Chapter 2: Evil Had A Daughter and Her Name was Veronica
Veronica caught herself in the mirror. Nobody would ever guess that she was Rothbart's daughter. Her hair was ebony black like her mother's and her eyes were dark brown like her father's. Hell nobody knew that Rothbart even had a daughter. It took years before she realized she was; why her mother was so ashamed of her father. But she put it together; staying up late and creeping downstairs to see her father and another old man doing things that her eyes as a young child fancied as magic. Her mother didn't know she watched such things happen. Her mother did not know that not only did she watch her father's dark arts at night, but she read the pages that she snuck out of his study in the day. She really was a Lady, the Lady and Heir to Lord Rothbart's possessions, but even now all because of the King William's doing, there was little to nothing left in anything valuable in terms of money.
Her mother was a sad story, saddened after Rothbart left with his magic to find better things in the world. Even I, Veronica was hardened by his leaving, but when I found out all he achieved I was proud. So what if his plan didn't work out? It was brilliant. But that Swan Odette had to mess everything up. She just had too have not let father marry her. Then Veronica would be the next heir to the throne. But instead she caused her father's demise by failing to comply. Prince Derek may have killed her father, but Odette was the one who got him involved. It really all was her fault.
Zelda, who Veronica despised, never quite sure if she was Rothbart's mistress on the side, had tried to reclaim these dark arts for herself. They thought that they had destroyed the written instructions, but they were wrong. The written instructions to the dark arts, were not written on paper, at least not of yet. No, they remained in the photographic memory of Veronica, from nights as a child of reading them to herself like fairytale stories.
"Are you almost done?"
She looked down to her cat. Erebus jumped up to the top of the desk, looking at the half written pages.
"I will write it all in good time."
"You better make sure they don't find these."
"They won't, and if they do it's all in my head anyways."
"What do you plan on doing exactly?"
"Flattery."
"What?"
"Well I have to get on their good side first, but as soon as I do, Odette is as good as gone."
"How?"
"You'll see." Veronica said smiling slyly, sitting down on the chair at the writer's desk. She looked at them. To create, to change and to destroy. They were all almost finished, she just needed to recall the last few pages that she imagined in her head as if they were physically in front of her. She credited herself by being a little smarter than her father, she would not place the forbidden arts in a crystal ball, but in her necklace, a gem that she was given by her mother before she passed; the only heirloom she had left. It was real; a real ruby gemstone that was dense enough to contain it. She would use her father's plans in honor of his own brilliance to take down Odette and take her place as the heir to the throne, beside the dashing Prince. She smiled to herself, while writing away.
She was surprised to hear a knock at her door. "Veronica? Dinner is ready."
Odette peaked into the room.
"Oh I'll be there in a minute." Veronica said.
"What do you have there?" Odette asked pointing to the paper on the desk.
"I'm writing down all I find out about my father. He died before I could reunite with him, and well he left my house when I was young. They're personal so I keep them to myself." With that her cat sat on top of the papers, and stretched onto them laying down covering most of the contents.
"Oh what a nice cat!"
"His name is Erebus. He really is like family to me."
"Your father…what did you say your last name was?"
"Harttrob. Two T's.
"I've never heard of it before."
"We lived a few kingdoms away; I am the Lady of the Harttrob family. Not noted in very much these days after my parent's passed away."
"Well I'm sorry to hear that." Odette said, "Well dinner is ready, so if you'd like to join us it's in the dinning hall to your right downstairs."
"Oh I will, just need to wash up." Veronica said before curtsying ever so slightly. "Thank you Princess."
"Please it's Odette." She said before leaving the chambers.
"Thank you Erebus." Veronica said sighing slightly in relief.
"Nice acting."
"Touché." Veronica said. Her cat used to make the mistake of talking infront of people; a bewitched cat? Strange
to most.
The cat just smiled back slyly before prancing off of the papers and returning to the bed.
Veronica collected them an tucked them between the mattress of the bed. "Guard these with your life Erebus." She said before checking her self in the mirror and then leaving the room.
"My life eh?" Erebus said before resting his head back on the pillow one eye on the corner of the bed where she had stashed the papers.