The Princess Broken Wolf

10

Rosamund closed the door behind her, stealing one last glance at her friends. Her heart beat a little faster, a little more painful. Supressing her sigh, she began walking towards the corridor while thinking of all the things that had happened. So much had happened to her to finally be able to call people her friends and such unfortunate was her luck, that she had to lose them at the same time, all at once. She couldn’t cry, the tears froze with time, her emotions came to a standstill. An impending sense of numbness crept through her bones. There was a part of her that wanted to fight Marcus, fight the world, say f**k it and let people fall like dominos for her one chance at a life she always prayed for. But how could she ever present the people she had saved countless times? How could she slaughter the human part of herself in her heart? An innocent child grown among cruel people had to be kind to break the endless cycle of hurt. She could never knowingly leave fate to decide about the future of people she treasured. She would fight tooth and nail. She would bloody her soul to do whatever it takes to save the people that mattered to her more than life itself.

The voices in her mind dimmed when she saw Marcus standing at the gate. Everyone was still frozen, in a trance of nothingness. Such peace was rare in her life, but the cost was way too great for her.

“There are only four hours left before people come breaking down your door in the castle. We will be using the teleportation spell. You might feel nauseous.” Marcus said in his velvet voice. His opaque eyes were as emotionless as ever. The man was handsome, no doubt, but there was a cruel energy surrounding him that reminded Rosamund he would do anything to do whatever he wanted. He would defy nature to get what he wants.

Rosamund nodded. She felt too vacant to respond. Her gaze, following the bird flying in the sky, their moments were so..free and clear. The flights seemed so effortless, bringing such a taste of freedom that she had envied all through her life.

“ Birds aren’t free,” Marcus said as a matter of fact, his attention to the flying birds.

Rosamund looked towards Marcus, following his movements silently, waiting for him to finish what he meant to say.

“Birds are bound to fly. They are trapped for the rest of their lives and have to fly because if they don’t, they’ll never be able to fulfill their purpose.” he stopped, looking directly into Rosamund’s eyes, he continued, “ We are bounded, never to be freed here.”

A silence fell between them. Without a glance back, Marcus walked away, knowing full well Rosamund would follow behind. He pitied the girl, she had been through too much to have yet been chosen again to be the next savior of Wasiz. There were so many things even he couldn’t answer. So many future fragments he didn’t know. But things were just meant to be. She had to sacrifice the freedom she thought was waiting. One person's capture was another's freedom. Ultimately, Marcus sneered, freedom was the biggest hoax.

Both of them walked a few meters away from the inn into the woods. The rain was now a light drizzle, pitter pattering against the leaves. The humid air of Poali was a welcome feeling against her dry skin. Coming to a clearing in the middle of the forest, Marcus stopped, holding out his hands towards Rosamund. She willingly put her hand in his without hesitating. A few muttered spelled words and they were whisked away to the castle in a matter of a few minutes. Rosamund found herself and Marcus in her room, untouched and neat. Everything was just the way they were before she left. The only addition was the huge golden stand that had a wrap that she could confer from, a dress hanged on. Her wedding dress. Rosamund could feel her heart skip a tiny beat. Of bitterness or dread, she couldn’t comprehend. She was finding herself to have more emotions than she ever thought possible.

“I will be nearby,” Marcus promised while walking towards the balcony doors on the far left side of her enormous room.

“Wait.”Rosamund stopped him. He came to an immediate halt. Without turning his back, he tipped his head sidesward, indicating he was listening.

“Will the war be stopped?” Rosamund asked, her voice a little hopeful.

“No. But we’ll live” Marcus said, walking towards the balcony door. Opening it in an instant, he vanished into thin air.

