Page 65 of White Raven

The crowd laughed as he kissed the mirror, then finally turned to the girl. “I guess you’re pretty too.”

The crowd howled with amusement.

“You have magical blood, I hear. Powerful enough to heal the dying land!” The Night King took the girl.

“Kill her! Kill her!” everyone, including the kids, chanted out.

Why would they want me dead? I was the symbol that would save this land.

“No! No! I am too miraculous and above all others, right, Father?” The girl looked back at her dead father.

His body sat up. “Yes, Daughter.” Then collapsed back down dead again.

“See?” she retorted.

The crowd howled.

“You’re pretty.” The Night King laughed maniacally, lecherously feeling her up, while he drove a blade into my doll, stealing her crown. “But not as pretty as me.”

My figure squealed like a pig, the crowd chanting louder as the puppeteer spurted out red ribbon from a hole in the white dress, dying a dramatic demise next to the Day King.

The group whooped and clapped at our deaths as more red string pooled over the ground. The scene continued, but I couldn’t take any more.

Vomit burned up my throat as I sprinted away, my vision blurred with tears. I ran from the show, tears hiccuping in my throat. The glee the people expressed at my death. Portraying me as selfish, and simple, with no thoughts of my own. My father gluttonous, and tyrannical.

We were the villains here.

My feet carried me farther in my need to escape myself, to forget what I had just seen. This was what people thought we were like? It made no sense. My father grew extra food in the hothouses and sent it to other villages. He was anything but greedy and he was always fair and just in his dealings with others.

And I wasn’t empty-minded and acted superior to others. Right? It wasn’t my fault this was the position I was given in life.

Gasping for air, I came to a stop at the edge of a ravine, the twilight lowering further in the sky. Bending over, I spat up bile, my heart heavy with anguish.

“Well, look what we have here.” A nasal voice jerked my head to the side. A lean man strolled toward me with a large nose, dressed in a worn brown tunic. Something about him seemed familiar, prickling at my anxiety.

“Such a pretty thing.” He licked his lips. Three more rough-looking men expanded out around me. My eyes darted to one with white hair peeking out from his threadbare wool hat. He was a Day Raven, yet his gaze held nothing but contempt for me, like he despised his own kind.

They cautiously encircled me, trying to capture a wild animal.

I shuffled back and gravel crumbled away under my heels, falling feet below, forcing me to scramble away from the drop.

“What is a stunning creature like you doing out here all alone?” Large Nose asked, holding the ego of someone in charge. His gaze crawled over me like spiders, trying to see what was behind my cloak.

“I-I w-w-wanna break this one in, Boss.” Another man on my right side stuttered awkwardly, like he was still learning words. He was tall and built, his flat, wide nose appearing to have been broken a dozen times, his face and hands a map of scars, broken bones, cuts, and bruises.

“You’re gonna stick to fighting, Kämpe,” the “Boss” replied. “I get to break in all merchandise before selling them.” He moved in closer, yanking the hood from my head, my long hair tumbling down. “A Day Raven. You are valuable in these parts. You will fetch me a high price at auction, won’t you? You have something very high-born about you; a quality an owner will have fun beating out.”

The notion of where I had seen him before finally clicked in, turning my blood cold.

He was the man selling thralls on the side of the road when we came into town.

“I’ll have fun sampling first. Test her skills.” He leered, snapping his fingers. “Put her in the wagon.” He turned around and started walking toward a cart and horse hidden in the shadow of the trees. I hadn’t even realized until now how quiet it was; there were no people or buildings. I was on the outskirts of the town. Alone.

The three burly men stepped for me.

I scampered back, the edge of the drop decaying under me, swinging my arms to stay steady. They pounced, grabbing for me.

My training took over.