Starlight (Book 1)

Chapter Five

     Ro took several slow breaths as her tears crept down her face. All she knew of the world had been shattered. Everything that she had been sure of before was now up in the air with no chance of coming back down. This place. These strange monsters around her. The screams of fear from the humans around her. The smell. The awful vial smell coming from them. Sweat and blood and vomit. So many of them covered in scars from whips and rubs on their wrists and ankles from bondage. Even the children had tarnished skin. It was more than she could take.

     Ro stood in her tattered clothing watching and waiting for her turn up on one of the wooden stages that dozens of others had been on that morning. Some of the men were muscled from hard labor and others were thin and sickly from years of malnourishment and abuse. The women weren't in much better shape. Some of them were even worse off. One woman was barely able to stand as two creatures held her up on stage ignoring her pitiful cries to her family in the crowd.

     Trolls. That's what Bethany had called them. Trolls and Fairies and other monsters that Ro didn't know the names of. All of them surrounded her now. The Troll that had captured her when she tried to escape held a tight grip on her upper arm. She looked down at his warty grey hand as it clasped her. There wasn't even a small hope for escape this time. Even if she broke the hold, there were countless others just like him that would catch her the instant she was free. The other Troll held Bethany's hands behind her back. She hadn't looked at Ro since they had arrived. Ro wanted to talk to her. She wanted to tell her that she believed what she had told her now. These monsters were real. The beautiful violet-eyed woman that saw them off this morning when they left was real. It was all real.

     Bethany had made eye contact with Ro several times on the horseback ride over, but she never spoke to her. Ro had only been on a horse a handful of times before and was a little resistant at first but one of Trolls lifted her up before she could protest. She was terrified of falling so she spent the long ride gripping the horse's sides with her thighs which were unbelievably sore now. The Trolls spoke to each other for most of the ride. Instead of trying to translate, Ro took in the scenery around her which was beautiful. There were mountain ranges and rivers and forests that covered most of the land. The view was stunning and breathtaking. And she couldn't believe that Bethany had seemed so unimpressed by it. It gave Ro a false sense of hope which she realized as soon as the giant wooden gates opened up and the Trolls led them inside. They stood in the back of the crowd and Ro could plainly see the anguish in the eyes of her fellow humans. The children screaming as they were separated from their parents. Lovers fighting for one last embrace before they were forced to part ways. There was an endless amount of suffering.

     Ro's breathing became ragged. She was panicking. She didn't want to accept this. She couldn't accept this. If this was real then she wouldn't be able to leave. She wouldn't be able to see Grams again. Her legs gave out and she landed hard on her knees. The Troll still had a strong hold on her arm and jerked her back up on her feet.

     "No...please no." Ro whispered. "No!" She shouted and pulled against the Troll.

     "Ro stop!" Bethany finally spoke.

     Ro stared her down with a fierce look that Bethany knew all too well. Defiance. Bethany had that same look every day for weeks when she first arrived in the Court of Embers. But that look slowly faded with each day. It faded as she endured torture, sleepless nights, days without food, and as she witnessed the final breaths of so many strangers. She knew she would never get that look again after she went back to the Court of Embers. She watched as Ro gritted her teeth and jerked against the Troll again. Bethany wanted to tell her that everything would be okay. That she didn't have a reason to be upset, but she knew better. She wouldn't give Ro any kind of hope because there wasn't any to give. Bethany watched as the Troll wrapped a rough hand around Ro's throat.