Another Fairytale - Sacrificed to the Beast ✓ (completed)

Chapter 5 - The Female Offering

   "The female offering for the goddess is Bethany Phillips."

   I wiped my sweaty palms on my dress and let out a puff of breath I didn't know I was holding

   "Congratulations, Miss Bethany Phillips," Pink Lady said to Bethany's disappearing figure.

   "You are the most beautiful and desirable girl. May you find peace in your new life, embraced in the arms of our goddess," when Bethany fully disappeared behind the stage curtain, Pink Lady turned back to the crowd.

   "Today, we are losing two valuable people in this town. We are losing the most beautiful, so that we may eat well this year. We are losing our bravest to the Beast, a creature that doesn't deserve our patronization and yet we give up one life a year to potentially save hundreds.

   "May you be blessed with a safe, happy and prosperous year," she concluded as she folded her hands in front of her.

   The girls around me started getting up to find their families.

   As they milled about, I sat. I was still admiring the pink flower wondering how something so beautiful and fragile looking could be so strong.

   I don't know how long I sat, dreaming about my dad still being alive and my mom still having full use of her hands.

   I missed my mom's smile the most. She used to be so happy, even with her injury.

   Ever since my dad's accident, her smile rarely appeared. If she did smile, it wasn't the purely happy smile she once had.

   I felt a jacket drape over my shoulders and looked up to see Aaron standing above me.

   I moved to the side to look around him and saw that the market place was nearly empty, only a few stragglers were still walking around.

   He smiled sadly and sat down next to me.

   "Miss Larissa already left," he told me as he bumped my knee with his.

   We sat in silence for a while watching the last few people leave the market place, leaving us all alone.

   "Do you miss him?" He finally asked, breaking the silence. I jumped at the suddenness of the question. I wasn't surprised that he knew that I was thinking about my dad. Aaron always just knew these things.

   I nodded my head and looked at the ground in front of me, feeling tears build behind my eyes.

   Aaron noticed and reached an arm around me, pulling my head against his chest. I rested against him, listening to his steady heart beat. Pure and Strong. Just like Aaron.

   I pushed back the hot tears that always came with thinking about my dad.

   I looked up at Aaron after a while. "Where are you staying?" I asked him when I was sure my emotions were back under control and my voice wouldn't crack.

   He looked at me sheepishly. "I don't have a place to stay. I was hoping that Miss Larissa would take me in for a while. I forgot that you were living there now. I'll be okay sleeping in a farmers barn. Or at an officers house," he added thoughtfully. "It's not exactly proper for me to sleep at Miss Larissa's now."

   I laughed. "She would be mad if she knew you didn't have a place to stay and I left you outside on your own. It'll be okay. It's not like you'll arrest me for being 'improper'. Besides, we are just friends. You've slept in the same house as me for a long time. Nothing is going to happen anyway."

   He smiled thankfully at me and stood up, grabbing my hand to pull me up beside him. "Thank goodness! I really wasn't looking forward to sleeping on hay. It gets everywhere," he said with a shudder.