The Bastard Princess

5.

The redhead galloped through the woods on the horse with the child securely seated in front of her. She had one of her hands wrapped around the child while with her other hand she kept her hold on Sylvius.

She felt a sense of victory when the trees started to thin out and she realized that they were closer to the city. As soon as Sylvius stepped out of the woods, the redhead guided him to her abandoned temple. She was surprised to see the number of people who have gathered at the stairs of her abandoned temple. It seemed that they were there for the mother.

Everyone's attention on the temple stairs was claimed by the sound of the horse's neigh before they noticed the redhead on the creature riding towards them. The redhead stopped the horse not far from the temple stairs before she climbed down from it with the child in her arms.

"Rufia!" The mother gasped before ran towards the redhead who was holding her child. The child smiled at her mother innocently before she was being taken in her mother's arms. People surrounded them instantly, watching the exchange between them. The redhead smiled gently as she saw the mother hugging and kissing her child after making sure that she was alright. The child was happy to see her mother back too.

"Why are your clothes stained with blood?" Suddenly, someone asked from the crowd. It was a middle-aged man who belonged to the ruling class. He had his finger pointed towards the priestess accusingly. Everyone instantly noticed the deep red blood soaking through her white satin clothes.

The redhead looked down at her clothes before she looked at the people around her. They were suspicious and doubting her. The stains that decorated her satin clothes were the symbolic representation of her reputation amongst the people, who thoroughly judged her. Her reputation was as spoiled as her clothes.

"She is a murderer!" It didn't take the people long to rush to conclusions before they finally started to accuse her. Arsinoe's eyes went wide in shock as she looked around for the mother whose child she had saved, but she was nowhere around. She was now surrounded by the crowd of people who thought they had cornered her.

"No, I-" Arsione tried to defend herself but her single voice was shushed by the crowd's roar.

"She is not a priestess!"

"She has sinned!"

"She has killed innocents!"

She heard people call her different things. This time, they weren't scared to voice their opinion about her, unlike other times when they'd talk behind her back or whisper things about her as she'd walk through the city square.

The roar of the crowd got louder as they started to surround her and close up around her. Arsinoe still held her ground and tried to tell them what had actually happened but none of them were ready to listen. She was burning from inside. There was her suppressed rage that threatened to come and meet the people around her but she tried her best to not let it get the best of her.

She squeezed her eyes shut and clenched her fists as she tried to calm herself as the accusations from the crowd got louder. She pressed her lips in a thin line as she hung her head low and stood there silently. She was taking deep breaths, trying her best to put herself at ease.

She thought she had gained control over herself self but in the next moment, she was proven wrong. As soon as she felt someone pull her hair, her patience snapped. In the next moment, she straightened up and looked at the crowd who had now gone crazy. They were trying to physically hurt her.

As a man tried to reach for her arm from the crowd, she decided that it was enough and finally let her dark side out. She roared as a flash of blinding violet light radiated off her and in the next moment, everyone was on the ground.