Fandom The Night Unfurls [Bloodborne]

[Coin]

Ada Larkin​

Ada didn't make it too far before she couldn't stomach her wounds anymore. If she didn't use the last blood vial, she'd be unconscious in minutes from the pain and blood loss. Her skin was getting colder, hand numbing and the pain worsened with every step. She was certain that Briar had asked her something, but she couldn't make out the words on her lips. Remembering the last time she was injured, and how she attacked Briar for her blood, Ada dropped to a knee and struggled to catch her breath.

"Blood vial," Ada rasped out. "Please."

While one hand clutched her wounds, the other hand reached out for Briar, finding her face and accidentally smearing her blood on Briar's cheek. What a damn night. By all odds, Ada should not have survived this long.

 

[StoneWolf18]

Briar Cowen

Once Ada fell to a knee, Briar once again was growing concerned. Of all the wounds sustained tonight, she seemed to be collecting most of them, unfortunately, and most often to protect her.

The thought of potentially being the cause of Ada's possible death was unnerving, it causing her to fumble when reaching for the small vial, pressing it into the hand that had brushed up beside her face. How much would that small amount do? She had seen what a few vials of a much larger size had done to help her previously. This thought only reinforced the guilt she felt, Briar remaining speechless beside her.

 

[Coin]

Ada Larkin​

Taking the vial in both hands, Ada stabbed it directly into her torso and injected the healing blood into herself. She shivered as the blood did its work to stitch the wounds closed and ebb away the pain that racked her body. With a closed fist, she pushed herself off the ground and back onto her feet, which turned out not to be such a great idea as it felt as if her brain was sloshing around in her skull. Dizziness gripped her as her balance was shifted to the weight of the cane. Without the immense pain, she realized her heart was still beating abnormally quickly. Every time she blinked her eyes, her vision became foggier.

"Dammit all," Ada growled through gridlocked teeth. "Poison. The knife must have been --"

She let out a series of hacking wet coughs as she spat up blood. Of all of the first aid on her, she did not have the two most essential pieces to counteract poison: antidotes and blood vials. Then again, she wasn't expecting to fight hunters of all people on the night of the Hunt. She'd have been a fool to carry antidotes of all things. She was too far to make it back to Cathedral Ward now. Her mind raced back and forth,
trying to figure out what to do and it all turned out to be dead ends. Was this how she was to die?

 

[StoneWolf18]

Briar Cowen

Poison...Was the night simply out to get them? Was Ada's death unavoidable and she was going to be the indirect cause?

"I... my home isn't far." Briar would force out, her voice completely void of optimism. "Just right up the street. You can rest there."

Soon enough they would begin to shamble their way there, the woman trying her best to support the poisoned hunter as it was clear the healing blood wasn't doing all that much to contract it.

Eventually, they would arrive at the door, it thankfully still closed and not having been reached by looters. After hunting down her spare key (as her pockets had been searched when within the Clinic) she would hastily open the door and begin to try and guide a lucid Ada to her room. Getting her to lie down upon her bed, she would light the small oil lamp on her bedside table, the light not making her situation look at brighter.

Dragging a small wooden chair to sit beside the bed, Briar would avert her eyes. "I'm sorry..." She'd mutter. "This is my fault..."

 

[Coin]

Ada Larkin​

When Ada's eyes fluttered open, she regained consciousness in an unfamiliar bed, staring at an unfamiliar ceiling. Her body felt like every inch of it was weighed down by irons. Ada wanted to say something, but her mouth was drier than a desert. Her head spun and her vision was not focused, though she knew Briar was by her side. Good, they had made it to her house. The poison was acting in its late stages, Ada knew because she had seen Church poison at work before; not on herself, but on other unfortunate victims.

Through it all, Ada managed a strangled laugh. She had saved one life. Briar, who had awoken with nothing but the clothes on her back had but one meager wish -- to make it home. Ada had guided her home,
somehow, and it'd only cost her her life. If Ada would have just pulled the trigger back at the clinic and gave Briar mercy, she might have still lived to see morning.

"W-water?" Ada mouthed, reaching out to Briar.

