of Chapter Forty-Three