leonelle + "how my circumstances had changed since the first time i heard those voluptuous chords that carry such a charge of deathly passion in them!"
thank you, Rina • the embrace is a traumatic thing • roughly 750 words •
Perhaps, Leonelle mused, if she had never set foot inside of Notre Dame, she might not have ever become Kindred.
How her circumstances had changed, since the first time she heard the strange, voluptuous chords charged with a deadly passion inside the cathedral - odd music she had never heard before. It had lured her in there like a siren song, and that was the beginning of her death. Yet when she had opened those doors and found no one there, the chords disappeared. Deathly silence - and then, whispering among shadows, welcoming her into the fold, urging her to come forward. Against her better judgement, she did, like her mind was not truly her own.
Movement from the shadows from the corner of her eye while she lit a candle at an altar in private forgiveness for her sins. A strange unease washed over her where she should have felt peace or clarity in such a sanctuary as Notre Dame. Leonelle closed her eyes, hands clasped in her lap, tried to ignore the feeling in her gut that she was in danger. How could one be in danger there?
Looking back, that was the point of no return. Ignoring the warning in the pit of her stomach. She did not see the shadows move, half-manifest into a tall man with greying hair, in heavy robes and a crucifix around his neck. Nor did she see the lack of a reflection in the mirror, or the strange, long shadow cast by his figure that had a mind of its own. Instead, she focused only on forgiveness for her sins.
“I am surprised to see one here so late, Marquise.” That voice. One she would always remember. A tutting as though he was reprimanding her, hovering right by her ear. A clawed hand caressing the back of her neck, her bared collarbone. She opened her eyes, and with a calm stillness, glanced up at the speaker.
Cardinal Souville. A man she had met once or twice at court. He had unnerved her on their previous meetings, not quite natural. Inhuman. Predatory. Watched her with an intensity, as though a butcher examining how to best cut a slab of meat. It had terrified her, and yet made her slide a hand in between her legs and the other fondling a full breast underneath her shift in the dark privacy of her bedchamber later that night. It was something she had never confessed, ashamed of her lustful thoughts towards a man of the cloth.
She did not answer the Cardinal that fateful night. He moved from behind her with an elegance she had not seen before, his shadow looming over her, cast by candlelight.
“Tell me, my dear,” he began as he tilted her chin upwards so he could look at her. A nail dug in a little too much. Crimson blood spilling to the surface against alabaster skin. “why are you here to confess?”
When she did not answer, the Cardinal’s eyes wander over her form - the blood pooling a little from the cut on her jaw, the pale column of her throat, down to where a family pendant nestled in between swelling breasts on a silken ribbon. Candlelight caught in her black hair. She dared to meet his eyes - they were ablaze with hunger.
Leonelle took a deep breath, “forgive me, Cardinal. I have sinned and been ashamed to confess.” Souville tilted his head to one side slowly, the corners of his mouth raising slightly so upwards to reveal a sharp, pointed canine.
“What is the sin, your Ladyship?” His voice was a rasp.
She felt a blush creep to her cheeks and a wetness begin to pool in-between her legs. Ashamed that, even though her gut was telling her she was in danger, the rest of her was reacting in such a way, she quickly lowered her eyes and focused on the family sigil ring. “I have lusted after a man of the cloth,” she murmured.
“I know, my dear.” His hand moved from her jaw to her neck, “and for you, there might be salvation.”
The Cardinal leaned in closer, "accept and your sins will be forgiven and forgotten. Unless you wish to burn in the rings of Hell.” She took a sharp breath and considered the options. A nod. The Cardinal revealed sharp fangs and his face distorted into something monstrous.
Kine believed that Marquise d'Amboise died that night - and that was true; what kine would never know was that in her place, Leonelle, Queen of Shadows was born.
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