 

[StoneWolf18]

Briar Cowen

Looking up as Ada laughed, Briar found it curious that even in such a grim situation, the woman still managed to find something humorous about it all.

Ada soon reached out towards her, mouthing what she assumed to be the word 'water.' Nodding she would quickly stand, moving through her house to fetch some.

With a filled glass, Briar would slowly return to her room, pushing the door open, Yet as soon as she did, her heart jumped as the hunter appeared motionless upon the bed. Rushing over and setting the glass on the bed-side table, she would cautiously reach out and gently shake her shoulder. "A-ada?"

No response.

Briar's face fell considerably, she slowly lowering herself into the chair she had dragged up not too long ago. Indirectly she had caused her death by just asking her to fulfill one simply request, to get her home. If she hadn't tried to convince her, or even simply just remained home the night she went to the clinic, she might've saved her life even if the outcome of her own was unknown. Based on these events tonight, she should've been the one to die during the hunt, but it seemed as if things didn't turn out that way after all.

Her mind was nearly forced blank due to the overwhelming emotion she was experiencing, Briar simply leaning back and closing her eyes, wishing this all to be a mere nightmare.

 

[Coin]

Ada Larkin​

Though Ada tried, she slipped away into unconsciousness once more not long after Briar left her side. Almost immediately, she was dreaming. She was in her childhood home, in her tiny, freezing room. Everything was dark, save for a tiny mote of light that seemingly floated like a ghost in the center of her room. Though she did not know why, she was absolutely terrified. Her eyes darted back and forth, expecting to see a beast, a monster, something that was out to kill her -- but she could not. Ada sunk into the corner of her room, shivering from the cold that gripped her.

Then, an ear shattering slam pounded her door, threatening to knock it off its hinges. Ada gasped and hugged her legs, tears blurring her vision. The slam came again, causing the wood of her door to creak.
This time, a low guttural growl followed the slam and Ada tried her hardest not to scream. That was her -- it sounded like her growling on the other side of the door. Then it came again, again and again, the door's integrity weakening every time and Ada's sanity slipping with each groan and howl that came from the other side.

Her physical body, though she had no way of knowing, had seemingly awoke from the dead. Minutes after Briar had returned, Ada's body began to seize as her nightmare began. The seizing turned into thrashing, as Ada let out a series of piercing screams that were a mix of pain and confusion. Not long after, Ada's body began to change. Almost all at once, her body exploded, splattering her blood throughout Briar's room. Her limbs grew much longer and fur began to sprout from all over her body. Most gruesome of all, her face changed -- elongating to form somewhat of a snout lined with razor sharp teeth. Antlers,
twisted and corrupted sprouted from her head as she thrashed. In moments, her body had transformed into that of a beast, almost three times her human size.

That was when Ada woke up. She was still on her back and her vision was hazy, as she moved her body. Immediately she noticed her body was not her own. Looking at her hands, she saw paws lined with dagger-like claws. Her body was warped and fur-lined. She began to panic as she flopped onto the floor muttering to herself, "No... no, no, no."

Her own voice, deep and disembodied, terrified her even further as she crashed into the furniture of the room. The more she tried to understand what had happened, it only served to confuse and scare her even more.

 

[StoneWolf18]

Briar Cowen

Briar was spent almost entirely. Mental, psychical, and emotional energy simply drained. However, as Ada's body began to convulse, she looked up and only got the smallest glimpse of her tormented form when her screams began. They were powerful enough to cause her ears to ring, it distorting her enough to not move from where she sat, trying to gain control of her senses.

But when she did, the hunter's body before her had stopped moving, a rather large beast now in its place. The color drained from the woman's face as it began to move, Briar barely able to take a breath as she clumsily stood, moving back towards the door she had closed. What was strange was that she wasn't readily attacked. Rather, instead as it awoke, she swore she had heard a guttural version of Ada's voice, but she brushed it aside as adrenaline induced hallucinations.

As the beast rolled off of the bed and tried to move, its head crashing into the roof and limbs into furniture, Briar couldn't gain enough control of herself to open the door, rather sinking to the floor in front of it, unable to take her terrified gaze off of what was once Ada. Perhaps this was retribution for her death, the price being matched with her own demise.

