Kalrina's heart pumped as she threw up her hands. "We don't need clothes. I can always get you more clothes. Let's go!" She rushed to the window, and the night was still with only a few huts with burning candles. Most of the villagers had gone to sleep, which was good—fewer witnesses as they made their escape.

"Relax, Rin, we have time," Eston said. "You said no one saw you leaving the keep, so we have time."

"Not when we're talking about Aksha and her daughters," Kalrina shot back. "Neshi, the bitch had been reading my letters before sending them to you. For all we know, she's been in Aksha's ear all this time."

Eston held her by the shoulders. "Take a deep breath."

Kalrina was way past taking deep breaths.

"Rin," he said in his deep voice, which was the first thing she had noticed about him.

She looked into his caramel-colored eyes and couldn't help but smile. She drew a deep breath and let it go. "There. Now, let's go."

He smiled. "You look so pretty when you are so concerned. Mostly, you're just bossing me around." He made a silly face. "Eston, do this. Eston, do that."

Kalrina chuckled. "And I'm going to continue doing that all your life."

"No, you're not," said a voice that chilled Kalrina to the bone.

Despite the warm hut, Kalrina trembled as she turned to find Aksha at the door. She quickly Identify'd her and found she was the real one. Kalrina could've fought through her minions, but this one…she might as well be hurling stones in the ocean, hoping to stop the waves.

"A-Aksha, take me." Kalrina moved between Eston and the sorceress. "He's not at fault. Only me. Do what you wish with me, but please leave him alone."

"No."

Kalrina moved first and shot a Mirror Shard Barrage, but it hit the wall. Aksha moved like a blur, almost disappearing. The next time she reappeared, she pulled Kalrina forward, turned her around, and put her in a chokehold.

"Aksha, no, leave him alo—"

A hand clamped down on Kalrina's mouth, and Aksha poured a liquid down her throat. She thought it was an acid or poison of some sort as it burned her throat as it traveled down to reach her stomach, where an intense pain took hold as if the acid was eating her out from the inside.

The poison sorceress let go of her, and as soon as she did, Kalrina dropped like a sack of potatoes. Her arms or legs, nothing worked save for her tongue.

Aksha dashed behind Eston. She gripped the top of his head in a vice grip. He tried to fight against the smaller woman, but he might as well be fighting a lioness.

"Aksha, please don't," Kalrina cried as tears spilled from her eyes. "Please no…"

"You knew the rules, Kalrina."

A thick green liquid leaked from Aksha's hand. Eston screamed and fought as the poison slowly traveled down his face, burning him and making fumes rise. He trembled and flailed as his skin was slowly burned off.

Kalrina begged. "Please, not like this. Don't torture him. Kill him, but don't do this."

"I only paralyzed your body."

The poison had reached Eston's brow, and before it reached his eyes, he looked at Kalrina one final time and smiled. "I love you, Rin."

"I love you too," Kalrina said through a stream of tears.

When the poison reached his eyes, he let out such a blood-curdling scream that his throat burned raw, and he coughed actual blood.

Kalrina couldn't watch anymore. She formed a mirror dagger and launched it at Eston to put him out of his misery, but Aksha waved a hand and formed an acid shield that dissolved her dagger into nothing.

Kalrina's eyes widened. "No! You said—"

"This is your true punishment, Kalrina, for defying the edicts of the sisterhood."

So, Kalrina, who could not even shut her eyes, was forced to watch the love of her life die a most terrible death. His death throes were etched permanently into her brain.

Once Aksha was done and all that remained of Kalrina's Eston was nothing but a burnt-out husk, did the cruel sorceress come to Kalrina. She sat on her haunches before her. "Your punishment is not over. You will be made an example of."

Aksha created two of her daughters. "Bring them."

One of them picked up Eston's body and put him over her shoulder, and the other did the same to Kalrina. The cruel sorceresses had Kalrina face the love of her life, knowing Kalrina couldn't even look away. She didn't even recognize Eston, as Aksha's acid had left nothing to recognize.

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Tears streamed from her eyes, and Kalrina didn't even know when they reached the dragon keep. The entire time, she faced Eston's husk…her Eston, who may not have been the most handsome man she had seen, but he was good. He didn't have a way with words, but his eyes spoke for him.

If only you had listened to me…if only we had left the moment I arrived.

The next thing Kalrina knew, she was being stuffed in a chair, and they threw Eston's body before her. She was in the Chamber of Judgement. The Five sat in their chairs. They didn't look dressed for passing judgment but as if they'd been dragged out of their beds. But the Five were not the only ones who were present. All the sisterhood was there. Every seat behind the Five was filled aside from the Sovereign's, which stood empty like always.

Aksha nodded to her daughter, who had put Kalrina in the chair, and she began. "This is our sister Kalrina, who has broken one of the cardinal sins. She fell in love with this man and made plans to flee with him, but my dear mother caught them before they could carry out their nefarious plans. This man has been dispatched. But since Kalrina belongs to the sisterhood. Her punishment belongs to the Five."

