For just a few seconds longer, Alexi stared through the peephole into his daughter's cell. Long enough to remind himself that the dormant dragon scale sconces needed new slivers of light. They could no longer use candelabra or oil lamps around Liliana; fire terrified her and Alexi had convinced himself it was one of the few signs of humanity left in his child...

He sighed and squeezed his eyes shut. With both palms propped against the heavily timbered door, he prayed to the dark lady for her assistance while simultaneously listening to Lily's moans. The chain shackled to her leg scraped along the floor as she paced back and forth at the end of its reach. "Oh my sweet, sweet girl," Alexi lamented through the door. She still heard things, but he doubted her comprehension and whether she even remembered.

Fomenting any sort of apology these days just sank unspoken into the deepest pits of his heart. Magic did this to her. Remembering that made him ball both hands into fists. He shoved them hard into the collection of oak timbers and ground them against the door until he felt the abrasion. The door itself never budged.

"Alexi..." Miriam started.

"Not now." He ground his knuckles harder against the oak. The pain kept him from yelling. It didn't save him every night, of course. But tonight it helped. Miriam's presence was a lingering protest behind him and it only grew worse when she stepped closer.

"The ground alicorn and phoenix tree ash are dwindli--"

"I'll find more!" he spat in her direction. Eyes wide and clutching her throat, his sister-in-law retreated, melting back into the shadows of the hallway. There was no point in shouting after her or blaming her. He did so every other night, but it never stopped Lily's slow deterioration. The decay was taking over. A fingernail here. A clump of hair there.

The dark lady's advice had saved her eyes but now they were cloudy and blind with cataracts. Holding his breath, Alexi turned his attention to the peep hole again. Fetid death wafted through it and snaked up his nose. That walking corpse in there was his daughter! Magic did this to her.

No. You did this to her.

"There has to be a cure." He turned away, letting one hand slip free of the door while fingertips from his other hand lingered to caress the wood. As he curled them away, too, he vowed quietly, "Magic did this, my darling Lily. Magic can undo it, too.

It must."

***

You wouldn't take him for a necromancer, and quite frankly, he came by it accidentally. By day, Alexi Orem is Prince Baros Trevian's personal valet. He clothes and feeds his liege all while staying up with the latest trends. Does his books, and keeps all of his personal records. But, by night, Alexi has the darkest of secrets and for years has suffered the consequences of one bad, untimely decision.

(Thanks for lookin'. )