The Princess Broken Wolf

12

The journey started without any problems or delays. Rosamund had long stopped responding to the maids asking if she was comfortable or not. Even though with visible fear and hesitation, the maids still did everything with the most finesse. Rosamund couldn’t help but look at Ellie more than once. She was seated in the carriage with her. Rosamund was told Ellie was the head maid when she was shipped to Karkonz, one of the 10 maids that was sent for the sacrifice as well, although Rosamund couldn’t detect any fear or even hatred. The girl was emotionless, like a gloom, so void of feelings and even emotions. Her face stayed as robotic as she first entered her room. What had the Queen promised the girl? Bribe was more than common among the higher ups, but to give up on life itself, it must have been something big.

Rosamund concentrated her focus on the blurred movements among the trees. Marcus was surely following them. Edward and Demir were placed at the front of the army, Lizbeth in a carriage following behind. Her stepfather had insisted she stay. No one knew what conspired between the four of them. Demir had fabricated a story saying that they were given information about the smuggling of world stones, so they went to Paoli. He, with extreme details, told everyone that they had fought with Rafflesia, even going as far as to show one of its claws to the Elders and the Advisors. Rosamund was more than impressed by him. She didn’t even know how he got the claw.

“Your Highness?” a timid voice distracted him. It was Lia who spoke, a maid of eighteen years of age with short brown hair and dark green eyes. She was fidgeting badly and sweating profusely. Poor girl, she was more than afraid of Rosamund.

“Yes?” Rosamund gently responded. She didn’t want to spook her.

“Umm.. is it….is it true that you’ll be getting married in the Blood Mountains?” Lia was stealing steady glances at Rosamund, afraid of her answer or, perhaps, her actions. She tightly closed her eyes. A moment passed and there was no reply. Opening one eye, Lia tried facing the Princess. She found the Princess with a cold expression, something akin to anger and suppressed indifference.

“I believe no one informed me about such a matter.” Rosamund responded, trying hard to keep her voice unfazed.

“I understand, Your Highness,” Lia replied, stopping talking all at once. The other maid, Ellie, seemed to be uninterested in their conversation.

To say Rosamund was enraged was an understatement. Why the hell were they trying to drag this out for her? She was to die soon enough. Why build such suspense for her? She was going to be dead come morning. Why would they want her through such a tedious matter? Blood Mountains? She was to marry the beast there after going to the Mirror castle?

Blood f*****g Mountain, Rosamund silently seethed.

The problem with Blood Mountain was a sacred place for the Karkonz as well as the Draunkoom and Sahar Bagh. It was the place where the relic of Goddess Lucina was buried. A series of mountainous ranges that stretched across the three kingdoms. The problem with getting married was because only a special kind of robe was allowed in the range. No weapons, no dress, or accessories were allowed. To get to the Blood Mountains, a person had to use a Charon, a boat that was meant to represent passing to the afterlife. But with couples, it means beginning a new life together, with a newness similar to being reborn again. The couple had to stay for two nights and three days. The time was said to be different there, a time zone entirely different than that of Wasiz. A day in the Blood Mountains was equivalent to five days normally. Thus, three days meant fifteen days. And during the ritual, Rosamund had to kill the beast with bear hands, with no weapon. She could use anything present there, such as rocks or pointy branches, but it was useless against the person she was going to face.

“Your Highness”, a soldier frantically called out to her.

“What is it?” she asked, alerted, her hands going to her sword. Another ritual broken, brides were supposed to stay away from any weapon on their wedding day. Though Rosamund could care less about such stupid superstitions.

“There……there are the people of…..I believe the Karkonz, following us,” the soldier said, his voice trembling while mentioning the Karkonz. Edward was already opening the window on the other side of the carriage.

“Your Highness, a missive has arrived,” he said, handling Rosamund the said missive. Giving Edward a quizzical look, Rosamund undid the thread around the missive and read the contents inside.

She read it once, than twice, than thrice. Heaving an exasperated sigh, she read out loud the contents of the missive to the anticipating soldier and Edward.

