The Banished Heiress

The Royal Decree

CLARA'S POINT OF VIEW

Pounded my fists on the thick oak cellar door as dust rained down into my hair. The wood was thick and did not bend.

Let me out! My throat burned, I screamed. Oh, open this door, Evelyn!

There was a silence on the other side. The upper hall could be heard from only by the running footsteps.

She took me here in the dark and burned my skin with a hot light. I lowered myself to the freezing floor, and brought my knees to my chest. The crescent mark on my back throbbed again through the burlap that had been ripped from my dress. The road was filled with dusty floors, with a deep purple glow that lit up the road. It was like hot honey running down the skin of my body, and down my spine and right into my belly. It made my breath quicken, it made my body shiver with warmth.

There was a deep voice on the upper floor, booming through the wide courtyard.

Forward they came! The voice called. Now, each young woman in this pack will enter into the light.

I put my ear to the keyhole.

But is this all of them, Alpha Corvin?

Yes, Commander Valerius! Replied my stepfather, trembling. All those young women of child-bearing age stand before you!

My chest tightened. Every girl? Here in the dirt they were hiding me.

Are you sure, Alpha? Valerius spoke in a threatening tone. I smell a smell, my wolf senses a smell. A pleasant, spicy aroma radiating around the stone walls.

We don't hide anybody, Corvin stammered. In the foreground is my own daughter Evelyn.

Pay attention, folks of the Crimson Ridge! Commander Valerius declared. The High King is lying on his deathbed. The ancient magic of the throne is rapidly vanishing. A king had a daughter 18 years ago. She is the very mark of the Goddess Moon. The true Royal Crescent. A bright seal of pure magic blazoned on her skin. The one who has this seal is the true Princess of the Empire.

My blood turned to pure ice. Never has it been a curse. It was a crown.

The footsteps sounded as though they were pounding on the stairs of the cellar. The large iron bolt rattled above me and the lock opened up a bit. The door opened, and a hand gripped my arm and pulled me off the floor.

Evelyn's face was as white as a sheet of paper and she was glaring at me. You're going to put that right, she hissed.

I was dragged out of the cellar and shoved in her dressing room. From my vanity table she pulled two heavy iron shears and cut straight down the back of my gown. Now the jagged crescent scar could be clearly seen, it hummed with purple light.

Well, it's really the mark, Evelyn whispered. How can you be royal blood when you're useless? How can you be royal blood if you are useless?

It's my mother's mark, I said, looking at her through the glass.

You're a servant, your mom died in the mud! Evelyn shrieked.

She picked up a dark black liquid bottle and poured it on a cloth. Then she took a red-hot iron poker out of the fireplace.

Evelyn, no! I backed off in horror, as though my heart had sunk to my stomach.

She gasped and forced the hot metal into her own shoulder. The room had a strong odor of burning flesh. She poured the black liquid directly onto her new burn, and it stained in the exact shape of a jagged crescent moon in the raw flesh.

There she gasped, and a triumphant smile was on her lips. The Royal Crescent.

She took a heavy iron chain, wrapped it around my wrists and tied the end of it around a thick iron pipe, binding me in completely.

Stay here, little maid," she whispered. Look out the window as your sister turns into the Empire's Luna.

There was a crowd outside the window. Valerius was in the middle ring, clad in dark steel armor. Alpha Corvin took him by the hand and brought Evelyn out.

My Lord! Corvin called out. My daughter Evelyn has what you're looking for!

Evelyn removed the golden silk from her left shoulder, revealing the burn, which was dark and crescent-shaped.

Valerius the Commander, approached him closer. Why does it smell like burnt ink, girl? He asked quietly.

My Lord, I used to use an iron stove when I was a child, and I used to burn it! Evelyn lied quickly.

Valerius bent over and drew a slow deep breath close to her neck. He glared with disgust at his golden eyes.

You have a mark, he said in a hushed voice. Where is the electricity in the royal line? We'll take her to the Capital. The High Priests will check her blood.

He turned his back on me and his eyes darted towards my window. My eyes were surrounded by a cloud of dust as his bright golden ones fixed upon me in a straight line.

I could feel my back get hot. The scar on the crescent burst into a blinding purple light and lit up the dark room.

Valerius came to a halt. There's another, he whispered.

Search the house! Valerius ordered. Get me anyone that's in that room.

I looked at Evelyn and her head turned towards my window, in a pure rage.

I did my utmost to pull against the heavy iron chain. The hot purple fire on my back erupted, shooting out of my skin. I was behind an iron pipe, and it broke.

The doorway was filled by four gigantic royal guards, and immediately behind them was Commander Valerius. His eyes dropped from my face, to my bare shoulder, where the Crescent Seal was shimmering bright indigo.

Valerius stretched a gloved outstretched hand. A blue lightning bolt erupted between his flesh and mine as his fingers skimmed the air in proximity to my scar. There was a flash of heat, and it hit me right in the chest and I had my hips up off the ground, and I was in a wild, sweet ecstasy.

You, he breathed, his voice rough with sudden passion.

The steel blade glinted in the sunlight as Evelyn lowered it towards my neck.

Valerius scooted faster than man could run. His large arm extended and grabbed Evelyn's wrist in midair. He squeezed, and the heavy steel blade didn't move.

O foolish girl, Valerius growled, pushing her up against the wall.

He was kneeling in front of me on one knee. The aroma of pine, thunder and raw iron on his skin was intoxicating; my head was spinning around. He put his long fingers on my face, and did so gently. His touch was warm, a surge of fiery electricity cascaded through me, down my spine, making my skin tingle with excitement.

Little one, you're not cursed, I whispered, resting my thumb against my bottom lip. You are the holy blood of the Lycan Empire.

Let her go, Valerius said.

The heavy iron chains dropped off. Now, before I could slump forward and collapse, Valerius caught me. He had his big arm around my waist, forcing my body into his broad chest. The difference was astounding, his body was iron, mine, soft and shaking. The heat escaping from between us was an electric shock, straight to my core. He carried me up so easily.

Coldly, Valerius ordered guards. Capture Alpha Corvin and his daughter. Place them in iron collars.

He took me from the battered dressing room and brought me out into the sunny courtyard.

Bend your heads! He roared, across the valley!

Each one of the pack of the Crimson Ridge people lay on the ground in the dirt.

Look upon ye, your own King! My arm was tight around his waist and then he announced, Valerius. The kidnapped Princess of the Lycan Empire!

He put me down the stairs to a large black carriage, drawn by war dogs, and set me down gently in the soft velvet cushions which were inside.

He leaned in to the carriage frame and his warm breath touched my neck. It was immediately after we stepped into your pack borders, little Princess, that I recognized you, my wolf whispered, a shadowy smile on his lips. And I never leave what is mine.

I was left behind, forever, in my old life, when he slammed the heavy carriage door shut as the wheels started rolling.

Could I make it through the royal court or was I headed into a golden cage?