The Strange With in the Forest

"How can you do this to me, Amelia? I trust you!" The prince shouted from the top of the stairs in front of the palace. "You were the only one I could trust with my life. Yet you betrayed me for some pieces of gold? I gave you my heart!" The Prince roared in anger, enough for the people outside the castle walls to hear it. Amelia did not respond. She continues to stare at nothingness. No tears, no expression, just a blank stare. It is as if she is in deep thought. She looked relaxed and ready for whatever would happen. The Prince descended the stairs. Walked towards her and asked, "tell me, love, what have I done?" Amelia just looked at the Prince, the man she had always loved and would always love. "My Prince, I deserve any punishment for betraying you," was the only response she heard from him. The crowd roared in anger. "Hang her! Hang her! Hang the witch!" was all she could hear. She knows the crowd is angry at her. She was the reason for the defeat of the army of Arania. She was the one who provided information to the neighboring kingdom. "Bring her to the tower." Prince Talon commanded his army. "See to it that she will not be hurt until we start the ritual tonight. Make sure that I get to have a taste of her blood first." Once again, Amelia was dragged to her feet. The utmost care she once was given is no longer given to her. The soldiers are angry at her. She knew that if the prince had not afforded her any affection she would have been killed by the soldiers the moment they got hold of her. It was a long walk to the tower. She could not easily maintain her balance because her hands were tied and she had been made to walk from her home in the middle of the forest to the castle grounds. She fell more than twice and, both times, she was kicked to stand up. As soon as they arrived in the tower, she was then locked. She rested her back against the cold walls of her prison. When she was alone, tears started streaming down her face. She has to harden her heart. This is what she had always wanted. She planned for this. She wanted her revenge. Even when they see each other in the next life, she will still hate him. She would still be angry with the whole kingdom. She had lost everything. This is the retribution that she wanted. She waited more than a decade for this to happen. While she was in tears, she started to remember what happened. A few days ago, the army of Arania was given strict orders by Prince Talon, to hunt for the woman called "The Witch" in the forbidden forest. The forest is the border between Arania and Telluka. None of either nation would dare cross the forbidden forest because of the spells and magical traps. It was said that only one family had ever crossed the forest. The ancient family of witches and mages. This family had been massacred with only one survivor, Amelia. Nobody knew where they came from. Amelia, with her family, lived in the forest. She, along with her siblings, are all born in the forest. Her parents had made a good shelter for them. "We are safe here" she would remember her father telling her. When she wandered near the border of the forest, she would get scolded by her father. "You have lovely eyes, people will get jealous of it." this is the only explanation she would hear from her father whenever she asks why they are not allowed to wander outside the forest. Their father had been out in the village several times to buy some goods. He said the villagers are nice people. But most of the time, he would come home with bruises. There were also signs that he had been beaten but he would not elaborate on that. He would still smile and remind them that one day, they would be out in the village, and they should show kindness to people. On one occasion, she heard a conversation between her father and mother. "Until when are you going to keep them here?" it was her mother asking her father. The two are sitting at the experiment desk of her father. Her father's back is against her mother's. "For as long as I can," her father responded. He then got off of his chair and hugged his mother. He then kissed her forehead and continued "I will protect you and our children." A few days after that, her family was executed in the village square. In front of every villager, they were accused of causing the plague. Almost half of the forest was burnt by the villagers. Her family was dragged, skinned alive, and later burned. The villagers made her watch what happened to her family. They then threatened to kill her if she would not tell them how to stop the plague. The young prince was then tasked to go to the farthest part of the kingdom because of the commotion. She watched as they first skinned her father alive. "No, we did not do it. We do not have any idea what you are talking about." She could hear her father explaining to the crowd. "We do not have magic. We study medicine." Her father continues to shout as they drag him by the hair." While she, along with her mother, two brothers, and younger sister, was being pushed by the villagers with a fork, a stick, or a sword. When they arrived at the village square, they stripped her mother. "Are you going to stop the plague or are we going to kill your wife?" One of the villagers demanded while licking her mother. Her mother trembled with fear and said, "We do not know what is happening. We are in the middle of the forest living a simple life. We did not intend any of this to happen." One of the villagers grabbed his older brother and put a knife to his throat. "Tell us what you did or your boy will be dead." Her brother is deaf-mute, so