Hello everyone! This is going to be a much longer chapter than the first two. I needed to get a lot into this chapter and I couldn't find a good place that I could split this into two chapters. So here is a treat! I won't guarantee that my other chapters will be this long but I will do my best! Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! Please let me know what you think!
Disclaimer: I don't own DND but this story, the character, and this plot are completely mine.
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Chapter 2
Carefully, Jenna pins up the last strand of Liena's chocolate brown hair, stepping back to admire her work. Liena is dressed in a pale baby blue summer dress that flows down just past her knees with her hair pinned up in an elegant braid bun. A single, white flower pendant is woven into the braid so it holds most of her hair in place and allows for a light, fluttering lace veil to flow down to the middle of her back. Her makeup is natural and light, topped off with white, open-toed wedge heels. The sundress gently hugs Liena's hourglass figure snugly around the waist and bust but then flows freely down around her knees.
Jenna is wearing similar clothing, except hers is a scarlet, floor length gown with a sweetheart neckline and modest dip in the back. The dress hugs the younger girl's curves to her waist and then flows gracefully down to just barely brush the floor as she walks. Half of her fiery red hair is pinned up with an owl pendant while the other half falls in elegant, waterfall ringlets that cascade down her back. A small pair of black, close-toed strap heels adorn her feet and the tops of the shoes hold a beautiful red flower. The same as her slightly older best friend, a lightly cascading veil flows from under her owl pendant, cascading down the side of her hair and barely brushing her shoulder, making her look like an angel.
A knock at the door shakes the two girls out of the evaluations of their appearances, both turning to look as a slightly older woman pokes her head through the door.
"Alright ladies, it is time. Good luck to both of you and happy ceremony." The older woman says as she beams at the two, her ocean blue eyes glistening with unshed tears as she looks at how grown up these two have become.
"Thank you Mrs. Tierna, we will be out in just a moment," Liena and Jenna curtsy gracefully as Mrs. Tierna quietly backs out of the room, leaving the two best friends to fidget with nervousness. Mrs. Tierna is one of the only people in all of Perila that cares. Liena and Jenna would escape to Mrs. Tierna's house for hours on end, for most of their days. They appreciate the fact that, even though she is older, the gray haired, plump woman was not stuck up like most that are her age.
Taking a deep breath, Liena gulps down the lump that has formed in her throat before slowly following her friend out of the door and into the courtyard. The courtyard is arranged in a bright shade of indigo as the lights and flowers mix into a supposed festive cheer. She takes a deep breath before stepping into the glowing lights after Jenna, her eyes automatically locking in on Curro who is standing with the other men. The men are all dressed in tightly pressed suits with shining shoes as they stand still waiting for the women. They are stationed in a line as the young ladies come flooding out of the changing rooms to join them.
Curro smiles brightly at Liena, however, she notices that the smile doesn't quite reach his eyes. She forces a smile onto her face as she walks towards him slowly, the other girls lining up in front of the men they have been paired with. Liena remembers a time when she and Curro were just friends and could talk about anything.
Liena let's her thoughts wander for a minute as she replays the memory in her head. She was sitting cross-legged on a dark green hill off on the side of the village, the tip of the hill overlooking the surrounding lake. Past the lake stretches a vast field that seems to stretch on for as far as the eye can see and even more. Peace always seems to seep into her when she comes out here, the view calms her nerves and eases her mind.
"Liena!" The peace shifts to encompass Curro as he trots towards her, his hand waving slightly as he makes it to her and sits down cross-legged next to Liena.
"Hello, I am sorry it has been a few days since we have been able to talk. However, how are you feeling today? I know the ceremony is tonight so we can go watch it if you want." Liena rolls her eyes slightly as she turns away from him and looks back out over the field.
"Curro, come on, you know how I feel about today. Yes, it is my birthday but I do not like the Ceremony and you know that. Why would you suggest for us to go watch it when you know how I feel?" She huffs slightly in indignation and crosses her arms over her chest. Curro looks over at her in confusion, his blonde hair swirling around him in the breeze.
