Mated by Fate

ears

hat 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 lad

causing a blonde sheet of hair to flop into his twinkling green eyes. She hardened her eyes and glared at him

silver coins!

y defiantly, refusing to meet his eyes

you back".

stupid enough to believe

wil

et him off her neck. "I'll tell her you left me alone to sell the turnips and that you went off with Cass

er in annoyance. "It's ste

rows furrowed fiercely and she glared at him hotly, already feeling the hot pri

tattletale.

red by the bags that still held her arms down. Ty blew a raspberry then and in that moment, sh

nderstand 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,

prise 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 drip

She shook her head, eyes burning with tears. She wanted to tell him that she really didn't understand

dn't do it". Her voice was so small, she couldn't help it. That wasn't her. Whoever had grown claws and pu

bout this". The tears finally flowed down her cheeks freely and she shook her head faster and ha

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 onl

st 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

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 althou

en 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 obviou

n 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

dn'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

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 clea

eople 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 proces