Chapter 28

Sasha
As she neared the small town hours later, the temperature dropped drastically. Who would have guessed a city full of dragons would have been so warm compared to a human/ shifter mixed town. She went to the less guarded west wall. She stood in the shadows of the trees to remain hidden as she scanned the area. She saw a guard and sank deeper into the darkness as he approached. When he was a few feet from her, he turned to look into the trees, sighing. Tears filled her eyes, when she recognized Ethan. He looked sick and exhausted. She wiped her face and stepped out of the shadows.
“Ethan,” she murmured softly.
“Sasha?”
She nodded, sticking her hands in her pockets. “Hey.”
He rushed over to her and took her in his arms. He buried his face in her neck and inhaled deeply.
“Goddess, I have missed you.”
She gently removed herself from his grip. “I need to see my mother. Can you take me to her?”
He cupped her face, brushing his thumb under her eye. “You’ve been crying. Who hurt you?”
“What makes you think someone hurt me?”
“I’ve never seen you cry. It must have been bad to make you cry.”
She took another step back. “I’m fine. Can you get me in to see my mother?”
He studied her face for a moment. “Will you tell me when you're ready what happened out there?”
“Yeah, sure,” she agreed, knowing that she would never tell a soul what happened.
He sighed. “Come on.”
“Wait! I can’t walk through town like this.”
He quickly removed his coat and handed it to her along with his hat. She donned both items, taking time to make sure her vibrant red hair was fully covered. He led her along the outskirts of town. She slowed as they grew closer to the two story white, innocent looking house that had been the location of so many murder attempts and abuse that spanned 16 of her 19 years. He turned left at the split in the road to continue his patrol, or so she assumed. She turned right and walked up onto the porch that she never thought she would ever see again. Was this really what she wanted to do? There really was nowhere else she could go. It was either this or living the rest of her life wanting someone who didn’t want her back. She raised her hand and knocked. A light turned on behind the door seconds before it was pulled open. Her mother stood in a sheer bathroom with Councilman Slonsky hovering slightly behind her.
“Who are you?,” she asked.
She took the hat off and her thick slightly curly hair bounced around her face.
“Hello, Anastasia.”
Her face broke into a grin. “Sasha, did you complete your assignment?”
“No.”
Her grin was instantly wiped off of her face. “If it’s not done, then why are you darkening my doorstep?”
She twisted the hat in her hands. “I wanted to tell you that I would not be completing it and that you can go to hell. He will not go down by my hands. I refuse.”
She laughed coldly. “He is not worth your compassion. He deserves to die just as much as his father did.”
Sasha gawked at her. “You really did have his father killed, didn’t you? I didn’t believe you before, but now I know you are truly insane enough to do it.”
She smiled proudly. “I did.”
“Why?”
She opened the door more and beckoned Sasha inside. She followed her mother up to her room and watched as she got dressed.
“Because their species needs to be eradicated. They are evil and use humans like they are meat.”
“Aiden is not like that!,” Sasha yelled. “He is kind and wonderful. I will not allow you to hurt him.”
“If it’s not me, there will be others that come for him.”
“What do you mean?,” Sasha asked.
Her mother laughed again. “Did you think we are the only human town that is forced to send women to be breeders? We want women on the throne, not egotistical men who just want to fuck everything that walks.”
“The king is not like that. He is good to us.”
“Then why are you here, Sasha?”
“Because I messed up.”
“And he kicked you out, didn’t he? That doesn’t sound like he is a good man, if I may say so myself.”
“You don’t know him like I do,” Sasha growled.
“You were always a stupid little girl. Come.”
Sasha trailed behind her mother into the center of town. She paused beside the two guards standing outside of the small town hall to whisper to them. They glanced at Sasha before grabbing her. They tied her hands behind her back while her mother watched. Sasha lowered her head.
“I wasn’t going to fight you, Mother.”
