Chapter Text
There were only two constants in your formative years. Your mother, Eda Clawthrone, or Eda The Owl Lady, as she was referred to on the streets (as well as the WANTED posters she gave up trying to hide from you as soon as you could read). And of course, the BAT’s. Bard’s Against the Throne.
Raine and their gang of rebels were the best family you could have asked for, Raine themselves being something of a second parent to you with how much time they spent with Eda. You couldn’t fool yourself into thinking it was for anything other than planning attacks and carefully timed demonstrations however, despite how much the two blushed at each other for literally every tiny little thing.
As the years had stretched on however, your little family of rebels had grown far behind what they expected to, and with that, came more and more danger. Vividly your mind flashed with one dark autumn morning where you had awoken and went to the kitchen to get breakfast, only to scream as you were greeted with the sight of your mother bleeding out on the couch as Raine and a Healer coven witch worked on her. Eda winched as she took your small hand in hers, trying to calm you though her words were drowned out by your crying babbles of worry.
Shaking your head to clear your thoughts, your (h/c) locks shook with your movements as you brushed your bangs out of your face. At the moment you were just relaxing in your room, not having much to do as you knew there was an important meeting going on. You had desires to sneak down and see what they were planning when you were younger, despite your mother dragging you back to your room before you could even get close, but as the years had passed you found yourself less and less…concerned with whatever the King was doing.
Was it awful that Wild Witches such as your mother couldn’t practice as they wanted? Of course.
But was it so bad to be in a Coven?
Glancing at your Hexside uniform, the (C/C) uniform glared back at you, as if it was your mother scolding you for even thinking of tying yourself down to a Coven. Letting out a huff of air you snapped shut the book you were reading, putting it down before standing up to stretch.
Usually you’d try not to interrupt, but it’s been weirdly quiet for a meeting so you figured it would be fine if you went downstairs for a quick snack before Mama Eda made dinner. Opening the door you slipped out and started to head down the hall, but paused seeing shadows in the living room…so they were still here. Carefully you began to head down the stairs, listening to the voices…the closer you got the clearer you could hear Raine talking to your mom.
“Eda, I know you’re worried…we’ve tried to think up something else, anything else to keep her out of danger but…there’s no one else-”
“No way Rainestorm. I can’t, not my owlet...Why can’t Amber go, she’d probably fit the slipper’s better then (Y/N), and she’s more…used to this sort of mission.”
Raising an eyebrow you stalked closer, wincing as you felt the house creak, but thankfully another voice cutting through had taken attention away from the sound of your mistake. It was a voice you’d heard before but never seen its owner. “Amber already tried them on and they don't fit. The role requires a young girl close to the prince’s age, and that’s (Y/N). I’m sorry Owl Lady, but I promise me and Eberwolf will make sure she has a safe escape route, and it’s a masquerade ball. No one will be able to connect her to the murder.”
Eyes widening you couldn’t help the gasp that escaped your lips, covering your mouth too late as the room went silent. Hearing the scrape of the chair you turned on your heels and began to run back up the stairs, the voice of your mother yelling at you to come back muffled.
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A few hours later, a knock came from the door…when there was no answer, Eda pushed it open quietly, holding in her hands a plate of food…seeing her owlet curled up in a blanket fort. Sighing softly she pushed open the door fully and stepped inside, sitting on the end of the mattress. “Kid you can’t hide from me in there…how much did you hear?”
Slowly, after a few moments of silence, (Y/N) poked their head out of the blanket, eyeing the food before sighing softly and looking ahead. “Not much…just me going on my first mission…which is murdering the prince.”
Biting her lip, Eda put down the plate before sighing, deciding to just come clean. Leaning back on her hands she looked up at the ceiling, her eyes focusing on the patterns in the wood as she nodded her head slightly. “Yes….we recently raided one of the King’s Viscount’s home…where we found out he’s planning on holding a ball to celebrate Prince Hunter’s birthday. We also found the Viscount’s niece staying with him…we came up with a plan to use one of our own, and disguise them as the…recently deceased Viscount’s niece coming in his place.”
