They've held out for a year. The siege does not appear likely to end. I suspect they have a dungeon in their capital. They say all you need to cultivate a dryad grove is prisoners. Prisoners. I get up from my cot and start writing a missive.

  -----

  They get caught from time to time. Attempting to break through the encirclement. To flee. I look at the five Elves. They glare at me. Murmurs of the devourer of Arc'nila resound amongst them. I never ate a soul and yet that is the slander they chose.

  “You five are being released back to the capital. I require you to deliver a message.”

  “You can write any geas you want in us, they will cut us down before trusting any released by you, witch.”

  I grab the outspoken one jaw, already pushing the magic into his blood. “Oh, I very much hope they do. Make sure to bleed on them.”

  He blinks at me a bit before sneering at me. We make a whole show of it, parading them to the front gate and pushing them out. They walk through the barrier. Citizens of their country.

  Malcor walks up next to me. “That seemed pointless.” I smile as the first is cut down. He hugs the guard. Bathing him in blood. The other four suffer the same fate.

  “Get ready to assault the barrier, in two…no three days.” I said to an aide.

  “Cea?”

  I turn to Malcor. He has a question on his face. “Just something I've been working on dear. I've yet to try it using another's mana.”

  “To do what?”

  “To apply more geas.”

  “That do what?”

  I smile.

  -----

  I walk into the capital. A bit aghast at the carnage. A simple command, a mixture of sustainer, mental and water magic. To produce more blood with the command to produce more blood. Their bodies exploded. Then they would infect more and explode more. The barrier fell quickly, the population maintaining it was devastated. The higher tiers were incapable of defending against this plague. They would resist it of course but each time would whittle their reserves. Each time would whittle their sanity.

  “Cea…this is…”

  I want to agree with him. That I went too far. But our soldiers are alive. I look at Malcor.

  “I did what was necessary. Burn it all down.”

  Necessary. This place would become a haven of undead if left standing. Let their Tapestries find their way.

  I try not to think too hard on those most susceptible to my bit of magic. Knowing their small bodies will haunt my dreams.

  -----

  The winds of winter have started arriving. Malcor has decided to return to his guild hall. He can't bear to look at me anymore. I think I might need to find a new mate. To move on.

  There have been reports of a magical plague. Retaliation from those who scorn me for what was necessary. The king forbade me from ever using the magic again and yet our enemies seek to exploit my work. There was a knock on my door.

  A familiar Elf is let in. He looks nervous. I believe I had assigned him to the hybrid village. Quaint little community.

  “Doctor, is something amiss.”

  “Ah [Marques] Cea, plague has hit my post. I learned a terribly cruel truth.” I raise my eyebrow, he continues. “I had to cull some of the young to allow for rebirth. Better their lives start anew than to live years of agony.”

  I frown, Lark logic. That it is better to have the best Larks than a long agonizing one. That it has pervaded the medical community as well seems we will soon be all saying it. Some even claim that reaching tier four is a future burden. Nonsense. Then again, I still am on my first. War has brought me to tier five already.

  “And?”

  “Ah yes, well an Elf Tapestry fell apart after doing so.”

  My mind blanks. Fell apart. Fell…apart. “I don’t understand.”

  He audibly gulps, “It fell apart, I fear they are gone forever.”

  “How many?”

  “Just the one in my care so far, I certainly wasn't going to risk more before we knew more.”

  One was too many. A tragedy. I will need to see their first parents. To deliver the terrible news, as was my duty.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  “I will need a name and who their first parents were.”

  The doctor pales.

  -----

  The throne room was silent, and littered with bodies. My mother's voice had just asked me if I wish to claim sovereignty. An absurd function of the system. I was a king slayer and I am to be rewarded. I do. A queen now, I walk to the former queen's bed chamber. She is there with her guardian. They both look at me with hatred in their eyes.

  “Cea, I suppose you have come for my head then.” The former queen spoke.

  “Not exactly.”

  Her guardian readies their sword and shield. I was next to her, my hand on head. Watch the door for intruders. She negates it five times before her eyes dulls and she takes her position. The queen panics, she has a dagger. I grab her wrist at her clumsy thrust. She never went to the front lines. A kept thing for Arcond pleasure. I drained her mana, knowing she could not do the same back.

  “Lay on the bed, do not move.”

  A lot of geas today. I take a moment to go through the check list. I had imagined it multiple times. When I day dream cruelties that would hurt no one but my sense of morality. I will need to start with myself. I set one parallel mind to keep control of my liquids. Another to hold my intestines. Another to hold my pain. I palm the knife and cut low on my belly. The parallel mind with pain writhes but holds. Everything holds. I found my most hated organ.

  I cut out my uterus and threw it to the ground. My audience's eyes grow wide not understanding why I have disemboweled myself. I come to the stationary queen. I begin cutting. She screams but I do not hear it. I take her uterus and place it where mine was. I heal and connect them through grafting, careful to not replace hers with my soul image.