"You know we are going to be tied together in a couple of years, Liena, no one else has shown interest in you and I do not want to see you get sent to the Forest." Ever since that day, Liena had started to distance herself from Curro, not liking the idea of being tied to him for the rest of her life. She does see him as a friend but to have to be with him every day and even birth his children? She shakes the negative thoughts away as she brings her eyes back up to lock with the storm gray ones of Curro. They stand still for only a moment before a lady steps forward, her clothes much finer than anyone else's, almost as grand as Royalty as her eyes survey the crowd before she slowly scans the crowd with her violet eyes.
The woman is a head taller than most men, her six inch blood red heels causing her to tower over them. Her gold silk corset dress reaches down to the floor, the bodice adorning blood red gems that cover the majority of it and circle around her slim waist to her back. The shoulders of her dress hold fluffy frills that reach well past her pointed shoulders. Sitting atop her golden curls is a golden laced crown with the same blood red gems adorning her dress and her piercing violet eyes hold a kind of nonchalance that makes the hairs on the back of Liena's neck stand to attention. She surveys the crowd for a few heart racing moments before she opens her blood stained lips and allows her smooth and silky voice to caress the crowd into obeying.
"Good evening everyone," she pauses a moment to survey the effect the power that she imitates has on the crowd as all eyes turn to her. "Tonight is the Harvest Festival and as I can see, we have quite a few lovely ladies this year that have been chosen. In just a moment, we will commence the Ceremony but first," She turns to one of her body guards that is standing several feet behind her and nods her head slightly. The guard, whose face is scared by wicked claws and facial hair growing almost over his mouth, seems to understand without words as he turns and disappears behind the midnight purple velvety curtain that blocks the view of anything behind them. The crowd tenses in anticipation as this is the one part of the Ceremony that everyone hates, even if it doesn't affect them directly. After only a few moments, the muscular guard reappears through the curtain, except now there is a wriggling, blonde fifteen year old girl in his iron grasp. A collective sigh goes through the crowd as they realize it is not any of their children this year, however just as the sigh passes through the crowd, a similar, blonde, middle aged lady bolts for the small stage and towards her daughter with a blood-curdling scream. Two more, slightly more lean guards appear from nowhere as they immediately grasp the woman's flailing arms, her sandy blonde hair falling into her eyes as the hot, salty tears stream down her cheeks, her bright green eyes locked in fear on her precious daughter.
"Please do not take her! Please do not do this! Give her one more chance, I am positive she will get chosen next year!" The elegantly dressed woman turns slowly as the mother's pleas fall on deaf ears, the impassive look in the Empress' violet eyes, chilling the woman into a still silence.
"You know the rules, she has to be chosen by her fifteenth birthday or her fate lies in the forest." The young girl in the guard's grasp starts screaming as he carelessly drags her towards the gate that lies beyond the far reaches of the village. Her mother starts to struggle against the two guards that have her arms and screaming for them to let her go so she can try to save her daughter. The guard on her left slaps the woman hard across her cheek, his hand leaving a red print on said cheek as she falls to her knees in the mud. The young girl screams as the guard now has her by both of her arms, her arms behind her back as she struggles against his strong hold to get to her fallen mother. The guard gets frustrated with the girl in his hold and he throws her out of the open gate as they finally reach it, her falling harshly onto her side as her blonde hair gets matted with the mud she lands in. The mother struggles to her feet as the gate slams closed and she roars in outrage as she darts for the gate, slipping through the guards as they go to grab for her. She makes it within a couple feet of the gate before she is roughly grabbed by the guard that threw her daughter out of it.
"Either stop struggling or you will join her. You knew the rules and she didn't get chosen this year, she is to face the forest and maybe she will get lucky. Maybe we will find a few of her limbs tomorrow." The gruff voice of the guard sends a chill down the woman's spine but the thought of only finding a limb or two of her daughter has her struggling against the man even harder. He lets this go on for only a few more moments before the gate is opened again and the woman is harshly pushed through the opening. The sound of clinking metal signals that the gate is once again closed and she rises to her feet to rush for her daughter just as a blood curdling howl pierces the air. The two females freeze just as the mother wraps her arms around the young girl, the relief that shows on their face at being together once again, now replaced by fear. They hug each other tight and the daughter looks up as more tears brim the bottom of her eyes and start to slip down her cheeks.