 

[Coin]

Ada Larkin​

Despite Ada's overwhelming sense of dread and stupor, she felt good. The pain had all but vanished, and her wounds were long forgotten on her new body. It was enough to send shivers down her spine, even as she was acclimating to the much more cramped interior she was trapped in. Looking around and taking her environment in, she realized she was still indeed in Briar's house... and Briar was still indeed in the very same room as her. As the gears in her head began to work, she raised a paw almost disarmingly to Briar. She was surprised the woman hadn't run yet.

"Briar?" Ada's voice sounded out again, choppy and mangled compared to her normal timbre. "Briar what's happened to me?"

Ada looked around the chaos of the room. Blood splattered every wall and she had knocked over every imaginable object in the room, covering the floor with broken glass, and all manners of trinkets.

 

[StoneWolf18]

Briar Cowen

As it raised a paw, Briar was convinced it was going to strike at her when something... unexpected happened. Speech. Actual comprehensible speech. She was even addressed with her name... was Ada not lost?

With the question proposed, it would take her a few moments to be able to come up with an answer. Raising an arm to try and clear the hunter's blood from her face (even though with how soaked her clothing was it did little but smear it) she would shakily stand, leaning on the door for support. "Ada? You... like Odric, but...." It was clear what she was trying to say, but being unable to put it into words.

How was she still in control of herself?

 

[Coin]

Ada Larkin​

"I am not dreaming?" Ada wondered aloud, examining every inch of her body. She pressed one of her talons up her chest and pressed until it became painful. She hissed and shivered at the feeling, but she did not wake. She most certainly was not dreaming anymore, she was living in a nightmare.

"I can control myself. I can feel, and think, but how?" Her gaze snapped back onto a very terrified Briar. "Did you do something to me? Briar, what happened to me?"

There was no doubting it anymore. Ada was a monster. She had succumbed to the beasthood like she had seen other do in the past, and even that night, but it was like her mind had not changed at all.

 

[StoneWolf18]

Briar Cowen

Briar would shake her head as she asked if she were dreaming, as she would've very much preferred that at this point. This entire night had been so strange... its no wonder something like this was even happening.

"M-me? I... I didn't do anything." She'd respond, still visibly rather frightened. "I thought you were dead when I returned, but then... this happened." She would gesture towards Ada and then the bloody room around then.

 

[Coin]

Ada Larkin​

It was a struggle with her much larger body, but Ada managed to scrap a piece of a broken mirror off the ground and into her palm. She brought it up to her face and dropped it almost instantly upon seeing her ghastly visage. Her eyes were shining crimson and had a look of murder in them, antlers adorned her skull that looked like the twisted branches of a great tree, her teeth lined up like a terrible comb of daggers that protruded when she opened her maw.

"Briar, you have to help me," Ada got down as low as she could without knocking too much over, getting closer to the woman, now on all fours. "T-there has to be someone, somewhere that knows what's happened to me. What do I do?"

Her mind raced, if she stepped out onto the streets there's no telling what other beasts would do to her, if anything. If she encountered any church hunters, she was sure as dead. If by morning she still stood and was still cognizant, there would be no more hiding. The only people she knew to turn to for help would kill her on sight.

 

[StoneWolf18]

Briar Cowen

Despite how gnarled Ada’s almost disembodied voice was, Briar noticed that for the very first since she had met her, she was genuinely scared. It didn’t necessarily make the situation any better, but it did prove that even though her appearance had vastly changed, there very well might be some humanity remaining within her.

Briar was nearly pushed up against the door when Ada got down on all fours after examining her features, as the room wasn’t that large. Being so close was nerve wracking, but still she tried to consider the words she spoke. How was she going to know someone to help? She barely knew what was happening in the first place!

“I-I don’t know.” Briar’s own confusion was rather clear now. “Has something like this ever happened before?”

