Wherever you go, It won't be happily.

You stumble to the ground, tears welling up in your eyes. Akina stands over you and hands you a cloak, "Here. It's going to rain." another rumble of thunder pierces the silent night air. You wrap your arms around yourself and start sobbing profusely. Thoughts about your father, mother, and brother well up inside you. Memories about all of the good times and happy moments surface. Things that will never happen again.

Akina wraps her arms around you, attempting to comfort you. It only makes things worse as you reminisce about your parents' embrace. "Come on. I don't mean to sound heartless, but we can't stay here. It's too close to the castle. We have to keep moving" she unfurls the cloak and wraps it around your shoulders and gently pulls you up to your feet. "We're heading to Senna. Once we arrive and get some rest, we can start planning our next move."

It was raining. You think grimly that the skies themselves weep for your loss. Between the darkness and the pouring down rain, you can barely make out the form of Akina ahead of you. The cloak does well against the bone-chilling rain, but your feet were still soaked to the bone as were your lower legs. You shiver and concentrate on the path ahead of you. Senna was a small farming village just a few hours to the east of the capital. It had an inn, but little else. You squint and see the faint lights in the fog. You seem to have made it. Akina leads you to the inn and steps in and you follow.

You have never been so relieved to be in a warm, dry place. You start to pull your cloak off, but Akina stops you before manage. "Not yet."

Then she steps up to the bar. The Innkeeper is a portly fellow, balding and preparing to serve breakfast to the morning goers. He grunts, "Quite the storm out there. Worst I've seen in years. What can I do for you?"

Akina puts a few gold coins on the table, "Room for two?"

The innkeeper snaps up the coins and lays a key on the counter. "Up the stairs. Third door on the right"

"Thank you" she motions for you to follow and the two of you head upstairs to the room. The beds, if you wanted to call them that, were not in very good condition. However, you could care less. As soon as you get your water soaked cloak and shoes off, you collapse on the bed and let sleep take you.

It's late afternoon before you finally wake up. For a moment you have a hazy thought that everything is fine in the world and you're back in bed, but then the events from the night before come crashing down on you and you quickly sit up. You look over at Akina's bed to see her sitting up in it staring at the door. "Good morning."

You think it's time for some answers. "What happened. Last night"

She turns and looks at you. Her eyes are bloodshot. You don't think she's slept at all, "I couldn't save them. Your father and brother."

"But what happened?"

"Do you really need me to tell you? Your mother happened. She killed them."

You're shocked that she's implicated your own mother, "what! No....I..."

I find it hard to believe you have never suspected her true self." It's true, you think. Once upon a time you did stumble in on mother taking a bath in the springs. She had great wings and a tail, along with fiendish skin. However, you knew she was her mother. It was almost instinct. Akina continues, "There was another who knew and I failed to save... Lady Vessa. She was also killed by her back before you were born. She came to me, before she died, and told me everything. How Queen Marissa was actually a succubus and how dangerous that was..." You see a tear trickle down her face. She certainly regrets her failure.

You had heard tales of Lady Vessa. How she was your father's Court Mage and then she suddenly disappeared one day. She was subject to much gossip by the servant girls and noble ladies alike, but most just thought she left. "I'm...Sorry."

Akina sniffs and rubs her eyes before getting out of bed, "It doesn't matter now. For now we need to decide on what to do next. We need to find a place where we can hide and not worry about Marissa's men finding us. Do you have any ideas?"