Branding 10

"Hey ", I was greeted by a chirpy voice. I looked up to see a girl smiling down at me. Her eyes were deep brown which held a curious expression. I hesitated before giving her a hi back because I wanted to avoid being attached to anyone. It wasn't safe either for me or for them. I hated this feeling of loneliness so,, though. Being a girl who lived majority of her life inside the forests, you will hardly find me social. But living here with loads of people stripped away from my people and woods made me feel alone.

The tables were clearing out, but the girls lingered, not willing to go back to their rooms. I was having the same hesitation. They looked OK, none of them were looking as though they were taken against their will. So, there wasn't any rapes going about. It made me take a gigantic breath of relief.

"You look so deep in thoughts, care to share some?", the girl beside me prodded. I looked at her astoundingly. She was quite gutsy to go about as if nothing wrong was happening. "So you are the silent types it's ok, I can talk for both of us anyway. My name is Mina and you are Asmara, right? The whole place is buzzing about you", she said with a conspiratorial wink. "Why would that be?", I asked her, wondering whether it was because I shot an arrow at the portrait of their king.

"It's because of the handsome prince, who has never taken a consort before. Suddenly, he was interested in you and viola he snatches you right under the clutches of king, she laughed when saying this. I grimaced at her, thinking about my instant fame and how it was going to affect my plans. So much for lying low now when I was the hot topic. "You know many girls would take your place in a heartbeat, so don't ever do anything stupid" , she said to me.

I shrugged my shoulders, not sure what I should give as a reply. She was chattering away. Maybe a girlfriend is not a bad idea, I thought. She will give me necessary information to torch this place. "So is he any good as the rumors?", she asked, her face full of mischief. "I don't know ", I said honestly. "Really, the way he was staring at you made us all sure you won't be able to walk today ", he eyes full of mirth. I sighed, feeling unsure of what to say. I wasn't sure I could be an honest friend at this point.

"He is engaged. I don't know why he took me", I said. "We heard there was a showdown but you handled it right?", she asked. "Actually, the prince handled it. I wonder why he took me. Isn't that the whole point of engagement and marriage?", I asked her. "Lycan's marriage is different from ours. Marriage doesn't necessarily mean monogamy. They marry for it. It doesn't mean anything to them or others. It's even worse for a prince. King Igor has hundreds of consort,, but the kid of his wife will be next king. Lycan woman marry merely because it's advantageous to them or to climb the social ladder. They turn a blind eye to their partner generally. But Arya is different, she is in love with the prince so always expect a rebuke", she said in serious tone.

"So every Lycan's partner here is ok with them sleeping with humans except mine", I said with a grimace. It's not that I was going to sleep with him,, but it will be a general assumption that we are. So, I should expect a face off with his fiancé. What kind of fucked up situation was this? Why do they have to take humans from their homes only to disgrace them further? I'm going to stop this, no matter the consequences. I'm not going to let these girls waste away.

I noticed they were rounding up the girls. I was smelling something bad. "Now is the time to pay the piper", Mina grumbled. "Where are they taking us?", I asked her. "To get our birth control and also to brand us", she said in a low voice. "What the fuck?" , I said a bit too loud. The guards stood were they are and looked at me menacingly. I glared them back. I was elbowed by Mina who was smiling at the guards. "She is afraid of needles. I will talk to her", she said and with that she dragged me away.

"Calm down will you. Stop making a scene you will make them punish us all", I was shivering not because I was scared but because of my rage. When it was my turn they looked me warningly and I did the same. Mina pinched me. She looked at me pleadingly. It was the only reason I went with the guard. We were in a queue and I stood there quietly weighing my options. The first stop was at the doctor's he gave me a shot. He was human and his face was slightly apologetic. He was a young guy sort of like a nerd you will be attracted to. He looked me too many times wondering at my blank expression.

I wasn't going to smile at him. He should know whatever he was doing doesn't count as good deeds like saving lives for which he studied. He was aiding them in one way or the other. When the time comes he too will pay the price. I was dragged away to our next pit stop. I was the last the one obviously because they had a sense of my non cooperation. So they left me for the last.

When I reached there it was quiet and eerie like something bad was going to happen there. I braced myself. If he so as touch me it will be the last thing he will ever do with his hands. When I stood before him I got a sense he was a lycan not a human that alone gave me strength to bash his face. When he took the metal rod in his hands I fisted my hands. He paused for a second I looked at him with my nose flared but he turned to look at the guard next to me. Why did he come here? I thought maybe to help the other guy to brand me

"Leave her alone the prince doesn't want her to be marked by anything ", he said. My mouth was hanging open with the surprise. I somehow managed to shut it. He was giving me all sorts of signals. What does he really want from me?