The Red Cloak Girls

Five: Crimson Ashland

Five:

Crimson Ashland

            Fool! Fool! I wanted to shout and rail at Zaan. What had he been thinking, trying to challenge the Prince of Wolves? Then, I wanted to shout the same thing to myself. I had consented to participate in The Mating Season. I would have to live in Castle Lupine for a year and a day. I would have to survive Raoul trying to mate with me, trying to seduce me at every chance that he got. If I resisted, I would be granted my freedom. If I gave into his demands, I would remain forever.

            Raoul was hardly Prince Charming. If he kept on being insufferable, I would be fine. But I had caught the briefest glimpse of humanity in him when he had offered me his handkerchief. Even if he had threatened to slaughter everyone I loved, there had to have been kindness buried deep down, somewhere. But that kindness didn’t mean I was going to let him bed me then make me his for life.

            The village had brought out long, wooden tables and pushed them together to form a giant one. The royal wolves were at the front, as were the mayor’s family. Our mayor was a portly gentleman, with a round face, and blue eyes that sparkled and reminded everyone of Father Christmas. His wife was a sweet woman, with firey red hair, and freckles. They had a son and daughter. The daughter was named Joanna, and their son was named Dorin.

            They were frequent visitors to Grandmothers shop. They both took after her mother. Joanna had blond hair, and blue eyes, as did Dorin. Both of them had high cheeks and full lips. They were pretty enough that they could have been fair folk.

            Dorin came over and clasped Raoul on the shoulder. “Congratulations, Prince of Wolves. I know that you’ve been waiting for this for a long time. Why, I remember when you first met her you ranted about her for months.”

            I squinted at him. “When you first met me?”

            He stiffened. “Ignore him. Dorin knows nothing of which he speaks.”

            Dorin looked like the cat that had caught the canary. “He didn’t tell you?”

            “We haven’t exactly had the chance to discuss things,” I said, shooting Raoul a glare.

            Raoul stiffened. “I knew you were my mate when I first saw you.”

            “In the village?” I asked.

            “It wasn’t in the village,” he confessed.

            I shook my head. “I’d seen you before. But it wasn’t that day in the village.”

            “When was it?” I asked.

            He looked away from me, scowling pointedly at Dorin. “Don’t come near me the next time I’m a wolf, Dorin. I will tear you to shreds.”

            “Of course.”

            “Oh, just tell her why don’t you? You’re going to be stuck together for a year and a day. You might as well tell her.”

            “Yes, tell me,” I said, delighting watching him squirm.

            “I’m not telling you.” The words were cold, like everything about his demeanor. “You don’t need to know.”

            At those words, I squinted at him. “If you think I am going to be someone you can walk all over simply because you’re a wolf, you’re wrong. I might be sickly, but I still have a backbone.”

         I got up from my seat, intent on storming off.

He grabbed me by the wrist. “Where are you going?”

    “Away,” I said.

    “You consented----”

     “I just need space from you. Surely, I am your mate. Not your captive. There should be no issue with granting this request.”

    “Raoul,” the Queens voice said with warning.

    He turned to look at his mother. One second, he was the Prince of Wolves. The next, he was a petulant boy, being chastised by his mother. “What?” he snapped.

    “Remember, this girl does our family an honor by agreeing to be with you. There are consequences if we break traditions. Let her have some time. You’ll have a whole life together.”

    He sighed, then turned to me, “Be back by midnight.” He took something off of his person. It was small, round, golden and connected to a chain. “Take this.” He stood, and put the gold chain around my neck like a necklace.

    “What is it?” I asked.

    “It’s a pocket watch. It tells time. When both handles reach the twelve, that’s when you need to be here.”

    “I know how to tell time,” I snapped.

    “Of course,” he said.

    There was the slightest of smirks on his face. There were rumors that punching a wolf was like punching steel, something you wanted to avoid at all costs. I found myself clenching my fists, knowing it would do more harm than good.

    I stormed off. I could feel people watching me. I went to the one place that I could be alone while the rest of the village celebrated. The Temple. It was always open, for anyone who might want to worship our goddess.