 

[Coin]

Ada Larkin​

"Happened before?" Ada was taken aback that Briar would suggest something like that, and physically reeled back, knocking over a nightstand. "Everyone in Yharnam knows that once someone has turned into a beast, there is nothing left of their former self. There are no exceptions!"

Except Ada, of course. It would have been simpler if she had just transformed into a hideous beast without control, slaughtered Briar, then rampaging into the night to be felled by some Church Hunters.
Then, the fear struck her, what if she did not have full control for long? What if at any moment, her mind could snap and she would turn into that terrible, mindless beast. She looked around the room frantically for a solution, eyes resting on the tattered remains of her church garb and pistol brace.

"Briar," Ada raised a talon, pointing to the pile of shredded clothing. "My pistols, you have to kill me, while I'm still human. The bullet pouch shouldn't be far. Please, Briar, you have to do me this kindness while I still have clarity of thought. If I lose it somehow, you, and others could be in terrible danger."

 

[StoneWolf18]

Briar Cowen

She winced as Ada raised he voice slightly, it being much more powerful than normal. How was she supposed to know? Ada most likely knew more than her.

Then Ada made her request.

Briar was silent for a few moments. She now she was directly going to be causing her death. This had to be a nightmare, nothing else could explain it. But she didn’t want anyone else to get hurt for what she was taking the blame for.

Taking a breath she would nod, slowly moving towards the pistol brace. Kneeling down beside it, she took one and located a quicksilver bullet, loading the weapon and turning to face Ada whilst standing.

“A... alright.” She breathed, the grip on the pistol not all that firm due to her shaking and blood coated hands.

 

[Coin]

Ada Larkin​

The strangest sense of relief washed over Ada as Briar picked up her pistol and loaded into the bullet that was to end her life. Ada could even feel the fur that had sprouted across her body relax from its electric tension. She had done the most she could, and given the circumstances, she could think of much worse deaths. In her mangled voice, she muttered, "Briar, thank you for granting me this."

Just as Ada was coming to terms with her death, a twig snapped in her mind. It was like the floodgates had burst open all at once, and every instinct of survival and beasthood seized her body at once. It seemed that just gracing the thought of her own death set her off, her own body refusing to die. She writhed on the ground, as her paws flew up to cover her face and head, not of her own volition. She had lost control of everything. Ada tried desperately to tell Briar to shoot, or run, anything to save that woman's life -- though nothing came out but a guttural roar. In one swift roll, Ada sprung on all fours, crimson eyes focused directly on Briar. Try as she did, Ada was no longer in control of her own body.

Against her will, Ada pounced on Briar, knocking her down with her two front paws and digging deep into the flesh. Ada watched in horror as her gaping maw opened and chomped down with enough force on Briar's leg to snap bone like a dry branch. Blood exploded into her mouth and instantly invigorated every fiber of her existence, more than any blood vial had ever done for her or her piteous human body. The last thing Ada remembered before she blacked out was the look of utter terror on Briar's face.

 

[StoneWolf18]

Briar Cowen

Briar has almost pulled the trigger.

Almost.

The situation was surreal, she struggling to comprehend if it were actually happening. But this hesitation after Ada had thanked her seemed to make her just a bit too late.

As she roared, descending onto all fours and focusing on herself, the pistol slipped from her hand. It all happened so quickly, the leap and then bitting off of her leg. She didn’t even hear her own piercing scream, the sheer terror she felt soon forcing her unconscious far before the pain or blood loss did.

Some unknown amount of time later, Briar would feel herself waking.

At first, she though that by some odd (and not to mention cruel) twist of fate, she had survived the mauling. But seeing as the stench of blood and pain was absent... she quickly pushed that thought aside.

With a somewhat soft groan, she slowly opened her eyes, greeted with the vast sight of the moonlit sky. Sitting up, Briar would’ve begun to examine her surroundings if not for seeing Ada slowly waking as well.

But not just Ada. A human Ada.

Barely thinking by this point, she would’ve hastily stood and stumbled over towards the hunter as she was sitting up, essentially falling onto and embracing her as tightly as her small frame would allow.

And finally, Briar’s mind broke.

