Year: 804 BC Place: Sparta, Greece
The one thing she always dreaded was a new moon. It was like the sky was empty and the world was made up of nothing but darkness and hollow people.
That, and the lamia.
She knew she was safe in the palace. Nothing could hurt her there. Save the two brothers who knew how to kill any beast.
The brothers.
Mysterious and silent. They kept to themselves while they utilized her private library. The older one had attempted to make friends with her, but she had, uneasily, pulled herself away from that. Cirila knew better than to fraternize with a hunter. Hunters were loners (save this pair of brothers) who would never experience a joy such as love.
Not like she believed in it anyways. The Princess of Sparta had sworn off of love. Just like the goddess Artemis. Cirila didn't believe in true loves, anyways. She felt a love for her father, for her mother and for her city. But she had vowed never to love a man the way her mother loved her father.
But still, she felt it creeping upon her like a monster in the night. She could feel its wanting tendrils slowly encasing her, body, mind and soul.
"Princess? Are you well?" Simeon's voice drew her back from the edges of reality. Cirila turned, nodding once.
This was the fifth day that the brothers had been in Sparta. The fourth day since they had been using her library. And the second day that Cirila had wanted the older one- Demetrius- to kiss her.
But she didn't believe in love. She knew the body had natural urges, and she knew that at some point, she would give in and submit to those urges. Not out of love, never out of love. Simply because she wished to.
She sat down at the table beside of Simeon and looked down at the scrolls before meeting Demetrius' gaze. "Tonight is the new moon. Please, tell me you will end this madness tonight."
"We promise to do everything we can." Demetrius told her.
That wasn't good enough and she told him so. "Princess, we're going to get this monster. Whether we do it tonight or next month, we will kill it." Simeon assured her.
Next month would be too late. Didn't they know that? "No. It has to happen tonight. This…my people cannot live like this any longer. They can't live in fear for any longer. Kill the beast, tonight."
The princess had long gone to her bed. Simeon and Demetrius were still in the library. The moon would not be high for a little while longer. They had time.
They spent their time gathering their weapons. Demetrius polished the silver knife they planned to use to kill the beast. Earlier, the priest had blessed it for them. Only a blessed silver knife would end the life of a lamia.
"The way she acts, you would believe that she was afraid of getting murdered by the monster." Simeon told his brother as they sorted Cirila's scrolls back to their rightful places.
Demetrius shook his head. "She's worried about the well-being of her people. As she has a right to be."
They decided they would wait in the forest for the lamia, hoping it would be urged by their racing blood. And then kill it. The two brothers had been hunting together for a very long time, their skills only complimenting those of the other. They were a flawless pair. A perfect pair.
"The moon is almost high, brother. Where is the beast?" Simeon asked quietly. They had been in the forest for over an hour, impatiently awaiting the lamia.
"Hopefully it died peacefully in its sleep and we will still be paid." Demetrius chuckled. Deep inside of him, he wished they did not find the monster until the next moon. He knew it was wrong, but he wished for more time with Cirila.
He couldn't get her out of his head. He had met other beautiful women before. He had been with other beautiful women before. But he had never seen a woman like her.
She was strong. Brave. Sure of herself. But he knew that she would never see anything in him. She was a princess. He was…he was not a prince. He was a hunter. And hunters couldn't be in love.
"Demetrius. The moon has been high for almost two hours now. Do you think the lamia has moved to another city?" Simeon asked him.
He didn't think so. They were territorial monsters.
"No. It's still here. We will find it." Demetrius said tightly.
He hoped they found it, anyways.
In the distance, he heard it. The scream. The lamia's scream. It was a high-pitched, warbled sound.
"Demetrius? Where did that come from? It isn't from the forest?"
No. No it wasn't. It was from the palace.
She was covered in his blood. Her white sleeping gown was soaked in dark red blood. She couldn't remember. All she remembered was going to sleep. And then the screaming. By the gods of Olympus, the screaming.
