Hope's Death

[P i x i e * D u s t]

They had flown to Portugal for their cousin's wedding. Not that they knew this cousin very well,and they definitely didn't like the groom...well,Hope and Grace didn't. Chastity likes all men. But they were staying at their family's villa outside of Lisbon that March and,needing a vacation,they stayed even after their cousin's wedding,and were able to watch the subsequent inevitable divorce three months later...though it was dwarfed by something no one had seen coming. Hope had contracted a mysterious illness,somewhat like pneumonia,but not completely,and definitely more deadly. No matter what treatments she was given,she continued to get worse. Finally,in the middle of July,Hope passed quietly in her sleep. Chastity and Grace returned to Ajoia,where Chastity was to take guardianship of Luna,Hope's adopted daughter. Months later,the Lisbon doctors sent the sisters word of the autopsy,which had been lost in the shuffle. Hope had been given a slow-acting poison that gave no trace in living bodies. The culprit was a maid in the villa who was a spy for one of Lisbon's crime gangs,who thought that Hope would be moving her Amantes da Morte back home. The maid was executed after having been given to the vulgar prison guards for a week.