Bitter Departure

The sun's rays gently fell across Rieka's face, trying to warm her now frozen heart. A futile attempt at best. There was no room for warmth in her heart now.

Not anymore.

She sighed as a light breeze blew across her cheeks like a light caress, trying to comfort her as she faced her end. Her fiery red hair hung loosely down her shoulders, tickling her arms with their ends. She tried to soak in the moment the best she could, burning this place deep into her memory.

A small clearing, like her own personal meadow, sat at the edge of Ostrythe's Forest. Wildflowers danced in the breeze and butterflies lazily fluttered about, occassionally stopping to rest atop a flower bud. It was the only place she felt at peace. It calmed her.

"I wonder if Ostrythe will have a meadow as lovely as you?" she whispered to the earth.

Ostrythe. The name she once thought of as a sign of peace and protection now sent shivers across her body. Ostrythe, the wolf god who protected her village, was to be her husband. And Rieka was to become his sacrificial lamb.

His wife.

She shivered again despite the sun's continued warm assurances. No bride of Ostrythe ever returned to the village. No one knew their fate after they stepped into his forest.

Every 10 years the village offered one third of their young women as brides to Ostrythe. In return he continued his protection of the village and blessed them with bountiful harvests and game from his forests. This had been the way for hundreds of years. And now Rieka had been chosen.

She sighed and rose to her feet, looking longingly at the meadow and silently wishing to go back to her youth. But there was no going back. Not now.

Rieka walked the familiar path down the village road to her house, ignoring the pointing and whispers of the people around her.

"She has been chosen!"

"We'll finally be rid of her!"

"At least she'll be good for something."

"Fate has finally be set right now that she's to be gone!"

A sharp pain rose from the back of her head. Then another on her back and calves. "Go away you unlucky demoness!" Children laughed as they threw more stones at her. She covered her head with her arms and ran the rest of the way home, dodging stones the best she could. When she finally reached her home, her mother was already waiting at the door.

"Where have you been, you useless little imp! The ceremony starts in an hour!" Her mother scowled as Rieka walked through the door, her dark eyes filled with hate. She shoved Rieka into her small bedroom and threw a sack at her chest. "Change into these. I had them made for you. Its required for the ceremony." She slammed the door without another word.

Rieka looked down at the sack in her arms and carefully opened it. This was the first gift her mother had given her since she was a little child. She opened the sack carefully and pulled out a long white dress. She quickly put it on and rubbed the wrinkles out of the form fitting fabric. It was a simple white dress with long white sleeves and a neckline then went to the base of her throat. There were no embellishments or beads and the fabric looked faded and old, but Rieka loved it all the same. It was the only dress her mother had ever given her in her twenty two years of life. Every other clothing she owned she either made herself or was given by the Ostrythe temple.

She was never her mothers favorite and never would be. This was something she had long since accepted. She had been born with red hair, a sign of misfortune and bad luck. And bad luck she had always brought to her family, or at least, that's what her mother said. After Rieka was born, her mother had miscarried several times. She blamed her cursed child for each death until, finally, another daughter was born. Her sweet little sister, Marjorie.

Rieka's heart twisted at the memory of Marjorie, tears threatening to fall. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry Marjorie," she whispered, gripping the light blue string bracelet tied to her right wrist. It was faded and fraying in several places, but it was her most precious treasure. A gift from her beloved Marjorie. She kissed it once then took a deep breath and left her bedroom for the last time.

"Finally, you'll be good for something," her mother growled. "Lord Gracling paid me a lot to have you replace his daughter in the Crimson Cloak Ceremony."

Rieka said nothing. She knew her mother never loved her and if Ostrythe's Temple had allowed her, she would have abandoned Rieka long ago. She'd still found a way to be rid of her daughter and made herself a nice profit in return. "Another girl with a promising future gets to live because of your sacrifice. If only you'd been more considerate seven years ago."

Again, Rieka ignored the harsh jab of her mother's words, slowly covering her heart with another layer of ice. "I'm ready," she said flatly.

"Hmph," her mother replied. "I'll drop you off at the temple. From then on, you'll no longer be my burden." Rieka silently followed her mother to the edge of Ostrythe's Forest where Ostrythe's Temple shined in the setting sunlight. It was a simple stone temple, adorned with paintings and murals of Ostrythe and the many miracles he had done for their people.

They stopped just outside the temple doors. "This is where I leave you," her mother mumbled and turned away.

"Wait!" Rieka cried, biting her lip for a moment before asking the one question she'd always wanted to ask her mother. "Did you...did you ever love? Even a little at some point in my life?" She held her breath as she waited for her mother's answer, silently hoping that maybe, just this once, her mother would offer her some hope, some form of reassurance or motherly love.

Rieka's mother didn't turn to face her daughter. She offered her daughter only one word before abandoning her to Ostrythe's hands.

"No."