The Banished Heiress

CLARA'S POINT OF VIEW The cold water hit me on my face. I gasped and coughed dirt and stinking river water as my eyes opened, Get up, orphan! I was hit hard in the side by a heavy leather boot. The pain was like a knife cutting through my ribs and freezing me. I was stunned! I lay on the cold stone floor of the scullery with my coarse burlap dress soaked and clinging to my chattering skin. Then I heard a voice yelling down from above me: YOU SPOILED THE ALPHAS WINE! I didn't touch the cup, I whispered, I had a raspy dry voice. Shut your mouth! The strong wind hissed through the cold air. Cut. It tore right through the thin fabric on my back. In my skin, a wild searing heat rose. I wasn't just struck and my skin on my back didn't just bleed. It burned. My shoulder blade was marked with jagged cuts, a dark crescent skin the rest of the world coined the Luna curse, started to tingle and pulse like red-hot iron. It was red-hot, burning an awful secret fire, ready to burst open. I closed my mouth tightly to bite my lip, so I would not cry out, just to taste copper. They would throw me into the silver fire pit if they saw the weird light of my skin. I said to the dark floor: Please. Scrub away the mess, the guard growled when he dropped a filthy rag on my head. Or the next strike takes your ear off. The large man's footsteps died away down the hall, and I was left in the dark damp room alone. I pressed my forehead towards the stone, feeling the chill and smelling the musty, tangy-tasting wet mold. The mark on my back ached once again, and sent a weird, electric shiver down my spine. Stand up, you worthless rat! I turned my head. Evelyn was standing in the doorway; her white and clean silk gown. She was looking down at me as if i had trespassed on her. I'm cleaning it right now, I said, picking up the rag. Your hall is being ruined. Father asks for the courtyard to be swept before the sun shines on the trees. He instructed me to wash the floor first. Do you want me to call the guard back? I squeezed the dirty rag in my hand, as my knuckles went white. So, I guess, that's what I thought, she grumbled, getting nearer. She knelt, her pointy fingernails biting my chin and lifting my face. Then she looked at him and her eyes lit up with pure mean joy, "Look at you. Dropping to the ground and hiding. You are here for a purpose! I whispered back, "You didn't drop that wine! What went on doesn't matter. I don't care what actually happened, it's just what I said. Just before the horses came in, Evelyn shoved my head back toward the puddle of spilled wine, saying, "Clear it off before the horses come. I fell down, my hand landing in the middle of the shards of glass. My palm had a sharp pain which got to the bone. The dark red liquid was on the stone floor and my blood was mixed in. The shadow came back when it was time to go in through the door. This time, it wasn't Evelyn. Help? Said the soft voice. I did not look up. Go away, Tomas. The boy then slithered down the wall into the room. He was one of the stable boys; the only one in the whole pack that didn't stone me. I gave you bread," he whispered, holding out a dry bread crust, "I was sad when I saw you.I was sad when I saw you, I brought you bread," he said softly, holding up a dry bread crust. Clara, your back looks radiant! I had my hand on a sharp piece of glass and I froze it. Is it? Little, he whispered. Like a candle's wick beneath a cloth that's about to die. It needs to be better protected. The Alpha will lock you in the iron cage again should he see you. Why is it that it does this? Maybe it is magic. I said it's a curse, and my voice shook. You heard the elders. It is evil. Elders always lie. Clara, you're not evil. You're a lonely person. Then suddenly, a big bang could be heard from the main courtyard outside. The heavy iron gates were rapped to open. Suddenly, the air in the room changed, it had an odd smell, one I had never encountered before. Its aroma was that of crushed pine needles, thunder and raw iron. Suddenly, my back grew hot and hot. The dark crescent mark blazed like a torch, I could see the light through the front of my dress. Clara? Tomas's eyes were wide open, looking at me. Your eyes... they are getting silver... The loud boom of a horn echoed through the valley. The sound was direct and penetrated through the stone walls. Not our pack horn! It was a deep, deadly horn of the Royal Lycan Empire. The procession, I whispered, my heart falling in my stomach. The people in the hall stomped their feet as they came. A man came around the corner, who was taller than any wolf I had ever seen. He wore dark, shiny armor over his huge shoulders and a long black cloak on his back, trailing on the ground. His