    Artemis, the goddess of the hunt.

    According to our legends, it was Artemis and her brother Apollo who created the world. Before the world was created, there was nothing but darkness and stars. Apollo needed something to burn, and Artemis needed something to chase. They used their magic to create a place where they wouldn’t be lonely anymore, and thus our home was created. The temple that we had for Artemis was a giant, gray stone building decorated with carvings of crescent moons, stars, and wolves.

    When I stepped inside the temple, I was surprised to see the temple Overseer lighting candles. I had thought she would have been at The Mating Season celebrations along with everyone else. She was a tall, elegant woman with dark hair and the bluest eyes anyone had ever seen. The town said that she had lost her true love in war, and she had joined the temple rather than marry the man her father was going to force her to.

    Overseer Sorina had baptized me and sat with my family many a night whenever the Devils Lung took a turn for the worse. Today, she wore a dress of deep, dark blue. Her hair was pinned back by a decorative, pearl headdress woven through her hair.

    “I wondered if I’d see you today, Crimson. I thought you might take refuge here, until The Mating Season was over. I could see how heavily it weighed on your mind at our services on Sunday,” said Overseer Sorina.

    I walked down the long, temple aisle to where she stood. “I was chosen today.”

    She looked towards me. “Oh? By whom?”

    I pulled at a stray thread on my red cloak. “Prince Raoul.”

    Overseer Sorina didn’t seem surprised. “You know your family’s history, don’t you?”

    I grimaced. “Of course, I do. There isn’t a single person in this village who doesn’t. We’re the Ashland witches. The ones that cursed the wolves in the first place making it so that if they don’t mate with humans, they die. My grandmother provides cures and miracle elixirs for everyone, but she can’t even cure me.”

    “That’s because what you have isn’t an illness, Crimson. That was something your grandmother made up to keep curious villagers away. What you have is a curse.”

    “But…but curses usually affect whole families. Generation after generation. Anya doesn’t have a curse on her.”

    “Curses can happen anyway a person chooses,” said Overseer Sorina, “the curse for your family was a girl born on the night of the full moon on the thirteenth day in the shortest year during the coldest month would choke on her own blood for all eternity. You just so happened to be that girl.”

    I raised an eyebrow. “If it’s a curse…does that mean I can break it?”

    She nodded. “You must become a wolf.”

    I stepped back. “No!”

    “Yes,” she said, “it is the only way to right the wrongs done by your ancestors. Once you become a wolf, balance will be restored in your family. No one will have to ever endure Devils Lung ever again.”

    I thought of my coughing. Of my throat being so raw that I could scarcely talk. Of blood on handkerchiefs. My sisters face wrought with worry. My grandmother making one of her concoctions late into the night, trying to make me feel better. I could live a life without being sick. But only if I gave up everything and became a wolf.

     The door to the temple opened. Overseer Sorina and I glanced over to see who it was. I half expected it to be Raoul, come to drag me to Castle Lupine. Instead, Zaan stood there, looking desperate, and worried.

    Overseer Sorina looked knowingly at me, a twinkle in her eyes. “And I see you have other matters to discuss. I shall grant you two privacy.”

    I glowered at her. “Sorina….”

    With a smile on her lips, Overseer Sorina swept from the room. I wasn’t surprised that she knew of Zaan’s affection for me. She knew everything, because she heard it all when she listened in the Confidence Chamber. It was a small room in the back of the temple, where Sorina sat locked away and listened to whatever was on villager’s minds. It was a way to provide relief, and help, but also for the temple to hold sway over people with secrets and information.

    “I’m sorry to interrupt. I only wanted to see if you were alright,” Zaan said softly as he walked towards me.

    I met him in the middle of the aisle. “Zaan, you really shouldn’t be here. I suspect Raoul was being honest when he said he would rip you limb from limb if he saw you with me.”

    “I don’t care, Crimson,” he said, “you shouldn’t be forced into being with someone out of fear. You don’t have to be with me, but don’t be with him because he’s scaring you into it.”

