(Canon for 'The Black Hearts)

Four knights stood to each side of the throne in the dimly lit chamber, wearing armors the color of the darkest night, the same that seemed to meld with the shadows around them. Behind the knights, the silhouettes of children lined the walls, silent witnesses to the events that unfolded.

In the center of the room, a middle aged woman stood. She wore a long ivory gown, its corset laden with pearls and yet somehow ill-fitting. The woman’s hair was picked up in a complex bun, a fishnet studded with pearls adorning it. Despite her clothes’ appearance, her lips were colored perfectly, as perfect as the rest of the makeup in her face. She stood erect, proud, serious, but calm, a true noblewoman but for the chains that bound her hands and feet.

“Anneliqa Bardaux stands before us” the stern voice of a herald announced “is accused of murder, connivance, scheming and cruelty. Witnesses will attest to this. My Lords, do you have any words before I proceed?”

“No” said the knight on the throne.

The woman by his side raised her hand, and the world stood still. Her golden eyes appeared to shine brightly as the flame of the candles around her. Her skin was perfect like porcelain, unlike the straight, long hair that hung down, almost reaching her knees. Despite the differences, it was quite clear she was his twin “I am curious as to why you wear faded clothes, but the rest of you is so well kept.”

“It is the best I had,” the woman responded “I would not wear anything but the best to stand at the presence of the Lord and Lady of my land.”

Upon hearing the honorifics, a smile would appear on any woman’s face, but not on the face of the Lady who stood by the throne. She simply nodded, as she was known to do whenever approval was needed.

Do you have any words to your Lord, before you, and the rest of your House are judged?”

“I do” the woman spoke calmly. “If you, my Lord Valdemar Darkholm, allowed it” she added “I would like to tell my story…”

Valdemar’s eyes shone bright as molten gold “I would like to hear it.” The chains rattled as she began her tale, transporting all present ten years into the past…

“I am no murderer. My name is Anneliqa Bardaux, widow of Sir Wallen Bardaux, a noble knight of the third, who served at the side of the late Sir Valdemar, now the Lord Duke of Darkholm. After the ascendancy of Your Lordship, my husband continued to roam the land with his fellow knights. On one of their travels, my husband was murdered, poisoned at the hands of Lord Aleyande Decroix. My husband was my world, and with his death, my world fell apart.”

“After that, terrible times came upon us. My children and I had to sell almost all our possessions in order to make ends meet. While ruin fell upon us, the Decroix prospered. But a good mother will do anything to feed her children” her mood darkened as her lips drew a sinister smile “and I fed my children quite well…”

“…I taught them everything I could: etiquette, languages, art, servitude, anything and everything they needed to know so that, by sinking as low as life had cast them down, they could abandon all pride and slither, and infiltrate the ranks of the Decroix, becoming their trusted servants, their close friends…”

“…the day came when Lord Aleyande’s wife was with child. Everyone celebrated, for they had suffered in their quest to bring an heir to their House. Believe me, my Lords, we, the Bardaux, celebrated too…” the sinister smile was accompanied this time by hypnotic eyes like that of a snake.

“It was when the entire House came to Decroix Manor to celebrate the birth of the firstborn, when they gathered together to dine and celebrate, that the Bardaux struck. Every member of House Decroix fell, to the poison we had used in the food and drinks we prepared, all of them but one, Lord Aleyande himself. We remember the convulsing bodies on the ground. We remember the screams. We remember his screams when he found his heir dead on its crib. Lord Aleyande’s world fell apart. A world for a world, I guess we can call it.”

“So, my Lords, I will not lie to you. I was involved in every machination, scheming and conspiracy, but a murderer I am not…”

Silence took hold of the room as it found the Duke standing from his seat, listening intently.

“You left him alive…”

“Yes, I did” she responded.

“Why?” the nobleman asked.

“Because I wanted him to suffer more, as I had suffered, as ‘we’ had suffered. I want him to hate me every day he lived, as I hated him every day I did.”

“You certainly know he might one day come after you” Sorja Darkholm signaled her children, who emerged slowly from the shadows, evidently interested in the tale.

Anneliqa added “I really hope he does come to me one day, so I can give an end to what I started, so that I can properly be named ‘a murderer’.”

Both, Valdemar and Sorja looked at one another and then at the condemned woman.

“I know I have no right to ask, but if I may, I would ask to please be granted this opportunity. I will gladly accept whatever punishment you deem necessary after.”

“You know you are in no position to ask, you are already a criminal” Valdemar replied to her request “you will accept the punishment we order, it is a punishment, not an option.”

Sorja’s hands touched his. The twins walked to the back of the room with their children, where they whispered to one another.

After stepping back into the light of the room, Valdemar spoke “Anneliqa Bardaux, I remember your husband. He was a man close to my heart, a man of honor. You, however, have taken justice in your own hands.”

The Duke and his sister approached the woman. “While I condemn your crimes, I admire your dishonorable actions to honor his memory. You have lived through difficult times, and difficult times we have lived through, and we will live through for many years. Our land is young and new, and with it come new opportunities. Your transgression is forgiven. Our House needs someone such as yours at our side, those who would be willing to do what must be done for the sake of our land and people. Would you accept that responsibility?”

Anneliqa’s eyes filled with tears “thank you, my Lord, I will never forgive this opportunity. I will serve you and your children forever. I will be your servant, just ask and I will do.”

“I do not seek a servant. I seek a vassal, a friend…” he responded.

“Hereafter your House will be renamed and known as House Devereaux.

And so it has been, that for over five centuries the House of Snakes has stood by the side of the House of Darkness, and in the deepest darkness they have thrived...