Submitted to Love

It was a lovely Spring morning. The early rays of the sun would cast a golden hue on her face as she breathed in the fresh aroma of baking buns from the bakery near her home. Isabella was getting ready for her day’s chores. Aunt Helena and her husband Anthony adopted Isabella when her parents died mysteriously in a car crash. The “car crash” was the official story though no one really knew the details. Aunt Helena would never physically abuse Bella but gradually the household chores assigned to Bella and restrictions on her movements seem to increase with her age. Helena was the step sister of Isabella’s mom and childless. Perhaps the desire of having her own blood made her despise Isabella more. Anthony loves little Bella but lacked the spine to stand up against his wife. The first thing in the morning Isabella would do is make some English tea and place some hot buns on a plate. Her uncle would enter the kitchen and both would sip tea and buns and share some nice peaceful moments. Helena would make sure she reminds Isabella about all the money and resources that are being “wasted” on her. Helena used to assign almost all household works to Isabella which took her most of the morning . Yet she would hardly get a proper square meal. Helena insisted that young girls should not “overeat” lest they lose their shape and not find a proper husband. "The castle is paying for young ladies to help in their wedding events. I have managed to get Bella to help. Though they were asking for all 18 year old ladies but thank my luck I was able to squeeze Bella in, since it is her birthday tomorrow. I guess finally Isabella you would be able to bring back some money we spend on you". The sharp voice of Helena broke the reverie of the soon to be eighteen year old. She was busy with the laundry while her mind drifted to the "Macbeth" drama they plan to stage in the coming weekend . The castle is a mysterious place in the cradle of the mountains. Always covered in mist, it housed the ruler and owner of the adjacent 20 villages at the foot of the mountains. Those living in the castle were not human. The villagers knew the creatures were incredibly powerful and you have to be a fool to be on their wrong side. Often howls of wolves would be heard from the misty mountains. It is believed that the creatures have pet wolves , domesticated through some dark magic. Though the villagers harboured ill feelings towards the ruler never in their living memory have they been faced with any unjust extortion or torture. Curiously, the villages have grown prosperous and self-sufficient over time, especially in the last twenty years. “Do I really have to go help them ? Please can I not go into that castle? I will work over time in the shops and earn an equal amount of money. You know auntie, every now and then some girls would be called to the castle and they stay there forever. No one knows if it is by force or otherwise , the girls never speak. Please auntie, I do not want to go ….please can you ….” Isabella pleaded desperately. She was scared to bone about that place. While many girls of her age dream of going to castle and staying there in all its glamour and glory, Isabella has other dreams. She wants to be a university professor one day and open multiple schools in the villages to impart world class education. “Isabella, ...the least you can do is be grateful for all the services provided to you by myself and your uncle. All the girls who have eventually stayed back in the castle seem to be happier than any other girls who married and stayed in the village. I fail to understand the basis of your whining...I am sorry Isabella I expect you to be up tomorrow morning and ready by 8 to be escorted to the castle by their guards….and I do not want any further discussion regarding the same.” Helena had a finality in her tone which brought tears to Isabella’s eyes. She was helpless and scared to the core. “Please auntie, what if I never come back?...” “Well Bella, I am counting on that...it is heard that they also pay the families handsomely whose girls have stayed back in the castle…” Isabella was dumbstruck. All these years that she stayed with her aunt , did she not for once develop any feelings for Bella? Everyday she has worked tirelessly to please her aunt hoping someday Helena would show some semblance of love she so desperately yearns for. For years she was barred from attending normal schools with other kids. She was forced to go to a night school after all her day’s work. She still worked hard hoping one day she would find love in the place she calls her home. So many days she has toiled through her illness, broken bones, monthly cycle etc. She did everything because all she wanted was love and an opportunity to study further. And now after all these it broke her heart to see that her aunt only cared about selling her off to the castle. No one knows what happens to the girls. After a few months they get pregnant . Though they have never complained , they have also never spoken about their life. It is believed in the village that the girls are under trance ...a dark magic….they are hardly alive...doing the bidding of the masters in the castle.