Rosamund stood in the middle of the room, seemingly to have gone numb. In the past 10 hours, she had been kidnapped, shipped to the far end of the kingdom, fought with a Rafflesia of all the things and was a moment away from losing one of her friends. God was she exhausted. Steadily she made her way towards the washroom, lighting up the world stone under her bath tub. Changing herself to a shower robe, she silently played with the warm water, dabbing her fingers and gently splashing the water. Her silver hair was loose, softly moving with the breeze from the open window in her washroom. Her eyes were unfocused, drifting from thoughts to thoughts,

Her wedding would commence at midnight at the Mirror Castle, the biggest chapel in her Kingdom that was at the center of the Marigold Kingdom. The Karkonz would be present there. It would take her three hours to reach the Chapel. She had less than 9 hours to ready herself for the ceremony. They would take an oath in front of the Silver Moon, the night when it was said that Goddess Lucina would come upon Wasiz and bless her sole children, the Marigoldian Royalty. It was an auspicious time to get married. All the couples in Marigold married on the occasion. She would make a cut on her ring finger and pronounce her oaths while sliding into the ring given by her spouse. Her spouse would do the same. They would then feast till morning. The party would last for 6 days, constant music and drinking and feasting. But for her it was different. She would be shipped to Karkonz the same day, an act decided upon by the King and the Queen, again showing to the world their loathing towards their child. It was nothing she didn’t expect of her parents.

Feeling the tub warm enough, she gently sank into the water, ridding her mind of all the thoughts. She would think about her wedding later. She would think about the ceremony later. She would think about her death later. Submerging her muscles into the water, she held her breath and felt all her muscles relax. A soothing feeling filled her senses, to not be able to see, to not be able to feel, to not be able to wish, if only it made her human not to have any wish. She silently drifted into the whites of her mind. In her dream, she saw a phoenix, risen from a broken moon’s ashes. Where the red feather was normal for a phoenix, this one in her dream was silver white, reminding herself of her own hair. Its eyes were as blue as hers and it was directly looking at a dark wolf. It wasn’t black but blood red, so crimson it always touched the black. She couldn’t make out the wolf clearly, only that he had tear drops falling onto the phoenix’s feathers. The tears were blood, blotching the phoenix’s whiteness with ugly red spots.

Rosamund woke up, startled by her dreams and the rapid knocking on her door. She breathed out slowly and carefully got out of the tub. Wrapping her body with a soft bathrobe, she made her way out of the washroom and opened the door, knowing that very well maids were there to dress her up for the wedding. True enough, an army of 10 maids waited patiently, head bowed when she opened the door. Rosamund watched each one of them silently for a moment, finding her mothers spy in an instant. The spy was a girl with long black pigtails, her face innocently round and her skin sun-kissed. Such beauty was wasted being her mother’s spy.

Without any delay, she left the door open and walked back into the room. The maids worked efficiently, talking everything out from jewellery to hair accessories to shoes and even her underwear. Nobody spoke a word, yet their hands were busy arranging everything that was needed to groom the lamb for the slaughter. Four girls silently seated Rosamund on the chair placed in the middle of the room with a big mirror infront of her.

“Wait.” Rosamund said, halting everyone’s movement.

“Remove the mirror in front of me.” She ordered. The mirror was removed instantly without any question. It was considered good luck for the bride to see herself getting ready for the wedding ceremony. It showed all the steps a woman goes through to bloom like a flower on their wedding day. The tradition left a bitter taste in Rosamund’s mouth.

The maids worked on her hair, curling it lightly into loose waves. A crown made of metal by forging world stone was taken out of the box. A collective gasp was heard around the room. Rosamund inspected the Crown, made from world stone filled with crystals and diamonds and stones she had never seen before. The delicate and intricate design resembled a flower crown, with roses made out of red stones and lilies made of diamonds. A small bird of blue color and different vines woven together was a sight to behold. This could never be something her parents would give. This was a very generous gift from the king and the queen.

Impossible, Rosamund thought.

“Who gave this crown?” Rosamund asked.

“It was sent to us by the Karkonz Prince,” the oldest servant replied monotonously.

That prince? Rosamund thought to herself while giving a small nod to the girl to place the crown on her head.

Why would he send it before the wedding? It was against their way to send the bride a gift before even seeing her. A resentful feeling bloomed in her heart. They were trying to win her and her parents over before the wedding.

Poor him for having me as his wife. Someone who would kill him after the blood ceremony, Rosamund tsked while sitting still on the chair, getting herself ready for the ceremony.