(Y/N) had become still…Eda could see them shaking a bit, almost could hear the questions bouncing around in her head. When there was no answer, Eda leaned in and gently placed her hand on their shoulder, ignoring the flinch from the contact.
“Listen (N/N)...we won’t force you to go. But…this could be our chance. With the Prince gone the royal family would be thrown into a frenzy. Darius would have an opening to break them from the inside..I’ve worked so, so hard to keep you from this my owlet…to give you a chance to live a life beyond this. If you walk away now, I would still love you.”
The air hung heavy…but slowly, you turned to look up at her. Conflicting emotions shone in your eyes, but with a heavy sigh and a curt nod, you looked up at your mother.
“I’ll do it.”
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The day’s following had been some of the hardest days of your life. There was one month before Prince Hunter’s birthday, and as you had no prior training in combat Darius had taken it upon himself to teach you.
He apparently was the Abomination’s Coven Head you found out after talking to him for the first time. You didn’t much like him, his “better-than-you” attitude and utter lack of humor however was a good fuel for straining yourself to work harder so you could at least beat him once. You were skilled in most types of magic, but you had to admit you were rusty with abomination magic.
In Between fighting lessons and your usual Hexside schooling, you were also being taught pretty much the entire royal family history while getting fitted for the dress you would wear to the prince’s birthday, your disguise as Viscount Tibbles' niece. While you had never seen the prince before then, you were able to see him as you were getting measured, your arms outstretched and legs pinned together to make sure they would get the right measurements.
You remembered blinking a few times, confused why they were showing a picture of Prince Caleb, but your mother told you that that was Prince Hunter. Upon closer inspection you realized Prince Hunter’s eyes were a wine red, while Caleb’s were brown, that clashed with the darkened eyebags that, mixed with the tight frown on his face, gave him an air of…tired annoyance. And then there was the scar that ran across his cheek, as well as the chip taken out of his left ear. If it weren’t for the crown atop his head you would have mistaken him for one of the guards.
“You will refer to him as “You’re Majesty” at first, but try to get close to him. It will be hard, he’s not very good at making friends, but you must keep his attention on you.” The sound of Darius’s voice snapped you out of your thoughts, looking at him instead of the picture.
“Keep in your sights until Midnight, and then, before the clock strikes, take him out to the balcony. Me, Eberwolf, and Raine will keep the King and the other Coven Head’s away long enough for you to do the deed and escape out of the servant’s quarters.”
Your eyes darted to the map of the castle on the table a few feet away, trying to follow the white escape line drawn before looking back over to him with a raised eyebrow. “What if there are servants resting there? Won’t I be caught?”
“Eberwolf will cause a mess, any servants not serving food or waiting on the king will be called to clean up. Belos hates having a mess when there are guests nearby. Kayta will also be waiting outside, if there is a problem blow on this whistle, it’s tuned to a song only BAT’s members can hear.” Raine placed a small red whistle in your hands, smiling at you encouragingly…
Their usual warm smile did nothing but send shivers down your spine…how easily they had planned out the murder of a young man your age…the thought that if you were in Hunter’s place, would they…shaking your head to clear those thoughts you clutched the item with a nod.
“Alright let’s hurry up, we can’t wait forever for this dress to be made and (Y/N) is still too rusty with their blocking.”
Eda rolled her eyes and helped you down from the pedestal, the tailor writing down some numbers on her clipboard with a slight nod. “Listen Goopy, I’m pretty sure my little owlet can take care of herself just fine. Beside’s, she just has to have one good stab to the chest and he’ll go down. No need to defend herself if this is just a quick assassination.”
Your stomach turned, wanting to shout at your mother to stop saying such horrible things…you hated this. Hated seeing this side of your mother. You could barely hear them arguing with Raine attempting to stop them, shaking your head as you left the room to get ready for another sparring session…
Looking down at your hands, you winched seeing the growing number of scars from working your hands to the bone practicing the perfect punch, the perfect block…your skin drenched in blood flashed in your eyes before you screwed them tightly shut, closing your hands into fists…
You had to do this…for the good of the Isles, for the good of the rebellion. For the good of your Mother.