The Happy Happy Village

The Wedding (Part-2)

-Sin and Punishment-

I froze in place, I didn't move, I didn't cry, I didn't scream (even though I really wanted to). I didn't even want to look, but the branding had suddenly ceased at the last possible moment, where it was just a hair away from making its mark on my skin. I could then feel the extreme heat begin to pull away along with the iron.

The sound of little scampering footsteps came running towards me. The twins' grip on my head began to lighten, allowing me to look over my shoulder. The ceremony had ceased for the moment on the command of 'Stop'. And everyone on both sides of the street were looking down the aisle at the one person who yelled it. What I saw was nothing less of being a heartwarming yet slightly disturbing sight. It was no one else but Little Lucile, holding a jagged steak knife in one little hand and a beating red heart in the other.

Seeing the determination in her eyes, the dirt, twigs, and leaves in her hair, I knew that she had found it. She was holding the very heart of Ms. Mercedes. I felt proud and relieved that she had found it, if she was a second too late I would've been screaming at the sky in a fierce burning pain.

The unexpected sight and idea of a child holding a knife and heart made the entire village gasp in shock. Along with the terror came the confusion of why a child would bring such a unexpected and gruesome display to their peaceful village. It drove the smiles and happiness right out of the faces of every Happy Happiest, and brought forth only terror and astonished quivers. The wedding was no longer a happy moment to remember. Even Ms. Mercedes was looking anxious.

"What is that?" Mercedes muttered as she denied to herself, "whose heart is that?" All of the villagers turned to her, thinking that she had the answer for them. She look more threatened as the heart was beating faster and faster the more she denied. "Whose heart is that!?" She yelled to the child as Lucile came closer.

"Yours!" Lucile and I said.

It was then, Ms. Mercedes' own face began to turn pale around the edges. "Impossible," She muttered, she was shaking her head fast, trying to wake up from a bad dream, "Impossible! Everyone here knows that all of our hearts are kept inside the village!"

"Except for this one." I added, "Does beneath the floor boards of a guest house, outside the village count?" The village gasped a second time, followed by a ripple of worried murmurs. It made their leader look even guiltier with the stress I had brought her.

"No," Mercedes defended, "I would never defile my own law." Oh, but she did. The tables had turned on her. The opportunity was at hand, it was time for the little negotiation for my freedom.

"Release me Mercedes," I then said, "tell your left handed men to release me and give me back my heart. Or else." Lucas and Levi looked at each other, shaking to even consider letting me go to ensure their leader's safety. "Or do you really think that's not your heart Lucile is holding?"

I could see it in her eyes, stress. Mercedes knew full well of her position and was looking for some way to weasel her way out. She smiled uncontrollably for her people, only to have it slowly die. The villagers couldn't smile back. "Alright then Mr. Eliot, you win. I'll set you free, but can we at least talk this over like civilized people?" Her expression then became scornful. "Boys, release the groom."

And so they did just that, they released me without any thought. They backed off into the column of people as they also looked afraid at me and Lucile. Mercedes then took up the jar containing my heart, beating live and well. I gladly took my hands to the container, Mercedes was hesitant to release it from her clutch. She didn't at all look pleased at the slightest at what I had just pulled, but she released it.