Red

One.

The king sat at the front of the table with the queen at his side and his only son. The king wore silk robes and the queen was in a beautiful dress. They both wore simple crowns as there was no way to get complex one.

The prince looked bored as we walked in. He spent most of his time here as well. His was for different reason though.

The prince looked up and made eye contact with me as I froze under his gaze. He had unruly brunette hair and amber colored eyes. He leaned back in his chair watching me as I looked away.

"Have a seat." The king said as we took our seats and I did my best to keep my attention on the table. My mom sat next to me and I ended up right across from the prince. He had a plate in front of him full of meat which he silently ate.

"Thank you for responding so hastily to my request for you three to join us." The king responded as the queen sent us a smile.

I felt uneasy before them. Why had they brought us here?

"We are humble for the invitation." My dad played right into it as did my mom. After that the food was served as I reluctantly put food on my plate. I chose meat and some of the vegetables as we all ate.

Once dinner was over the king looked at his son and waved him away. I glanced up as the prince left the room. I straightened my cloak once more before the king looked at us.

"I'm sure you guys are wondering what you were called here for aren't you?" He asked as he waved a servant over to come clear the table. I pushed my dishes away from me to make it easier for the servant as the king waited.

"Yes, we are curious." My dad spoke and the king nodded.

"Does it have to do with the sacrifice tomorrow?" My dad asked and the king nodded.

"We can bring some chickens by tomorrow." Dad said but the king shook his head making my dad pause. "We don't own anything but chickens I'm afraid." My dad watched him.

"This is confidential information that must stay quiet. The village does not need to enter a paranoia just yet until the next sacrifice to see if it works." I looked at my dad.

"The wolves. One of them killed a guard on the last sacrifice. They took all the livestock, but they left a dead guard on their way out. There hasn't been a human fatality in two decades. And he wasn't at the sacrifice either. They hunted him out. Our last sacrifice didn't work, and they may not be satisfied again." The king paused as he looked at us.

"What are you sacrificing?" My dad asked the king with caution. My mom stared silently.

The king took in a deep breath.

"We have been considering what to do. We could increase the livestock but that could cause unease as they will know something is up. This sacrifice will be done at the entrance they enter from. No one goes out there." The king watched us.

"We have decided to sacrifice a young woman to see if this will satisfy them." I stared silently as it struck. My parents went silent and I knew they had figured it out as well.

"You're going to sacrifice me." I murmured and the king nodded.

"Your one of the few younger women here and we will offer your parents many things for it including more livestock for them to raise as well as land." The king smiled at us.

"You want me to sacrifice my only daughter for riches?" My dad asked.

"This wasn't an offer." The king responded as I just stared at them. "This can be done willingly or by force. If she isn't here tomorrow by dusk, we will be coming. Your only other choice is to go into the forest and flee." The king gave us a choice.

I could see the conflict in my parent's face. We had two choices. Either for me to be sacrificed or all three of us to perish in that forest. Either way the wolves would be having me. But at least in one my parents had a chance to live.

"I'm going to go to the cart." I said.

"By dusk." The king reminded and I ignored him as I left the room.

As I closed the door behind me, I looked up to see the prince standing outside the door. I froze as he looked over me.

"I can walk you out." He offered and I wasn't even in the mood to argue. All I did was wordlessly follow him as he brought me over to where the geldings were and glanced at me.

"Thank you." I murmured adjusting my cloak.

"Who made this?" He asked touching the cloak.

"My grandmother made it before she passed." I answered and he nodded as held the end of the cloak. I watched him silently as the male servant set up the geldings.

He let go of my cloak before stepping back. Then he turned away and walked away. I watched the prince leave as my parents stepped out from the house of the king and walked over. They were silent as they came over.

"Let's go Ruby."

1610. I'm so excited to be writing this again! I have an idea all planned out. In here there are numerous 'wolves' that hunt the woods instead of one like the original idea. This will be a bit fast paced in order to get to the actual plot which isn't solely about the sacrifice of Ruby. Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. For future reference I'll be retitling the book 'Red' as well unless I find a better name!***