A/N

Thank you again for any and all support. Writing this chapter, (all the way in 2016) I found this one really hard to write at the time, it left me in a weird mood and I didn't come back to the story for a good while. Maybe I hated where I was taking it or maybe I didn't want to let people down who wanted a happy ending, maybe I wanted a happy ending too. But I knew that would be betraying my original idea, who knows now. But the story is what it is, love it or hate it, it's a weird one. I hope you enjoy it anyway.

Aedre made her way to the kitchen's knowing that she would soon be missed as the preparations of the morning meals were made. She passed many young serving girls hustling about in a flurry of movement as she came closer to her destination. Some welcomed her and some were too involved in their own tasks, but Aedre hardly noticed the difference, she nodded at each in a dumb greeting, uncaring if she received one in return. Envy was an emotion she had little experience with, there was so little to envy in her life, a full stomach and people that loved her were all Aedre could have ever wished for herself and she felt guilty for feeling still yet unsatisfied. But the cloying emotion was not completely foreign to her, she had often desired what others had but never as intensely as now, she felt protective of her time with the king and strongly felt it was slowly but surely being taken away from her by the dark haired princess. Aedre envied her beauty, her grace and the high place she held in regard of the nobles, something that Aedre knew she could never have, just as she could never have skin that told no tale of punishment and past hurt.

"Aedre?"

Her voice being called in irritation brought her once again to the present.

"What is with you on this morn, did you not hear me calling?" It was one of the elder women that ran the kitchen, one that often scolded her and everyone else she deemed in need of it.

Aedre shook her head a little sulkily.

"Well you can hear me now so listen well."

Aedre gave no reply but waited patiently.

"Go gather the dead rats, put out some more powder too in the corridor, but not in any room itself remember! The little blights have been getting into the store again." She pushed two things into Aedre's hands, a weighted rough brown sack and a small glass bottle of white powder with a wooden stopper. "Make sure to be careful with it." She gestured to the bottle. "Don't bring it near the kitchens, keep it only in the traps. " She repeated the same rules as always and Aedre nodded and turned to carry out the distasteful task.

"And wash your hands once you are done too!" The woman called after her.

Aedre raised the arm with the sack in silent acknowledgement that she understood fully. She made her way down the corridors to the main dry store room, were grain and other dried crops were kept. It was easy to see where the vermin were gaining access, the old door had become slightly warped with time, allowing a little space that a slight rat could perhaps squeeze through if it was feeling particular determined. There was always talk among the servants of having the door replaced, but it never came to pass. Upon the floor a small earthen pot sat a few feet away from the door, in the direct path of any scurrying visitors. Inside was some now stale bread, cheese and sweetened meat, all covered in a fine dusting of white powder. The food had been nibbled and gnawed in places and the two culprits lay nearby, lifeless with bloody foam around their small muzzles.

Aedre quickly reached within the sack and brought out a similar bowl, containing a few titbits of food and placed it upon the ground near where the other stood. She opened the bottle and gentle tapped the fine powder out, sprinkling it across the food before putting the cork tightly back in.

She placed the bottle upon the ground and reached over to the first rat, picking it up, it was stiff and cold and she quickly stuffed its body into the sack before reaching out for the other. She paused in her task, both repulsed and fascinated at the animal she held. Looking at the dead form before her she wondered for a moment if these little creatures also had a place to go once their lives were spent. She wondered if it had known the food would bring its death, but then how could it have known? The other women said that the powder could not be smelt or tasted, the grit of it upon the teeth was all that gave away its presence and to a hungry rat this did not deter them from a free meal.

She finished placing it within the sack and rose, stooping slightly to pick up the bottle. She eyed it with a hint of disgust, it seemed a under handed way to put out the little lights of life of these beings. She turned the bottle this way and that, seeing the glass shine in the nearby candlelight. She stopped suddenly her eyes glazing over blankly as her mind rapidly flashed images and thoughts to her in a blur of information. With the same vacant look she slipped the bottle carefully into her apron pocket, feeling the weight of it rest against her leg. It was so very small, for such a deadly thing. Aedre turned and made her way quickly to a nearby door that lead to a long dark, dank corridor that sloped downwards and then to another heavy door that lead outside to a pit hidden near the back of the building, the smell that greeted her made her want to retch but she subdued the urge and upturned the bags contents into a large dug out hole nearby. The little bodies fell with a soft thump into the rank rubbish from the hall to await the night soil collectors when they made their rounds to take the waste from Edoras.