    I hesitated. “He’s not scaring me into it.”

    “Isn’t he?”

    I sighed. “He’s not. He would have killed you if I hadn’t stepped in, and you don’t deserve that. I’m doing this for me. I…I talked to the Overseer.”

    “What did the Overseer say?” Zaan asked, his brows furrowed in curiosity.

    I hesitated. “If I tell you, you can’t tell anyone.”

    Zaan nodded. “You have my word.”

    “The Overseer says that the Devils Lung isn’t a result of an illness. It’s a result of a curse. You know the history of my family and the wolves?”

    “Your ancestors were the ones that cursed them,” Zaan said.

    “Yes, well. The curse is a result of that. The only way it can be broken is if my family reunites with the wolves. If I become Raoul’s mate, the curse ends. I can live a life without having to be sick all of the time.”

    Zaan frowned. “You’re giving up your future for the wolves?”

    I shook my head. “I don’t see it as giving up on my future. I see it as claiming it.”

      “But you’ll have to stay at castle Lupine. You won’t be able to see your family, or----- anyone from the village ever again.” There was a sadness in his eyes that I had never seen before. I’d never given Zaan much credit. We only talked occasionally when I went into town to grab things for my grandmother. But somehow, I’d made an impression.

    “Zaan----this is my choice. This is what the purpose of The Mating Season is. To save our village.”

    “Then, things in our village need to change so that our freedom doesn’t come at the expense of young women.”

    I reached up and touched his face. “Yes, it does. But this is my choice, and you need to honor that. I’m sorry, Zaan.”

    “I am, too.”

    I heard the sound of someone coughing then. It made me jump. I looked up to see my grandmother there, wrapped in her own red cloak, her white hair toppled on her head, her brown eyes filled with a kind of anger I’d never seen before. She was a tall, elegant woman with a long, regal neck that made her

    “Crimson,” she said, “I was sent to fetch you, for your mate.”

    “I’m sorry, Grandmother. Zaan and I were simply saying goodbye.”

    “Well, say goodbye then.”

        I glanced back at Zaan and took his hand in mine. “Goodbye, Zaan. Thank you for trying to fight for me.”

    “Goodbye, Crimson. Anytime.” He smiled sheepishly, and for the first time I noticed how nice it was. I should have noticed it sooner. Maybe we would have stood a chance in another life.

            I walked towards my grandmother. She scowled at me.

            “Nothing happened,” I said.

            “You don’t understand how much rides on this, you foolish girl!” she hissed.

            I squinted at her. “You knew I did not wish to participate, yet you still put gold on my dress.”

    “I had to, Crimson. You know the things our family has done to the wolves. We’re responsible for their curse. I never told you, but---”

    “I’m cursed, not sick,” I said.

    She frowned at me. “How did you know?”

    “Overseer Sorina told me.”

    She sighed. “Of course, she did. The Temple of Artemis was created by a witch that was in love with one    of the original wolves. When our family cursed them, she cursed ours in response.”

    “Why did we curse the Lupine family in the first place?”

    She shook her head. “The exact cause has been lost to the ages. But if you believe the legends, once our family ruled this village. The Lupines were the Lords of the land. Our family were equally powerful, and the Lupines didn’t like that. One night, they burned our village, but only members of the Ashland coven. It’s why our family is what remains.”

    “How did we survive?”

    “One of our ancestors was also in love with another member of Lupine. The boy she was in love with warned her of the raid, and they were able to escape.”

    “Why didn’t you tell me about the curse before?”

    “It already took its toll on you, I didn’t want you to feel the pressure of saving our family.”

                        “What happens if I fail?” I asked.

                        Her eyes darkened. “I don’t know,” she confessed. “Come along. The Moon Dance is about to take place, and you must lead it with the Prince.”

            The sky had darkened since then, the air had gotten colder. I started to cough, and my grandmother pressed something into my hand. It was a large, black bottle filled with one of her many concoctions. “This will ease your pain,” she said, “if I can, I’ll get more to you somehow. But I don’t know that the wolves will let me in, so keep it close, and use it sparingly.”

