"She must have cheated the ritual."
"No human survives that."
"Maybe she's cursed."
The whispers were everywhere, and the more she heard the more unsafe she felt.
Her heart threatened to beat out of her chest, her ears ringing as she only half-listened to what was being said in front of her. Instead, her eyes roamed around her.
She was in a room with people who had been hunting her just hours ago. Who would have loved to tear her apart and kill her.
Who looked like they wanted to kill her now, too.
She had to go, somewhere, anywhere...
...Suddenly a hand slipped in hers, directing her attention back to the conversation at hand. It was almost grounding, the presence, as her heart slowed down and the ringing in her ears subsided.
Enid looked up from the hand, tracing it to shoulders and finally Kaelith's face by her side. His voice sliced through the noise. "Funny thing about the Hunt, Lady Seris. The wolves who failed to kill her were the ones with fangs. Maybe the problem isn't the prey."
A smattering of laughter flowed through the hall, though no one dared look directly at him. Enid was pleased to note that they had stopped outright staring at her as well, instead choosing to sneak glances at the trio instead.
Seris's smile wavered, but she recovered quickly. "Still, she's… out of place here. Don't you agree?"
Kaelith's jaw twitched.
Before Enid could speak, Thorien interjected as he stepped forward. His voice low, measured and terrifyingly calm. What was the scariest thing however, was the glint in his eyes. He was enjoying this. "She stays. Anyone with a problem can take it up with me."
Silence fell. Even the sound of cutlery paused at that moment. The nobles lowered their eyes.
Thorien leaned closer to Aria, his breath warm against her ear. "You should see your face right now."
"I didn't know you were-" she began.
"Royalty?" His grin turned crooked. "Don't tell anyone. We enjoy our peace."
---------
By the time the gathering- or whatever it was had ended, Enid's nerves were raw.
She lagged behind them once again as she followed the men- the Princes!- through the corridor, trying to process what she had seen.
The people in the extravagant clothes, the hall where she looked completely out of place.
Oh, how she longed to go back to her own little home...
First things first though.
"You could have told me." She told quietly, unsure as to why this was important enough to hide, "That you were princes."
Shit load of good it did her, as she stood there gawking at Lady Seris after the proclamation.
Thorien shrugged, "You never asked."
Kaelith glanced at her, "Now you know though. Do you know what that means?"
That they had too much power and say in the situation than she wished? That they were more in control of her and the way this all played out for her than she wanted anyone to be? Could this stop her from going back to her life? Would they?
"That I'm your prisoner...?" She did not like the idea of it, but it was a real possibility. After all, the beasts in the castle that liked to play and kill the little humans- that was the story she had grown up with.
'Stay home at night, Enid. The beasts are out to play.' Her grandmother would say.
"No." Kaelith said softly, "That you're our responsibility." Saying this, he turned to look down the hallway he was walking on, unaware that his guest had paused.
She stood, watching them go in front of her in the hallway. The two were very powerful, as she had seen the last night. When the wolves had attacked and they had fought them.
And maybe the words should have comforted her. But as she watched them walk away, so sure of the power they wielded while she stood there by her own pitiful self, at the mercy of the people around her, she didn't feel comforted.
She felt trapped.
----------
That night, the palace was too quiet.
Just like the morning, there was no sound. The palace itself felt like a beast that daunted everything into silence- breathing and humming.
Enid lay in her bed, staring at the ceiling. The covers were pulled up to her neck. She kept going over everything she had seen today- the beautiful people, the extensive chandeliers, the delicacies, the obstentanious number of servants- all the while she remembered that the people in her part of the village still froze to death in the harshness of the past winters.
The people here lived carelessly. She had never had such privilege that the people in this palace took for granted.
But looking around at the room walls, she was unsure if she even wanted to.
Every flicker of shadow made her flinch. There was too much fear in these walls. Somewhere in the distance, a howl echoed-low and mournful. She pressed her palms over her ears.
That is when she heard it-
The whisper.
There were two guards outside her door, talking in hushed voices.
"She shouldn't still be here," one hissed. Enid tentatively picked up the covers, her bare feet touching the floor as she tiptoed over to the heavy wooden door, watching the shadows dance from the light spilling underneath.
Her breaths short, she pressed her ears against the door.
"The Council wants her gone before the next moon." The husky-voiced guard stated.
"What if the princes find out-" This one sounded younger, more unsure.
"They won't. We'll make it look like an accident." The older guard declared, "They don't care enough to find the truth- she's just one of them toys."
There was a sound of steel next, like a blade being drawn from scabbard.
Her blood ran cold. She backed away, her breath coming in pants as sweat lined her brow.
The handle on her door rattled once. Twice. Slowly.
She snatched the nearest thing-a candle holder-and stepped back. Raising her weapon above her head, her hair in disarray, she stood.
The door slowly creaked open, light from the hallway spilling in the room.