Anastasia tilted her chin up. “Why did you really come back? You had to know that you would be put down permanently for not completing your assignment.”
Sasha met her eyes. “I was counting on it.”
Anastasia spit in her face. “You were always the worst thing I ever did. You couldn’t even complete a simple task. How hard is it to kill someone? You killed animals all the time.” She tapped her finger on her chin, thoughtfully. “Unless, you are in love with him. I knew I was right to reinforce your task with another girl.”
“What?”
She threw her head back and chuckled darkly. “Did you really think I wouldn’t send another to finish the hit if you failed? I’m not as stupid as you.”
Sasha began to struggle against her restraints as her mother walked up the stairs to where they executed criminals. She rang the bell there, calling for the townspeople.
“STOP! NO! YOU CAN’T! PLEASE, MOTHER! IF YOU EVER LOVED ME, DON’T HURT HIM! PLEASE, I BEG OF YOU!”
Her mother smirked. “Soon, you will not have to worry about it. That I promise you.”
Sasha was held in place as the courtyard was filled. Her mother lit all of the torches surrounding the stage. When she was done, she walked down the stairs to speak to the huge, muscled man standing at the bottom, gesturing occasionally to Sasha. He grinned, nodded and stroked his sword. Her mother walked to the center in front of the stage. Everyone fell silent.
“FOR FAILING TO COMPLETE AN ASSIGNMENT, SASHA SOMA HAS BEEN FOUND GUILTY OF TREASON. THE PUNISHMENT FOR THAT, AS YOU ALL KNOW, IS DEATH BY BEHEADING. PLEASE, FEEL FREE TO GRAB A WHIP AS YOU WILL BE ALLOWED THIRTY MINUTES TO INFLICT AS MUCH PAIN ON HER YOU WOULD LIKE. YOUR TIME STARTS AS SOON AS SHE IS PUT IN THE STOCKS!”
Sasha was dragged up the stairs and forced to kneel in front of the stocks. She was pushed forward over the wood and it was secured around her throat. People hurried up the stairs with leather whips in their hands. Sasha could feel their excitement and hatred for her. The first strike of the whip tore her shirt open and she bit her lip. She would not give them the satisfaction of hearing her cry out. Her mother stood below her, laughing hysterically. She closed her eyes as blow after blow landed on her. She had never been so relieved to hear her mother call a halt to the whipping. The executioner came up the stairs and took his place beside her. He raised his sword and a loud thud shook the ground, making him stumble backward, away from her. She turned her head. A large blood red dragon growled as he took a step towards them. Sasha swallowed when his eyes remained glued to her. He took another step and his body shimmered. The next step that was taken was taken by a newly shifted Aiden. The crowd parted to let him through.
“Let her go!”
Anastasia stepped in his path. “Your Majesty, she has broken sacred laws and is being punished.”
He stopped in front of her, his anger poured off of him, making the townspeople start to leave the courtyard.
“And what law did she break?”
“She just did and the punishment for the law she broke is death.”
“Well, our agreement trumps any law you have here! She was given to us, so you no longer have any say over what she does! Now, release her.”
Her mother shook her head. “I do apologize, sire, but we can not. She will die and she will die now. Finish it, Zen.”
Cold metal was laid against her neck, before it was raised. She closed her eyes tightly. The air whistled slightly, before an extreme heat surrounded her, sucking all of the oxygen from around her. Her eyes popped open and she uttered a small scream when she was surrounded by flames. Seconds later, she was falling through the air and she closed her eyes again. She landed in someone’s arms and when sparks moved over her skin, she knew it was Aiden. She opened her eyes and gasped when she saw the stage had been turned into ash. The sword lay partially buried, the edges of it melted slightly. The executioner was nowhere to be seen. He pressed her face into his chest after cutting her restraints with a talon. He stopped by her mother.
“She is mine and you will never touch her again!”
His wings came out, knocking her mother down. He shot up into the sky, before he looked down at her livid.
“Sleep. We will be back soon.”