Okay, guys. I've gotten this written enough ahead that I can say this: I will either post after three reviews and 48 hours, or less reviews and more time.
Nea says I shouldn't say that, but oh well. Far fewer people like my story, anyway.
Hope this one is less confusing!
Perhaps I should have been more bold this time…
But he has changed! So much more wary, cautious. That trip made him more likely to spot your treachery. The hissing voice cut into the black thoughts of the elf who haunted the halls of the palace.
What care I for him? Is not his removal the desire that has spurred me on since mother died?
As if you care for her, anyway.
The dark eyes lowered for a moment, and then they flashed as the lips tightened. She was weak.
Weak? Perhaps. Is that why you hate the prince? Because his mother loved him so?
No! He's a weakling! A sniveling excuse for an elf! He's not of high blood.
As much as you are, the little voice whispered back.
What do you know?
More than you think. More than you realize, more than you understand. How shall you kill this weak little elf prince if you're too much of a weakling to go through with, of all weak displays, poison?
Weak?!? I am not weak!
Aren't you? Why, then, does he yet live? You have had many long years to kill him. No one would have known.
The time was not right.
You were scared.
NO! This has been planned.
Oh, "PLANNED." Planed so well all the spider attacks didn't draw him into the wood as you expected. Instead, he goes off to train to kill them.
But he is vulnerable there, in the wood, in the dark. I can get to him more easily than in the palace. I know the woods, the spiders. They obey me.
Yessss, they obey you, hatred dripped in the hissing tone. They obey you, but they cannot know when and where and why to kill what elf in what way as you would like it. They are indiscriminate killers. Anything they can eat, they kill.
They killed more than just what they could eat in the attacks.
You know why. You ordered them to attack. They obey you.
Yes, a smirk came to the thin lips. They obey me. I ordered the attacks… but they messed it up! They were supposed to attack the King and Prince on the path. Instead they just cut the village off from help, and then fled when the prince arrived!
They know him well, sssilly elf. They know his bow sings quickly and true, and any spider who hears that song is unlikely to eat anything else ever again. They obey you, but they are scared to attack when they have no chance to survive. It took too long for the messengers to reach the royals in their inspection of the previous attack. By the time they arrived, the spiders had nearly all been slaughtered.
I told them to wait, to attack and draw off.
They couldn't give them the chance to prepare, or their losses would have been far greater!
And as a result the prince got away. Along with the king.
Yes… he got away. So organize another attack to bring him back.
How would an attack bring him to the palace? He has no way of knowing of an attack. He will not return for that. There is no point.
Gone sssoft, have you? The hissing voice taunted, anger drawing out the careful words in more hisses than usual. After ssso many attacksss after causing ssso many deathsss by forcing elvess into the woodsss and then leaving them for your little friendsss… Now you pull back?
Too much disaster would lead to a true organization against the spiders. This little group will do nothing. What have they done? Lived in the woods for a time? That is nothing. It is best the people remain reassured by the king's actions for now. The spiders shall retreat for the time being… And when the prince returns to visit his dear family, I shall be waiting. Death is just a sip away…