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“That’s horrible,” I whisper.
He nods, then continues. “Hergoodnesskilled her. It is said that upon her death, this tree wept blood. The whole village witnessed it. It was the first and last time that happened. Legend has it that this tree only ever cries tears of blood when a virtuous soul, pure of heart and mind dies beneath its boughs.”
“Yet here you are shackling me to this very tree, and for what? You’re no better than the men who hung those innocent women,” I accuse.
“I never said I wasn’t.”
“Then why tell me such a story?”
“Entertainment. Curiosity, maybe,” Jakub replies with a shrug.
“Why are you so cruel?” I ask, my teeth chattering with both fear and the feeling that I’m walking on someone’s grave.
“This is your home now, it’s only right you are aware of its history,” Konrad says, backing his brother.
“And your fate,” Leon adds darkly.
I snap my head to look at him. “What do you mean,my fate?”
He doesn’t answer, Konrad does. “Marie’s husband was so heartbroken that he bought this tree and the surrounding land in a fifty mile radius, then built this castle so he could always be close to the soul of his wife. This tree hasn’t wept blood since she died, even though the legend has been tested often over the years.”
“Other people have died here?” I ask, barely able to get my words out I’m so horrified.
“Yes, and many have come close,” Jakub confirms, a muscle feathering in his jaw.
Nausea churns in my stomach with the realisation of where this is going. “You mean for me to die here, is that it? This is your revenge on my sister.Thisis my fate?”
Leon steps closer, cupping my masked face. “Everyone has to die eventually.”
I snatch my head away. He laughs, and whilst the sound is cruel it’s also hollow, lacking any real kind of malintent. Just a bitterness that I don’t understand.
“You’reoursnow, Nothing. That meanswehold the key to your fate. See this as a warning of sorts. We will release you when we think you’ve understood the gravity of your situation. Take that time to think about how you wish to behave from this moment onwards.”
“Please, don’t do this!” I cry, all sense of self-worth flying out of the window just as a thunderclap sounds overhead and rain begins to pour in fat, heavy droplets. I’m saturated in seconds, the dress sticking to my naked body beneath, the material becoming see-through. All three men stand and stare, oblivious to the rain as it saturates the four of us.
“You disobeyed us. This is the consequence,” Jakub retorts eventually. With that, he turns on his heel and leaves, Konrad and Leon following close behind him.
