"There she is!"
Kira's head snapped up from the tea she had been nursing-no drinks for her, thank you- at the words. The voice that spoke them was not very loud, nor did it stand out much. But the voice belonged to one of the two people she had been looking out for the whole night- Peter.
Her eyes quickly scanned the heads to people around her, who even after all this time were somehow still dancing to find the source (she had just taken off her eyes for a second!) only to land on the rotund figure of Peter standing by the door with three men in dark cloaks, pointing at her.
When they turned to look at her as one, the fear inside of her which had been lying dormant till now reared its face once again. It was drumming in her ears, surrounding her eyes and buzzing away under her skin, until she was shaking.
She had to get away. Now.
Kira slowly pushed the chair she was sitting on behind her, until she could freely swing her legs and got up holding on to Ricky. She surreptitiously put the kid down, hoping that her trembling body would allow her to escape. Just this once.
Not daring to look away from the people approaching her till the last second, Kira turned around to run away-
-only to bump into something.
The sudden stop had her retreating back, and she reached back with unsteady hands to hold onto the back of the chair she had just vacated.
Raising her head at the sudden obstacle, the fear she had was trying to keep at bay hit her with full force.
It was Gerard.
He was looking at her with an unidentifiable look even as he gripped her, the second time in that night, and pulled her to him. She could feel the shakes coming on stronger.
"Unhand her!" Her gallant saviours were there once again, trying to protect the damsel in distress.
Kira had another glimmer of hope.
"We will take her." The men in the cloaks dark as night had reached the small crowd, and the woman was being handed away to the men, who nonchalantly took her arm in their own hold and pushed her aside to the one in the back, focusing back on the other people in front of them.
The hope of rescue fell away with her previous protectors stepping back from her in the face of what felt like authority, confused but unwilling to intervene.
"You reported her then?." The other man in the front, the one who had not shoved her back, said to Gerard and Pete, who had quickly come around from the back and was watching the proceedings with barely concealed excitement. His head lobbied back and forth as he looked from one person to another.
"Yes." Gerard agreed, and was handed a large heavy pouch and a small cloth purse. The pouch jingled, and it did not take a genius to figure out what it was.
Pete's eyes widened before they fell on her once, and the glee on his face momentarily faltered but not enough to completely subside, and as soon as he looked away it he was as joyful as before.
The men with the cloaks- bounty hunters, probably, or whatever their names were in this place- looked like they did this all the time. Which they probably did. Their blase take on the whole matter of capturing and taking away her freedom- for what, she didn't yet know- irked her.
That, and the blatant dismissal as they talked among themselves like buying cattle is what finally knocked Kira to her senses. The fear, that had frozen her on the spot while still very much alive gave way to another form- fight
She twisted in their hold, fighting.
"Leave me alone!" She yelled in rage, as she drummed her hands against the hands which bit into her skin, hitting the arm of the man who had yet to move. He held on, only the single grimace crossing his face signaling his annoyance. The others did not even spare her a glimpe.
She did not abide. Her struggles increasing, as she twisted harder, trying to stomp on his feet, or land a kick. Her desperate movements did not do much of anything, except make the man holding her turn her way, give her a rough shake and an enraged growl "Enough!".
That had her freezing. He turned back around with his grip much tighter than it had been before, so much so that she could hardly focus on anything but the pain. She whimpered.
"Leave her alone! No! Please!" It was Ricky. She hadn't realised when he had woken up, and when Pete and Gerard had stopped him from reaching her, "No, you're hurting her!"
Kira did not look up, not with the tears threatening to leave her eyes.
"...Erm...can you tell though, what has the Lady's done?" It was one of the men who had stood up for her earlier. He enquired hesitantly as he looked at her and the cloaked strangers. "Did she...steal something?" He refused to look at Kira as he asked.
She listened with bated breath.
The one in the front, who had been looking off at the side while his companions talked to the people receiving the money for her capture turned towards the new voice. He looked him up and down, assessing, before he spoke, annoyed, "She is much more than a petty thief."
"..."
The man then turned towards the crowd that had gathered around them, walking in their midst as he continued, "This woman is being held for her crimes of betrayal against the crown. She-" He pointed a hateful finger towards her from where he stood glaring hatefully, "- has been found consorting with demons to destroy our land, our home." He bared his teeth, "There are witnesses."
"No- that's not tr-!"
"-And if that wasn't enough," He cut her off, louder, "She is the one in the prophecies. The one they warned us about."
He got in her face even as she leaned back, apprehensive, "She is the Doom." Saying this he suddenly took a hold of her and yanked her skirt up.
She screamed, afraid, but he held her still enough to bare her ankles. There stood the small birthmark, a small star-like shape on top of a line. It was pretty, but wasn't anything special. Or so she thought.
It had the complete opposite effect on the people nearest to her, the ones who saw her first.
They gasped and jumped back, unable to tear their eyes away from the piece of skin. Some audibly shrieked in fear.
Kira was confused, "What...?" She looked around herself, to find herself standing alone in the centre of the circle. The cloaked man let her leg go, walking backwards, satisfied with having proven his point. The people still backed away, horrified.
Fear, disdain, astonishment filled the atmosphere, making the air itself feel heavier.
𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭-!?