“Apologizes to have bothered you, Your Highness. This missive is to inform you that a group of 50 Karkonz fighters will accompany Your Highness once you have crossed the Seramen. His Highness, Prince Ruslan, had given the orders.

Merabaan.

Yours truly,

Luke Sybil ( Advisor of Karkonz)”

A collective grateful exhale echoed in the carriage. It was from Lia and the soldier. Edward gave a nod before going away from the window. The loud thudding causes a powerful tremor in the road. The carriage swayed with the power of those ominous thuds. Rosamund couldn’t help but look outside the window. She found herself looking at large men with horses so big they probably towered above her twice. Its mane was black, blacker than night itself. Four of the fighters surrounded her carriage on each side in a protective manner. She would have felt at ease if the men occupying the horses were a bit…. less scary. These men were large in stature and build. Some with unkept beards, others with clean faces with sharp edges and cut noses. What surprised her most was the difference in everyone's features. Some were dark skinned while some were light. From her observation, three of them had dark eyes while four others had green eyes and one of them had blue. They kept changing their position as the carriage moved along the road. Currently, the person guarding her window has long dark hair and blue eyes with a face cut out of marble. His nose was sharp, his jawline profound, his lips plump. There was a dark protective aura around him, even making her relax a little bit. An authoritative person, Rosamund thought as she watched him subtly.

“Comfortable, My Queen?” his dark voice was smooth like dark chocolate. It took Rosamund a few seconds to comprehend that he was genuinely asking that question from her.

“Yes. Thank you.” Rosamund mumbled back against her veil.

“Luke Sybil, at your service,” he declared. So he was the one who wrote the missive for the Prince. Rosamund silently acknowledged him as well as assessed him with keen eyes.

“ Why has the Prince sent you?” Rosamund asked, curious about the answer.

“He anticipates your arrival, my Queen. He is merely being careful.” Luke defended the Prince, making Rosamund quirk an eyebrow in return.

“ You do understand that you and His Majesty have directly insulted the Marigold Kingdom by saying that, right?” she informed him while looking straight at him under her veil. Luke straightened up on his horse, looking ever more formidable.

“His Majesty merely worried about the pathway, Your Highness. No intention of disrespect, I assure you.” he moved his head to regard Rosamund with an unnerving gaze. It showed his sincerity and that of his leader too.

“I thank you then for your intentions.” Rosamund watchfully bowed her head in acknowledgement. The gesture seemed to have surprised Luke. Rosamund had always made it her way to acknowledge a deed with a respect not bound to only her higher up. In fact, those of lower status than herself have been more kind than the King and the Queen. She had learned to appreciate such kindness since childhood.

Luke couldn’t make out his future Queen. She was said to be the strongest Commander and female in the whole of Wasiz. A magnificent woman with royal blood and a fragment of Goddess Lucina herself, yet the humble gesture of gratitude was totally unexpected. He found it rather surprising how she regarded him with such respect, even though she was by far above him both in status and every other attribute. Respect swelled in his chest for his future Queen, who was more similar than His King.

“Your Highness, we will reach the Mirror Castle in ten minutes' time.” Edward's loud voice tore through the area. With a subdued nod, Rosamund closed the window. The maids hurriedly gave her a little sugar, a taffes and a few adjustments to her dress. Rosamund was perfectly ready for the wedding ceremony.

The pathway to Mirror Castle was made of glass with clear blue water running down. With statues of angels and pots of rare flowers, the pathway to the Gates of the Castle was decorated by world stones and crystals of the rarest sort. Even though the king and queen hated her to her core, they sure had to make the event as extravagant as possible. It was less a wedding ceremony and more of a political alliance. Her carriage stopped at the gates of the Castle. The pathway to the Chapel was direct where the statue of Goddess Lucina was beautifully embellished with stones and red flowers made out of red jade.

Rosamund descended from the carriage, her two maids carefully placing her gown on the floor, her veil fully covering her face. A bouquet of crystal flowers made of world stone and jade was given to her.

With every ounce of strength and all the self-control she had to harden against her body wanting to flee, Rosamund took the first steps towards her awaited groom and the doom that would surely come in a few hours' time. She had finally taken the first steps into the main game of her life.