The Price Paid

Maria stood on the highest balcony of the Ross castle, her fingers clenching the stone railing so tightly that the tips went pale.

From this height, the battlefield beyond the village looked like a sea of ants, but it didn't lessen the impact of the battle before her.

The tiny figures moved, collided, clashed, and fell. Blood soaked the earth, though from her perch, it was too far away to see the red.

Her chest heaved with silent sobs as her heart screamed for her family. Her boys. Her husband. They were all out there, fighting just for her. Fighting just to keep her alive.

Every life that was taken in this battle, every blood that has been shed throughout the years, they were on her hands. Her father had given her this cross to carry and it had shattered her life.

Now, all she could do was watch as two sets of people she regarded as family do their best to annihilate the other.