Roses and Thorns

Chapter 3

My mind buzzes and I hear my heart beating rapidly through my ears. All around me, collective gasps fill the air and the young Prince beside me sniffles. He takes hold of my hand but I’ve yet to fully comprehend what just happened. 

I dare not look at the relieved expression on Finn’s face. It would only confirm what has befallen me.

All I could think about is thank the heavens that it wasn’t Finn who had five sisters to feed that were waiting for him back home. I didn’t realize it until now but I was the best choice. I had no one left in my life that would need me. My parents are gone, my brother is gone and my supposed fiancé is also gone. 

It was just me.

Everyone else in this room had someone waiting for them. I didn’t have anyone to need me or miss me. 

I was simply the best choice. 

It didn’t matter if I was unspeakably good at healing. 

I was the sacrifice. 

I’m yet again thankful for the blindfold that hid my eyes because I blink away the tears that came. 

Maybe this is what it’s for. So the King doesn’t have to see the brokenness in our eyes when he decides who to give away. 

I begin to hear silent prayers and realize they’re for me. My fellow nobles were already praying for me. 

It was rare to send a girl to the Nightbornes because it was already decided of what I was going to be... a bed warmer. The horror of this fills me with even more dread. 

I notice in my peripheral that several battle ridden men attempt to speak up but the guards behind the King stop them. They wanted to take my place. I can see it in their posture. The anger was thick in the air. 

It’s like I can hear what they want to say without saying it. 

‘Not a girl.’

‘You know what’s to become of a girl sent to the Nightbornes.’

Even Finn looked angry with his jaw set and tight. He must have pictured me as one of his sisters being sent away to heathens. 

Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way. What the King says is final and no one can change his mind. It’s not allowed. It’s the highest disrespect if they do. 

He has his reasons for this decision and we all must follow it.

“Rosie?”

I look up at him. “My King.”

The thin line of his pressed lips become even thinner. “It’s time to go.” 

Rendered completely mute and unable to form words, I simply nod. 

My body moves on it’s own and I break from formation. I refuse to look anyone in the eye despite the majority of the nobles already taking off their blindfolds. 

They were immensely unhappy. 

It went against a lot of things they believed in. I’m one of the youngest to be sent away too which added to the sourness in their faces. 

I followed obediently though. There wasn’t anything anyone could do at this moment. 

Channeling the little dignity I have left for my impending doom, I put my chin up and straighten my back. If I was being thrown to the darkness, I might as well go bravely. 

There will be no tears shed. 

I was leaving on my own terms. 

We leave the throne room behind. I’m thankful because I couldn’t stand the pitied stares and the helplessness in the way they looked at me. 

The King, the Prince, the two guards and I quietly walk through the empty brightly lit halls. I can tell they want to talk to me but I refuse to look at them much less remove my blindfold. Our footsteps seemed unusually loud in the silence that surrounded us. 

Unable to handle it anymore, the King clears his throat. “Rosie, I’m deeply sorry. Trust me when I say I wish it wasn’t you.” 

My throat constricts. “I know that, my King. You have nothing to apologize for.” 

“There’s a reason we chose you.” 

I halt abruptly and force yet another smile on my face. “I understand completely. There’s really no need to explain. I was the right choice.” 

The King and Prince share a look before inclining their head forward. It was the Prince that spoke next. “Your sacrifice will never be forgotten.” 

I focus my attention to the stars from the windows. It wasn’t really allowed to enjoy the night. We are Sunwalkers. It’s taboo to find comfort in it yet at this exact moment, it was the only thing keeping me at ease. I take a deep breath of the cool air and feel myself relax. 

There was no use being afraid. What happens after tonight, will happen whether I like it or not. It’s for our people and thus it’s worth it. 

My life in exchange for peace. It’s quite noble if I wasn’t so shaken. I’d miss our home. I’d miss the sun. I’d miss it all. 

This is the part where I don’t know what happens next. I’m told by the guards that became my patients that there’s a meeting place deep in the woods, somewhere in the middle of nowhere. That’s where the King meets with the other King and they trade sacrifices. 

There’s not much to know about the Nightborne’s King. Not many have seen his face and survived. He’s said to be awful. A cold hearted killer with no respect for life.

My heart starts to panic when we begin to walk down out of the palace and the tree. More guards in their royal armor join us. When they see me, their faces falter. They didn’t expect it to be their healer. 

I was the least expected candidate to be sent out but also the best choice. They didn’t understand that I had no one left. I was the only noble in the group that had no family. 

The King was right to choose me. 

We make it down the palace in the dead of night. I’ve never been down here at this time. It’s forbidden. Every muscle in my body told me to bolt, run away, back to my home in the safety of the trees. Sunwalkers never come out at night it was considered suicide. 

By this time our entourage has increased dramatically. Almost fifty or sixty strong armored soldiers with spears and swords. If I wasn’t walking to my doom, I felt like the queen, a future I almost had. 

