It seemed that the hex and the curse of immortality were unrelated. Lewis clicked his tongue in annoyance. The curse wouldn’t let her speak of it. But a white haired man? It was a single clue, but based on just that alone, it was nothing to go off of. It would be better to deal with the hex first, and the curse later.
“Here,” he said as he took the tonic and mixed it with some fresh tea, handing it over to her.
As she sipped on the tea, Lewis thought about the source of the hex, and the best way to go about breaking it. There were plenty of people here at the temple that knew how to break hexes. Once Simone fell back asleep, Lewis wandered down to the library, and started to look up a few different books on hexes.
It didn’t take him long to locate one that had a similar effect to what Simone was feeling. This particular spell used something that was strongly leaked with the one they were inflicting the curse on. A favorite necklace, a lookalike doll, a strand of hair…anything would do. It was placed on a ritual circle, and a variety of different incantations were recited. As long as the object remained, the hex would remain in effect.
“Great…so it’s likely her hair…” he said to himself. He closed the book. Time for a visit to Emil Somerset…
—
It had been a long time since Lewis had broken into a place as a mere thief. He slipped down the halls of the elegant mansion, and looked about the main rooms for any semblance of a shrine. It took him a few hours, but in the end there was nothing to show for it. He cursed himself, and moved to the main hall.
Wait…leftover invitations? He picked up one of them. A funeral and a ‘death celebration’ were happening. Ah. A way to dispose of the evidence. It’s likely that he’s burying everything related to her in a ‘closed casket.’ The invitation stated that the funeral had already passed, but the celebration of her death was ongoing. It listed an address not too far from Emil’s mansion, only a block down from the local cemetery.
It didn’t take Lewis long to find the fresh grave for Simone Somerset. There were a few flowers scattered across the headstone and dirt. Lucky for Lewis, they hadn’t quite cleared out all the of the equipment from burying the empty casket.
“Time to get to work, I guess…” Lewis grabbed a shovel, and started to dig…
—
Lewis was in luck. IThe dirt barely had any time to settle, so it was easy enough to dig out the casket. Furthermore, nobody seemed interested in coming back to check up on her grave…nobles could be such wretches when it came to their false sympathies. Emil was likely drowning in wine, thankful that his problems were over…
He opened the casket, and smirked as he saw the objects inside. Papers from the assassination contracts that he had signed. A rusted shackle. And a vial with a single hair in it. He took both the shackle and the vial, leaving the papers. These were the only things that might link her, so he planned on destroying both of them.
He didn’t bother re-burying the casket. Let the bastard Emil panic that his secret might have gotten out. That wasn’t Lewis’ problem….
Hours later, he returned to the temple an absolute mess. For the time being, Simone was okay, so he could toss the shackle and hair into the fire later. For now, he needed to rest. He plopped down on the couch in the main common room, and closed his eyes. Digging holes was quite exhausting…
