Diabolic bottle

Squeezing her face in frustration, Lily pushed through the crowd as her neck elongated trying to follow Denise.

She followed her into a narrow and secluded alley and eventually lost her.

Sighing in defeat, she turned back to leave when Denise suddenly showed up out of nowhere and blocked her path.

Denise's wrinkled face folded more as she frowned.

She looked different with dark lines lining the outer part of her eyes giving her a more fierce and fearful demeanor.

"Why did you abandon your mission?" Denise said calmly in a low growl. Her eyes glaring daggers and visible anger clouded her face.

Lily knew why she was angry but as much as she wanted to fulfill the task she was given, it was not a walk in the garden with the target being the royal family.

"I didn't abandon my mission I just..." Lily said with her eyes wavering as she searched for words to say. She always felt breathless whenever she was before Denise.

Fear has been instilled deep in her bones. Fear of not doing well. Fear of not pleasing Denise.

"I have eyes everywhere, seems like I need to remind you why you're there. You're not there to play dress up and drink tea with women of the high society!" Denise spat with disgust. "And why do you keep sticking with that cursed prince? Don't tell me..."

"Not at all Denise…" Lily refuted quickly without hearing the rest of what Denise had to say.

"Good," Denise praised. She gave Lily a dubious look before putting her hands in her animal skin bag and bringing out a bottle that looked too diabolical to the eyes. The bottle was wrapped tightly in red and black pieces of cotton and was tightly covered with a cork.

Denise stretched out her hands and waited for Lily to take the bottle, but Lily just stared at it awkwardly. She had never seen something so strange and fiendish looking.

"You won't take it?" Lily jolted after hearing the distaste in Denise's voice. Seeing the frown on Denise's face, she reached out for the bottle with shaky hands and collected it before she asked her questions.

"What's this?" She asked, eyeing the bottle weirdly as it sat uncomfortably in the middle of both of her palms.

"You don't need to know, just make sure you put it in the food made for everyone at the wedding tomorrow" sternly, Denise instructed.

"This is the last chance you have to redeem yourself."

"But that is impossible, many eyes will be watching me...I will get caught," Lily said frightfully.

"That is for you to handle." Denise turned to leave but paused and looked back at Lily, "Your focus is not the cursed prince alone but anyone bearing Maximilian as their last name. Deal with tbe rest and stay away from the cursed prince. He is bad luck." Denise warned before she walked out of the alley and disappeared into the crowd.

Lily stood in the alley for a while, goosebumps covering her skin the longer she stared at the bottle.

Hiding the bottle in the folds of her underclothing, she walked out of the alley looking lost.

She had an important task ahead, and she had no idea how to accomplish it. Moreover, she was not sure what the bottle contained.

It could be poison. Was she about to be a murderer?

The more she thought about it, the more scared she got, but she just could not follow Denise's orders.

She felt compelled almost like she had no will of her own and was being played like a puppet.

Lily walked aimlessly into the market, bumping into everyone in her way unfocused.

She jolted out of her deep thoughts when she felt a hand on her shoulder. It was Sabrina and Elena together with the few maids that came along with them to the market.

"Where have you been?" Sabrina questioned with her forehead creasing in worry.

"We've been looking for you for a while now, when did you leave?" Elena asked concerned.

"I.. um... Just went for a walk," Lily said hurriedly after stammering for a bit. She looked at the concerned faces of Sabrina and Elena and wondered how in the world she could bring herself to poison them.

"You should have informed us. You are not familiar with this kingdom, what if you meet bad guys," Sabrina innocently said almost in tears. She had thought she had lost Lily because she convinced her to come along.

"Thank the heavens it didn't happen. The shop just felt stuffy, and I just wanted to go for a walk," Lily explained to ease their worries.

"How was the gown, did you like it?" She changed the question immediately.

"The dress is so lovely," Sabrina's face lit up once Lily asked.

"The tailor did a wonderful job and..." Sabrina linked hands with Lily and began raving about how beautiful she felt in the dress. Elena watched fondly at the both of them as they walked back to where the carriage was packed.

***

"You decided to return?" Aziel stalked the beautiful lady that had staggered backward in fear. Her eyes wavered as she stared unbelievably at Aziel who had a wry smile etched on his lips.

"How did you find me?" She whispered, her beautiful lips quivering with each word she spoke.

"I don't answer ugly women..." Aziel smirked, "...which poor young lady did you kill again just to steal her face?" He asked and the lady's face flashed with anger.

"You..." She pointed at him. It was not hidden knowledge that witches were ugly creatures with scaly skins and ugly features. They always wore a cloak to hide their face but over the years they resulted in using black magic to steal the face of beautiful young maidens.

Once they got tired of their new look, they kill another maiden and take her face to feel prettier.

Aziel's comment was the last thing a witch would ever want to hear. It reminded them that under those beautiful skins that didn't belong to them, there was an ugly despicable person underneath.

"What? Am I not correct?" Aziel said, stalking her with his eyes squinting dangerously. He stalked her to the wall and used his hands to cover her face, pressing down on her skull with his fingers.

The lady let out a loud cry as sizzling hot smoke began to ooze from her face and her skin peeled, revealing her true self.

She fell to the floor in agony as she hysterically looked at her scaly hands. Her teeth were blackened, and her skin secreted pus and blood that came from the huge bumps on her skin.

"Oh, so it's you...Denise," Aziel squatted down and looked into their glaring eyes of Denise.

"Are you going to kill me now?" Denise asked in a cracked gruff voice.

"Not without sending a message to your boss," Aziel said. Picking up a stick that lay nearby, he placed it under her chin to lift her head.

"Tell her this..."