by M.E. Timmons
Chapter 13
The watchers stood there, looking stunned. They knew that the two of them were no match for a thousand beasts. Really, they would hardly be a match for two.
The beasts watched them carefully as well, but they didn’t move. They seemed frozen, and unsure of what to do. The dungeon beneath watcher headquarters only had four cells, and altogether they wouldn’t be able to fit more than fifty people in them. They just looked at each other, but neither could suggest any course of action to the other.
Tornado spoke up. “We aren’t going to go quietly if you try anything, so I suggest you just leave,” he said.
One of the watchers actually looked frightened of him. He slowly nodded and backed away, and the other followed. They went to their building and went inside, shutting the door. A few seconds later Selene could see them peering out the window.
The mayor, who had seen the watchers leave, came back outside. “You are forbidden by the laws of the kingdom to be outside of the forest,” she said, addressing the crowd of beasts from the porch. “You being here is punishable by death. I give all human citizens of this village permission to kill any beast here. You don’t belong here, and I won’t have you disturbing the peace of this village.”
No one responded, and no one moved. The mayor gave up and went back inside, cursing the watchers under her breath. She knew there was nothing she could do, and she hated to lose.
Some of the villagers who had been on the fringes of the group started moving forward to get a better idea of what was happening. Selene saw Henry and Dahlia approach. Henry was smiling, and he nodded to a few beasts he knew from his life in the forest. Dahlia looked scared and confused, and she kept turning her head around to watch everyone around her as they passed the beasts and made their way to Selene. She was holding on tightly to her husband’s hand.
“What’s going on?” Dahlia asked her sister when they reached the steps. “Why are all these beasts here? What are you doing with them?” She noticed Tornado, who was standing next to Selene. He was watching her as carefully as she was watching him.
“The beasts are standing up for their rights,” Selene told her sister. “I’m standing with them. They deserve as much freedom as we do, and the way they look is no excuse to treat them like they aren’t human beings.”
Dahlia didn’t really know what to say. She just looked around. She was repulsed by the creatures before her, but even she could see the sadness and determination in their eyes, which were feelings that helped her to see them as human. Before she married Henry she would never have understood, but she had fallen in love with a beast. She frowned, but she nodded.
“I knew you supported the beasts, but I wasn’t expecting this,” Henry said. He was still grinning. “I hope it accomplishes something.”
“So do I,” Selene said.
Henry stuck out a hand, but not toward Selene. He offered it to Jenson. “Jenson Redwing, it’s good to see you again. I must admit that you do look much better since you fell in love with my sister-in-law. I wish you the best. Perhaps someday soon we will be brothers.”
Jenson shook his hand and smiled. “I hope you’re right about that, Henry,” he said. He cast an adoring glance toward Selene, who blushed and looked away.
“Wait, what are you talking about?” Dahlia asked, looking back and forth between Selene and Jenson. “I thought your name was Robert.”
Jenson shrugged. “I lied. I didn’t want to get Selene in trouble.”
“Why would she be in trouble?” Dahlia demanded to know.
“I was in the forest, Dahlia,” Selene said softly. “I met Jenson there, since he was a beast at the time. It was love at first sight.”
Dahlia’s eyes narrowed. “You mean all this time I’ve been seeing you so unhappy and wishing you could be in love like I was, you already were? I can’t believe you didn’t tell me.” Her voice was starting to rise as she got angry.
“I couldn’t tell you,” Selene argued. “You never would have understood. You hated the beasts, and I didn’t. I never have.”
“I don’t hate them, I just...I just didn’t understand them.”
“No one does. That’s because they never get the chance. We’re here to change that,” Selene said.
By then most of the villagers had arrived, and most of them looked confused. Tornado instructed the beasts to back up and make room for them in the square. Jenson led the villagers up in front of the porch, where Selene and Tornado still stood. Henry and Dahlia joined the crowd and stood next to Frieda and Velkan, who had arrived. Frieda’s eyes were nervously darting around, though not because of the beasts. She was more afraid of what the other villagers thought about her daughter, who was standing before them with a beast. Velkan’s features betrayed none of his thoughts, though he was very interested in what was happening.
Selene was finally ready to speak. She looked out at all the people she knew, who she had grown up with, and hoped that they would understand. “I’m sure you’re all wondering what’s going on,” she said loudly. No one was talking anyway, so they could hear her clearly. “These beasts behind you have come out of the forest today for the first time in centuries because they want their freedom. I will admit that I’ve tried everything in my power to break the curse, but my power was not enough. It seems the only way to let them live a normal life is to let them live among us.”