The entirety of the events of the night forced themselves upon her all at once. Causing her to burry her head into Ada’s torso, muffled sobs soon forcing their way out.

 

[Coin]

Ada Larkin​

The first thing Ada felt was the immense pain radiating from her head. It felt as if someone had trampled her brain with a carriage, then wrung it out like a washcloth. Every movement was a chore, as her twitches finally became calculated pushes and shoves until she could feel her whole body. When her eyes creaked open, she realized she was back outside on a paved street, yet there were no signs of the Hunt at all. Before she could further examine her surroundings, she was blindsided by Briar, who practically collapsed into her lap. Yes, her lap, her human lap. Just then, Ada realized she was a beast no longer, however short lived that was, but it hurt just to think about what had happened prior to her waking up in this strange place.

So, she did the only sensible thing she could feasibly think of and returned Briar's embrace. Ada pulled her in and did her best to quell her sobs. It was the strangest thing that Ada had done in a while -- she was a cold hunter, and being domestic didn't quite fit into her daily routines. Yet, something felt right about Briar, something nearly supernatural. It felt as if Ada was connected to Briar, somehow, like she could see the inside of her thoughts but not make sense of any of it. Ada had to admit, she was entirely confused and exhausted, and before long she too melted into Briar's embrace.

She could not remember any of it right at that moment, but she knew it had been a long night.

 

[StoneWolf18]

Briar Cowen

Ada returning the embrace ever so slowly began to calm her, oddly enough. Her sobs would eventually cease, Briar simply lingering in her arms. This was strange considering Ada wasn’t the most openly kind person, but she could almost feel her trying to console her even if she wasn’t vocalizing it.

After some amount of time, being calmed down, Briar would lift her head somewhat, glancing up towards the hunter’s face with a somewhat mixed expression. “Are we...” she didn’t have to finish, as it was clear what she was implying. Ada wasn’t consciously aware of her physical self anymore and she was most likely being eaten by the feral beast that had been left behind.

Even then she didn’t move to examine her surroundings, as if not wanting to form a true answer for herself just yet.

 

[Coin]

Ada Larkin​

Ada had a moment to gather her thoughts and memories one by one as Briar's sobs faded away. She remembered in visceral detail just what had happened to her body, and how she had nearly torn Briar to shreds. Yet, here they were. Briar was in very much one piece, and Ada was very much human. Nothing quite made sense, but Ada had a feeling answers would come soon enough.

She was the first to pull away when Briar had calmed down, grabbing a hold of her hands to ensure that Ada was still there for her in some capacity. Her expression was honest and neutral, hinted with shame for what she did to Briar back at her house as she spoke, "Are we dead? That would make things easier, don't you think?"

"Briar, if what I did to you was real and not some sort of dream," Ada gulped, squeezing her hands gently. "I'm sorry. I lost control, I couldn't move. I tried to stop, but I couldn't. After that, I'm not sure what happened."

 

[StoneWolf18]

Briar Cowen

Briar had to admit, she had a point. If they were dead, things were about to get much less complicated.

But then Ada began to apologize. And while it did continue to comfort her, she couldn’t help but also feel guilty. “It wasn’t you.” Briar sighed, returning the squeeze of her hand with one of her own. “But... if I hadn’t asked you for help in the clinic-“

Briar was cut off with distant shouting and footfalls, the sound of a gate opening casing her head to turn and finally get a look at where they were.

Her eyes widened at the sight. This castle... while it was in a much better state of repair and not covered in snow and ice, it was exactly like the one she had seen in her dream.

Save for the people rushing towards them...

 

[Coin]

Ada Larkin​

Ada's heart sank when she looked to the origin of the pounding footfalls. She hadn't taken enough time to really figure out where they were at, but now she knew for certain. They were on the doorstep of Castle Cainhurst, home of the Vilebloods, sworn enemy of the church. Their knights were stampeding the great steps and headed right for them. It should not have been possible -- the Cainhurst that Ada knew was decrepit and abandoned after the Church Executioners slaughtered every last Vileblood. Yet here they were, surrounding Briar and Ada with swords and pistols and torches drawn. If Ada had learned anything in the last night, nothing was impossible anymore.

