I want to wake her and say goodbye, because I already know what I’m going to do, but I won’t. That’s selfish and will only hurt her more. She can’t be given a chance to protest, and I will keep my promise to her.
Stepping into the other room, I find Father and Mother waiting there. I nod at them, and with my chin lifted, I leave the shack. I hear them scrambling to follow me as I start to walk. The sun is rising, and I know the king’s men will be coming for her. I’m lucky I don’t have to wait long, or my courage might die.
The soldiers walk toward me with the king’s symbol emblazoned proudly on their chests, their faces hidden behind the black masks they wear. Their bodies are encased in the same black stretchy material, and they wear batons at their side alight with technology—not magic like they would have us believe.
I wait with my hands at my sides, and when they stop before me, I swallow a deep breath and glance back to my mother and father. “Look after her,” I snarl at Mother, and then I look forward. “My name is Cora Black. I am volunteering for this year’s hunt.” I hold out my hands and wait.
“Cora!” my mother yells, but I ignore her.
“Girl, what do you think you are doing?” Father roars, even as a guard steps forward and binds my hands before tugging me after them. They don’t care who will be sacrificed, only that it’s someone from the Shadow Lands.
A meaty hand lands on my shoulder, and I whirl, kicking Father back. He falls to his ass, his shocked face turned up to me as I sneer down at him. “You are a weak, stupid man who made a brave, fearless daughter, and she will survive this. You make sure of it, or I will come back and haunt you.” With that, I whirl again and march after the soldiers, just as I hear Kai screaming after me.
Luckily, when I glance back, Father catches her sprinting form and holds her as she screams for me. Her hand is outstretched, her voice cracking with anguish. I turn away before I cry, not wanting to show weakness. I ignore the gazes of the others watching, their expressions ranging from sad and knowing to happy.
None of it matters. She is safe.
Let them do whatever they want with me.
* * *
I am ledinto the edges of the Gilded Lands for a single day and night. They keep me locked within a brick building, clearly not wanting me to run away—not that I will, because it means my sister’s life. Even so, I pace the cell I’m in. There are no bars, and the door is unlocked, but it’s still a cell, a pretty one, with a huge bed covered in fabrics softer than I’ve ever felt in my life. There’s an actual bathroom with a working shower, and despite my fear, I wash away years of grime, soaking in the warm water. There are creams and brushes and pretty clothes, not to mention food and entertainment, all enough to make a gilded prison for a woman.
I make the most of it, knowing I will be dead tomorrow.
I stare at myself in the mirror, after using all the creams and putting on a soft silk slip. I look like a stranger. My hair is wavy and luxurious from the oils. My eyes pop from the tinted creams glittering with gold. My ribs poke through the shift, and my hips are boney, but I can’t do anything about that. I look older, I conclude, the day aging me.
Turning away, I collapse onto the bed, but I can’t sleep.
My mind runs through what will happen. I’ve seen it every year as I was forced to watch like every other Shadow Lander. A girl is sacrificed to the vines and the monsters beyond. It’s an old ritual from before the current king’s reign to keep back the surge of the monsters that would kill us all. Every year, one woman is sacrificed to keep the evil at bay. At least, that’s what they claim.
I am to be that woman.
I am destined to die.
At least it will be on my own terms.
ChapterThree
The morning came far faster than I thought it would. I expected time to inch by as I remained awake and stared at the shadows cast by first the moon and then the sun as it rose slowly into the sky, casting light inside the prison I found myself in, but it didn’t. I should be terrified, but I’m mostly just resigned to my fate. If this is how I die, then so be it. At least Kai will be safe.
At least I’ve done something good.
At sunrise, the guards arrive, bearing trays of food I’d never be able to eat. The meal is lavish, complete with meats I’d never been able to sample in the Shadow Lands. My father would never have allowed us to eat so well. Trays of fruits and pastries follow the meats. There is so much food, it could have fed my family for a month with more to spare.
Those in the Gilded Lands live far differently than we do in the Shadow Lands. To have so much food…
I can’t even imagine.
I force myself to eat, to sample it. Once I’ve picked through things and eaten until I can’t anymore, it appears as if I’ve hardly made a dent in it. Knowing I’ll need it, I wrap some of it in the cloth napkins provided—such waste—before stashing them in a little pouch I can wear beneath the silk clothing they gave me. I don’t have many options. I would have preferred pants and a shirt rather than the thin slip they’ve given me, but I understand I’m not meant to survive.
What better gift than a prettily wrapped one?
No one knows what happens to those who are chosen for the hunt. None of them ever return, so we assume they die, but for decades, it’s all we have known. We’re told that it’s the way of things, and that every year, a young woman from the Shadow Lands would be chosen by random and sent through the barrier. After that, there’s no other information.
I’ll be in the land of the monsters, but I’m just a human.
My chances of survival are low, I know that, yet I can’t seem to muster up any fear, only peace.
