Chronicles of The Crescent Court

4

The outside of the home was somehow more pleasant than the inside. Perhaps it was the feeling of space that made even the musty air feel more...comforting. Inside, the walls looked hard and thick. Suffocating.

 The man who'd let us inside look...nearly dead in all honesty. His eyes were dull permeated with tiredness. The top of his head was heavily lined with age and grease. He stood nowhere as tall as Mulligan's large frame but still, bigger than myself. 

"Anne." the older man suddenly called out, his voice weary as his skinny body but authoritative, nonetheless. 

A woman, Anne presumably, came rushing out in an instant. She was not nearly as old as the man but seemed just as worked. Her body language reminded me of a mouse, anxious and fidgeting as it sensed a nearby predator. She dared not look at Mulligan or me.

Her eyes glued to the dusty floor underneath her feet, "Yes?"

"Take our guest to the room."

She nodded meekly and held out her hand for my mine. I wanted nothing more than to slap it away and make a run for the door. I wanted Mulligan to be suddenly consumed with guilt once again and let me go. Useless desires

Though his face was still hidden, I felt his eyes locking with mine one final time. I could feel he was urging me to remember what he had said. His compassion was locked away, but it existed somewhere behind the wall he'd built. Dread still filled me as he pushed me firmly to the woman, her grip immediately pulling me away.

He would not allow me to look at him again, forcing my head forward with his invisible force.

.

.

.

Anne led me to pitch dark room, the only bit of light coming from a flickering candle in the dim hall behind us. As she shut the door, I immediately felt my skin beginning to crawl. Now was not the time! I shut my eyes and did my best to follow the wall, furthering myself from her.

I focused only on the feel of the cold stone, and how Mulligan's power no longer held me. I wondered how quickly he'd returned to his cheeky, unbothered self after he made his quick exchange of me. 

As I created more distance, I could hear her soft steps in combination with the wicked sounding boards, I noticed Anne had moved to a farther side of the room as well. She was fiddling around with a dresser, opening and closing aching drawers. Why did everything in this house sound like it awaited death?

I had hoped for another exit but felt nothing. Instead, I'd bumped into some kind of hard surface, apparently knocking something over in the process. I cursed under my breath.

"What are you doing?" Anne questioned before the sound of a matchstick illuminated the small bedroom. I had bumped into a mirror. 

My eyes adjusted for me to find her standing not nearly as far as I thought, a long grey rag in her hands. 

"I'll need you to change, love." She held the cloth out for me, apparently it was a dress. 

"Change?" I asked.

"Your gown. It's a bit too pretty for a human farmer's daughter."

I looked down at the green dress I'd wore for much of my life. There was nothing extravagant about it. In fact, it was made to blend in with the forest. Almeda and Adeline had always made me wear practical clothing. Looking at the grey fit, I guess my own did seem a bit colorful. My frown deepened at it and the idea that my upbringing was being stripped. I didn't know how to feel about the last bit.

I sighed deeply. My energy to defy had been lost. I slowly began to pull off my clothing, scrunching my face as I noticed the small woman failing to look anywhere besides my naked body. She had the same parts, didn't she?

"Forgive me," she said suddenly, a pale pink spreading across her sunken cheeks, "I didn't expect you to look so...so..."

"Human?" I asked, taking the dress from her outstretched hand. I could see from the dusty mirror that my eyes had indeed been disguised by Mulligan's potion. Surely, she did not know I was a half-breed so, what was she expecting? A tail?

"The seller, he said you were a girl, but he did not say what you are."

"I am human." I muttered with irritation clear enough she may be intimidated to leave me alone but the lie itself fed into my bitterness.

"I don't know many humans who would give up their child willingly in these parts, dear. Could you be a forest nymph?"

I snapped at this, "Does it matter if you're sending me to my death tomorrow!? Would you feel better to know you're killing a creature rather than one of your own?"

She was quiet at this, quickly casting her eyes back down.

I began to button the gown up, already uncomfortable from the itchy material and small size when she dared speak again.

"I know what we're doing must seem wrong to you," she started, "but you must understand, we don't have another choice."

"There's always a choice and you are choosing murder!" my voice raised to her discomfort. She flinched, urgently placed a finger over her lips, pleading with her eyes for me to stay quiet. Probably afraid of her husband hearing us which I couldn't care less about.

"Things are not always so simple. If you were in our position, you would understand." she rushed out. Her voice sounded as if she'd put in hours of convincing and justifying the idea to her own self. Still, she didn't seem to have much energy left for hiding the guilt that showed so plainly on her face.

"Well, that's what you bought me for, isn't it? To be in your position? To die a death that was meant for you?"

We stared at each other for a moment. I had never spoken this harshly before. Not to anyone. But so many feelings had rushed and burned through me in so little time, I had run out of patience with the world.

I was angry at her. I was angry as Mulligan and his confusing nature. I was angry at the witches who had raised me only to sell me. I was angry at the damned wizard or witch who dared sleep with a human and create this hellish existence. And I was angry at this damned itchy, hideous rag of a dress!

I just wanted to curl away into nothingness. I felt I was counting down the breaths to death and it was driving my senses far from me.

After a long moment, she finally whispered "I'm sorry."

I couldn't care less and I did not respond.

She continued anyway. 

"I can't pretend to know your life. I can only imagine the stress there must be for someone like you. And you're smart. You know what waits for you in the morning. I understand why you hate me, us. I hate it myself," she looked at the floor and took a deep breath, furrowing her brows, "But, sometimes, we have to make hard decisions for the ones we love and even if it means my soul will never be clear...I must protect my family."

She made her way to the exit, taking with her the only lit candle, "You'll be sleeping here tonight and tomorrow... Tomorrow, we will both be changed forever."

I hadn't even realized the burning tears had escaped my eyes for the second time tonight before they had blinded my vision. Once again, I was left alone in the darkness, wondering what my life was coming to.