(alternate universe V&A, edited for terribleminds challenge)



Vengeance began as inconvenience: misplaced pens, cold dinners, dropped trays. The inconveniences soon piled into misfortunes, as many as his broken oaths. Cold dinner became late, or no dinner at all, and the rooms changed character overnight. His pride burned powerless beneath his household’s rebellion, his lady wife—for the chaos traced to her.

A smile graced her features, cold for so long, even as she doled a justice raw, cruel as a kiss. When she poured his laudanum into the lake, she worried for the fish alone. She was a goddess, vicious with new strength, and she would never relent.