304 A Mother, A Knife And A Desire

Lycster did not shed a single tear. He had a smile on his face the entire time and talked excitedly about the next time they were going to meet. Vy watched on with a tinge of sadness in her eyes. 

"Take good care of yourself, mother, and remember to put on that coat when the weather turns cold!" He reminded her. 

"Yes yes, you're even more long-winded then I am, Lycster. And I'm your mother!" Countess Lyra exclaimed in laughter.

The mother and son shared a final embrace, both of them hugging one another tightly. Countess Lyra handed her son a sealed envelope with a wax seal on it. It was a bulky envelope filled with folded letter paper. 

"These are letters written by your sister and father, they are for you too. You don't have to open them immediately, you can read them when you're ready," she said with a smile. 

"I have something for you too!" Lycster declared with a smile. 

From his spatial storage, he retrieved a sealed envelope addressed to his mother. He handed it to her and instructed her to only read it when she got back to the Wickerhem Estate. 

"Do you promise to visit?" The boy asked as he clenched his mother's hand tightly. 

Countess Lyra placed a hand on her son's cheek. For a moment, it was as if her eyes were covered in a layer of tears. 

"I… I promise."

She gave her son a light kiss on the forehead before she turned her back and went up into the carriage. From the small window, she looked out and waved to her son. For a short moment, she turned her gaze to Vy who gave her a nod which she reciprocated. 

With that, the Wickerhems left Timbretune to return to home. Lycster and Vy stood there, waving to them as the carriage disappeared into the distance. Vy turned to look at her brother, who was still looking far off onto the open road. 

She placed a hand on his shoulder, not knowing what to say. She kept silent. For a while, silently standing next to Lycster. The least she could do was to be there for him, just like how he had always been there for her. 

"She's never coming back, is she," Lycster muttered. 

His words broke her heart. Vy closed her eyes as she accepted the reality of the statement her brother made. 

"She's not," Vy replied. 

Lycster looked down at the ground, he looked at the letter his mother had handed to him in his hands. His hand was shaking. Vy leaned in close to her brother, ready to comfort him when needed. 

Before long, tears began to fall from his eyes. The floodgates opened as tears flowed endlessly from his eyes. Vy wrapped her hands around her brother, going so far as to carry him in her arms as she walked back home. 

"Let it all out. There's no need to keep it in," Vy consoled him as she continued to walk home. 

She did not let go of him even when they got back home. Her younger brother was upset, and all she wanted to do was to be there for him. After some time, Lycster simmered down as he tried to wipe away his tears. 

Vy placed him down on the sofa and wiped his tears away from his face. 

"Are you feeling a little better?" 

He could not speak, so he simply nodded. Her brother might still be a young boy but he was intelligent and observant. Lycster always put others before himself, just like her. 

"You were trying to be brave in front of your mother, weren't you?" Vy coaxed as she ruffled his hair. 

She sat down next to him on the sofa and side hugged him, trying her best to console him. 

Countess Lyra remained silent throughout the entire journey back to Wickerhem Estate. Oddly enough, her mind was clear. It was merely filled with a small number of thoughts. 

Looking down at the envelope her son had given to her, she eagerly awaited to return to the Wickerhem Estate so that she could read the letter. As she looked out of the window, she admired the scenery beyond the walls for a final time.

Once she entered the Estate, she knew she would never be able to see any of these ever again. 

"Don't you even dare think about running away," Count Cristo remarked. 

The Countess smiled to herself. The thought had crossed her mind before. But she was not a coward. For everything to work, she could no longer run from the curse that had claimed the life of her husband and daughter.

"I won't. I will do what must be done," she replied. 

By the time they entered the gates of the Estate, the sun was beginning to set on the horizon. This painted the entire sky in shades of orange light. When the carriage came to a stop, the door was opened by the footman. 

Count Cristo stepped out first, followed by Countess Lyra. As soon as the acrid smell of smoke hit her nose and the warmth of the fire hit her, she knew what it all meant. All the members of the family were gathered out in the field before her. 

Each of them wore the same mask, it resembled the flames of a fire. She could see their eyes through their masks, glaring at her; watching her every move. As two servants came forward with ropes in their hands, she stopped them. 

"There's no need," she said in a stern voice. 

The servants backed away. Count Cristo too donned a mask, slowly walked behind Countess Lyra as she made her way towards the pyre they had constructed. Amongst the kindling that had been prepared was a small platform placed in front of a large wicker man-made of hay and sticks. 

Her palms were moist and her heart drummed in her ears as she walked up to the pyre and stepped up onto the platform. With trembling hands, she opened the envelope her son had given to her. 

It was a one-page letter, painstakingly handwritten by Lycster. The masked members of the Wickerhem Family began to chant their ceremonial words. But Lyra could hear none of it as she read the contents of the letter. 

There was not much written on the letter, but upon seeing those words, tears began to fall from Lyra's eyes. She held the piece of paper close to her heart as she covered her mouth. 

\u003cI know. I love you, mother.\u003e

As her tears continued to flow down her cheeks, flashes of her memories swam past in her mind. The happy times she had shared with her husband. The smile of her daughter no matter how sickly she became. And the smile on her son's face as he said goodbye to her. 

"You knew…" she whispered to herself as the first fire was lit on the pyre. A circle of flame surrounded Lyra. 

She could feel the lick of the heat creeping up on her. They were approaching her at high speed but she was not afraid. Lyra let go of the letter in her hand, allowing it to fly into the flames and turn into ashes. 

The flames provided the perfect cover as she retrieved a blue blade knife she had hidden in her sleeve. Without much thought, she pressed the sharpened knife into her palm. Lyra winced at the pain as a deep gash formed on her shaking palm. 

Fresh blood flowed from the wound that had been formed, splattering and dripping onto the wooden platform beneath her feet. Maybe it was just her imagination, or her mind playing tricks on her. 

As the smoke filled the air, she began to cough violently. She could feel the heat burning her lungs as she dropped the knife onto the ground. 

"What do you desire?" A voice asked Lyra.

Her vision was beginning to blur, she could barely make out the shape of the being that hovered before her. 

"What do you desire?" The voice asked again.

"Burn…" Lyra said as she coughed violently, her lungs desperately grasping for clean air. 

"Burn them all to the ground."

The pyre originally burned in shades of red, orange and yellow. As the fire grew, the members of the Wickerhem Family continued to murmur their ceremonial words. 

They never saw it coming. 

In a split second, the flames turned from orange to bright blue before it spread everywhere.