Chapter 2: Traitor's daughter

Roxanne walked along the long pathway and she smiled to herself.

She glanced at her bundle of coins in her hand, the lingering thought of what to buy with them came seeping into her mind and she drew in a deep breath as she reached the market. 

She felt excited as she glanced at the people who were there, those who were buying and the ones who were selling. She walked steadily towards the man who was selling some vegetables and she greeted him curtly.

"Good evening mister, I'd like to buy some cabbage and green sprouts" she said while smiling broadly.

For the first time in a long time, she felt free, her heart churned at the slight thought of what she had experienced in her past village.

Being the descendant of someone the whole kingdom knew as a traitor was not easy, sometimes she could barely get food to eat, even when she had the money to pay for it.

That being said, her order should have been taken and delivered by now.

"Please what's the matter?" She asked, concerned.

The man bent to whisper some words to another woman who was sitting beside him. The cheerful and beautiful face that the seller was admonishing turned into a frown. The man turned to face her and his face was set in a sneer.

"Leave, you are the traitor's daughter. You have no right to buy anything from here."

Burning tears managed to trickle down Roxanne's cheeks and she wiped them away.

She had run away from her hometown in search of somewhere safe. Somewhere to feel at home. She never knew that someone would still recognize her as the traitor's daughter.

"Please, don't say that. I just want to buy something to eat" 

Oddly Roxanne found herself begging, her tears paving a path down her cheeks.

The man who stood in front of her only shook his head and turned away from her. The look on his face made her feel like the sight of her disgusted him.

That was it then. She wouldn't be getting anything from him.

Roxanne turned and left, only to go to another vendor and also experience the same thing.

One of the women she met had a repulsed look on her face, like she was annoyed by her mere presence.

Roxanne's stomach grumbled and she knew that she had to eat, she had been starving for days now.

The fact that everyone recognised who she was and which family she came from was solely because of the color of her hair and her eyes. They were not common in this part of the kingdom and they were in part what made her father famous.

He was a loyal guard to the former Lycan king but because of some misunderstandings with the people, they considered him a traitor and now she was the daughter of a traitor. No matter where she went.

She was always recognised as the daughter of The traitor.

"Please I'm begging you. Let me buy something from you. I might end up for days without food."

Roxanne was begging now. She felt so helpless.

She had run away from her former village, in hopes of gaining peace of mind in this one, but it still ended up the same way. She felt the urge to show her vulnerabilities, but she knew she had to be strong, not only for herself but for her sister.

They had been separated as kids and her sister had been kidnapped. No matter how many people told her that her sister was dead, there was that feeling inside her that made her believe her sister was still alive. All she had to do was find her.

Roxanne noticed the gaze of one of the women on her, her gaze had softened, almost like she felt pity for her.

"I'm sorry, but I can't sell things to you" she said. The woman looked sad.

"Why? because I'm the daughter of a traitor?" 

Roxanne's voice cracked as she spoke and the woman was quiet.

Roxanne felt disheartened and she turned to leave.

She was feeling immense pain, but she had to keep a controlled expression. Her attempts to buy something from anyone only proved futile the more she tried.

She ended up sitting beside a building, and she leaned on the wall. She couldn't bring herself to go back to her old benefactor, Lord Alex.

She knew the news might have spread fast about The traitor's daughter being in town. Today was the day she ran out of dye for her hair and she had wanted to test her luck and see if she could get some food. Turns out that luck wasn't on her side.

She wanted to go back to her new home, a small abandoned building just at the outskirts of the village, but something stopped her, it was a feeling that she couldn't help, something like fear.

It made her dread looking up.

Roxanne gathered her courage and managed to look up.

She noticed a shadow towering over her and then she noticed there were more people. Her heart beat erratically. She couldn't think of anything other than to run.

 "Look at her, she's quite beautiful, especially with that rose-red hair and those rare silver eyes. Even look at her pink lips too, she's not too bad at all".

The man who had just been speaking walked closer to Roxanne and he grabbed a huge chunk of her hair. She yelped in pain and before she knew what was happening, more hands had a firm hold on her wrists and legs. Soon she was being taken to an unknown location. She started struggling and crying to be left alone, but her attempts only proved more futile than she had anticipated.

 "Please let go of me, please." she begged.

 "I can't wait to shove myself inside of her, I bet she must be tight enough," one of the men said mischievously.

Roxanne came to the horrific realization that these men were taking her to be raped. She felt repulsed and disgusted, their touch alone made her skin crawl. Their teeth were yellow like it had not been brushed for decades and their clothes were torn, their hair was damp and disheveled, she felt like they were in an even worse situation than hers, and she knew how some men think with what's in between their legs.

These were men that might have been sexually starved and they saw her as the perfect victim to satisfy their lustful desires. As those thoughts seeped in, Roxanne gave one of the men a hard kick and struggled even more vigorously, shouting and screaming for help.

She managed to land on the ground, but the fall made her land awkwardly and something sharp got lodged into her bare foot. One of the men had taken off her filthy boots and given her a wink as he took it. He probably intended to sell it.

She didn't care about that. She started running, using her wounded feet to take her as far as it could. She was terrified, she wanted to be far away from them.

"Stop her, don't let her escape, we can't let her escape." 

The shouts of the men came from behind her and Roxanne increased her pace. She suddenly found herself back in the market, she stopped for breath and she sighed.

The men had halted in their pursuit and she felt a little bit safe now.

She thought she was out of the fire, not knowing she had just jumped out of one problem into another that was far worse. She noticed most of the women and men in the market had stones.

Panic flooded through her as she came to the  realisation.

They wanted to stone her!!!

She was left without an option.

"Please don't do this" she cried helplessly. 

The heavy sobs left her feeling breathless and she stared imploringly at the men and women who advanced menacingly towards her.

Roxanne could tell this was her end, this was how she died.

But then she noticed the people start backing away steadily.

They looked terrified, and they were murmuring unheard words.

For a second Roxanne was confused by the sudden change in action and she turned back to look at what had them so scared.

What she saw made her feel done for.

It was a man many always talked about.

The one man whose name parents used to scare their children to sleep and coax them into doing their chores.

The man whose presence made cold shivers run down the back of anyone who sets their eyes on him.

The man behind her was the cursed prince.