Her hands trembled by her sides, and she slipped to the floor, crying as her body shuddered with tears. She didn't know how long she had been crying but when she was done, Zesika and her son were gone, believing that the rain had caught up with her in the market. It was still raining. By Ignas, what an attitude.Quickly, she stood up and cleaned the room. Took a bath and pretended that this had never happened. She decided not to step out of her house that day so that whatever was triggering the thing in her would not come in contact with her again. That dog. That person. Until she could figure things out, she wouldn't leave this place. She didn't want to bring harm to anyone.Her plan would have gone alright, but then, once again, there was a knock on her door. She froze, hoping whosoever it was would go away. "Aniya, are you home?"Her eyes went wide beneath her veil, because she knew that voice. Belladonna?!Oh no.If this had been any other time but now, she would have b

Boots pounded above while below, Aniya's heart was pounding in her chest. The search had been quick but to Aniya it felt like it had gone on forever. It felt like she could hear every movement they made, everything they disassembled to conduct the search, every single thing they took out of place. Her mind replayed all the times she had returned home with blood on her dress and how she had neatly disposed of them as if she had known this moment would come. However, for the times she had just woken up and met herself in clean clothes, she was scared. Had she neatly disposed of the evidence of those times too or had the thing that usually possessed her carried out a messy clean? For this, Aniya was afraid. "The monster has been here?" Zesika said once again, looking around absolutely worried. "You need to leave this house once they are over. Come and stay in the guest quarters in my house. You cannot stay here. What if the monster comes back?"Aniya appreciated Zesika's worry and

In Belladonna's mind, she could see Eli painting with a smile on his face. Then in the next second, she could hear him reading to her, then that memory faded away and the memory that took over was of Alaris saving her as he had done in the Village of Nakunriver. Then an image of a room formed in her mind. The open doors slammed shut and the windows did the same, and the voices faded away. Her eyes snapped open and she coughed out water. She could feel the water on her body, sweeping over her then retreating. Alaris was looking down at her with a ball of flames in his hand, his chest rising and falling and his facial features filled with worry. Suddenly, she remembered everything. Once again, she was angry but this time, it was different.She stood up, putting distance between them, as she took a couple of steps along the beach before she held her knees and screamed. Alaris didn't go after her, instead, he stood up and allowed his eyes to do the following.“You!” She turned to him,

Aniya had been thrown into the dungeon, chained down, and locked away. When Belladonna heard, she raced down here immediately. “What do you mean my sister is the monster?” She had asked Eli while hurrying away to the dungeon to see for herself what he claimed her sister was. When she got to the dungeon however, Aniya was with the veil she usually had over her face, with chains around her ankles and her wrists, while sat down on the floor. “Open the gate!” She commanded and the guards opened the gate to let her in. Lytio was here too. As the Village Head, there was nothing that went on in his Village that he shouldn't know about. Eli had followed Belladonna here to ensure her safety. He still didn't trust his Donna's sister and he didn't think he ever would.“I mean no harm!” Aniya stood up when she saw Belladonna step into her prison from the nettings of her veil. “Please, I didn't mean to hurt anybody. I have changed.” But Belladonna only grabbed her veil to search for the cut

The men walked through the forest, moving quietly.Until they got to a point where they stopped.Witcher Galdur, the one wearing the white robes, held up his hand and they all stopped. “We still have to capture the last one,” he said to the men behind him. They were all wearing robes but of a darker shade and color. “You,” he pointed at the one carrying Aniya.“But Witcher, if we are separated from you, the guards patrolling will see us.” He responded with concern. “He will go with you,” Witcher Galdur pointed to another. “That way, you will remain unseen.”So the group split into two, the spell of invisibility over them. As they raced against time before it would expire. One took the left turn and the other took the right, agreeing to meet at a particular spot in some minutes. Therefore, Belladonna and Aniya were taken to two different places. ______Witcher Galdur went along with three men, one of whom was carrying the Bride. Everything was quiet and some guards made a fool o