Mated by Fate

16 years ago

"Oh......that looks good too. Ella look!!!!!!". From behind her elder brother who jumped and pointed excitedly at the mesmerising display of wooden swords that hung from the entrance of the nearest stall, Ella grimaced bitterly, pointedly refusing to share in his excitement as she adjusted the weight of the laden bags that balanced from her thin shoulders and shuffled her small feet impatiently and rather loudly, if she dare say. "Perhaps I could get one........".

"You do not have any coins left". She reminded him smartly. His smile didn't wane as he turned to her swiftly, causing a blonde sheet of hair to flop into his twinkling green eyes. She hardened her eyes and glared at him in warning, already knowing what he was going to say next. "And I do not have any either". She added hastily.

"I only want 2 silver coins!!!!". He whined.

She readjusted the bags and turned away defiantly, refusing to meet his eyes. "I don't have any coins for you, Ty".

"I'll pay you back". He added.

Her 7 year old mind wasn't stupid enough to believe that anymore. "You won't".

"I will".

"I'm going to tell Mama". She said, knowing fully well that that was probably the only thing that would get him off her neck. "I'll tell her you left me alone to sell the turnips and that you went off with Cassandra again. I'll also tell that you left me to carry the bags alone and that you are thieving my coins".

"Stealing". He corrected her in annoyance. "It's stealing, not thieving, dummy".

She felt a whip of indignation flash through her at being called a dummy. Her brows furrowed fiercely and she glared at him hotly, already feeling the hot pricks of tears behind her eyes. "I'll also tell Mama that you called me a dummy".

"Bahhh.....tattletale. Cry baby".

She felt the tears spring into her eyes and she made to dab at them angrily but was only hindered by the bags that still held her arms down. Ty blew a raspberry then and in that moment, she wanted to haul her bags at his face so hard his nose bled. The next few seconds were a blur.

One minute he was right in front of her, tongue out and fingers wagging crazily behind his ears and the other, he was flying across the stall entrance, head whipping back like he had been hit. A few heads turned to his direction and Ella saw his face redden beneath the gazes. A few kids leered mockingly as they all seemed to understand what had happened. Her vision came to focus on her extended arms and she retrieved her arms quickly. Panicked, she took in her fingers. The nails were gone. Instead, white claws emerged out of her nail beds, their contrast sharp against her slightly dirty fingers. Time must have stopped for her because for a moment, she really couldn't see the world again. Or hear it. All she felt was the ice in her blood that rendered her cold and the roar of blood in her ears. The loud sound of an earthen pot crashing against Ty's weight snapped her back and she quickly tucked her hands into the folds of her drab dress and fervently willed the claws away.

Ty's face was a balanced mixture of shock, anger and embarrassment as he sat up and that was when she saw it, a thin trail of blood, slowly making it's way down his nose, across his mouth and drip drip, down onto his tattered white shirt. He glanced down at himself, eyes wide with surprise and hesitantly, he reached up and touched his nose, his hand coming off with a bright spot of red. Ella felt her breath hitch. She suddenly felt so numb. Ty rose his head to look at her slowly and she made to speak but nothing came out. He stood up angrily and swiped at the dripping blood before stalking towards her, eyes burning with a fiery intensity. She couldn't speak, she made to but she couldn't. All she could really manage was a steady shake of her head. "I didn't do it", she wanted to scream but beneath Ty's angry gaze, her blood turned cold in fear.

"You pushed me". He whispered menacingly and she could see in his eyes that he couldn't believe it too. She shook her head, eyes burning with tears. She wanted to tell him that she really didn't understand what had just happened either but she knew that wasn't going to help anything. "Speak!!!". He snarled.

She took a deep breath and blinked back tears, swallowing nervously before summoning her voice. "I....I didn't do it". Her voice was so small, she couldn't help it. That wasn't her. Whoever had grown claws and pushed Tyson with much force, enough to have him flying back, it wasn't her. She refused to think otherwise.

The corners of his mouth pinched angrily and he wagged a finger at her. "Mama is going to hear about this". The tears finally flowed down her cheeks freely and she shook her head faster and harder than ever in fear. "Oh she will. And I'll also tell her you are a liar and a little........".

He was interrupted by the loud blare of a horn and simultaneously, they both turned back and watched the procession head towards them. Her blood ran cold as the red uniform of the azukhi on horseback became visible over the craning necks of the villagers. They moved swiftly, the hooves of their horses leaving a thick cloud of dust after them. One of the soldiers was calling orders that she couldn't quite hear but by the movement of the villagers, she could only guess that they were being ordered to gather at the village square, hence the shuffle of the crowd as they rushed past them, their fears and anxiousness mirroring hers. It was never good news to have the king's men in the village.

She felt Ty's arms wrap around her protectively as he pulled her closer, away from the stampede and for a moment, a brief cloud of hope fluttered in her chest. Maybe he had forgiven her after all. The azukhi rode swiftly past them, and even though she still couldn't catch their speech over the loud noise, Ty seemed to as he dragged her forward with him into the swarm of tense villagers, linking his arms with her as he finally relieved her of the heavy bags containing their purchases. And for what felt like forever, they made the long walk to the village square, the only audible sounds being the hooves of the men's horses and the scared murmurs of the villagers.

