The Island (girlxgirl)

Chapter 18

Trigger Warning: cutting/carving

"Pinky, you're a lesbian. What are you doing, running off to marry a guy of all things?" I implored.

Pinky sighed. "Pet, didn't you hear me? My father arranged this marriage. I don't have a choice in it."

"What kind of dad would marry off his lesbian daughter to a man?" I stopped.

I chuckled harshly. "Oh, wow. This is exactly what my parents were trying to do before Hachi found me, so I know exactly what kind of father you have: my kind of of father."

"Cynthia? Where are you?" Cain's voice came echoing down the hall.

Pinky wiped her eyes clean of tears. "I have to go, Pet."

"Pinky, no, you have to resist this..." I begged.

Cain stepped into view. "Cynthia? Cynthia Kennedy? Oh, there you are, Cynthia. Why haven't you put your ring on?"

Cain caught me holding Pinky's hand and standing close enough to kiss her. I hastily dropped Pinky's hand and stepped backwards. Cain stood where I had been standing, procured a engagement ring, and slipped it onto Pinky's left ring finger.

"Let's go, Cynthia. We have wedding arrangements to take care of." Cain took Pinky away.

I could imagine the hold Cain had on her as a thick chain of despair, one end attached to Pinky's soul, and the other being yanked on as Cain gripped it tight. This was not an engagement. This was ownership; this was patriarchal slavery. It could not end pleasantly.

I walked away. I walked and walked until my feet carried me no more. I fell on the ground in the middle of the hallway for maids' quarters and refused to stand up. Pinky was doomed to a life I barely escaped. How could I live, knowing that my best friend suffered a fate I found impossible to run away from?

Butterfly opened her door and found me lying face-down on the floor. "Squire? Are you okay?"

"Didn't you hear the news? Pinky is getting married to Prince Cain." My voice was distorted by the ground, but Butterfly heard me clearly enough to understand.

Butterfly grew agitated. "What? Getting married? But that means...And to Cain? Ugh, this requires scrutiny. I need your help."

"What can I possibly do?" I groaned.

Butterfly waved her red wand around. "I need a pinch more of magic than I've got at the moment. So whether or not you realize it, you are exactly the person I need right now."

I picked myself off of the ground and followed Butterfly into her room. Butterfly put a blindfold on me, spun me around, and then led me into some secret chamber. Butterfly took off the blindfold and I looked at our surroundings.

I had seen this place before, when I used magic to spy on Butterfly and Ryder. It had been blurry, but now that I was actually here, I could see it with new perspective. There were twelve rooms all connected by this main commons area. In between each room was a hallway leading away from here. Some of the hallways were short, others long. At the ends of the short hallways were either doors or magical portals. I couldn't tell what was at the ends of the long hallways, but I don't think I need to know.

Butterfly opened one of the twelve rooms' doors and I went in with her. It was large enough to be the master bedroom in a house. There was a large fancy bed against the wall, which had been made neatly. Tapestries and paintings of sexual acts decorated the room. I could tell most of the paintings were made by Butterfly herself. A distance from the bed sat this odd chair. It was bolted to the ground and had metal restraints on each armrest. I gave Butterfly a questioning look and she shrugged with the hint of a smirk on her face.