The hunter's will to fight had diminished to nearly zero. She had no more energy reserves stored anywhere in her battered and abused body, so she did nothing more but wrap her arms around Briar once more,
forming a protective shell using her body. It was the very last thing she was capable of doing. However, in one swift jerk, a knight grabbed her by the shoulder and flung her onto the paved street away from Briar. Ada gave a grunt of struggle as she tried to return to Briar's side, but she was met with a swift boot to the nose that sent her onto her back and dazed. The knights in their crow-like masks and plated armor worked efficiently, subduing and grabbing a hold of both Ada and Briar, dragging them up the stairs and into the castle proper. Their orders were sharp and demanding, and it seemed with every step, a knight was there to add another bruise to Ada's body.

By the time they had been dragged to some sort of prison within the castle, Ada was breathless and her body was on fire but somehow she clung to consciousness. From across the prison, she saw a couple of knights bundle Briar away into a cell and slam the barred doors shut on her. Ada screamed in protest, trying to break free of her guards grasp, but she was again struck over the head with the pommel of a sword and stowed into a sort of wooden pillory, a solitary confinement just large enough for Ada to sit. Dazed and bleeding, Ada shoved on the door with all of her remaining strength, but it did not budge in the slightest. Letting out a frustrated groan, Ada collapsed into the corner of the pillory, utterly defeated.

 

[StoneWolf18]

Briar Cowen

Briar would've shrunk into Ada as she wrapped herself protectively around her, although as the hunter was hauled off of her and kicked in the face, she would've screamed out her name. But other knights grabbed hold of her, hauling her to her feet and dragging Briar off. Not nearly as violently as they did with Ada though.

“Ada?” Briar would call, trying to get a glimpse at the box she was shoved into through the bars but ultimately being unable. Why were they being treated so differently? Things had changed so drastically within the last few minutes, she wasn’t all that sure what was currently happening.

They weren’t left with much time for small talk, the knights soon returning and unlocking the door to her cell. “The queen will see you now.” One said gruffly, grabbing her arm to tug her out and guide her.

Exiting the prison and apparently entering the castle, it was a rather breathtaking but nerve wracking sight. Servants bustling around various cleanly dressed nobles, most passing her rather odd glances as she passed. Then again, who wouldn’t with how out of place she appeared as well as being flanked by armed knights.

Eventually they would arrive at a large set of double doors, they being pushed opened seemingly on their own. Being dragged along, Briar would feel her nerves beginning to grow. Were they somehow somewhere they didn’t belong? How could that be if they were dead?

Being forced to her knees before a set of two thrones, one of which lied empty, she wouldn’t meet the rather imposing woman’s gaze. Which was still surprisingly powerful despite the mask and blindfold she wore. She felt examined like this for a good moment or two when she finally began to speak.

“Thou'rt too a Vileblood?”

Briar couldn’t help but be a bit confused. A vileblood?

Looking up towards her, the woman would ask again.

“Thou'rt too a Vileblood?”

Swallowing she would give her head a subtle shake. “I-I’m sorry I don’t know what you mean.”

The woman would tilt her head slightly, remaining silent before continuing. “I am Annalise, Queen of Castle Cainhurst. Ruler of the Vilebloods, and sworn enemy of the church. Yet, thy doth not know Our name nor Our corruption?”

She was dumbfounded, a Queen of all people that making any sense to her. Her name? Corruption?

With a lack of a response, Annalise would gesture to one of her knights standing behind Briar. WIthout much hesitation, he would reach forward with his blade in hand and grab for her arm, making a sizeable insicon upon her arm, through her sleeve faster than she could react. More than surprised by this act, she would put pressure on the wound. However, the Queen would gesture towards her to move her hand away. Reluctantly Briar would do so, but quickly tug up her sleeve to find that the wound was almost completely healed and slowly stitching itself together as she watched.

“Our flesh is undying.” Annalise would comment. ““Thou'rt a Vileblood.”

Briar finally understood what she was trying to say. She was apparently a vileblood, although since she had never had this ability to heal so fast before, it was rather safe to assume how this had come about.