"I love you, mom," the young girl's words are a whispered sob as the mother holds her tighter, tucking the girl's face into her chest as she whispers the words back. A few moments of pregnant silence fill the air as the two wait for the fate they know is coming, however, after a few moments of nothing, the two female's visibly relax and let small smiles grace their faces. Maybe they will make it through this night alive if they just stay as close to the gate as possible.
Suddenly, a group of rotten hands dart out of the forest line, their clawed, dagger-like fingers wrapping around the female's ankles as the fear stricken women are dragged towards the forest line. The two uselessly claw at the ground, mud and dirt getting stuck under their fingernails as they try to grab onto something, anything that could save them. However, not a few moments later, the two vanish within the trees, their screams being the only things the village can hear as they get pulled further within the forest. For a few minutes, the screams continue but then suddenly, all sounds stop. The village holds it's breath for a few more moments but no more sound emerges from the forest.
The elegant woman standing on the makeshift stage claps her hands and draws the villager's attention back to her as she flashes a bright smile, her pearly whites glowing eerily in the now setting sun's blood red glow.
"Let's get these festivities started!" The music that starts up around the villagers and the shock that seemed to have settled over them lifts and all eyes are turned to the lined up men and women as they stand up a little straighter, preparing for their part. A slow, gentle song starts flowing through the streets of the village and washes over the couples as the girls drop to a curtsy, their dresses flowing out elegantly as the men place a hand to their hearts and bend their heads in response. Standing back up straight, they step towards each other, the couples hands going up towards the others in a ghosting touch as they slowly step around the other in a circle. Curro slowly steps around Liena as she follows his path, their hands barely touching as she forces a smile to her face, their eyes locked. A pointy tip crushes her toes to the bottom of her shoe as the clumsy red head in front of her steps on the tip of her shoe. She quickly recovers from the trip this causes as she grimaces at the pain in her now throbbing toes. Curro meets her eyes with a half hearted sympathetic look and a small smile as she tries to wipe the grimace from her face. They continue the dance around each other until the song takes a pause break and the couples spin back to their original positions, separating back into their lines. As the song picks back up its pace, the guys step up to the girls and they lock hands, with the guys putting their free hand on the girl's waists and the girl's free hands going to the guy's shoulders. They spin gracefully around each other and as the music crescendos, the guys carefully dip the girls almost to the ground before slowly raising back up. They separate again back into their lines as the music fades out and the girl's dip back into their elegant curtsy as the guys once again bow to their partners. As the couples straighten back up, the woman standing above the crowd on her stage once again claps her hands, a broad smile crossing her face.
"Well done, to all of you! Now, let us move on to the next part of this Ceremony. Gentleman, please present your gifts to your partner." As one, the guys step forward, holding their hands out to the girl's, each with a unique gift in their hands. The girl's drop into their final curtsy before each girl takes the respective gift from their partner. Liena looks down into her hands at the hand-crafter wolf figure that Curro made for her and she can feel a lump in her throat forming. He took the time out to make this beautiful figure for her, knowing wolves are her favorite animal, and she is going to be basically throwing it back in his face. All she can hope, is that one day, he will forgive her. As the guys step back, the President draws the crowds attention back to her.
"Now, as per tradition, our couples with break our bread and eat before drinking to their everlasting relationship. Then, finally, our couples will seal the deal with a kiss and then they will be allowed to retire to their new homes to consummate their coupling." Liena tenses, this is the time that she has been waiting for. She knows that she has to do it before it is her and Curro's turn and she spots her family out of the corner of her eye. A tear makes it's way down her cheek as she sends up one more prayer, that her family will forgive her and that they will be happy.
As Jenna and her partner step out of line to walk over to the long table behind the guys that holds the bread and mead, a sharp scream pierces the air followed by a shout.
"President! They have breached the gate!" A second later, an explosion rocks the ground and it throws everyone off of their feet, Liena screaming as she is thrown back and lands on the ground, her head connecting with a sickening crack. Liena tries to blink away the haze but not a moment later, darkness engulfs her vision and she looses consciousness.
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There you guys have it! Until next time!
HL