Snow glistened in the morning light on the trees and forest floor. It was no longer night. I shook my body and looked around some more wondering where the snow came from and where the night had gone. I put my paw in the snow checking to see if this was all real; hoping it was just a dream. It was cold and the snow melted from my touch, it was real. I walked along the edge of the forest to get a better view of where I was at and what was going on. There were no wires in the sky for electricity or street lights of any kind.The houses were made of wood or straw. No cars were in sight but instead horses with carriages. How did I travel in time; Or is this just a really traditional village? There were even wooden poles in the middle of town.
“What I am about to show you is our history. The real version, not what has been passed down for generations. I have been waiting and searching for a female in our line.” I looked around once again and no one was there. “I am in your head headглупая девушка.” Miroslava spoke, calling me foolish. “I knew it would be you long ago. Now pay attention. Since you don't speak Russian, I will translate it in your head for you. Now walk, they can’t see you.” She demanded. I know a female spirit in a wolf would crawl its way out to make us turn but they have never spoken to us. No one has ever had any record of this happening before. I was in shock.
I said nothing just remained still and watched as people moved through the streets. Women are dressed in long dresses and men in suits. It really feels like I am in a movie. I forced myself forward and into the village praying what Miroslava told me was true. How much was there that I didn't even know about myself? I turned the corner to find a crowd of people shaming a young woman by throwing tomatoes at her. I wanted to jump in and help. No one deserved to be treated that way. I could feel my legs stop and knew to just watch. The woman pleaded with her attackers to stop saying that it wasn’t her fault she couldn’t fight him off. She held her hands over her face as more food was thrown at her. She was in rags that almost looked like a nightgown. It enraged me to see her being treated so poorly. She tried to walk to her door but slipped on tomato juice. A handsome man with blonde hair and blue eyes grabbed her hand to help her up and shielded her from any more attacks.
I tried to move but my legs stayed in place. I had to watch more. The man threw her in the house screaming at her saying she was a disgrace and he would get rid of her one way or another. My paws moved toward the only stone house in the village, probably the lord's estate and walked into the house. The girl was very pretty, had pitch black hair and ocean blue eyes with fair skin. It seemed she was well proportioned with a medium size chest and a medium butt, you could see had no fat on her in her rags. She had tears falling from her eyes and blood ran down her legs; she was raped. She layed on the floor and continued to cry, not caring about the food in her hair.
“You stupid girl, I can not marry you now. You are trash. I will be sending for your father in the morning. Go clean yourself up whore.” The man spit at her. He then walked over to her and kicked her in the stomach. Footsteps came from the hallway and a little girl walked in crying reaching down for the woman. The man stopped her by swooping her up and saying, “You don’t trust trash love. It’s getting taken out in the morning.”
“But daddy she is bleeding. Don’t you see? Wasn’t Mirosalva going to marry you tomorrow? How can she be trash?” The little girl with blonde hair and green eyes asked, confused.
“She made a choice that makes her unworthy of a man, peach.” The man said. Mirosalva picked herself up from the floor and removed the tomato from her hair and walked over to the tub. She scrubbed the blood from her legs and then washed her hair.
“Don’t worry I never wanted to be a Balabanov anyway. You are no better than the man who did this to me, Karik.” Mirosalva fired back. Karik's face turned red and his eyes went hollow. His hand met her face and the little girl began to cry running into another room. She got up and walked over to grab another nightgown and put it on. It remained silent until the door to the house opened and another gentleman stepped in. He had fair skin and dark hair just like Mirosalva, his eyes a caramel brown.
“What happened to my sister Karik? You know she is the princess after all. I could have you hung. You are to protect her or the deal with the king is off. We both know you need the support and money for your people.” The other man said.
“She is not what was promised. She is tainted and impure. My people have already shamed her. No one will allow her to be my bride. It is shameful.” Karik fired back looking disgusted.
“You will marry her, it has been already discussed; As for her purity it is your fault for not keeping your eyes on her. You left her in danger. She is already the king's bastard and he wants to get rid of her. ” The Prince responded with a smirk. He walked over to his half sister and grabbed her chin and tilted her head looking at the red handprint on her face. His cheeks flushed with color and wrinkles appeared on his forehead. “I could have you and the whole village hung for laying a finger on the Princess. Remember the King only wishes to get rid of her because she looks too much like her mother. It pains him to see her face and know he’s responsible for her mothers death”. The Prince said as he looked at Karik.
