The Beauty of Mist, the Beast of Dawn {INDEFINITE HOLD}

Chapter 6: The Witch

I knew I had wandered into the square ten minutes later when I heard the commanding voice over Ilah's roar. By then, I had read the entirety of the sections on sacred lotuses, freesias, dahlias, and frangipanis. Unfortunately, in those ten minutes, the village square had been cleared, save for a few men and two lines assembled in the center. Two lines of eligible girls standing shoulder to shoulder.

I studied the people in the square through my lashes, my head angled downwards at my book. I was familiar with all those in line, but I had never seen the men in my life. They looked fairly similar, with brown hair and browner eyes. They had strong figures and wore the teal of the royal family's staff or servants. One man caught my attention. His teal uniform glinted in the glaring sunlight just as his hair did. His very slicked-back, black-as-tar hair. I did not see much else as he faced away from me, however, I was certain it was he who was giving the orders. 

"Silence!" He barked. His voice echoed as every villager stopped speaking. A quiet gasp escaped my lips. I'd never once witnessed Ilah's roar —not even when the town crier addressed us.

My eyes flitted to the shadows. Sure enough, they landed on the Robert Vaughn, a village boy in his twenties, who was sulking there, scowling at the man. He must be the royal herald, I concluded. It was only logical. Who else can make Robert, our official town crier, so angry?

I was hoping my arrival would go unnoticed. As usual, I had no suck luck. I did not need to look up to know my presence was noted, not when I could hear the whispers and feel the stares.

The royal herald, who had continued instructing those in line, stopped abruptly. He shifted, and I saw his shoes point in my direction. "So, "this is the girl you believe will win it all? Not very impressive, I must say."

I gently closed the book and tucked it under my arm. Once I completed those actions, I raised my head and gave the royal herald my most innocent and charming smile. 

I scanned his features. I had been correct when I'd assumed his hair was slicked-back. The amount of oil oozing from his hair was enough to make my stomach flip. However, I was incorrect to call him a man. He could not be much older than me, and so by my standards was still a boy. His eyes were the most startling. They were pure black and, much more alarmingly, cold. They did not hold the slightest hint of warmth. 

Despite the eyes, he was handsome, and he seemed to know it, which meant he was exactly the sort of greasy person I went out of my way to avoid on a daily basis. Of course it was just my luck that he was one of the judges for the initial picking.

When our gazes met, the royal herald glanced away and then back again, clearing his throat as he did so. He was most likely noticing the "golden flecks" in my hazel eyes, or the "cinnamon streaks" in my "chestnut brown" hair, or any of the other nonsensical lines of poetry that my suitors had spouted about my appearance. 

Robert emerged from the shadows with a smug grin on his face. Spreading his hands grandly, he said, "Yes, indeed. This is Miss Hart, Ilah's resident beauty. I think you'll find there's more to her than meets the eye."

My nose twitched at the comment, as if to wrinkle in disgust. I suppressed the urge. As much as I loathed his remark, I could not blame the boy. Robert's purpose was to address our people, a purpose the royal herald owned as well. Without his purpose, Robert was nothing. Even with a purpose, next to the royal herald, he had no respect, status, or good looks. Basically, he was lesser in every way. If Robert wanted a moment when he did not feel like that, then he could have it. Nevertheless, there was a small fraction of me that wished I had no part in his moment.

The herald licked his lips, and stepped closer. It took all my willpower not to take a step back. I applauded myself for managing not to wince and keep my expression neutral. Still, I must not have disguised my disgust as well as I'd hoped because he chuckled. "More than meets the eye," he whispered. "How can that be?"

I shuddered. He laughed this time. It was an oily laugh that complimented his appearance and actions perfectly. He spoke again at a higher volume. "It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Miss Hart." He bent over and pressed his slimy lips to my hand. I wanted to jerk away, but I did not. 

I stared at his cold, black eyes and waited, challenging him. He finally broke off the odd contest with the words, "End of that line, Miss Hart." He pointed to my left. I nodded, attempting not to drag my feet as I followed his command. I was fairly certain I failed.

Veda, another village girl my age who had formerly been at the end of line, scowled when I joined her. I smiled in return. Her scowl only deepened, and she turned to her friend, Endelyn, to whisper—presumably about me.

I allowed myself one small sigh and faced the other line. My mood swung drastically when I saw Becca hanging from Wynnie's arm and Wynnie's not-so-subtle attempts to get her off. Her eyes locked on mine, silently pleading with me. I could only give a smile and shrug before focusing my attention on the herald.

He paced up and down the space between our lines as he announced, "I, and three others, will be selecting twenty of you ladies to go to the castle. You will be chosen by beauty, grace, and submissiveness. If you want to make it, I suggest you do exactly as I—we—say. Nothing more, nothing less."

It scared me, the way he said it. There was something threatening in his tone, a frightening gleam in his eyes. Because of it, I was prepared to comply with everything he said, even though my blood boiled at the thought of being submissive.

As I thought this, a whisper rushed through the lines and through the slowly forming crowd around the square. It seemed they had not realized beauty was not everything; it was only mostly everything.

The herald held his hand out. The whispers died. "Is that understood?"

 We all nodded in unison. "Good. Now, I want absolute silence. Can you do that?" We gave more nods. "I am glad we are all on the same page."

I did not think it possible, but his tone seemed to turn even more threatening. My knees began to tremble, and nausea swelled in my stomach. I shoved my legs together and breathed. I felt calmer when the herald gave his next directions. 

"Raise your right arm above your head. Turn your face to it. Spin!" And I did.