There was a buzzing in the air as people started whispering to each other. Only one person spoke out loud, and she pushed through the crowd in order to stand on the porch to address everyone. “That’s crazy,” Amber said. She looked like she was offended by the thought. “They don’t belong with us. Just look at them.” Her lip curled in disgust, and a few people did actually turn around to look at the beasts. “Things have been the way they are for hundreds of years for a reason. Those aren’t men; they’re animals. Who would want to have to look at them all the time?”
“You’re wrong, Amber,” Selene said. Her eyes had narrowed, and it was her old friend whom she looked at with disgust, not the beasts. Then she turned to the villagers. “They are men. I’m sure all of the men from the village could attest to that, since they were all once beasts. Not only are they men, but they are also your children, who you were forced to give up at birth. Wouldn’t you like to know your sons?”
There was a collective murmur from the crowd, and many heads nodded, both male and female. Amber could see them agreeing with Selene, and it made her angry.
“They aren’t men until they fall in love,” she said, glaring at no one in particular. “They aren’t men now. Just because they are the children of humans doesn’t mean they are human. It’s obvious that they aren’t. Humans don’t have five legs or purple skin or fur. It’s completely unnatural.”
“You’re right; it isn’t natural. It was caused by a curse,” Selene pointed out. “They can’t help the way they look any more than we can. They are the same on the inside as the rest of us.”
“Or perhaps they were made to look that way by the curse so that their outsides match their insides,” Mayor Thornwood said coldly from behind Selene. She hadn’t even noticed her come outside again, but when she turned around the mayor was standing there with her arms crossed over her chest. Amber moved to stand by her.
“The curse was created for a reason,” Mayor Thornwood continued, addressing the villagers. “Men are like animals, which is why they were made to look like them. The ones you know are well-behaved because they lived in the ways the law says they should. If they live with us from birth they will only go back to their old ways, with drinking, gambling, and some unspeakable acts. It’s in their nature.”
Amber nodded in agreement, and turned to Selene with a smug look that implied she thought they were winning the argument. She wasn’t looking at the crowd, though, so she didn’t see the men shaking their heads and the beasts getting angry. Even some of the women d
idn’t like their men talked about in such a way.
Selene was heartened by the response of the crowd. She turned to Amber and Mayor Thornwood. “What makes you think you’re any better than they are?”
Tornado’s eyes opened wide, and Jenson tried to hide his grin.
The mayor was furious, though she tried not to show it. She didn’t want anyone to think Selene was getting to her. She was just a girl after all. “Things have been going great for the past thousand years. There has only been one war, which was small, and the people have been happy and healthy. That proves that women are better leaders.”
“You are delusional if you think things are good the way they are,” Selene seethed. “You say you have no wars, and yet wars are not the only measure of peace. The beasts, who are our men, don’t have the peace they deserve, and neither do the rest of us. Everyone has to work far too hard to earn enough money just to survive, and survive is all we do, though barely. Most people are unhappy, and they have plenty of reasons. Many are lonely, everyone works too much, living conditions are poor, the flu and other illnesses kill more people than they should, and the population isn’t even sustaining itself. Then there are the mothers who have to go through the ordeal of having a child only to have it taken away. We are neither happy nor healthy with the way things are. The fact that you refuse to see that proves how poor of a leader you really are.”
Now the mayor looked like she wanted to kill Selene, which scared Jenson. He moved to stand closer to her so he could protect her if he needed to.
“You’re out of line, Ms. Brookbank. I might also add that you are young and know little of the ways of the world. Regardless, I won’t stand by and let you spread your lies and poison the minds of the innocent people present. You shall be punished,” the mayor said. Her voice was almost shaking with the strength of her anger. “Amber, go and fetch the watchers please. They may not be willing to arrest everyone, but surely they can arrest one person. I don’t doubt that Ms. Brookbank is responsible for this whole mess in the first place.”
Amber actually paused. For a fleeting moment the old Amber was back, and she looked upset. She hadn’t been getting along well with Selene lately, but they had been friends for years. She didn’t want Selene to be arrested, especially because she could be sentenced to death for what she had done, but she didn’t want to betray her aunt either. She had to choose in that moment who she would be loyal to.
She didn’t choose Selene. She shot her an apologetic look behind her aunt’s back and then started walking to the watcher headquarters. It didn’t ease the sting Selene felt over her old friend’s betrayal. Her heart started pounding at the thought of being arrested, but in a way she was almost proud because it meant she was doing something serious enough to have gained attention.
There was silence in the moments before Amber came back out with the watchers. They marched up the stairs to the porch, and one carried a set of old iron handcuffs.
Jenson moved in front of Selene. “If you want to arrest her, you have to get through me,” he warned.
Tornado moved too. “And me,” he added.
There was a disturbance in the crowd below, and then all four of Selene’s brothers came up the steps.
