The Curse of The Spider-Kin

Part Two

^^^The Anatomy of spider kin.  Part man and part spider. Expect in this story, instead of two human arms, they have four.  All rights to art go to original artist^^

A horde of dressed-up females hustle past Meri. Their dresses resembled a seagull's feathers, fluttering mindlessly in the wind. As feminine as they may seem, they still had shoved Meri out of the way.

She brushes off the shoving, calling them rude names under her breath. It was painfully clear that ladies were excited to see the king. Rumor has it, he is quite the looker. Still, too Meri she could care less about looks. Growing up with a father who had green scales covering half of his body, made her more into personality.

It didn't take long for Meri to accidentally stumble in the heart of the city. She finds herself surrounded by the common folk. Each of them shouting at her to buy herds, medication, fish, and even some expensive jewelry. The jewelry was tempting, but she had promised her father to return home as quick as possible. 

The smell of the city was very earthy. Smelt like fresh hay crossed with horse fertilizer. It wasn't like she had imagined, still she tried not to let it bother her. For sure the people didn't mind, by now they probably didn't even recognize the scent. 

Everything was so.. so new. She tries shaking her head, but she was scared her hoodie would fall. Instead of exploring her surroundings, Meri hurries up to the castle. The place where the King's speech would be held.

To her utter surprise, a large crowd hovered over the main entrance to the castle. Everyone was eager to start celebrating. Some men had their faces painted red, foolishly claiming it was the blood of the Spider-Kin. That was a flat out lie. Everyone knew that the species had gone extinct a long time ago. Some of the  women gossiped about the king, wondering if he was married yet.

Meri couldn't help but roll her eyes. These people had the king's life centered in their own daily lives. Did they not realized that the king dines on a gold platter, while they struggled to drink river water in their hands?

Ugh. Who can idolize something like a king?

Meri couldn't help but gross herself out with her own thoughts.

The sound of roaring drums destroy all the side chattering. A line of obedient soldiers slowly spill out the main doors of the castle. Glossy armor hung onto their bodies, causing their shoulder to slightly slouch. The metal looked uncomfortably heavy. Each one of them walked in synchronization. It was almost scary.

They looked like a bunch of ducklings following their momma.

"Silence! The king is ready for his speech!" A man in royal clothes, stands on stage.

Behind him, the king stands pridefully. His eyes float around the gathering of people. His face showed no expression. Meri swears she saw a hint of disgust in his eyes, but maybe she was just imagining it.

He was holding something in his right hand. At first, Meri blinked, unsure what she was seeing. Perhaps her mind tried to protect her, by causing her vision to be blurry for a moment. Unfortunately, nothing could keep her from seeing this.

He raises his arm, proudly showing off a freshly cut head of a monster. It's eyes and teeth was an obvious sign that he was spider-kin.

The crowd cheers in pure victory, but Meri holds her mouth. She felt like throwing up. A horrible feeling was in the pits of her stomach, and it made everything uncomfortable. This was the first she had ever seen her own kind.

She couldn't help but be grateful that she was born female. Nothing about her resembled a spider.  The only thing that could get her in trouble, was her white hair.  Luckily, that was easy to hide.