The Bride of the Zodiac King

Chapter Nine

A long white bridal veil was put over her head by the same group of women who got her dressed. Ella wondered why now, they should have done so earlier, not when she was about to walk down the aisle.

'This symbolizes modesty, obedience and to keep away any evil eye ', the older woman whispered to her as she fixed the diamond headpiece over her veil.

Ella wondered what she meant by obedience and the evil eye. As far as she knows, the veil was just to make the whole wedding dress more beautiful adding some dramatic effect. The bride walking in, her face covered, the husband standing there with teary eyes thinking how beautiful his future wife looks in white. Where did obedience come in all of this or maybe in her world they were unaware of traditions and just used it as an accessory.

'We have to hurry',

She heard the messenger said as he looked up towards the sky. Ella realized it was getting darker and that made her wonder why a night wedding. She wanted to ask the woman next to her why was she getting married in the dark as if she was marrying the devil or a vampire. With that thought, she bit her bottom lip.

What if that what he is? No, it cannot be, otherwise, the Queen would not insist that I'm the hope for the Zodiac world..but what if it was only a hallucination, some trick they played on me to push me into marrying the King!, Ella said to herself and she stopped walking.

'Why did you stop ?', the messenger asked angrily.

'I can't do this! I cannot go on with this ridiculous farce, I want to go back home. Please wake me up from this dream anybody.. somebody!', Ella said in a pleading trembling voice.

'Stop whatever you are doing! You are drawing the attention of the crowd, they shouldn't see that they have a weak Queen!', the messenger hissed at her as he nodded towards the group of people on their right.

Ella glanced over her shoulder, indeed the crowd of people was looking towards her and whispering to one another.

'I didn't ask to be anyone's Queen!', Ella hissed back at him as they started to walk again.

'Listen, your father, Theron Russels..which by the way is not is his real name ..would not be very proud of his precious little daughter if he sees the way you are acting! After all, it's your ancestor's fault that you are here. Let's hurry otherwise, you and your whole family would face the fury of the King!', he threatened her and then he grabbed her hand and put in the crook of his arm.

Ella was speechless, the mention of her father's name puzzled her. How did the messenger know her father and what ancestors was he talking about? What did everyone else know about her own family which she didn't? Confusion blinded her, she walked on as if she was floating. If this was her fate, then it was surely suffocating her, like every day she learned something new which squeezes the air out of her lungs. She knew now that there was no escape from here. Somewhere deep inside her, she also knew that her father knows of the reason why she was here, paying the dues of whoever her ancestors were. The Queen said she was a ray of hope, but she believed it was a serious deadly dose of bad luck, a curse which she could not undo and like Debra her co-worker once told her, you cannot escape your fate. Debra was a head nurse at the same hospital she worked in. She was one of the great believers of the stars, horoscopes and everything else that came with it. If only her friend could see where she had ended up, she who was a non-believer.

Drumbeats brought Ella back to reality. The clouds of confusion and questions quickly disappeared. She looked around her, it was then that she realized that they had walked further away from the crowd, where she had actually thought that the wedding was going to take place. They now stood in front of what looked like a pyramid and wild cats of different breeds surrounded the place, As they approached they started to growl as the drumbeats got louder. Ella was now glad that she had a veil over her head which was hiding the horrified look on her face. She tried her best not to show that she was scared, she would not give the messenger another reason to call her weak. As they approached closer to the pyramid, trumpets started to blow and all the wild cats turned into young women dressed up in what looked like warrior costumes. They were so pretty, with a slender body and tiny waist, long brown hair with big curls bounced as they danced around, in a perfectly choreographed dance. The closer they got to her, Ella wondered why didn't the King chose one of them to be his bride. They started to dance around her as she approached the entrance of the pyramid and as she set foot inside the pyramid there was complete silence. Her heart started to beat faster, as the whole place was suddenly lightened by torches, revealing a place full of people and some other creatures. Ella was finding it hard to breathe, their piercing gaze made her anxious.

'She's finally home. Welcome daughter of Venus', a man said his voice echoing inside the pyramid and some of the guests cheered but some still gave her a piercing look as if they were trying to see what she looked like.

'Long ago it was decided that the four Kings would represent their different ethnic group. The Air, Earth, Water, and Fire, but greed and vengeance took over that possibility for peace. This wedding will bring unity amongst us. The Lunas and the Solars will be united. Tonight we celebrate!', the same man said out loud and a loud cheer erupted inside the pyramid.

And I haven't even said I do they are celebrating! Ella said to herself.

Someone grabbed her hand and Ella could have fainted when she saw her father looking at her with an apologetic smile and tears glistening in his eyes. It was as if he was whispering a million apologies with his eyes and tears rolled down her face. She wanted to scream why, but one glance around her, she was reminded that they were not in their world. She wondered if her mother was here as well and if she was aware of what was happening to her daughter. Ella did not get the chance to look around as loud drumbeats indicated her walk towards her fate. She was not even thinking about what that man would look like, or what will happen after the wedding ceremony. What she actually wanted was answers to her thousands of questions. Her father gently squeezed her hand, she turned and looked at him.

Dad, why are you doing this to me... why? the question echoed in her thoughts and she started to cry, sobbing quietly. She slowly glanced around her, hoping that no one could see tears rolling down her face. Ella could not even describe what kind of creatures were attending the wedding. She noticed some women had silver moons on their foreheads, she noticed some creatures she had only seen in movies or read about them in storybooks. As they approached what looked like an altar, Ella grabbed on to her father's arm tightly. There was no groom standing there waiting for her and she breathed a breath of hope. She thought that maybe the King had grown a conscience and will not force her into marrying him. A man and a woman came down from the altar and took her from her father. Ella turned and looked at him with a worried look on her face, but he could not see the fear in his daughter's eyes as she was taken away from him. Her father took his place close to the guests sitting on the first bench.

Anxiety slowly crept in as she did not know what was going to happen to her, she could not see any groom next to her and the woman who was dressed as a goddess came up to her and took her hands. She placed an amulet with a stone that looked like a cat's eye in her palms. She bowed to her and Ella wondered if that was the amulet that the Queen referred to. The place was suddenly quiet, the man and the woman bowed down on one knee and she wondered what was going on, she wanted to turn around to see why the murmuration had suddenly stopped.

'You probably thought that  I was not going to show up', that deep voice whispered from behind her, which sent a cold shiver through her whole body.

' Sorry to disappoint you', he added as he slowly turned her to face him.