“Dimitre what kind of example will this send to my people. To marry impure?.” Karik pleaded with the prince. I could not believe this was even being discussed in front of Mirosalava.
“It will show compassion and they won’t even know it was her. Once her clothing and jewelry arrives. Did you even ask what happened or just treat her like trash?” Dimitre responded with a strong hint of annoyance.
“No, I just don't want to marry a bastard.” Karkik responded with shame in his voice. They both looked over at the broken girl from before. All the sins had been washed away but you could see she was broken inside; at least for that moment. They were waiting for an explanation she clearly wasn’t able to give yet. It broke me inside to see her talked about like she was just someone's property. I was starting to wonder why she was showing me this part of her past.
“I was taken by force from the doorway and led to the stables. I tried to fight the man off but he was too strong and he made me his. I pleaded with him to let me go. He wouldn't. ” Mirosalva answered the men while staring at the spider crawling across the floor. She lifted her gown and turned to show purple bruises in the shape of a hand at the base of her back. Where he held her down. She watched as the spider made its way to the little corner and climbed the wall spinning its web. She was here but mentally she was trying to bring herself back to reality around her.
“Either way you will be marrying Karik to bring peace to the two regions. Did you see the man's face; he will be dealt with. ” Dimitre said, unmoved or bothered by the handprints on her body. He loved his sister you could see but didn’t want to be bothered in her affairs. My heart was already reaching out to her, and this was just the beginning. I never even remember this being part of her story.
“Anything to bring peace for the country and no I did not see his face.” Mirosalva responded with sarcasm. I wanted to rip both of their throats out. They had no empathy for what had just happened to this woman. She was just being used as a pawn for the country. It makes my stomach turn with disgust.
Day began to turn to night, I was getting bored waiting for the next part of the story. Nothing else had happened since the discussion earlier today besides the two men eating and Mirosalva returned to her room for the night. I began to explore the house. It was a pretty home, all stone walls with sconces hung in every room for light. The table was beautifully carven with so much detail. Each leg had a wolf's head poking out of the forest and the table had a wolf howling at the moon at the center of it. Above hung a chandelier with what appeared to be deer antlers; it also had spots to put candles in it. Each room had a different animal theme: the kitchen had a wolf, the little girls room a tiger, the guest room a cheetah, the master bedroom a lion, and Mriosalva’s room a panther. Each room had a bed with the animal carved on the pillars of the bed frame. The headboard of each bed had the full animal carved in its idle environment; it was breathtaking.
I heard the snow begin to crunch outside of Mirosalva’s window and she rustled in her bed. The sound began to get closer and closer to her window until a man's face appeared outside the window. I quickly hid in the dark corner so he wouldn't see me then remembered, he shouldn’t be able to see me anyway so I relaxed. He began picking the lock and was successful. The window creaked open and the man stepped in her room. It was too dark to make out the features of his face but he was at least 6 feet tall. He scooped Mirosalva up carefully without waking her up and jumped out the window. I followed them wondering where the man was taking her and for what reason would he? Mirosalva began to rustle in her sleep a little but the man cooed her back to sleep before she woke up.
“Oh my love we will be together at last, I will make sure no one can take you away from me.” The man whispered to her and kissed her forehead. She clung to the man and nuzzled her face into his chest almost like she was at ease. Was this her secret lover from the legend passed down? “Once I make you like me, no one will be able to protest our love, I just hope you can survive. This has never been done before.”
Crunch. Crunch. I looked around in the forest and saw light making its way through the leaves and followed it. Someone was burning a fire; At this time of night? The man still had his back turned to me but began walking toward the fire as well. He held his love close to him, his nerves beginning to get the best of him. We finally reached the fire, it was so tall I thought it would engulf the entire forest in minutes. A huge circle went around the fire made with sage, blood and other herbs. The man placed Mirosalva in the circle and stepped away and began chanting.