We were in the woods now. Tall trees that shot up to the sky, owls hooted, wolves in the distance howled and the famous Blood Moon was close. I could feel it in the prickle of my skin. 

It was happening.

Our group hiked for a long time. My blindfold started to itch from the sweat that tickled down my forehead but I refused to remove it. I was determined to finish this the way I started it with this dumb covering on my eyes.

I felt sick to my stomach. 

My confidence has long left my system replaced by alarm for my safety. Nothing good can come from the darkness especially from the creatures of the night. They’re good for nothing beings that lavish in pleasure and the pain of others. 

A guard places a hand on my shoulder midway into crossing a deserted meadow. I knew instantly that this was the place. No wind blew here nor did any of the sounds of nature come. It was quiet. Too quiet. 

The flesh under my skin felt like it’s on fire. The anticipation was killing me. No one spoke. Everyone circled around the King, Prince and I in a protective circle. 

I have to admit that some part deep within me wondered what the Nightbornes are like. Did they operate like nocturnal bats? 

They were so confusing. Their lifestyle was all about little destructions here and there. In every pair of eyes from a Nightborne we had, they all have this untamed danger about them. An unquenchable thirst for something. They had the most appalling clothing, strange markings that held no meaning and a smile that promised the most unspeakable desires. 

Apart from disgusted, I felt a thrill for what’s to come. We have strict rules in the Sunwalker Kingdom while the Nightbornes had none. 

Except maybe to respect the orders of their King. I vaguely wonder what he’s like. Is he anything like our own King? It didn’t seem so. There was deep hatred between the two. 

As a Sunwalker, to speak of him out loud is not acceptable. 

I’m taken aback by the sudden tremble in the ground. A guard keeps me from toppling over. He steadies me with a hand on my side.

An earthquake. 

The wind started to blow and bright lights started to dance from faraway in the tree line. An echoing laughter pierced through the otherwise quiet night. It chilled my spine to hear it but then there’s also an uncharacteristic excitement in my bones. 

Just when I think they’re coming from the woods like we did, the ground erupts and with it emerges a group of tall lanky beings. Unlike us, who dress more elegantly, the Nightbornes dawn themselves in thick fur coats with their face covered by animal skulls as masks. Upon closer inspection, underneath these coats are rather revealing forms of clothing made out of animal skin. 

The women, I notice, are scantily dressed too.  Stomachs are out, breasts almost showing and legs for days peek through their coats. They were all beautiful despite their masks covering their faces. I love that for them. The men were also bare chested revealing tight muscles that are too perfect not to be carved. 

There’s also a distinct difference with skin and hair color. They’re all perfectly tanned with hair color so dark in hues of black, brown and grey. Nothing like the greens, reds, yellows and whites we were all known for. 

The Nightbornes continue to laugh at each other, shoving and pushing roughly. It clearly angered our formal King who’s posture was immaculate as he stared down at the wild bunch. 

I can almost hear him say ‘heathens’. 

If anyone back at home would receive such a stare from the King, we’d all be on our knees begging for his forgiveness. Not the Nightbornes though. They didn’t give him the time of day and continued on their loud conversation like we weren’t there.

We still had a couple of minutes before the Blood Moon.

I wondered which one was their King. My view of them was slightly blocked by the two guards that stood in front of me, effectively covering my existence from them.

“Are we really sending Rosie to these heathens?” I hear the Prince whisper to his father in distaste. “Look at them. Uncultured. Unrestrained. Despicable. She doesn’t deserve this father. Brother wouldn’t-“

The King cuts him off with a stern look. “Quiet.” 

The Nightbornes stiffen and hush down. For a moment, I thought they listened to our King but of course it wasn’t. 

They part right in the middle and from there appears a tall commanding man. Instantly I knew that this was the King. He’s tall, taller than everyone else with broad shoulders and a stature that showed his dominance. He dressed himself in thick dark pants and the darkest fur coat possible. It was open revealing perfectly tanned skin and the most muscular chest I’ve ever laid eyes on. 

The King of the Nightbornes wore some kind of dragon’s skull to cover his face. The horns of his mask twisted sharply around his head in such a frightening way. I couldn’t look away though. 

I still couldn’t see their sacrifice. They all looked the same. No one stood out but maybe they’re hiding him or her just like my King was.

Just when the Blood Moon reaches its peak, the Nightborne King removes his mask and I gasp. 

Towering over everyone is a sinfully handsome man. Easily the most gorgeous man I’ve ever seen in my life. It’s as if the creator himself sculpted his face. He has dark features that made him mysterious. The Nightborne King has high prominent cheekbones, a sharp jawline and an intimidating set of deep grey eyes. He fashioned a short cut ebony black hair that caught the moon’s glare.

“It’s time.” He said in a deep baritone.