The Blind Count's Secret Bride

The iron glowed sickly like a bleached orange. It was the color of a dying sun, and it was the last thing I wanted to see. "Please," I gasped, my voice ragged. It was a broken piece of its former nobility. My wrists chafed against the heavy silver shackles that suppressed my wolf. "Sarah, look at me. It’s me. I didn't do it. I couldn't have; they were my parents, my own blood." Sarah, my childhood friend, the same woman who had sworn an oath to the Church of Justice, didn't flinch. She stood tall in her pristine white robe, looking down at me with those cold eyes consumed in disgust of my presence. A stony glare that cut deeper than the words of many I had received. "You are not the woman I knew," Sarah whispered, her voice lost of any mercy. "You are a monster wearing her skin. A demon that should be destroyed." My words froze; I merely stared, trying to process the words. "It’s me." I wanted to plead more. Why wouldn't she listen? She knew me better than anyone. But just before I could utter any further words, Sarah gripped the handle of the branding rod. The skull-shaped iron hissed as it left the coals it had simmered in for hours. "No—!" My screams were ripped from my very own throat as the white-hot metal slammed into my shoulders. "Ah!" The smell of my own burning flesh filled the cramped cell. I felt a sharp, ripping agony echo through my own veins, seizing every single part. My blurred, teary eyes caught the very sight of Sarah, her face painted with a cruel smile that felt like a final blow. It wasn't just the heat. It was the magical seal of a criminal. I had just been branded for the very crime I pleaded not guilty of. Everything slowly faded into a haze. The after-shock was even worse. I couldn't speak; I couldn't move. My whole muscle and bones shuddered in agony. "I... didn't... do... it," my words broke in a distant sob. The chains holding me up were released as I crumbled to the ground, gasping for the tiny bit of air. It felt like the whole place was slowly being consumed by a heavy silence that screameddarkness. "Move it, traitor." The guard didn't give me the time to faint. I felt a hard grip on the unbolted floor chains as I was dragged upright, my legs following like lead as my toes scraped against the cold stone. They hauled me toward the Great Hall. I watched the double doors swing open as I was forced inside. Stood around me were high-ranking people in each seat of the courtroom, wearing cold, judgmental faces. These were the very elders that held the next authority after the Lycan King and his sons themselves. These were the very people I had grown up serving, the ones I expected support from. "Evelina Thorne," the lead elder's voice echoed through the room in a booming tone. "The evidence is absolute. Your scent was found in the marrow of your father's bones. Your blade was found in your sister's heart." "Lies!" I yelled. My vision was hardly visible; I tried to stand tall in my claims, but a guard slammed the butt of a spear into the back of my knees. I crashed to the floor, the chains on my hands clashing as they rattled hard. I was pinned down by two guards as all my struggles were silenced like a dying ember. I looked up at the elders—the same men who had eaten at my father's table—and there it was: the flicker of a cruel smile on one of their faces. A setup. The realization hit me harder than the spear. They didn't want the truth; that was never the case, no matter how much I pleaded innocence. They wanted my blood. "No... don't tell me?" My heart raced, my chest pounding heavily. "Father... Mother... Lily and Rhea... everybody." One of the elders. They had slaughtered my family and wanted to bury the evidence with me. Blurred by my tears that poured, I aimed my gaze back at the elders that stood up, my teeth grinding in a fury. I will find you, I screamed in the silence of my mind, my tears turning to steam against my freshly branded skin. In this life or the next, I will find who held the knife that day. And I will kill you... I promise. I will make you beg for death. A sudden darkness blinded me, then a heavy blow to the back of my head, silencing me. The next morning felt hollow. I could hear the screams of hatred burning in the crowd on the walk to my execution block. The same commoners who used to cheer for my family now threw rotted fruit and jagged stones at me. A rock hit me in the forehead; my blood smeared as it blurred my vision. I was forced onto the cold wooden block. The crowd's insults slowly fell like a distant roar. I didn't look at them, only at the sky. "It really is cloudy today," I whispered in my thoughts in the shame of the moment. Wait for me, I thought, my heart giving one final defiant thrum. Because I am coming back for every one of you. The silver blade flashed in the morning light, cold and swift. Then there was only silence and darkness that consumed me. Am I dead? The thought resonated like a last withering breath in my mind. So this was what it felt like... I couldn't do anything. Couldn't save them. Will they ever forgive—I... I am sorry. Mom... Dad... your daughter was weak. Rhea, Lily, big sis is sorry... This only seemed like the end. Or it should have. "You are the key!" A ethereal voice resonated in my head. "You must destroy the conspiracy before the world's end..." The key? What did that mean? Everything became silent after that, just as I heard a distant murmur of voices. They were children playing, followed by a loud clatter of horse carriages and the hum of a bustling street... A sudden sharp headache kicked in that I shouldn't be feeling, as I felt a tingle on my skin. My skin? "It can't be... it shouldn't be." But the realization dawned as I tried forcing my eyes open, my very sight meeting red streaked clouds. "Where am I?" I thought. I tried standing up, my gaze scanning each side. Judging from the surroundings, an alley. I was in a different dress; it seemed like one of a commoner. "How... this shouldn't be possible." I managed standing up only for my legs to stagger as I tried using the walls as a foothold. My vision was half-blurry as I still tried to piece things together. My legs gave up halfway as I crumbled to the muddy ground. My eyes landed at a small water pond, that displayed a clear reflection of myself. Instead of the fierce, golden-eyed Lycan I once was, a pair of soft, wide human eyes stared back at me. My face was rounder, my hair a dull brown instead of its usual silver sheen, and the powerful aura of my wolf was replaced by a fragile human heartbeat. This isn't me... wait... a human? How is this possible? What's going on?