            “I will,” I hugged her.

            We had reached the town square again. I could feel Raoul’s eyes on me. I walked towards him.

            He stood there, staring at me, then glanced at the bottle in my hand. “What’s that?” he asked.

            “It’s…. it’s for my illness,” I said. He reached out to grab it, and I jerked back. “What are you doing?”

            “Taking it from you,” he said.

            “Raoul. I won’t be able to survive without this. It’s medicine.”

            “But you’ve consented. You’ll be a wolf.”

            “I consented to The Mating Season. I consented to nothing else,” I reminded him.

            He frowned, and I wondered at his displeasure. “But that’s-----”

            “We’ve a year and a day,” I said, “I won’t be forced into something that I didn’t ask for, Raoul. Is that understood?”

            His eyes were filled with anger and contempt, but he nodded. “As you wish,” he replied, though there was no joy in the way that he spoke.

            The village band struck up the music, and the dancers got into two lines for The Moon Dance. I had danced it once before, the previous year. With Zaan, I remembered. Even though The Mating Season was for the wolves, it often brought out romantic feelings in others. As Raoul and I took our spot at the head of the line, I wondered if the dance was what had made Zaan fall in love with me. Then, as I stared at Raoul with his angry, gray eyes watching me with a kind of hunger I’d never seen before I realized it didn’t matter.

            Knowing that I had to save my family from ever having to succumb to Devils Lung ever again, I knew at some point I would submit to him. But it would be on my own terms, and no one else’s.

            The Moon Dance was a country dance. There was a lot of twirling and spinning around. When Raoul grasped my hand, I was aware this was the first time a man had touched me that wasn’t family. My cheeks heated at the thought, and Raoul’s eyes flashed with a spark of something like amusement. He’d seen it.

            At one point, the dance had us dancing chest to chest. He towered over me, and he gripped my hands tightly. He stared down at me as if he were going to eat me alive. I trembled at his touch, and then the music came to an end.

            Villagers and wolves alike let out a cheer. The first day of The Mating Season had taken place, and now the romancing would begin.

            “Might I say goodbye to my family?” I asked.

            He grunted. “Hurry up.”

            I went to where my family was, Anya and Gerard with the children and Grandmother. “Aunty Crimson!” my niece and nephew exclaimed. They were crying with tears on their faces. “Don’t go, don’t go.”

       “It’s not too late,” said Anya.

          “What’s not too late?” Gerard asked.

     “Zaan asked for her hand in marriage,” said Anya, and Gerard’s eyes widened.

      “Why didn’t you accept?” Gerard demanded. “You could have saved yourself, and this family girl. What were you thinking?”

“Gerard!” snapped my grandmother. “Do, kindly, shut up! There are things that you do not understand. Crimson has made her choice.”

“It’s not a choice when she’s being forced to do something!” Gerard said, anger in his voice.

“The town has a responsibility----”

              “The town was cursed. By you and your people. I have tried to remain civil to you, Selene Ashland, out of respect for your granddaughter. But Anya only escaped through the skin of her teeth! Now, you’re condemning her sister to this wretched fate. If not for you, and your craft---”

    “You don’t complain of my craft when I’m giving you hangover cures after your nights at the pub,” Grandmother reminded him coldly.

        He scowled. “That’s a little different.”

    “Gerard, you don’t know what you speak of,” I said, “this is my choice, and mine alone. I love you all. Stay safe.”

    “Stay safe,” they echoed back in hollow voices.

    I took one, last look at them. Then, I turned to find a wolf with violet eyes waiting for me. Raoul. He came up to my waist. He lowered himself, and I realized he meant for me to get on his back. Reluctantly, I gripped at his fur and pulled myself up. I waved goodbye to my family, the twins sobbing as I left. Raoul gave a howl, as did the other wolves, and with a leap that tossed up snow, we were off. To Castle Lupine, never to return again.