Simeon and Demetrius had to shove past several of the king's- and the princess'- personal guards just to get into the king's bedchamber. There was a long white claw stranded on the floor beside the no longer living King of Sparta.
And beside him, was his daughter, covered in his blood. The two brothers looked at each other. "It was the lamia." Cirila croaked, her voice raspy.
Demetrius knelt beside her. "You saw it?"
She shook her head, hands grasping her dress tightly. "No. No." She told him. "I was sleeping. I know I was sleeping. He screamed."
He put a hand on her shoulder gently. "Cirila?"
"It should have been me. Why wasn't it me?"
He pulled her to her feet and looked at his younger brother. "Take the claw. We're finding the monster tonight and we're going to kill it."
She wouldn't go to sleep. She refused to take a bath. All she wanted to do was stand on the balcony of her library and stare up at the moon.
"Cirila? I had food brought. You need to eat. Your lady-in-waiting said you didn't eat dinner." She didn't respond to him. He joined her on the balcony, his hand dangerously close to hers. He looked down at her hand. It was bloody. "You're bleeding."
"It isn't mine. I am fine." She finally spoke.
He went back into the library and poured water into the empty fruit bowl. He steered the princess into the library and sat her in a chair. "Give me your hand. Let me clean the blood away."
She looked up at him and he dipped a rag in the water and put it on her hand. Gently, he scrubbed away the dried blood. He looked down at her hand. Her fingernail was missing.
"You have to kill it. You told me you would kill it." She whispered. His eyebrows knotted together. He closed his eyes. "You have to kill it." She repeated as his eyes opened.
He refused to believe it. She stood up and picked up his silver knife. She put it in his hands.
"Cirila…"
She closed her hands around his. Her skin was warm, sweaty even. She was nervous. "Please." She murmured.
He had never noticed how intense, how deep, her eyes were. She was begging him. Begging him to kill her.
"It killed him. It killed my father."
Demetrius held the knife tightly. "Cirila, how long have you known?"
He needed to know how long she had known she was a lamia. The lamia.
"Always. I….I can't control it. No one knows. You have to kill me, Demetrius. I killed my father."
She was a lamia. The Princess of Sparta was a lamia.
"Do you know how many hearts I've eaten? Because I don't." Cirila's voice was strangled. "The first time I felt the…urge, I was thirteen. I attacked my lady-in-waiting. That's when the attacks started."
She had known for years. "I can't kill you."
"You have to. You are a hunter. It is your job. You kill monsters. I'm a monster. Now kill me. I'm the princess and that is a command."
He glanced between the knife and her. He nodded once. "I'll kill you. But you have to promise me something."
"You are about to kill me and you want me to make you a promise?" She smiled starkly.
He said yes. "I feel something when I am with you. There is a pull between you and me and-."
She smiled. She actually smiled. "I know. I feel it as well. But you cannot do this, you cannot have a life with me. I'm a monster, Demetrius."
"That is why you are about to promise me something." Her hand was closed around his. He could feel her pulse, it was rapid. Her silence allowed him to continue. "Promise me that in another life, you will find me. Promise me that we will find each other and we will be together. Promise that we will love."
She closed her eyes and when she opened them again, he could see the difference. The difference between Cirila, Princess of Sparta and Cirila, the lamia. "Now, Demetrius. Kill me now. I can feel it, trying to come out. It wants to feed again. Please do it now."
"No. Promise me first. You have to promise me."
"By the gods, Demetrius! Do it now!" She screamed at him, thrusting his hand forward. The knife suppressed itself into her skin easily, like it was meant to be there. She let out a small breath and he swore it sounded like relief.
He supported her as her body started to lean backwards. Her eyes were starting to lose their light. "Promise me." He whispered.
She nodded once, slowly. "We will find each other again, my hunter." Her voice was dying. She was dying. Her hand rested against his cheek, her skin soft against his. "I promise you that we will find each other and we will love."