“My dear boy is this truly what you want, I can not promise that she will survive the transformation. If she survives she will alter everything and she will start the dawn of a new creation.” A distant voice in the forest warned. “I need you to say yes this is what I want Ivan. Remember there will be a price to pay. Just say it and we will begin” The voice was closer now as the wind picked up making the fire burn the tips of the leaves.
“Yes this is what I want. No one will be able to love her like I do. I will pay whatever price.” Ivan responded. The woman stepped into the fire and it swirled around her and then calmed. She had on a black dress with a red ruby around her neck, her hair as white as the snow. Her eyes were golden with a red outlining she was beautiful but dangerous. Red jewels outlined her dress and along the sems and her skin was kissed by the sun. She nodded at Ivan after being given permission and bent down next to Mirosalva. She put her hands over her and moved them over her body without touching her.
A small trace of the dirt followed her hands as sniffed the air and she looked almost frightened. The fire screamed around her and eyes filled with doubt and concern then she relaxed. Ivan cut his arm and poured the blood on Mirosalva’s mouth just enough to enter her body. The witch gave him a small wooden bowl for the rest as it dripped down his arm. Ivan handed her his bowl of blood and she crushed more herbs into the blood. Blood dripped down Mirsosalva’s face and into her now open mouth. Mirosalva began to twitch and her eyes opened, now having a pinch of gold in them. She was in some kind of trance and the witch then motioned at Ivan. He began removing his clothing and shifted. He screamed out in pain as he transformed into a black and silver wolf. His eyes were hazel in wolf form with a trace of gold. He was gorgeous. Ivan walked over to Miroslava and the witch put Mirosalva’s arm up to his snout and he bit down. She was still in a trance and didn’t even scream out in pain her eyes returned to blue and the witch gasped. She began chanting and the wind picked up and leaves rustled in a circle around the two as the fire grew hotter until it just disappeared.
“It is done, you did not tell me her mother was of wolf descent. You have no idea what we have done. There was a reason females could not turn; they are just not strong enough. On the occasion they are, you will see the price you have to pay. “ The witch warned Ivan. The fire came down to a normal level and Mirosalva’s body stopped twitching and relaxed. The witch disappeared into the night. Mirosalva opened her eyes and her eyes now had a darker tint and she frantically looked around unaware of what had happened. She screamed as she looked down at her arm and saw she was bitten. Ivan walks up to her still in his wolf form and puts his head down to her.
“What did you do to me Ivan? We talked about this love. I have to marry Karik. It is what’s best for the country. “ She responded as she petted his fur. He stood up and shook his coat and began to shift back into his human form. Ivan's eyes were now just hazel with no hint of gold, and his hair was now a light brown. His physical appearance was very muscular and every part of his body was sculpted. He smiled showing his perfectly white teeth and dimples on his cheeks. He was by far more attractive then her soon to be husband.
“I can not let you be sold off as a part of your fathers plan to bring peace. I won't watch as another man hits you. You mean everything to me.” Ivan took Miroslavas hand in his as he planted a kiss on her dainty hand. “We will know by the full moon if you will join us. I may be punished or rewarded for bringing a female back to us.” He warned.
“The marriage will go as planned regardless; you already knew this. It doesn’t matter what happens to me, my future is already mapped out.” Mirosalava explained to Ivan looking disappointed.
Time shifted and red flower petals fell around me and music played in the distance as a woman in a white gown walked down the aisle. It was a beautiful dress with lace patterns of forest branches and a few cherry blossom flowers. She had a gold crown with white and red flowers placed in the divites. A man with a bigger gold crown was attached to the woman's arm. This was Mirosalvas wedding and the groom wasn’t Ivan. Karik stood at the end of the aisle in white as well, displeased with his soon to be bride. They both ended up saying I do and the party began. I watched as everyone besides the newlyweds enjoyed the party. Karik just held her by the arm, his hand print becoming to evenident. Her lover watched in the distance, anger flaring within him.
“You will provide me with a child otherwise you will be of no use to me. You better pray it’s a boy.” Karik whispered to Mirosalva. A loud bang was heard and a bunch of wolves entered the hall, their sites set on one man Karkik.
“That is enough for today. I will show you more tomorrow Katrina.” Mirosalva’s voice echoed in my head. I was brought out of my trance and woke up naked on the forest floor.
“Kat.” Romans' voices filled my ears.
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