Women Of Steel | ✔

XXVII: TARA

Important announcement: I think I've mentioned the fact that A Crown Of Thorns is part of a trilogy, that is three books in a series, the other two books, yet to come are called A Crown Of Fool's Gold and A Crown Of Ash and Strife. All three books will be in this one and together it is called "Women Of Steel." Once this book is done, I will begin the next one which I have already begun to write. A crown of thorns is almost done anyway, twenty one chapters or so left.

Because of this, I'm officially changing the name of the book to Women of Steel, the cover will change too. That will be all, carry on with the chapter.

***

Tara is exhausted.

The hollow eyed clairvoyant stares blankly at the mud wall ahead. A big spider stares back, daring her gaze, then it scurries further, digging itself into one of the numerous holes in the wall.

The room is wide, almost three times the side of her whole hut, an unlit lantern hangs from the wall on her right side and the cotton curtains have been swept aside to allow the warmth of bright sunlight into the room. However, there is nothing warm about the room, or the village or Tara herself.

The air is cold with evil.

She tilts her head to the side, staring at something an ordinary man or woman cannot see. There is a clear writing on the wall that spells doom. The spider appears again, and the spell is broken.

Tara heaves out a frustrated sigh, for three days she has been in custody of the king. After the king's right hand demanded -- no ordered -- that she take the blame of the king's curse. A quick tale had been spun, she was a witch who had cursed the plagues in the village out of the sheer wickedness and spite for her people and their king.

She was 'arrested' and forced into custody until a cure or solution was found or more literally, until she reversed the curse, that pretence is the only reason she is alive and why she has not been murdered by the furious villagers.

Tara is a diversion, a temporary solution lest the villagers start to connect the clues and turn on their king. Lest they figure that the plagues and the blood is a result of the king's curse. For days, she has been paraded in false trials in front of unsuspecting dignitaries. She sees the sneers, hate and fear in their faces when they look her.

She is becoming the person she was accused of being three years ago. The witch, the kin-slayer. Tara's life is a lie now and she has the king to thank for that.

She wonders how long this charade and ruse will continue until the villagers begin to push for a public execution in the village square.  Tadenikawo cannot run away from fate for long, and he cannot continue to borrow time for long.

It is unfortunate that Tara's life is caught in the crossfire. She curses herself for succumbing to Kosoko's tricks. The things she does for love, the things she does for her daughter. A daughter who does not want anything to do with her.

The door creaks open, letting sunlight in and two guards step in with hateful gazes. In spite of the king's strict instructions against maltreating her, the guards don't care or rather they are blinded by their hate.

In the plague, they have most likely lost a dear person, a brother, a mother or friend. And they see her as the cause.

The both of then pull her to her feet roughly without an explanation. Tara does not struggle as they push her out the door, struggling only fuels their grief and anger, struggling exposes her vulnerability. A stoic face strikes fear in them.

The sun directly faces the rectangular hut and hits Tara with it's full glare, she looks away and her eyes scan the palace compound. It's been days and the palace has yet to survive from the battle, three of the buildings lie in ashes and dirt and one other is half destroyed. And the sturdy fence of the palace is half gone.