"I should like that, mother. I think there are a great many things I could do to please Khaos." I say this a bit absently, my mind starting to wander as I imagine the ways in which my academic curiosity and service to the god can intersect. Perhaps my deeds will be a useful way to get the answers to the burning questions I have about life and death.
Death. There is a certain sweetness to it, an addictive quality that makes me itch to move on to greater things than starlings. I eye the dumb animals with disgust. After all, it is their own fault that they aren't wiser and quicker. I suppose age would have made them grow in those things.
Now they will never have the chance.
The third starling is quiet, maybe terrified or maybe too stupid to know what is going on. It if tries to move I adjust my leg so one dainty hoof is blocking its path. The tone of mother's voice captures my attention suddenly and I tune back in to her words. I am smart enough to realize that her question is a injunction and not a request. Still, I pause as if pondering. It wouldn't do to let anyone think I am quick in judgements.
"Yes Mother. I promise."
I glance skyward then, my bright purple eyes wide with interest. I have not yet learned that to keep your cards close at hand is the better play. For I am still young, yet, and my purple winged brother is enough to startle anyone.
I am not ashamed of the dirt and blood that mars my form, am not even really conscious of it. But if my brother is bothered by it, I will endeavor to please him. Family comes first, after all. Noticing my mother and sibling's disapproving looks, I rub my nose against my leg until the worst of the grime is gone. I eye my brother's wings curiously, somewhat in awe but not overly willing to show it.
"Hello brother. I am Kersey." I dip my head slightly in a gesture of deference. "Which one are you?"
I nudge the little starling forward, the third and last remaining one alive. "I've been practicing and learning a bit with this one's family and I wondered if perhaps you would like the third as a gift. They are rather interesting, the way the light leaves their eyes."
I smile casually. I wonder what my brother will have in store for me.
the academic executioner
daughter of carnage and killgore