At long last they arrived and in anxious silence, they all gathered round the large, shallow pit where village competitions and performances were usually held. Ty's slight frame allowed him to push through the crowd with her, eliciting a few grumbles and more than once, a few shoves although no one dared speak up for fear of drawing the attention of the king's men. And finally, they were as close to the front row as they could get.

A path opened to make way for the apparent leader of the azukhi as he rode forward on his ebony stallion, eyes flashing wickedly beneath his thick, drooping brows. Behind him, two azukhi marched on feet, a hunched figure being dragged along between them. It looked like a woman and Ella could only guess so as she thought she caught a glimpse of small breasts beneath the drooping neckline of the figure's rags. Her hair hung long, matted and dirty and one couldn't really tell what colour it had been under all the dirt. Heavy silver cuffs circled her throat and even the shackles that bound her appeared to be silver. Every visible part of her body bore scars, both fresh and old, and her feet left behind trails of blood as she was dragged roughly between the men towards a little makeshift dais where two horses stood on either sides. Ella's widened at the sight of her toes. They were claws.... just like the ones she had earlier. She quickly looked down at her hands and nearly let out a sigh of relief when she saw that they had gone. Had she imagined it? She couldn't see the woman's hands but she could swear they must also have those claws. The silence was eerie and thick as they all watched the two azukhi shove the figure onto the floor of the dais and roughly grab her legs, marching on to either sides of her to tie each leg to each horse's hind hoof, leaving her already tattered garment to hitch all the way up her legs, exposing her genitalia to the crowd adjacent. While the display was obviously inappropriate, no one dared make a move to cover their children's eyes. Such action could attract attention and any attention from the azukhi was never good attention. The figure whimpered miserably but it was apparent that there was no fight left in her as she merely shook her head and closed her eyes tightly. They watched her lips move fervently and it was obvious she was making a prayer of some sort, an action that didn't sit right with one of the azukhi on her sides as he delivered a well intended kick to her lips before moving away, leaving the figure behind, motionless with pain. The head azukha marched forward on his horse and with an arrogant tilt of his head, he looked all around the square before coming to a stop right in the middle.

"People of Viscania". His loud voice boomed. "We come with direct orders from the king to show you first hand what happens when one dares to practice sorcery of any form in this cleansed land. The whore mother of this piece of filth.....". He kicked the woman in the guts. "..... allowed the devil use her as she took a wolf to her bed......". The crowd gasped quietly. ".....hence producing this abominable being". The head azukha spat on her in open disgust. "The last time an execution of this nature took place was exactly 3 years ago. Within that time span, it has come to the crown's attention that more and more of these demon spawns are on the rise, rather daringly too if I may add". He made eye contact with as much people as he could manage, letting his next words sink into he who had ears. "We will find you all. Witches, wizards, elf-folk, wolf-scums.....you may hide now but you cannot do that forever". Ella didn't really understand why an almost visible ripple of shivers slithered down her spine at his words. "We will hunt you all down like the beasts you are and when we do.......". A small cruel smile crawled onto his lips. ".....you'll regret the day your whore of a mother took to the devil's bed. Now watch!!!!!!". He gestured back towards the prone figure. "Watch and see what happens when you become a vessel for the devil".

With bated breath, they all watched him step away, enabling everyone a full view of what was about to happen. Ella wasn't so sure what she was about to witness. She had never witnessed a public execution and standing here now, knowing she was about to witness one, she didn't know what to expect. She glanced up at Ty and saw him staring at the display, face white and eyes wide open. She felt his hand tighten around her arm and weirdly, she knew he didn't even know he had done that. Ty knew what was about to happen and from his expression, she knew it couldn't be good. The sudden blare of a whistle snapped her attention back to the display and she turned just in time to see the two azukhi crack whips across the horses' backs and in unison, the beasts took off at a run towards either sides of the square.

Their manes flowed gracefully and the sheen of their coats dazzled in the sunlight as they took off. It would have been such a graceful sight if there wasn't a human between them. Ella felt the scream rise in her throat and the horror flood her young mind as the scene unfurled before her. Before the scream found it's way out, she felt Ty's arms wrap around her head as he pulled her into an embrace, burying her face in his midriff. She pressed her face into the rough spun wool of his shirt as she fought down the overwhelming wave of nausea that threatened to overcome her. Eyes shut tight and with vigorous shakes of her head, she made a vain attempt to will the image out of her head. But try as she may, she saw it clear as day, the figure's body being ripped into two by the momentum of the horses as they took off in opposite directions. She sobbed into her brother's shirt as the image stayed put. From behind her, she heard similar sobs and whimpers and even a couple of retching sounds from the crowd, she wasn't the only one experiencing the after effects of the gruesome scene.

"On the king's decree, we hereby relaunch an official hunt for the spawns of the devil!!!!! Concealment of useful information comes with an equally dreadful punishment. O people of Great Viscania, be warned and beware!!!". And with one final look around the square, he signalled to the rest azukhi and with just as similar commotion, the procession turned back just the way they had come and marched out, leaving behind the expected cloud of dust and an even thicker blanket of fear over the people they left behind.