Ties That Bind

Carnivorous pt. 2

By the time she is ten, she has come to realize that no one will come to rescue her- not Efayna, not Yaghed, not anyone. So, she decides that if no one else will help her, she'll have to help herself.

She decides to escape.

In the middle of the night, she'll sneak out of her room and out of the school. She'll go to the stables and steal a horse. It's been over a year, almost two, since she's ridden a horse, but she thinks she should still know how. If she goes south, she will hit nothing but grassland. If she goes north, she will hit the city. If she goes east, she will hit the ocean. She decides to go east.

Once night comes, she puts her plan into action. She sneaks out and steals a horse, taking off at a gallop. She made sure to stay quiet and keep her footsteps light the way she was taught, so she's sure no one heard her leave. She's also sure that the direction she's going is east. The only problem is she has nothing but the clothes on her back and the horse. She doesn't know how far away the ocean is from here. She's never even been to the ocean. At best, she'll get there without difficulty. At worst, she'll starve or die of dehydration.

Anything is preferable to Tal Moori.

She rides for as long as she can, all through the night and the next day. She rides through barren land until the horse is just as tired as she is and its gait slows and slows until she is forced to stop. Her stomach aches and her tongue is dry. Her vision blurs.

She dismounts and collapses onto the dirt. She sleeps because she cannot keep herself awake. When she sleeps off the exhaustion, she wakes and is not alone. The woman with the sword is there, sitting next to a roaring campfire. Off to the side, a horse feasts on tall grass, but it is not the horse Ofelia rode here. She turns to her other side and sees the dismantled carcass of the horse she did ride and gags at the sight of the blood. Wordlessly, the woman holds out a skewer with a chunk of meat on it.

Ofelia is hungry and so she eats. The meat is not cooked all the way through, so the tang of blood rushes over her tongue. She does not complain, for she is not offered anything else to drink, so she savors what she is given. She thinks about running, but it is too late for that. So, when the woman mounts her steed and offers a hand out to pull Ofelia up, she goes.

***

Headmistress Winnara waits for her when she returns to Tal Moori, wrinkled face pinched up in fury. A pool of fear settles in Ofelia's stomach and she thinks that she has never been this afraid.

The Shadow that had gone to fetch her takes her to the courtyard and tells her to wait. Soon, the six other girls join them, as well as Winnara. Ofelia tries to be brave, but when Winnara tells her to take off her shirt, she starts to cry. Winnara scowls, handing the Shadow a length of rope.

"Stop crying, child. Actions have consequences. Face them with dignity."

The Shadow steps forward, a knife in hand. In one, swift movement, she slashes the back of Ofelia's shirt. The blade bites into her skin, leaving a burning sensation behind. The Shadow shoves her on her knees and leans over her, binding her wrists together, then to the column. She cuts off the rest of Ofelia's shirt. Behind her, Winnara unfurls a cat-o-nine-tails, hand dropping to her side.

"Let this be a lesson, girls," Winnara says, voice smooth and calm. "Watch and do not close your eyes."

The first time the barbs hit her back, the pain comes slow. There is a numbing thwack and her back burns, then intensifies. Winnara's arm reels back and thwips forward again. Ofelia chokes back a sob and then the next lash is harder. The tears stop coming and she has no time to process the pain or the shame.