Aedre gave the bag a good shake before returning inside, quick steps taking her back to the cupboard were the sacks and little bottles were kept along with anything else deemed too unseemly to be kept near the kitchens. She placed the sack back upon its rightful shelf and reached into her pocket, finger pads glancing across the smooth surface, she toyed with it a moment, pondering upon its dreadful work before she turned and went from the room, her pocket still heavier than it should have been.

Her heart hammered, why had she not put it back? Why was it still within her pocket? As her footsteps took her down familiar hallways she repeated the questions over and over again to the rhythm of her of footfalls, but her mind was blank of answers. She walked into the kitchens and washed her hands quickly with water and soap, pouring away the used liquid and washing out the bowl she had used. All those around her were busy with the morning chores, it all seemed so normal, and yet she was not, she stood within the kitchens with an item she knew was forbidden.

She heard the call of fresh bread coming out of the bakery and then the usual call for honey and Aedre heeded it, scurrying to fetch the jar of sticky fluid and upon her return the bread was pushed into her hands. She knew full well this was for the princess's morning meal and she stared at it for a long moment, before another girl bumped her side accidentally, pushing Aedre into action. She sliced and prepared the other ingredients until they all rested within bowls upon a wooden tray, waiting to be carried to their destination.

"Let's get these meals out." A demanding voice urged her further and she took up the tray without hesitation and among the bustle Aedre picked her way carefully from the room so as to not spill the contents she carried.

Once the quiet of the corridors wrapped around her, Aedre stopped and rested a moment against the wall, catching her breath as her mind buzzed. She looked at the food before her and suddenly felt a formidable wave of disgust wash over her and with a panicked, slow, realisation she knew the disgust was aimed squarely at herself, for her minds eyes had thought just for a second of slipping a sprinkle of powder into the honey, or upon the rich, creamy butter that was meant for the princess.

As an unwanted yet horrifyingly familiar dread clutched at her swirling in its bleak despair she tried vainly to clutch onto her nerves, to bring back any kind of calmness but her breathes came hard and fast and her heart beat against her chest with a deafening hammering making her feel as if her ears would burst with the noise. She tried to steadied herself, but this resulted in her only clutching for solace at the cold wall with one hand, her fingernails digging into wood as she gasped and the feeling felt as if it would overwhelm and devour her until there was nothing left.

"What's IT thinking?"

She shrieked, the tray crashing to the floor in a deafening clatter as her other hand sort the steadiness of the wall and clawed for comfort, nails splintering from the pressure.

"It knows, It knows how."

That voice! That voice that she now knew dwelt within her own mind spoke in its sickening tone and she clawed at her ears, trying to block it out despite the knowledge to no avail.

"Hurt, kill, all the same." It echoed around her skull.

Aedre was moaning now, tears streaming down her face.

"Help..."

"Aedre, help me!"

"Help... kill me..."

"All the same."

A woman's scream echoed through her head and then erupted from her own throat and she fell to the floor, squirming as if hot pokers were being forced upon her body as the voices and screams continued to rip through her mind. Her hands clutched at her hair, pulling and tearing as if she could forcefully remove that which plagued her.

She felt gentle hands upon her, forcing her to sit up, forcing her into a comforting embrace and her name being called over and over again in a worried yet warm tone, but it was as if through many miles she heard that voice and she could not reply, nor stop herself as her body began to shake uncontrollably, thrashing her limbs hard upon the ground along with jolts of pain at the harsh connection and she felt foam dribbling down her chin. She had no control as her own body betrayed her with convulsions. Before the darkness took her, Aedre imagined herself still, cold and stiff, with a bloody froth staining her mouth.