REYNA
Cassandra had been so busy lately that I hadnât had the chance to speak with her about the condition of the villagersâ houses. So today, when Sabrina told us that our training had to wait until later, I decided it was time I looked for my mother.
Iâd searched for her throughout the castle and even asked Nana to help me look for her, but she wasnât anywhere to be found. I decided to check outside the castle, and there she wasâoutside the castle, and she wasnât alone.
Today, Cassandra had on her black uniform with ornaments, stars, and a cap. She looked cold and hard.
The council, witches, and even Sabrina and the other Roses were also here. The councilwomen, like Cassandra, were all in their uniforms, which struck me as odd.
These were the only people in Marlenia who rarely wore the dreadful uniform, except for the Roses. The Roses always wore sexy red dresses of silky materials mixed with red leather, with long sleeves.
The dresses had a long slit on either side of their legs up to their thighs, where they had daggers and guns tied to their inner thighs inside their sheaths. The dress had a hood at the back.
Their faces were grim. I felt anxietyâsomething bad had happened or was about to happen.
I could taste it, like a bad, pungent smell crawling down my throat.
âCome here, Reyna. Itâs good that you are here; we were just talking about the beasts. Today weâre sentencing one of the beasts in public,â Cassandra said. âI decided after what you said the other day that you were in fact right.
âThe people should know whatâs at stake. They should know the kind of beasts weâre fighting; itâs the right thing to do. Whatâs your take on the matter?â
My heart instantly plummeted into my stomach.
~What?!~
No, this wasnât what I meant. I just wanted the people to know what was outside their walls.
I felt they should be educated about the dangers now that our magical illusion and barrier had been breached. Not for us to murder a man in public.
Was Cassandra going to kill him? My beastâwas it the other beast? Please donât let it be him.
âMother, thatâsâ¦thatâs not what I mean. I just meant we needed to be educated on the outside world and the dangers of going out there, not for you to kill a manâ¦â I began frantically, scared for my beast.
âHeâs not a man, Reyna. Heâs a beast.â Her eyes narrowed. âA monster who wouldnât hesitate to kill you if he decided you were useless to him, which is a better alternative to the other things it could do to you and other women.â
Cassandra stared down at me hard. The fact that she just called Casvan an ~it~ meant she didnât even consider him to be a person.
Her blue-gray eyes dared me to argue with her. I swallowed and averted my gaze, trying to hide my feelings.
Though it was hard for me to hear around the frantic sounds of her beating heart, I heard murmurs of agreement from the council members.
Despite the dread in the pit of my stomach, I wanted to ask Cassandra which beast she was going to hang. Lisa fortunately asked the question for me.
âWhich one of them are we going to behead?â
They were going to behead him?! Acidic bile rose in my throat, but I forced it down fast.
There was no way I could stand and do nothing. I was going to have to find a way, and if I failed Iâd be seen as a traitor, but better that than watch Cas get beheaded.
âThe one in the infirmary is low in their hierarchy, he doesnât know much. But the one in the dungeon is high on their food chain. After the beheading, I want him to talk. I donât care what you do, just make him fucking talk. We need to know everything about these monsters before itâs too late.â
Relief coursed through me at the knowledge my beast wouldnât be dying today. I was still horrified at the vehemence I heard in Cassandraâs voice.
It made me wonder why she hated the beasts so much. I thought she was personally motivated in this war against the beasts.
There must have been a story beyond the ordinary fear of being captured and turned into a sexual slave. A story no one knew about.
âWhat if he infects the people?â I said, desperately trying to find a way to stop her, to save this poor beast.
âHe wonât. The men are in their quarters, and weâve already taken precautions. Thank God everyone has been vaccinated just recently, so nobody will be infected.â
The lies just made it worse. But I couldnât refute her claims that the blue mist plague didnât exist without revealing my sources.
âReyna, you and Lisa will ring the bell, when it is time.â
I nodded hesitantly. I honestly didnât want to help in any way; just the thought of witnessing the beastâs death at my motherâs hand made me sick to my stomach.
How could I even look at Casvan, knowing now what I did? But if I didnât do what Cassandra wanted, I risked raising her suspicion.
Anyway I looked at it, I didnât have a choice.
Together, Lisa and I started for the tower to the giant bell hanging behind the clock.
âAre you all right, Reyna?â Lisa was looking at me strangely.
âYes?â Even to my ear, my answer sounded like a question.
âWhy do you ask?â
Lisa looked the same yet different. There was a sexuality to her every step that I was only starting to learn from my lessons with Sabrina, which every Rose seemed to exude.
Only unlike me, Lisa had perfected it; she sashayed her hips provocatively and with ease, as though she had always walked like this all her life. Her dark auburn hair matched the red hooded dress.
The front of the dress was slightly low to draw eyes to her displayed top breasts, which were pushed up to make them look bigger. She really was a Rose.
All the Roses looked exactly like this. Dressed for sex and provocation.
They made every woman in Marlenia look inadequate, like how they looked was how every woman should be. Sensual, strong, provocative, and lethal.
Everyone admired them, and soon I was going to be one of them.
âYou look pale. You should try harder to hide your emotions. You almost gave yourself away, and if I can see it, so could your mother, and weakness is something she loathes,â Lisa replied, surprising me.
I always thought she hated me since she became a Rose, but just now, I saw a glimpse of the girl Lisa used to be before she joined the Roses. ~Lisaâthat was my friend, not Lisa the Rose.~
âThanks,â I muttered, not knowing what else to say.
She nodded.
When we finally arrived at the belltower, my step faltered. I didnât want to have a hand in Jakoâs death, because that was who he was.
He wasnât just a nameless beast. Nor did I want Marlenians to witness the horror of seeing someone die horribly, especially the children.
But we had our orders. And the first lesson beaten into me was to never disobey a direct order.
Lisa was staring at me when I didnât make a move to ring the bell. She shook her head, sighed, and rang the bell. Once, twice, and a third time.
I put my hands over my ears as the loud sound ricocheted off the castle and queendom.
In no time, people began to gather, coming from everywhere, talking and asking questions, wondering what was going on. Curious eyes stared at the raised platform the queen was standing on.
The same platform the beast would be getting beheaded in a short while.
The little girls looked excited even from where we were standing, watching down from the bell tower. They ran around each other playing, while some, mostly the older ones, kept pulling their parentsâ dresses to ask what was going on.
Before long, all of Marlenia was gathered outside the castle, except for the guards on duty, still keeping watch, with their hands on their weapons, readying for the expected.