Nothing Left To Mourn

Bianca’s POV

The words fell on me like the London bridge.

I sank into my seat, I able to hold myself up at the announcement.

I should have taken both their advice to sit when I had the chance.

Marcus was truly evil.

My legs trembled.

“You are sending me to go and die im the Southern Territories?”

Marcus’s expression didn’t flicker.

“It’s a fifty fifty chance. You might go there and finally prove yourself useful. Who knows? Maybe the Goddess will smile on you and lift the curse on the territory. You might just be the chosen one.”

Selene chuckled quietly, tapping Marcus in the shoulder as though he had just made a joke instead of a declaration of death on me.

My voice cracked.

“My powers are broken! You did that to me when you rejected me! You should know that…”

Marcus’s jaw flexed.

But those his unfamiliar eyes remained cold with absolutely no remorse.

“Then you should pray to the moon that you heal before the curse consumes you. Either way, my pack is rid of its shame.”

Tears blurred my vision.

“The pack’s shame or your shame?”

My rage rose sharp and hot in my chest with each passing minute.

“You claimed to love me once,” I whispered. “Did that mean nothing? The people saw that too and they see how you treat me now. Do you think removing me will erase their memory?”

For the tiniest moment, I thought I saw a flicker in his eyes.

It might have been guilt or regret.

Or maybe it had just been the ghost of the boy he used to be.

But it vanished as quickly as it came.

“Guards! Escort her to her quarters,” he commanded as the guards entered. “She has until sundown to prepare. At dusk, she leaves this pack for the Southern Territories.”

Selene’s laughter was soft and cruel as they both turned to go.

“Goodbye, Bianca the healer.”

The door slammed shut behind them.

“Exile,” I whispered, “dressed up as duty.”

Reid’s hand rested on my shoulder.

“I told you already. They were never going to let you stay. But perhaps, maybe the Goddess has other plans for you.”

I shook my head violently.

I began to bite the inner corner of my mouth as the fear overcame me.

“I can’t go there, Elder Reid. You know what they say about the Southern territories."

I fisted my knuckles till they paled.

"The curse kills anyone and everyone. How am I supposed to survive it when I can barely hold my power together right now?”

Reid’s eyes softened,.

“Because you must. And a part of me thinks if anyone can do it, then you will be the one. There is more to you than even you realize.”

“But if I am to go there by dusk, with my powers at their lowest. I would be consumed by the curse. I will die.”

“Let us hope you don’t child, ” Reid said, encouraging words.

But I could already see the sorrow in his eyes.

The guards led me to my room.

The room felt smaller than ever.

I shoved a few of my belongings into a travel satchel.

My hands shook as I took my herbs, special mixes and my late grandmother’s favorite shawl.

I could still feel the troubling ache in my bones as I packed every single one of my belongings.

It left me weak and unsteady.

That was the evidence of the rejection that I had faced a few moments earlier.

I opened the carved chest at the foot of my bed.

It belonged to my grandmother.

I hadn’t brought myself to look through it before.

But I just knew if I died then I would love to be buried with some of her belongings.

There was a flat little box among my grandmother’s things.

It was wrapped in faded linen.

And there was an envelope yellowed with age when I opened it.

“What’s this?”

I turned the envelope over only to find the unmistakable handwriting on the front.

It was my grandmother’s.

I broke the seal on the envelope.

My fingers began trembling.

I had waited so long to go through this chest and all the things that my grandmother had left behind.

I had consoled myself that I would open it when I was married and becoming what she would have been proud of.

Now the time and situation has changed.

There was no marriage.

I read the letter.

“If you are reading this, the bloodline awakens.”

My heart began pounding.

I read the words over and over again.

I turned the aged paper desperately while trying to find some other message written on it.

There was none.

Bloodline?

Awakened?

What did that mean?

There was a guard at the door of the bedroom on standby so I couldn’t leave my quarters.

I just sat down holding onto the letter.

“I have no idea what this means. I should have opened this sooner and find out whatever hidden message she had left for me. Now it is too late,” I cried.

I cried myself to sleep on the floor that night.