WEREWOLF CINDERELLA

Bandits and a living god

Mia's POV

“Please send me…” I looked into Kenzo’s eyes. He looked so unsure but he didn’t talk to me immediately. Flora remained there, looking triumphant for no good reason.

“I will permit you. Do as you wish,” Kenzo replied. He seemed to have endured enough here as the next thing he did was to walk away angrily. I tried following him but Flora held me back.

“You have more important things to do, darling,” Flora replied with a smile etched on her face. “Don’t you need the briefing? You should know what you’re going to solve.”

I breathed in and put on a fake smile. Flora led the way into a smaller room where about four men had gathered. The moment I entered, I could see a change in the way they all related.

“Brothers, let me introduce to you this wonderful lady here. Her name is Mia and she is in charge of the banditry issue. Welcome her properly, brothers!” Flora said with a funny hand gesture. The men laughed aloud before proceeding to shake my hands.

For the next few minutes, one of the men explained how bandits had been robbing merchants in a particular zone for the past three weeks. They had tried attacking the bandits but it led to a mass failure. The soldiers avoided the area like plague too, making the once popular bridge to the outside world a trap to death.

“You should tell us your plan too,” one of the men requested. He was done with his presentation.

“The number of men I can give you is limited. You’ll have to…” Flora began.

“Don’t bother!” I raised my hand. “Do the bandits kill the merchants or set them free?”

“All they want is the goods. It seems the bandits do not attack people that are unharmed,” one of the men identified. This left everyone, including Flora, looking a little shocked. Maybe they thought I was that useless.

“There is only one solution,” I looked at everyone. “I have to go into their den and see the leader for myself!”

“That’s suicide, miss,” a man claimed out of fear.

“I won’t die,” I scoffed. “Not so easily.”

**

If there was one person happy with the whole arrangement, it was Flora. She even failed to hide the fact and this made me quite scared. I knew Flora would literally pray for my death. I was escorted by one man alone. I heard he was recommended by Kenzo when he heard my plan. Of course, Kenzo didn’t like my idea.

“We will get there soon,” Tate told me. He was the man assigned to protect me.

“How long have you been with Kenzo?” I asked in order to pass time.

“Five years,” Tate replied. “It was around the time when he started the gang. I was trained in martial arts by him directly.”

“Wow,” I muttered. “Your luck must have been so bad for you to be chosen to accompany me.”

“Die or live together, I believe in you,” Tate replied. He hastened his horse and instead of walking, he began to gallop. I followed him as he led.

I had several questions, especially how a man like Tate whom I knew from nowhere would simply see me and claim he believed in me. Maybe he said those words to flatter me, who knows?

“We will be in the area soon,” Tate told me calmly. “The bandits are always lying in ambush.”

“Okay, let’s go,” I replied without reconsidering. Tate rode forward instantly.

“You could get killed!” he told me firmly.

“Just worry about your own life,” I responded. Hearing this, Tate said nothing. This time, I led the way and he followed. As predicted, the moment we got into the area, armed men came out of nowhere, bearing weapons.

“Get off your horses!” one of them shouted. Tate and I did as they wanted and they came to us and tied us up. Some of the bandits led us through the forest path. I could guess where they were taking us to. It had to be their hideout. At some point, we were blindfolded.

When our blindfolds would be removed, I found myself in a prison with several young ladies. It struck me that Tate must have been taken to a male prison.

Shit and s**t again!

I remained in the prison for the next two days with no food or drink. The ladies I met there were so weak so I guessed they would have been there longer than I thought. I couldn’t take it anymore.

“Call your leader!” I shouted at the men standing guard. They began to laugh at me.

“You better save your energy, b***h,” one of them told me, making others laugh even louder.

“I am Mia, the only living god!” I threatened. “Your leader has made me go hungry and thirsty. Today, he shall die!”

The men watched in shock as I bit my finger to draw blood and created a plus sign on my forehead. They dispersed immediately and I knew my plan had worked. They would spread the word.

**

And they did it indeed. However, what I wasn’t expecting was for all of the bandits to gather after five hours, presenting their leader’s dead body.

“He died as you predicted…” one of the bandits stepped up. “All of us shall serve you now!”

I was overwhelmed. All I made was an empty threat. I had no real power nor was I a living god. The prison opened immediately and I came outside nervously. From their leader’s dead body, I could see that he was stabbed to death.

“Who killed him?” I asked. All of them looked around and at each other. Later, a young boy stepped out.

“I killed him,” the young boy told me. “I was moved by the spirit of death that you cast on him and even with my weakness, I subdued him easily. Your will has been done. Now, accept us and lead us!”

“Accept and lead us, living god!” all of them shouted at once.

I, a living god! How strange could that be?