The Krakens Bride

On Land (Chapter 4): Yuki

I was still uneasy about this incense room, but I really could not bring myself to argue with them about it. The voice in the back of my mind continued chanting for me to deal with it, for Yuliana's sake. So, sucking it up, I nodded my head firmly and waited to see what they would request of me next.

"You will be allowed to speak with a few people of your choosing for one hour before you must sleep. However, no physical contact of any kind, else you sully the purification rituals you have gone through today," Elder Reesha spoke this time, while the rest of the elders scrutinized me.

"Alright, I wish to see my family. Including my mother," I said, while I noticed the silent looks  they had given each other at my words.

I don't care how fever ridden she was right now, I had to see my mom before I was possibly killed by a raging sea beast in place of my younger sister.

"As you wish. They will be brought to see you shortly. For now, all you need do is remain seated within that room there," Darmine said.

His finger pointed towards a room covered by a flowing satin sheet that fluttered with the light breeze that came through this open area of the elder's home.

I nodded and walked barefoot across the room, when it occurred to me that I was technically naked. I only wore the hip wrap the elders had wrapped around me after they had painted all over my skin.

Parting the sheet, I glanced around the seemingly small room. It held only a few chairs around a little circular table, with a long lounge seat against the back wall. There was a soft pink glow inside the room from the salt crystals that burned within a large lantern in the corner. I moved to sit on the lounge seat when the swishing of the curtain hit my ears.

Darmine entered with a pile of pale pink silk in his arms, and he smiled as he came over to me.

"I apologize if I startled you, Yuki. I will help you dress before your family arrives. The only clothing, we have on hand is the traditional dress for the chosen bride. So, I apologize in advance," he was smiling as he spoke. But I felt the building dread within my stomach as he shook out the pile of silks he had brought.

"Why must you do this to me? Can you not just skip the sacrifice? I don't understand why this is so important to you people," I said with a shake of my head as I eyed the silky clothes.

"Did your parents not educate you on the Kraken? I understand you have never been outside your home, correct?" he asked as he gestured for me to stand, which I did grudgingly.

"Of course, they told me all about it. Raging sea monster- super dangerous- blah, blah, blah. So what? If it is so dangerous, why would you be willing to sacrifice a poor young girl to a so-called monster? Is that not something you would feel guilty about?" I questioned.

Darmine looked at me after I spoke and the emotions swimming in his gray eyes were hard to describe. He, however, did not say anything for a few minutes, but then he seemed to age before my eyes while he opened his mouth to speak.

"Yuki- Not everything can be explained or fully understood with words. No matter how hard you try, you will not always understand people's choices. Giving away a promising, beautiful woman to a creature of the sea, is one of the hardest things I have ever had to do. But it needs to be done, for our people to remain safe. If there was a way to protect them without the need for a sacrifice, I wish we could do that instead. But we are running out of time and there is no other way that we know of," Darmine's voice was soft, as he slid the pale pink silk over my skin.

"Then try to find a way. I bet you people have never withheld a woman from the Kraken to even see if he cares to try to harm you, without being given a wife. The fear you hold, is why you continue to kill off the beautiful women this village produces. You are all cowards," I said harshly, and he backed away from me once he got me to put my arms through the flowing sleeves of a silken robe.