“Speak thy name.” The queen commanded, Briar responding rather quickly. “Briar…” She would say. “How did thou partake of my rotted blood?”

“I had been given it by force I suppose.” The kneeling woman would admit. "Through minstration."

“Dost thou still live?” Annalise would then ask, the question weighing rather heavily on Briar as if she knew of her fate.

“I don’t know…” Briar would sigh, Annalise falling silent, giving her time to ask “Would you be able to release my friend as well? I know that she appears to work for the church but she doesn’t mean any harm.”

Seeming to consider this, the queen gestured towards her knights, the leaving to go and retrieve Ada, leaving these two alone.

 

[Coin]

Ada Larkin​

Vilebloods.

Ada tried blinking away the pain, bringing a sleeve up to wipe her bloody nose to no great avail. She moaned, pressing her forehead against the wooden door in front of her to try to subdue the radiating pain.
One thought by one, she pieced together everything she knew about the Vilebloods. They were apparently a blasphemous bloodline created by a traitor from Byrgenwerth, but Ada wasn't quite sure what
made them blasphemous. She had joined the ranks of the church well after the Vilebloods had been wiped from existence by the Church Executioners. They were struck from the history books, the bridge to their castle was destroyed, holdings seized and exiled from civilized conversation. Then that was it. Nothing else, Ada knew absolutely nothing else about Cainhurst, the Vilebloods, anything.

She sighed. At least Briar was being treated better than Ada, probably because of all the church attire Ada was wearing. Ada could only pray that it held up and that Briar was still safe out there. If the Vilebloods had a gripe with the church and Ada, surely they'd have no reason to harm an innocent person like Briar. But even Ada wasn't sure of that, her hopes were built on entirely assumptions of others.

What felt like hours later, the door suddenly swung wide open and Ada fell face first onto the floor of the prison. She was immediately grabbed again by a knight and a cold barrel of an elegant pistol pressed to her forehead. However, her gaze was not at the pistol, but down the hall at the empty cell that Briar had been taken to. The knight hissed through his mask as he threatened her, "Up, you cur. The queen has summoned you."

"Me?" Ada coughed as she stumbled to her feet, pressing against the wall for support and that devilish smirk on her lips. "Shall I clean up first?"

The knight, clearly unamused by this, turned his pistol around whacked her across the jaw with the handle of his pistol. Ada caught herself on the wall as she fell and wiped the blood off her cheek, the pain stinging her entire jaw. Ada summoned all of her willpower not to make another comment, knowing that there was no way she could find Briar if she was dead or back in that damned wooden box. She and her knight minder walked silently down the winding halls until they reached what Ada could only assume was the throne room. The queen sat alone at the climax of the throne room, while Briar knelt at the feet of the queen.

Ada was shoved into place next to Briar, then pushed forcefully to the ground by her minder, given no chance to kneel on her own accord. Giving out a groan, she curled into a ball then righted herself at Briar's level, blood dripping from her nose onto the previously spotless floor in front of her. Ada couldn't help but curl her lips into a tiny grin at Briar -- at least she was safe.

"I have brought you the insolent one, my queen," the knight stated, then retreated to the rear of the room.

"My pleasure," Ada wheezed through her pained lungs.

Just as the knight who had brought her here was about to spring forth and strike Ada down again, the queen raised her hand to stop him then spoke for herself, "Adrian, compose yourself in the presence of guests. Leave us now. Lady of the cloth, you will respect me in my court and spoke when spoken to. Now, speak thy name and reveal thy title."

"Ada Larkin," she hesitated for a moment before continuing. "I am a church hunter."

Ada could practically feel the spurn of every person in the castle as the words rolled off her tongue.

"Lady Larkin of the Healing Church, why is it that you protect the Vileblood at your side?" the queen inquired, her expression was impossible to read under her mask.

"Briar? I wasn't aware she was a Vileblood," Ada raised an eyebrow, shooting a curious glance at her companion. "But it wouldn't have changed anything. I pledged to escort her safely to her home, that was why I protected her. Her safety is my charge."