WHAT IS AN OFFERING? I wondered as Keira and I followed the retreating backs of Celie, Ffi and Iris yet again. Is it some sort of ceremony? Oh, why is everything so confusing? I sighed and resigned myself to catching up with them and Keira, who seemed intent on answers.
I imagined some sort of ceremony where a name was picked out of a bowl, like in the Hunger Games, the child whose name was picked being carted off to some gruesome death. I shook my head, trying to rid the thoughts that were buzzing like flies around in my head.
"So, what exactly is an 'Offering?''" Keira made speech marks with her hands around the word offering. Ffi answered without looking back, keeping up the fast pace that she was setting, leading us back outside to the blinding sun. I shielded my eyes, quickening my pace.
"And did you know that it was going to happen?" I chimed in. Ffi looked around and ushered Keira and I in front of her.
"It's...King Balthazar likes...it's hard to explain." she sighed. "Every month, two days after the full moon, he...comes and demands to have a child, a human child. We don't know why he wants one, but he has to take one or else...he threatens to kill the prisoners of war that he has in the dungeons." she sounded angry and I saw her fists clench at her sides, her ears reddening.
"There are so many, and we have to accept. We can't just leave them to be tortured and killed." Celie answered this time, her green eyes filling with hopelessness. "He holds them so he can blackmail us, he makes us give him these children."
"But...why don't you-" Keira spluttered. "Why don't you go save them?" Iris barked a mirthless laugh.
"Yeah, 'cause we're really going to send out even more troops to get butchered and killed." she scoffed, but under the scorn the despair was clear.
"Well -" Keira began, her voice rising in annoyance.
"Stop it, Iris," Celie interrupted. "Keira, we don't have the troops to fight. The Fortress is guarded by the very best warriors, who will not hesitate to kill anyone who doesn't support the King." she sounded sad, her voice choked up with emotion.
I nodded, thinking about those poor people who must be stuck in a dark, damp dungeon at this very moment, wondering whether they'll ever be freed. I wondered whether they would keep fighting for their cause. Would they still rebel, even in the clutches of the enemy?
We were led out into the open again, but this time it was different. The atmosphere had changed, it was tense, almost tangible. The nervous feeling in the pit of my stomach grew and grew as we neared the crowd. It was like having a nest of snakes inside me, writhing and squirming more and more with each passing moment. I glanced over my shoulder nervously.
I shook my head slightly as we approached them, frozen against the darkening sky. A cold breeze blew through the ranks, not moving any of them. A paper wrapper of some treat blew slowly across the grass that was swaying gently in the wind. The waves crashed on the shore below the white cliffs behind us.
YOU ARE READING
Eyes of Emerald
Fantasy"The thing on top of Keira got up, slowly, and stood smaller than I thought. It stood on four legs, like a dog, and growled like a wolf. I swore under my breath as it leaped at me, claws extended, and I knew I was about to die." Behind the clouds on...
