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It was Lilia who found her first. He'd been summoned to the villa by a frantic call from one of the many servants, her voice almost inaudible from all the screaming
A horrifying sight greeted him when he entered the master bedroom.
Sakomi was lying on the bed, surrounded by blood, a piece of her own black briar shoved through her chest. She wasn't moving...wasn't breathing...
Lilia's heart dropped to his feet as he took several shaky steps into the room. He'd seen dead bodies before, but nothing compared to this.
"Oh, Sakomi..." He murmurs in a sad tone, before noticing something on the beside table. It was a note, a necklace with a dragon scale pendant, and one of Sakomi's many sketchbooks.
Realizing that there was only one way to learn what had happened, Lilia picked up the dragon scale pendant and cast his unique magic on it.
Within seconds, he knew what had happened. He was transported to the massive Senate council room within the Wild Rose castle, and he could see Sakomi standing before Queen Maleficia and the Royal Senate. A position he himself had been in many times...each time more demoralizing than the last.
"We have tolerated Malleus' dalliances long enough," one council member said. Lilia couldn't make out who it was, but it didn't matter. "I don't see why you even bothered to come here, human."
Sakomi visibly brustled, her hands clenched into fists. "You can't change his heart," she says. "And he won't change his mind."
"Then we will have to change it for him. A human girl marrying our prince? Maleficent forbid!"
There was a murmur of agreement from the other members of the Senate.
"You would take his soulmate from him, then?" Sakomi asks, voice trembling. "I was sent to him for a reason, by forces far more powerful than you! It's clear none of you care about him or what he wants!"
"SILENCE, HUMAN!" The roar of one of the older members shook the room. "You are not Worthy of our Prince. We have put up with you long enough. You are to leave our kingdom. Where you go and what you do is of little concern to us, but you are no longer welcome here."
Sakomi stood stock still, unable to process what was being said. "You're banishing me?"
"It's clear that the Prince won't listen to reason, so we will simply force him in line, and that begins by making sure you are unable to tempt him into any more bad decisions."
Sakomi, in a burst of despair, spat at them. "Lilia was right about you! All of you, you horrible, bigoted, unfeeling fae! Whatever fate befalls you at Malleus' hands... whatever happens next....it will be on your heads!" Tears streamed down her face as she screamed, her voice shaking with sobs."You will have done all this to yourselves! Rather than let your prince be happy and marry me, whom he loves, you would rather banish me and force him to do something he doesn't want! I hope he burns you all to the ground!"
Silence fell across the chamber and then Sakomi turned her eyes to the Queen.
"You're his grandmother, you're supposed to want what is best for him. But I suppose deep grief and eternal guilt will ice over even a loving heart."
And with that, Sakomi fled the chamber.
As Lilia emerged from the memory, he felt his heart shatter. This was what he'd been afraid of.
Lilia had long held a grudge against the Royal Senate. He'd never forgiven them for his own banishment how they'd blamed him for Mallenor's death. And his resentment only grew after they had gotten angry at him for being the one to hatch Malleus, tearing the two apart in the process. He had only agreed to be Malleus' guardian at Night Raven College because the Queen had personally asked him.
Lilia had tried to warn Malleus that the Royal Senate wouldn't approve of Sakomi, no matter what, that they would value the purity of the dragon fae bloodline above all else, but he had never dreamed that they would banish her.
"You didn't have to do this," Lilia whispered as he touched Sakomi's face. The words were a lie Lilia wanted to believe that they weren't, but they were. Sakomi wasn't from this world and she couldn't go back. There had been few options.
As he waited for Malleus to arrive and for the inevitable to come, Lilia decided to read the note Sakomi had left behind.
Dear Malleus,
I'm sorry. I'm sorry for leaving you this way, I'm sorry that we couldn't be together and I am sorry that this is how I say goodbye.
The Royal Senate decided that I am unworthy of you and banished me from Briar Valley. They wouldn't listen to anything that I had to say on the matter and it was clear that they wouldn't listen to you, either.
I can never return to my own World, so banishment was essentially sentencing me to death. They said that they didn't care what became of me, so long as I was gone.
I didn't want to leave you this way, but I had no other choice. I would rather die by my own hand than meet my end at the hands of another.
Malleus, I am so happy I met you and for the brief time that we spent together. You and your love will always remain my most cherished memories. Even though I am no longer here, please know that I will always be with you...and that I will always love you.
Yours eternally,
Sakomi
As Lilia finished reading the note, his eyes full of tears, he noticed storm clouds rapidly gathering outside. Lightning crashed across the darkened sky and a rumble of thunder echoed, loud enough to shake the villa.
Malleus knew.
Lilia braced himself as the storm raged outside.
Malleus' appearance was sudden, filling the doorway with his broad body as his bright chartreuse eyes observed the scene before him.
" No... "
"Malleus...."
" NO!! IT'S NOT TRUE! ". In a matter of seconds, he was on the bed, blood splattering in every direction as he picked up Sakomi's body, removing the Briar as though it would wake her. "Wake up, my darling, open your eyes, look at me...Sakomi... please ... don't leave me!"
But Sakomi remained still.
Malleus shook her a few more times before the horrible truth dawned on him and then, he clutched her close, sobbing.
Lilia felt his soul constrict in grief at the awful scene. This was what he had wanted to avoid, but had been powerless to stop. "... Malleus..."
The prince ignored him, and his sobs slowly began to intensify. Soon, he was screaming in grief and rage, loud enough for the floor beneath their feet to shake.
" WHAT HAS HAPPENED?! "
The ancient bat fae took a deep breath and tried to steady himself. He didn't want to be the one who told his ward the truth, but he knew it had to be done. "The Royal Senate. .."
The words had barely left his lips before Malleus began shouting.
"Did they do this?! Did they take my rose away from me?!"
"..in a matter of speaking..."
Silence fell at that and Lilia watched as Malleus' posture stiffened, his grip on Sakomi tightening as he put the pieces together.
"They left her with few choices the moment they decided to banish her. Malleus...I am sorry. I am. But...she...."
The guttural growl silenced whatever Lilia was going to say next.
Sakomi's final words to the Senate echoed in Lilia's mind.
" Whatever fate befalls you at Malleus' hands... whatever happens next, it will be on all of your heads!"
"Malleus, please...." Lilia knew it was probably hopeless, but he had to try anyway. "... it's not..."
"It is bad enough that they tried to take you from me, but I will never forgive this... my precious wild briar rose...they did this to her...they stole her from me...stole our happiness..." Malleus' voice shook, the windows seeming to raffle in response.
Lilia would never defend the Royal Senate and secretly relished the idea that those stuffy bigots would finally get what was coming to them, but he also felt he had to do his duty and comfort the prince he considered his son.
"I know how much you loved her, Malleus. And I am sorry."
Malleus looked at Lilia in grateful acknowledgment before he pressed a loving, final kiss to Sakomi's cold lips.
And then, he made a final promise to her, one that burned with centuries of rage.
"Fear not, my rose...your death won't go unpunished. They will answer for this...they will answer for everything."