A woman, her face gaunt and as thin as the rest of her body, sat in a small rocking chair, the single piece of furniture in the room other than a small wooden table nearby, covered in cold, dusty plates of untouched food that had piled up over time, staring out the floor-length windows with a blank, listless expression. She was a mess, her clothes dirty from days if not weeks of not moving from the one spot, and her hair had become greasy and tangled, strands falling off her head onto the small doll she clutched in one bony hand.

She didn't care about the emptiness of the room, and she didn't care about how she was severely underweight and practically starved to death. She wasn't exactly the picture of health anyway, anyone would know it if they looked into her eyes.

The Duchess de Orleans was already dead, but her body refused to admit it. It clung to life even when she didn't care enough to go on living. Her life didn't matter, she'd waste away for all she cared.

All that mattered was the little doll in her hand. Little Charlotte, she told herself. She had to protect Charlotte. They'd tary to take her again if she didn't, she knew. She couldn't let her have the same fate as her brother or Charles.

Charles. She couldn't remember his face. She couldn't remember much of anything, the poison had wiped most of her memory clean. She remembered nothing before that party, except for Charlotte.

Charlotte was her precious daughter, how could she ever forget her? Her hand gripped tighter to the fabric of the doll's clothing. Protect Charlotte. That's what she'd do until the day came that her body caught up to the emptiness in her head.

Her dedication to the doll was stronger than anything she had ever felt before the poison. She knew that even without being able to remember anything. She needed to show Charlotte that she was still there, that her sweet mother was still there for her. She hadn't left just because she took a little poison…

The door crashed open, the hinges breaking as the solid wood was blasted inwards, landing with a loud thud on the floor, cracking the stone tiling under its weight.

The duchess didn't care about the door, sparing it only a glance before going back to staring at the window. She didn't care about the blue-haired meganeko standing at the doorway, her staff raised and the circular tip facing where the door had been. She didn't care about anything. She only cared about Charlotte.

"Hello...mother." Tabitha said as she walked in, her staff still raised, now pointed at the woman, who ignored her until she got within twenty feet, at which point she whirled around in her seat, gritting her teeth as she stared at her daughter with hatred in her eyes.

"Who are you?! Just leave, you're not getting Charlotte! You won't get her, I'll protect her!" A seam broke on the doll as she gripped it so hard that the thread couldn't handle it, and cotton stuffing fell from the opening. The woman stared at the wound in horror, holding the doll up to her eyes. "Charlotte! What-You're hurt! What did that girl do to you?! I'll protect you from her, don't worry! Mommy's here!"

Tabitha grit her teeth, her expression dark. Her anger was tangible in the shaking of her staff, and it was all she could do not to blast the woman who she called her mother with an ice spell. It would be so quick, it would finally end the misery the deranged woman had caused on herself and her daughter.

She didn't know why she hesitated. "It's all your fault." she accused. "Everything. If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be doing so many stupidly dangerous missions, and dad would still be alive. It's all your fault for taking the stupid poison."

The duchess continued screaming at the doll, the cotton spilling out far more important to her than the weapon being pointed at her by a mage far more skilled than she was. She had once been a mage as well, but now, she wouldn't be able to lift a wand, much less cast an enchantment.

As she continued screaming, Tabitha's rage only grew. This was part of the reason why she'd taken on the doll's name, to detach herself from the "Charlotte" this woman so desperately tried to protect. To share a name with the thing this woman had invented in her insanity was something she couldn't stand.

"I can kill you so easily right now. You wouldn't stand a chance against me. I can end it right here, and finally get rid of you. You aren't my mother, you're just a ghost living in her skin. There would be no shame in returning a ghost to the dead."

Even still, she made no move to actually cast anything, rather simply standing, pointing the staff in a ready position. She had made up her mind to do it, but still, she found herself unable to say the necessary words.

She blinked in surprise as she heard a yawn from behind her, and her head twisted to look before her at the broken doorway.

"What's all this then? It's 1 pm, people are trying to sleep…" said the exhausted voice of Isabella de Martel, leaning on the damaged hinges and looking in, one hand loosely holding onto her wand. "Finally turning traitor, huh, Tabitha? Gonna kill the duchess? Cool."

If she wasn't so exhausted, her reaction may have been different, but she had been up past 3 am doing whatever it is Isabella does at night. Tabitha didn't want to know. Point was, she was too tired to particularly care what was going on. She'd just come to see what all the commotion was about.

"Isabella, I thought you were in Tristain." Tabitha said, and Isabella nodded slowly, blinking away sleep.

"Yeah, I was...Came back a couple days ago because I got bored. Also because there was this whole thing with a corrupt tax collector, and I don't like that kind of crap going on around me." She grinned sleepily, laughing in a slightly creepy manner. "Met a guy who reminded me of Joseph though…" Her habit of calling her father by his name didn't leave even if she was tired.

Tabitha nodded, her staff lowering slightly. Her rage was just as strong as before, but her odd cousin was helping her to close it away in the back of her mind.

Isabella had that kind of effect on people. While she was by no means a pleasant person to be around, she still had a knack of helping people ignore their problems...provided their problems weren't caused by her in the first place. Josette wasn't the only person she'd taken everything from with a single bet.

"David." she said, to which her cousin nodded, recognizing the name. "He's Louise's familiar."

"Oh, that Zero you're always talking about in letters home? I figured she was a void mage, Joseph has the same rock bottom skill with elemental spells. Just wait, with proper training that girl will be a force to reckon with, I can bet on it."

"You sound pretty confident considering you've never met her." Tabitha said, and the royal heiress's face lit up in her familiar grin as her tiredness began to leave her.

"No, but I've met David. A familiar is only as strong as its master, and I see a lot of potential in him. And I think we both know how good I am at reading people."

Tabitha sighed. "Much better than I am. So are you going to try to stop me? I'm going to kill her if you don't."

Isabella shrugged. "You do your thing, I have no attachment to that woman. I just wanted to see what all the noise in here was about."