End of the Line [Complete]

[The Jenn]

Lani growled slightly under her throat, not at her sister but at the situation. Vio would know her well enough to realize that so she didn't have to worry about offending her sister quite that easily. "Yeah, you could say that. Father decided to fire one of the boy toys I was fond of for something so stupid it hurts. One of the women who brings him tea dropped that he was making a later night of it so I figured I'd try to pester him about it before he actually fell asleep so he would think about it tonight."

She rolled her eyes and sighed in annoyance. "Anyway, if I can get in then I'm going to talk to him. If I can't, I might make noise at the door for a while until he lets me in. Either way, I want to talk to him. C'mon."

Trusting her sister to follow her, either out of curiosity or obligation or just habit, she moved to their father's door and opened it. This one led to the antechamber and its being open meant he hadn't completely turned in for the night which was heartening. Now for the slightly more pertinent test. She walked up to his bedroom door and stared at it for the briefest second before trying to open it.

Success! It swung open and she grinned in fanged triumph, pushing right in so that he wouldn't have quite so much time to be surprised and think up something to say before she started talking. As soon as she opened her mouth, however, it hit her... what exactly she was seeing. Their father lay dead on the floor, sprawled in a pool of his own slowly spreading blood, while an enormous Highland eagle with a bright, curly gold mane stood over his body. There was a bloody short sword or dagger or some bladed weapon in one hand and Father's grown glittering dully in the other.

Her mouth was still open, frozen like the rest of her. All she could think to say was, "Father!"

[Kari Muffin]

"All right, Lani. Don't blame me if Father just brushes you off," Viola rolled her eyes. Of course she was being dragged along by her sister. That's how it always worked. She didn't protest. It really was pointless, since Lani never really listened to reason like that. Silently she watched her sister open doors, slightly jealous of her talent. Having no arms really sucked.

She was done sulking when she saw the door swing open. Her mouth opened, and nothing but an incoherent shriek escaped it. Unlike Lani, she couldn't find a single word to express her horror. That much blood... that much blood.

Conway blinked with surprise at the sudden entrance of two people. He heard the word father escape one of the figures as he took his exit through the window, crown in hand. Something seemed to break in the boy as he left the room. Crap. He had killed someone with a family. The thought really had never occurred to him. He cursed himself silently.

At least his employer was going to get what was coming to him.

[The Jenn]

Lani couldn't so much as twitch a muscle until the giant bird jumped out the window and flew off into the night with her father's crown. Then she made a choking noise, stared at what was very obviously her father's unmoving corpse, and shrieked as her sister had done.

Without another sound, she turned tail and ran from the room, not to go and hide but to find her uncle. If anyone, anyone at all knew what to do at a moment like this, Bernard would be the person. "Uncle Bernard!" she howled as she ran up to his door, trying the knob frantically two or three times before she realized that it was well and truly locked. Her eyes twitched across the hallway, trying to find anything that she could use to break down the door or get in or anything, but nothing presented itself. Why wasn't Bernard's door open?! This late wasn't late for him and he was always working at night. He never slept normal hours.

"UNCLE BERNARD!" she screamed in front of his door, shoving her side against it and only narrowly missing her wings in the process.

[Kari Muffin]

Viola watched her sister bolt out of the room, leaving her in a state of shock. The most unfortunately thing about not having legs was not being able to run as much as you wanted to. After a brief moment of staring at what was her Father she turned around to slither as quickly as she could away from the scene. She swallowed hard as she listened to Lani screaming at Uncle Bernard's door. This wasn't... he wouldn't be able to fix this. Father was dead. Father was in a puddle of blood on the floor.

After what seemed like an eternity, the snake deer caught up with her sister. She was very much crying and very much not able to look at anything besides what was directly in front of her. She would never be able to forget what she had just seen.

--

It took half the night to get to the inn. Conway lost his guise of his employer before slipping into the inn in his human form. The bell rang, of course, but no one was around to notice. He assumed that the man was in his room, and wasn't going to stick around long enough for him to be traced. Holding his spine as he quickly made his way up the stairs, he knocked on the door where the man had been previously. He didn't seem the type to change his room. "I've come for my money," Conway hissed through the door as she clutched the crown. Hurry up, idiot.

[The Jenn]

It was late - early, really - and Blaine was lying in bed, waiting impatiently and groggily to fall asleep. He was a tad bit drunk, not enough to actually impair him but enough to leave him feeling alternately lighter and heavier than he would otherwise. When he heard a faint hissing at his door, he couldn't tell what or who it was, he just heard the urgency in it. The knock a moment ago had helped. Muttering to himself, he shoved to his feet and stalked over to the door, opening it cautiously before recognizing who was on the other side.

