Penelope sat perched in a tree, overlooking the village that she was focused on burning down. Since her father had told her not to come back without the Chosen One’s head, she took it upon herself to take her time in achieving her mission. He was right; she had had her fun. Now it was time to end this. No more games. No more playing with her food, as her father liked to say. He can be such a buzzkill she thought as she dug the dirt under her fingernails away. She looked at her Hounds, which lay by her side, ready at any moment for her command.
A rush of wind rushed toward her, almost knocking her off the tree. Her eyes turned the violent shade of yellow as she jumped off the tree limb and extracted her claws. She knew who it was without so much as a second thought. “This is my kill Raven,” Penelope hissed. “Get lost, before I have my dogs rip you apart.”
Raven smiled, her hand on the hilt of her sword. “Do you really want this to end in bloodshed sister? Father sent me here to make sure you did your job. Consider me your shadow until the mission is complete.”
“Does he really not have faith in me?”
Raven laughed, her purple eyes never off her sister. “Is that a rhetorical question? If he did, do you honestly think I would be here babysitting you?”
Penelope had heard enough. She lunged at her sister, her body as low to the ground as she could muster, swiping at her when she was within reach. She saw Raven sidestep, then deliver a crushing knee blow to her stomach, making her drop to the ground and lose her breath.
With the sun on her face and the overwhelming pain in her stomach, Penelope lay there defeated. When she opened her eyes, Raven was standing over her with her sword to her throat, her evil smirk unbearable for Penelope.
“Pathetic how you’re done after just one blow,” Raven said coldly. “If I wasn’t here, you would likely find a way to mess this up.”
Penelope slowly went to her knees and took deep breaths so she could get the air back in her lungs. “I just-I just want to make him proud. I want him to trust in knowing the fact that whatever he sets me out to do, it will be done without fail. You being here dampens that, and makes me realize that I won’t ever be as trusted and relied upon as you and the rest of our siblings.”
Raven had some pity for her sister. What she said was true, but her facial expressions remained the same. “Don’t look at it like that. I’ll tell you what.” She offered her hand to her sister, who reluctantly accepted. Once on her feet, she sheathed her sword and backed away a couple of meters. “I will not interfere with your mission so long as it’s going smoothly. If it goes smoothly, I will stand back and allow you to do what you desire. Father will be impressed once he hears that I didn’t have to get my feet dirty.”
“What’s the catch?”
Her older sister smirked. “Nothing. I just don’t want to go back to that musty smelling dungeon. We both want to impress father, but I see it more from your point of view of how important and crucial this mission is to you and not me.” Raven extended her hand to her sister, who was being extremely cautious. “Do we have a deal?”
Penelope slowly reached for it and, once she had her fingers around Raven’s palm, pulled her in to where her other hand had her claws on Raven’s throat. “You deceive me in any way and I won’t care about what father does to me. I will kill you where you stand.” She let go and headed back toward her spot in the tree.
Father treats you the way he does because you’re an orphan compared to me and my brothers Penelope heard Raven say to her inner thoughts. She stopped in her tracks with her head down, closing her eyes and doing her best to breathe steadily. She shook her head and went on her way, not giving Raven the satisfaction of the doubt that she was living rent free in her mind.