AYASHA'S POV
"Bury your brother, say your goodbyes and get to the Lamia before sunset tomorrow or I might change my mind." Nahuel's words hung in the air like a vicious threat as he stalked away with his men.
When the Lamia pack departed, Whitewater lay ravaged - the once tranquil land now bore brutal gashes from a battle we never provoked. The aftermath was a grotesque sight with tons of bodies scattered across bloodstained earth...those were sons, husbands, fathers. The air reeked of death and acrid smoke.
Amidst this desolation, a somber ritual took hasty shape for my brother.
I stood watch by the riverbank, my heart sunk, with a heavy weight as the impromptu burial unfolded before my hollow eyes.
Tariq's body was gently placed upon a small raft, built hastily by the women who weren't killed or raped. The raft was adorned with a few wildflowers that managed to survive the ravages of the war. They clung to life in the wreckage strewn over him like nature's final blessing. The water's glassy surface mirrored the sun's burning farewell, bathing the scene in haunting shades of orange and ember.
Tears carved jagged paths down my cheeks as I stepped forward with trembling hands before laying my brother's sword beside him - a warrior's final accompaniment. "Goodbye, Tariq," I choked out, the word sputtering on a ragged breath. "May the river...carry you to the peaceful meadow to rest."
With a tender push from my grieving hands, the raft drifted into the lazy current's indifferent embrace, bearing my brother's earthly vessel onward.
Hushed voices from the gathered villagers offered murmured prayers and laments, their countenances mirrors of my family's devastated sorrow.
As the raft shrank into the distance, a guttural wail rent the air - my mother crumbled to her knees, hands clawing at her chest as if to draw the anguish from her very core. "I cannot lose another child!" she keened to the pitiless heavens. "Goddess...what sins have we committed to deserve this cruelty? Even if we have sinned, spare Ayasha. Please, spare my daughter!"
My father, his expression a mask of grief, moved to lay a steadying hand upon Mother's convulsing shoulders. He suffered tenfold in stoic silence. He was just better at hiding his suffering.
"Take her to her quarters," he spoke finally, tone devoid of inflection as he addressed the guards behind. "And make sure to keep watch over her so she doesn't do something foolish."
Two guards nodded in understanding and went ahead to gently lift my mother who was still squirming and tossing herself on the ground. She was picked up and guided away from the river despite her struggles and screams to be let go. Her cries faded into the distance, leaving my father and me alone by the water's edge, united in mute torment.
Father turned to me. It looked like he had a question. Of course he would. The only reason we were still breathing was because I had done something brave and incredibly stupid.
I had somehow caught the attention of the psychotic Nahuel.
"Ayasha," he began, his voice on the verge of trembling. "Are you truly ready to throw away what your life could be to protect this kingdom?"
I met his gaze, my resolve unshaken. "I am the Luna princess," I said firmly. "Before I am a person, I am the apple of this kingdom. The eagle hovering over this kingdom is dead. Tariq is no more. Whitewater doesn't have an eagle to protect its trees and without an eagle to protect it," I alluded to my fallen brother, "The birds will come to feast. Rather than be torn apart, it is fitting for the Kingdom's apple to rot from the tree, fall, and become its own tree if necessary."
My father's eyes glistened with tears. "You are willing to marry Koda to save us?"
I nodded. "I will become Koda's bride. I will save our kingdom. But I promise you, Father, this will not be the end."
"Aya, what do you mean by that?" Her father, Alpha King Enyeto asked.
"Nahuel might have spared this kingdom but he is taunting us and desecrating our culture. He knows the culture. A man seeks the woman from her parent's hands and buys her dowry. The Lamia pack wants me to come to them. A bride begging for a groom all in hopes of saving the life of her people. We might still draw breath but taking the Whitewater Luna princess is Nahuel's way of showing his trophy from this war. I am not a bride. Not in the sense that every woman deserves. I will be a symbol of mockery to other pack colonies and the Lamia as well. I am saying this is not the end because I refuse to let a brute like that take away my power."
He kissed me on the forehead, a gesture of both love and an unavoidable farewell. "Your courage knows no bounds, Ayasha. I am proud of you."
As my father walked away, I stared at the raft in the distance, now a tiny speck on the horizon.
My heart clenched knowing my brother was no more and for no justifiable reason. I had lied to my father. When I mentioned that pacifist bullshit to keep his worried heart at ease, I had not really meant it.
No. I did not intend to go down without a violent and bloody fight to the end. I knew I had to save my people by marrying Koda. But I was not going to endure torment in the hands of those barbarians with no scruple. I would rather die than submit to the man and the son of the monster that killed my brother.
"I will then kill Koda and his father," I whispered, my eyes narrowing with harrowing determination because I meant every word. "And I will return Whitewater's honor. This, I promise you, brother."
The river's gentle current continued to carry Tariq away, but his memory and my resolve remained anchored firmly in my heart.
Tomorrow, I was going to leave on horseback to become a bride to that barbarian's son.
The journey ahead was fraught with danger and sacrifice, but I was ready. For my family. For my kingdom. For Tariq. Especially Tariq.