"You... what are you doing back here so soon? Need more money? More information?" He almost started sneering until the faint glimmer of moonlight from his bedroom window in the jeweled piece in the human's hand caught his attention. Yellow eyes became impossibly wide and he yanked the other man in, closing the door quickly and locking it. "You did it?" he hissed in disbelief.

With a snatch, he took the crown and inspected it, seeing the insignia and crafting of gems. "Yes," he snarled in satisfaction. "You obviously did. This is the same crown my wife wore before I stabbed the bitch. I can't believe that excuse for a son of mine actually wore it..."

[Kari Muffin]

What? What had he just said? His son. He had ordered to have his very own son be killed! Conway growled, something that was even menacing coming from such a young man. He narrowed his eyes and pointed to his hand. "I did the fucking job, now give me the money. I don't give a damn about your sick and disgusting plot to murder people you're supposed to love."[/b]

If he didn't get the money he would very much take it, regardless of what the bird did or said. At least the ass was going to get was coming to him. Conway just needed to hurry. He stared at the man and waited for him to cough up the cash before he could bolt straight to Capital City. His sister's bills would be paid for and Conway wouldn't have to worry about her being thrown out on the street.

It didn't make the feeling go away. The guilt that was welling up inside him. Oh, what had he done?

[The Jenn]

Blaine looked at the young man with an obvious sneer now, but couldn't honestly complain considering what he had just done. "Good, take the money and run. I'd rather not see your hairless face around here any longer, boy. Nice job."

Saying nothing more, he went back to his bed - the same place he'd hidden the previous stash of money, the fool - and pulled out an equal share. It didn't do to skimp an assassin, but that also didn't mean he had to be especially nice to a mouthy child who was feeling uncomfortable with himself. He shoved the money at him and snorted. "And in case you didn't notice, you were the one who murdered people I was 'supposed to love'. Too bad I couldn't get you to include my brother in there, but he would have been a hell of a lot more chancy and I wasn't willing to fork up the cash for both of them. Maybe I'll still get him to myself one day. Now git."

Turning his attention back to the crown in his hand, he effectively ignored the man, a 'dismissal' like the King of Hearts he had once been.

[Kari Muffin]

Conway hissed at the man's disrespect. He said, using his ability to hush his voice completely, "You'll get a chance to meet him sooner than you think. I'm so happy you got your wish, and I'm getting mine." A grin crept onto the Hisstor's face as he turned around to leave. He didn't bother to hide the sound of his spine as he rushed down the stairs.

He ran out of the inn, panting. What had he done? He had murdered THE Queen of Hearts in cold blood without a second thought? He had helped some bastard kill his son, who was a father. He had children, and those children had found his corpse on the floor. It was all Conway's fault! He had just caused one of the greatest disasters in all of the Courts and it was all his fault! He had to get to Capital City as soon as possible. He had to see June. Would she even forgive him for such a horrible thing?

[Nathalia]

Bernard was jolted out of a sound sleep. His head jerked off of the table, a piece of paper covered in notes stuck to the side of his face, his hair was in tangles and his eyes were bruised looking.

His vision was fuzzy and he stumbled upright at the banging and screaming.

"I- What?"

He raced over to the door tripping over the chair as he got upu and crashing heavily to the floor, he bit his lip and cursed under his breath. That had at least woken him up fully and he recognized the voice.

"Lani? Lani, what is it?"

He tore the door open to stare down into their faces, ready to run wherever they told him.

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Gaston pounded down the hallway in his nightshirt. His face was a mask of confused terror, his girls were screaming WHY?

"Girls? Girls!? Where are you, what's-"

He skidded to a halt, exchanging a panicky look with Bernard who looked half dead.

"Girls, what's going on?"

[The Jenn]

Lani panted in front of the door as she heard a crashing sound from inside, proof that Bernard was there and alive and- oh gods, she hadn't even thought of that, what if he'd been attacked by that bird too and was already lying in a pool of his own blood like their father?!

A choked noise of relief made it out of her throat when Bernard flung open the door and frantically asked her what was going on. He was okay, he could help... and then her Daddy showed up and a sob of relief actually did tear itself free from her throat before she could hold it back. Adults, authority figures, people she trusted, older than her, they could do something. "Father... somebody stabbed Father! In his room, a giant Highland bird with yellow hair and a knife dripping with blood, he just jumped out the window! Father's on the ground and I don't think he's breathing, and I think he might be d-d-dead." The last word was half-sobbed as she tried to catch her breath and stop everything from being so confusing.

"Daddy, what do we do?" she whimpered and looked at Gaston.