Mariana:
"I thought you were wiser than your sister, but I was wrong," he hissed, staring into my face.
"You would not even marry ssi. You could not secure Troy. You have done nothing." he continued.
"So how about I let your sister’s husband take the crown and keep the luxuries? You are useless now. You are a threat."
Tears spilled from my eyes as he forced to look at him.
"Your Highness, what should we do with your wife?" one of the warriors asked, refusing to use her title.
"Throw her in the dungeon for now and call the council leaders. We need a plan," my father ordered without hesitation.
"And find out where Clentine is. Make sure she is in no condition to be seen or heard by anyone."
His words settled over like ice. He looked down at and smirked.
"You must be wondering why I am saying this in front of you," he murmured.
"That is because you will never open your mouth again."
He laughed harshly. My vision darkened at the edges.
He leaned closer and whispered against my ear.
"You are of no use to . So go ahead, little princess, and see if you can survive in the North."
Everything went black.
I do not rember what happened afterward. I was not even awake to see my life change.
All I rember is my father’s face and the anger carved into it as he choked until I passed out.
His last words did not register before everything went dark. I could not react.
I could not even beg him to forgive .
But deep down, I did not believe my father would be so cruel that he would actually throw into the North.
When I regained consciousness, it felt like I was inside a vehicle. At first, I thought maybe they were sending to another house, or perhaps locking in so hotel. My father used to give punishnts like that.
It also felt like I had been given another dose of sothing after I passed out. Maybe a tranquilizer or so kind of sedative.
Waking up was difficult. My body felt heavy and distant.
But as I slowly beca more aware, I realized at least one thing. Wherever I was, I had never been there before.
A faint groan slipped from my lips as I forced myself to wake up. My eyes still felt unbearably heavy.
It felt like I was lying sowhere freezing cold. There was no soft mattress beneath and no fluffy blanket wrapped around .
I was on the ground. It was soft, but wet, and it slled of soil and damp earth.
The mont I realized that, I shot upright.
Horror settled in as I looked around and understood where I was. I was in the woods.
My heart began to pound. This had never happened before.
My father had never left in the woods as punishnt.
"Can you hear ?" I called out to my wolf inside my mind.
She was silent.
"It looks like he left us in the pack woods," I told her quietly. "But this is the deep side."
I spoke to her again. Not because I thought she was awake, but because I needed soone to talk to. Otherwise, I would lose my mind.
I was already terrified. This had never happened before.
I pushed myself to my feet and scanned my surroundings.
It was almost evening.
I was certain now. My father had left in the woods on purpose.
He wanted the princess to find her own way ho for the first ti.
So I decided that if my father wanted to test , if he wanted to see how I would survive in the wild, then I would show him that I could.
With that thought in mind, I began following the faint light I could see ahead. I knew that if these were my pack’s woods, sooner or later sothing would look familiar.
But if this belonged to another pack, things could beco difficult.
All I needed to do was find soone. Any person. I just had to ask for help.
The air in the woods that evening felt toxic. I coughed several tis, trying to clear my throat, but each ti the irritation returned.
I did not understand what kind of test this was, but I kept moving. I kept trying to find sothing, so path, so way out.
After walking for a while, I finally saw a brighter light ahead. I was certain then that I had reached the right place.
I stepped out quickly and stopped near the road.
I looked both ways.
"Is anyone there? Can soone help ?" I shouted as loudly as I could.
Suddenly, it felt as if the trees themselves responded. Strange sounds echoed back at , as though my voice had awakened sothing.
A fit of coughing seized again. My throat had gone completely dry.
"Please help ! I am the Alpha’s daughter!" I yelled again.
In the distance, I noticed a shadow.
I began waving my hands wildly.
"Hey! I’m here! Can you help ?" I called out, wrapping one arm around my stomach as pain began to spread through it.
I started running toward the shadow.
But as it grew larger and I drew closer, sothing felt wrong.
No human neck could be that long. No animal either, unless it was an ostrich. But what would an ostrich be doing on a road?
I slowed down.
Then I saw it lift its neck.
I froze.
It was shaped like an ostrich, but sothing about it was wrong.
The mont it heard shouting, it charged at and attacked.
The mont that thing reached , I moved to the side. Its long neck shot upward and then slamd down as it tried to grab with its beak.
I had nothing to defend myself with. The only thing I had were the high heels I was wearing.
I grabbed its neck with both hands and wrapped my arm tightly around it. It thrashed violently, and fear surged through .
With one hand, I kicked off my shoe and started stabbing its neck with the heel. Once. Twice. A third ti.
My anger grew with every strike.
When it lowered its head for a second, I adjusted my grip. This ti, when I drove the heel down, it pierced into its forehead.
I did not stop. I kept screaming and striking it again and again until its massive body collapsed to the ground.
When it finally stopped moving, I pulled my heel free and stood in front of it, breathing hard.
Then I lifted my head.
More of them were coming.
That was when I understood.
I was in the North.
My father had truly left in the North.
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