“There’s no way you’re touching my sister,” Max said, glaring at the watchers, who were starting to look frightened and unsure again.
There was a gasp from the crowd, and Selene looked over to see her mother with her hand clenched over her mouth. She had heard Max call Selene his sister, and had realized that she was seeing her sons for the first time since they were born. She recognized their colours, since the images of the tiny infant beasts were forever burned in her mind.
Selene was touched by the response from her brothers and friends, though she didn’t want them to risk anything for her.
The watchers looked at her, then those standing around her, and then at the mayor. They still didn’t move.
The mayor snatched the handcuffs away from the watcher and moved to put them on Selene herself, but she was blocked by Max, who could look rather menacing when he wanted to. She tried to put the cuffs on him instead, but he snatched them from her quickly, before she had time to react.
“No one is being arrested here today,” he snapped.
Mayor Thornwood was both appalled by his behaviour and disgusted by his appearance. Still, she was powerless and she knew it. Her title was only as good as her word, and her word was no longer accepted.
Tornado turned to the group of women and men in front of the porch. “I’d like to call a vote. Who here is in favour of letting us, the beasts, live among you as equals?” Almost all of them raised their hands. “Who would rather things be kept as they were?” Only seven hands went up, not including Amber and the mayor. “I do believe the people have spoken.”
“This isn’t a democracy,” the mayor snarled. “It’s a kingdom. You have no say in the law, and even if you can convince these people to go along with your plan, there’s no way you’ll be able to convince the rest of the kingdom. An army of watchers will come in, and then you’ll regret ever breaking the law in the first place.”
“Let them try,” Jenson said. “I don’t know about anyone else here, but I’m willing to fight for what I believe in and care about. I like to think I’m not the only one.”
There were shouts of agreement from the crowd; both from the people and the beasts. It lightened Selene’s heart. They had actually managed to convince people. She truly believed in that moment that everything would be alright.
Mayor Thornwood knew she was defeated, at least for that moment. She grabbed the watchers’ arms and pulled them into the village hall with her, with Amber following close behind. She planned on deliberating and coming up with a plan.
Before the mayor shut the door behind them, she stopped in her tracks with her hand on the doorknob, and stared out at the square with an odd expression on her face that looked somewhat like confusion. Selene turned to see what had caught her attention.
A thick cloud of black smoke had appeared over the well in the center of the square. Selene knew immediately that it wasn’t natural because it was fraught with little bursts of light that looked like static. It was a magical cloud. It started to disperse, and a figure began to be visible from within. She waved her hand, and the rest of the cloud disappeared.
The witch was tall and majestic, and she had straight features and eyes that were almost violet. She looked to be middle aged, and there was a white streak through her raven-black hair. Her presence was commanding even before she spoke, and Selene couldn’t help but be afraid. The woman looked familiar in some way, and she filled Selene with a sense of dread. She shivered involuntarily.
The witch was standing on the rim of the well, and she stepped down to the platform. The people nearby backed away for no reason in particular other than the fact that they didn’t want to be too close to this mysterious stranger.
That was when Selene noticed something that made her fear the woman even more. She was holding a staff. Only the most powerful of witches could control their magic using a staff. It helped to focus their energy and save the need for long incantations, but it took immense power and years of training to be able to wield one effectively. Whoever this witch was, Selene wouldn’t be able to stop her if she tried to do anything.
“Your mayor is right,” the witch said. Her voice was sharp, and it carried easily across the silent crowd, who were all looking at her. “Beasts don’t belong among women. I’ll give you ten minutes to start moving back to the forest. If you don’t, I will start killing.”
Tornado looked at Selene with wide eyes. “What should we do?” he asked her.
“I hate to admit it, but I think you should listen,” she told him quietly, her heart sinking in her chest. “She’s a very powerful witch, so I have no doubt that she’s deadly. She probably uses dark magic.”
“We can’t
give up now,” Tornado said bravely. “This could be our only chance to make a difference.”
“Tornado, don’t...” Selene started to say, grabbing his arm. She was too late, however, since he had already turned to the crowd.
“I’m not going anywhere,” he announced. Many beasts nodded in agreement, and none of them moved. They were going to stand their ground.
“Don’t...” Selene started to say again, but Tornado held up a hand to stop her.
“We knew this wouldn’t be easy, but that doesn’t mean we should turn and run away,” he said. “I’m willing to die for what I believe in.”
“I’m glad you feel that way,” the witch said, pulling something from behind her back.
Selene didn’t see what it was because she turned when the mayor spoke from behind her. She was still standing in the doorway. “I’m glad someone has some sense around here,” she said.
Selene turned back to try to discourage Tornado from staying, but she only turned in time to see a glistening black arrow with green feathers lodge itself in Tornado’s chest.