dark piercing eyes fixed on me. He didn't take the time to examine my rags. His eyes locked right on my dimly lit window reflection. He abruptly halted in front of me. It was hot, magnetic, like I was being drawn to him, the heat coming off his body was huge. Hey girl, what's your name? I opened my mouth but nothing came out. The mark on my back pounded once again, causing a warm shiver to run down my stomach. “Ask, he whispered, his eyes lighting up with a golden fire.” Who are you? I am… Clara, I squeaked out. Suddenly, another loud horn blasted right outside the main door. The warrior withdrew his gaze and his eyes narrowed as he pulled back. Clara, hide yourself, he murmured, turning his back on me. You have to get the attention of someone who despises beauty before they become your new boyfriend. My knees were still trembling when I got up off the wet surface of the floor. I spun around and ran down the tiny stone steps down to the servants' room below the kitchens. Rushed to a dark corner behind the grain sacks and pulled my knees to my chin. I shoved my back up against the cold stone wall, wanting to freeze the fire in my skin. Every time I closed my eyes—his golden eyes were looking through me like a big warrior. There was noise upstairs. A huge pair of boots stomped the main wooden floorboards above my head. A deep voice rang out above, "Where is the girl? The Royal Guards were due at a later hour, replied Alpha Corvin, his voice low and weak. Isn't that so, Corvin? Not for your hospitality. Present all the females born in the past 18 years. Now. The King is dying. Until the next full moon, the True Heir must be restored to the throne. My heart stopped. The True Heir? I put my shivering, shivering fingers to my back and felt the raised scar on the back of my neck. The mark pounded in my hand with a shocking jolt down my abdomen. The cellar door at the top of the stairs suddenly opened. Clara! Evelyn's voice hissed down the stairs. Come on up here now! The Royal Commander would like to see all girls in the pack. She had come down the stairs with a flickering candle in her hand! You, you, you!You, you, you! Wash your face and line up in the yard with the rest of the scum. What is it about them that we need to desire their presence? I asked, my voice small, Evelyn flashed her hungry eyes, saying the King wanted a girl. A princess of the royal blood. Not that a dirty servant like you has got a chance. She looked at me while her back was turned, but as she looked, the dim candlelight caught my shoulder. The dress was ripped open at the waist, and the dark crescent mark was blazing brightly in the dark cellar, flaring with a profound majestic indigo light. Evelyn froze. She slowly turned her gaze back, her eyes growing shocked. What... what? She whispered. It's my bad luck," I said, lifting my dress to conceal it, "my dress. Evelyn put her candle on the dirt floor. That mark . . . . . She breathed, slowly approaching me in the darkness. Not a curse! She lunged forward, and her arm stretched out for my dress. I pulled down my head, my heat blasting into a defense shield. I could feel a wave of power surge out of my chest, striking Evelyn on the back of her head and blasting her backward up the wooden stairs. She made a loud noise when she stepped on the steps. I looked at my hands in the darkness. They were glowing. Evelyn perked her ears up, and her face twisted in complete horror and realization. It's you," she hissed, her voice filled with venom. You'll play the role of the lost girl. Evelyn scrambled up the wooden stairs like a panicked animal, slamming the heavy cellar door shut behind her, before I could move. The loud, sickening clank of the iron bolt made its way home. Hey! I ran up the stairs shouting at the thick door, pushing my body against it. Let me out! Evelyn, open up the door! No answer came. The only sound she could hear was the sound of her frantic footsteps running away across the main hall. I could hear Alpha Corvin's loud voice through the thick wood of the door as it stood in the main courtyard. Welcome, Commander Valerius! Our pack has been named! We have gathered all the young women as you requested! Are you all that? a deep cold voice said. Yes, my Lord! Corvin answered quickly. All of the young girls stand in front of you! I gasped. There I was, Evelyn, while I was stuck here, in the dark, and pretending to be the only girl. Again, I hurled myself against the door with my full force. The mark on my back was burning furiously and explosively and lighting the cellar, which was pitch black with a bright and blinding light. Was I going to let her take my life hoping I would still be alive here? What was inside my own blood yelling at me to break down these walls?