WHAT LIVES BENEATH THE VEIL
Book Two: The Eternal Hunger
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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 Seventy-Three: The Throne of Ashes
Year 14 – Twenty-Eight Months After the Curse
The castle was hers.
Not through conquest—there had been no war, no battle, no bloodshed in the halls. Through fear. Through silence. Through the slow, systematic destruction of everyone who could have stopped her.
Her father was dead.
Her mother was dead.
Her brother was broken.
Her family was gone.
And the kingdom?
The kingdom knelt.
Not because they loved her. Not because they respected her. Because they were afraid. Because they had seen what happened to those who crossed her. Because they knew—knew—that she was not human anymore.
She was something else.
Something more.
Something that could not be killed.
Something that could not be stopped.
Something that would never, ever die.
Liora sat on the throne—her father's throne, her mother's throne, the throne of a dynasty that had ended with her.
She looked out at the empty hall.
The courtiers had stopped coming.
The nobles had stopped visiting.
The servants moved through the shadows, silent and terrified.
This is what I wanted, she thought.
This is what I asked for.
This is what I am now.
The queen of ashes.
The goddess of hunger.
The end of everything.
She smiled.
The darkness smiled with her.
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The Throne Room – Morning
Liora held court for the first time.
Not because she wanted to—she had no interest in the petty squabbles of nobles and merchants. Because she needed to be seen. Because she needed to remind them who ruled now.
The hall was nearly empty.
A few servants stood against the walls, their eyes down, their hands shaking.
A few guards stood at the doors, their hands on their weapons, their faces pale.
And in the center of the room, a single supplicant knelt.
A merchant. Old. Wealthy. Desperate.
"Your Majesty," he said, his voice trembling. "I come to beg for your mercy."
Liora tilted her head.
"Mercy?"
"My business is failing. My rivals have conspired against me. I have lost everything."
"And you think I can help you?"
"You are the queen. You have power."
"I do."
"Please—"
"What will you give me in return?"
The merchant hesitated.
"Anything. Everything. My fortune. My soul."
Liora smiled.
"Your soul?"
"Yes."
"Done."
She stood up.
She walked down the steps.
She knelt beside him.
"Close your eyes."
He closed his eyes.
She reached into his mind.
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The Draining – The Merchant
The merchant did not resist.
He was too afraid. Too desperate. Too weak.
Liora found his memories.
His wealth.
His power.
His greed.
...gold...
...always gold...
...never enough...
...never...
She pulled.
The memories flowed into her.
The greed.
The fear.
The soul.
Delicious, she thought.
More.
She pulled again.
He gasped.
His body convulsed.
His eyes rolled back.
She pulled again.
He went limp.
She withdrew from his mind.
She looked down at him.
Still breathing. Still alive. But empty.
Another victim.
Another name for Finn's list.
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The One Hundred Twenty-Sixth Sacrifice
She performed the ritual in the throne room, surrounded by the eyes of the servants and the guards.
The whispers watched.
She spoke the words.
She made the cuts.
She collected the blood.
And when it was over—
The darkness purred.
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The Power – One Hundred Twenty-Six
The fire in her veins burned brighter.
One hundred and twenty-six sacrifices. One hundred and twenty-six souls. One hundred and twenty-six streams of darkness flowing into her, merging with her blood, becoming her.
One hundred twenty-six, she thought.
The hunger is quieter now.
But it will return.
It always returns.
She released the spell.
The shadows retreated.
She looked at the body.
A merchant. Wealthy. Greedy. Dead.
No one is safe from me, she thought.
No one.
She smiled in the darkness.
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The Disposal
She burned the merchant's body in the throne room's brazier.
The fire was hot. The smoke was thick. She worked quickly, efficiently, scattering the ashes before dawn.
No one saw her.
No one ever saw her.
The servants watched.
The guards watched.
They did nothing.
They could do nothing.
They were too afraid.
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Finn – The Witness
Finn watched from the shadows.
He had been watching for years. Watching her kill. Watching her drain. Watching her become.
He had seen her kill her father.
He had seen her kill her mother.
He had seen her kill her brother.
And now—
Now he had seen her kill a merchant in the throne room, in front of witnesses, without fear of consequences.
She doesn't care anymore, he thought.
She doesn't need to hide.
She is too powerful.
No one can stop her.
No one will ever stop her.
He added another name to the list in his head.
The merchant. Throne room. One hundred twenty-six.
He recited the list every night before bed.
One hundred and twenty-six names.
One hundred and twenty-six faces.
One hundred and twenty-six souls.
One hundred twenty-six, he thought.
She's killed one hundred twenty-six people.
She is immortal.
She is invincible.
She is a god.
No one is safe.
No one.
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.
One hundred and twenty-six sacrifices.
She was immortal.
She was invincible.
She was a god.
She closed the book.
She looked at her reflection.
The girl in the mirror was gone.
Something else was looking back.
Something ancient.
Something hungry.
The castle is mine, she thought.
The kingdom is mine.
The world is mine.
And no one—
No one—
Will ever stop me.
But first—
The hunger.
The endless, aching hunger.
I need more.
More souls.
More power.
More pleasure.
I will never stop.
I can never stop.
This is my gift.
This is my punishment.
This is my forever.
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, one hundred and twenty-six 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 Seventy-Three