he could not say anything. He started gesturing to his father and this made the villagers scared. They thought he was making some sign to curse them. One of the villagers suddenly vomited for whatever reason. Then the villager holding his brother's neck, out of fear, just cut off his throat. Her brother died instantly. The other villager, holding an ax, then just struck his brother on the back. Her brother then just lay on the ground dead. When her sister screamed, the villagers got scared by the screeching sound of her little sister's scream. The villagers then hang her upside down and are about to kill her when their mother begs for her sister's life. The men in the village then take turns r*ping her mother. When the villagers are done with their mother, they then turn to their father. Now holding her and her little sister, they now made them face their father. They first scarred her sister's face. "Noooooooo. I am begging you, we did not know anything about what was happening. Please spare my daughters." While her father was begging, a boy about her age came running with vials that emitted smoke. These were the vials her father had been experimenting with for the past few days. "Here is the potion. This is the cause of the plague. This is why we are all sick." the boy kept on shouting as she raised the stand of the vials for the villagers to have a better look. Her sister had been bleeding furiously as they were displaying her father's work. The big brawny man then used a knife to slowly remove the skin of her sister. She could not scream in shock. She could hear her sister screaming. Her father is also screaming to stop the torture but to no avail. When they finished skinning her sister, they left her to slowly die. Her father then lost all his strength. They slowly tortured him by cutting his limbs off one by one. Then lastly, they cut off his tongue before they behead him. She was shocked. She was scared of what they might do to her. She knows that she will be next. She was not wrong. The men grabbed and stripped her. She no longer has the energy to struggle. She just let tears flow down her cheeks. The prince arrives at the scene where the villagers are stripping the young child of her clothes. They were planning to slowly skin her alive until they told her the remedy. The child was crying, her snow-white skin was exposed for everyone to see. "What is this commotion?" The young prince bellowed to everyone in the small plaza of the village. As soon as the villagers saw the prince, they got on their knees. The prince got off the black horse. He took off his cape and covered the young girl with it. He looked at her. She is around 8 or 9 years old. She has golden unkempt hair. Her face has freckles and she has captivating eyes. What caught the prince's attention was the color of her eyes. Her eyes have different colors. The left eye is the color of an emerald while the right eye has the color of the sea. He was caught staring into the deep eyes of the young girl. The girl then just looks directly at the prince. She could see how contrasting their characteristics are. His skin is tan, maybe due to training. His dark hair compliments his brown eyes and thick red lips. The prince could be around 15, yet he is tall for his age and could command a platoon of soldiers. He had such an aura that even the people before him could feel the presence of royalty. Someone this age would always lurk inside the palace and train, but the prince had been known to look around at such a young age. When the prince was about to stand up, the young girl held his hand tightly, "Please help me, I am not a witch." The prince placed his hand above hers. She held him tightly. The crowd gasps. They are not allowed to even look at anybody in the Royal Family directly in the eye. The prince was the first to break his silence. "What happened here?" "This witch, her family, was responsible for the plague in the kingdom." One of the villagers blurted while pointing at her. "We had to burn the forest to get rid of the spells that engulfed it. Now we had captured the witch. We had already killed her family. So she no longer has the power." Another villager tried to explain to the prince. "You burned half of the forest?" The prince just got angry and hit the man in front of him. "How can you be so stupid to burn half of it? Just to get rid of the witches?" The forest was known for its legend. No nation would dare cross it for its traps. It had been protecting the country from invaders. Burning the forest means that it would be easier for their enemies to cross. This meant the palace had to spend more money on guards and change their tactics to ensure that other nations would not easily cross the border. The prince was angry. There is a plague. People are just dying on the streets. Then there is a security issue. The plague had taken so long that it caused fear in the hearts of the people. They would be drastic with their decisions. Witches, this is something he does not believe. He does not want another innocent life to be lost. "I will take the witch to the castle. We will imprison her." He muttered to the crowd. "No, that cannot be," the brawny man who killed her sister shouted. "So you prefer that I kill you for your resistance?" The prince asked. "No, my lord. Please forgive me." "Pick her up and take her to the palace." The prince ordered one of his soldiers. "You will be riding with her," he continued. She feels relieved at the moment. She does not know what is in store for her future. Her cursed eyes, will they be useful, or will they be the cause of her demise?