  Mother whispers to me another exp value. The former queen has bled out. I turn to my last witness. Another whispered value.

  -----

  I walk into the guild hall, he winces when sees me. He kneels.

  “My [Queen].”

  Not Cea, not love, just my title.

  “I have need of you, my consort.”

  He pales, “Let me just get my things.”

  He walks into his office. I can already see his Tapestry unraveling. I've pushed him too hard, and too soon. His heart stops while in his office. I squeeze my eyes shut and open them again feeling a bit more colder. He has gone to wherever Tapestries dissolve. I can only hope he finds Binjal. I turn to my guard.

  “Are you willing to serve me?”

  He blanches but nods.

  -----

  Venessa was born to me with no complications. A first try. I felt bitter at how effortless the pregnancy was. How all those miscarriages meant nothing to those who were able. I walk to the former hybrid and now full Elf. It wasn't your fault. But tragedy must be prevented. I put a hand on her.

  “You are to kill any hybrid you see, failing that you must make every effort to report the hybrid so that others may succeed. You know that I hear my name spoken. Should you suspect someone of a hybrid you will investigate to ensure they are not. When you spark the soul of another, you pass this geas to them.”

  I take a breath. Then I reapply it as a few separate geas. To better cement it. Ah one final one.

  “Should you gain Telepathy, you will unconsciously send any spoken word to Cea that refers to her. When you spark the soul of another, you pass this geas to them.”

  Best to squash any rebellion before it takes root. The child squirms but it all settles. She fusses a bit and I bring her to my breast. That's a good girl. It's time to go meet your former lover.

  -----

  She still stared at me with murderous eyes. As her accuser, and her victim I was the one who held the knife.

  “You have been found guilty of contributing to the end of an Elf Tapestry. Do you have anything to say for yourself, Senadina?”

  She doesn't. Her throat is worn from her repeated torturing and lack of healing. I stab her heart. Her glare was steady till the end. Her Tapestry claimed and the spectacle over I walked off the stage.

  I need to find that guard from before, to ensure Sencea is sister to Vancea as fully as possible. I wouldn't want to break the set.

  -----

  Sencea looks happy gurgling at me. Unlike her sister, she will need a long life. I want her to remember. Every Lark. Perhaps a safe job then. Strive to be a smith, Sencea. Do your mother proud.

  The geas sets in the pink hair child. I will need to make sure she has a guardian. This will be the one Lark she won't remember being Vancea lover immediately. A pity I can't force this truth into her now. I think when Vancea gets herself killed I will have her Tapestry on hold. Yes, these two must always be born as a set. Another regulation to push onto the Central Tapestry Repository.

  I look at the map, three elven kingdoms remain. I will need to claim each of their sovereignty. It will be a slow project. Boys will spread my geas faster than girls. I think Arcond will be next. But he can't bear his old name. His inaction must be condemned, if he had taken the entire country in the first war instead of preserving the blasted monarchy, Binjal's Tapestry would still exist.

  I huff a sigh. I blame the former king for my failures. I think of Binjal's father, how all this crushed him. How I had failed him. My princess bore Cea in their names, then all my princes will be Cor. To honor, Malcor. The Elf who pushed me to keep on trying.

  -----

  This is a daily reminder: You have 416 unallocated stat points

  I sit up in my bed in the clinic, cupping my face. Giggling. I thought I was a monster before. Tears and a cackle. I hold no candle to Cea. I am to be her. How many executions should I schedule for myself? It's only the beginning. I have yet to slaughter the rest of the Elves yet. A blood plague and now I am the goddess of blood magic. Another titter escapes me. Should I end up going to old habits, how hard would it be to expunge every life on this planet? The laughter grows louder. I am hugged from behind.

  “You should be seeking vengeance not providing comfort Glindinal. I made you watch as I carved the uterus out of your [Queen].” I hissed. Then giggle.

  The hug grows tighter, “I failed that day to stop Cea, that was a lifetime ago. Three lifetimes.”

  “Yet here I am.” I plop a knife into my hand and force it into hers. “The head, Glindinal, I have no heart to carve.”

  “You are not her.” She growls as she lets go of the knife, it falls into my lap.

  “That is less true every day. I now bear the memory of how I wronged you.”

  “Ya, by eating the bitch who did it.”

  “But—.”

  “Her crimes are not your crimes. You are but a witness to them. You can't even claim to be the bearer of her original Tapestry. You're a devourer who is eating a sinner. Drag her to hell and remember her for what she has done.” She said with vehemence in her voice.

  I look to the side looking at my mirror. I see my body is once again Cea's. Will every time I dream be the same. Waking up in her body? I can feel her tears on my back, they fall at the rate my own do.

  Mags suggested I think of myself as more than Sara and Cea. Glindinal wants me to think of myself as a demon witnessing the crimes of a sinner. “Who am I to judge anyone?” I murmur.

  “I said witness, you have to be a god to judge someone.”

  I wince at her words. If I am what constitutes a god, we are all damned.