Then the Five talked amongst themselves. The whole chamber was abuzz, whispering, gossiping. Kalrina cared nothing for them. They could do whatever they wished to her, for it would pale in comparison to what had already been taken from her.

Finally, Duinith, the headmistress, stood. "Her beautiful hair will be shorn completely, and until it regrows fully, she will have to wear only the clothes she is wearing now."

Kalrina didn't raise her eyes from Eston. Please, gods, you can take my hair, my beauty, and give me all the curses known to man, but return my Eston to me…Return him to me. Let him live once more…please.

"And for the sin of touching a sorceress, her lover's body will be cut into pieces at each joint and scattered in the forest to be fed upon by animals or rot."

"No…" Kalrina heaved. "No, please, no. Don’t…please…”

"You should have thought of that when you decided to elope with this common filth," Duinith hissed. "Begin!"

One of the daughters brought a rusted machete and bent down over Eston, ready to carry out the command.

"Don't fucking touch him!" Kalrina roared, but that was all she could do, as Aksha's poison still paralyzed her.

The daughter smirked in challenge, spread out Eston's hand, and went to work. First, cutting off the bits of his fingers. Kalrina could only scream curses and weep, as they dismantled the man who was smiling and making jokes not more than an hour ago.

"I'm going to kill you, you bitch. Stop! Fucking stop, please." Kalrina wept as Aksha's daughter kept doing her gruesome work. "Please, I'll do anything." Kalrina finally relented to begging. "I'll be your slave… I'll bark like a dog for the rest of my life. Please don't desecrate him like this. His soul will be cursed. He won't find any rest like this…"

The sisterhood laughed at Kalrina's helplessness. The other daughter, who had stood and laughed by Kalrina's side, finally moved and backhanded her across the face.

"Bark like a dog, eh?" She cupped a hand over her ear. "I don't hear any barking. Say woof.”

Kalrina looked at her through teary eyes and flinched at the sound of the machete severing Eston's arm from his shoulder. Then the daughter moved for his head. She waited for Kalrina.

"Woof,” said Kalrina lightly.

The daughter slapped her. "Louder."

"Woof. Woof."

Another slap. "Louder!"

"Woof! Woof! Woof!"

The room erupted in laughter. The Five couldn't hold back their laughter, and even Aksha cracked a smile.

"Last I looked, dogs don't wear such pretty clothes." The daughter ripped the arms off Kalrina's shirt and, with her knife, cut holes in her shirt and pants. She was rough and left many cuts on her legs and body, knowing full well that Kalrina could do nothing, nor could she change her clothes until her hair regrew.

Finally, Aksha stood. "That's enough. Carry on with the judgment."

The daughter tilted her head and, using the same knife, roughly shorn all of Kalrina's long, beautiful hair. By the time she was done, she had many cuts on her scalp. Blood trickled down her head, but the pain in her body was nothing compared to the one in her heart, for before her, lay the cut-up body of Eston—a sight that would haunt her for as long as she lived.

----------------------------------------

Kalrina had recently relived this memory, thanks to Hemera. It wasn't like she had forgotten this ordeal, nor she would ever, but it was important Meera knew about her past and why she was in this predicament.

She smiled sadly at Meera while the poor girl was stunned to silence. "Didn't think I would have paid such a price for the sin of loving a man. But that wasn't even the worst of it. Now, was it, baby Aksha?" She asked the daughter. The daughter would not meet her eyes. "Well, what do you know, Aksha does have a conscience, after all?"

"Loving someone is not a sin," Meera said, voice thick with emotion. "And they did more to you than that?"

"Oh yes, dearie. Not only, they took from me, my love, but also what he left me. His last gift to me." Kalrina's eyes teared up. "Something I would have loved more than life itself."

Meera frowned at first, then her eyes widened in horror as she gasped. "No… Don't tell me…"

"That's right. You got it, love. I was pregnant at that time. My Eston passed from this world without even knowing he was going to be a father." Tears dripped from Kalrina's eyes as they always did when she thought about this. She hated appearing this weak, but she couldn't help it. "I didn't even know until a day later when the bleeding started. I bled for days. I was so sick with grief that I thought I was going to die. I thought it was grief that caused this heavy bleeding, but no, that was not enough for dear Aksha. You see, the poison she forced down my throat, not only did it rob me of my child but also my ability to bear children." She glared at the daughter. "What a great example you made of me to your precious sisterhood, Aksha?"

"I have to check on the other prisoners," the daughter said and promptly left.

Meera had tears in her eyes. "I don't know what to say. I'm sorry…"

"You know, I've never been with another man since. Eston was my everything. When we first met, I thought he was someone to pass the time with, as we sorceresses weren't allowed to love or have families. But he dug his way into my heart and took hold so fiercely that seventy years later, he still hasn't left."

Meera stared. "But then, what about all that flirting with those men."

"A means to an end. A façade. A role, if you will, so no one will guess my true intentions. So, no one would see the aching heart beneath it all."

"How does one even begin to get over this?" Meera mused.

"If it were a parent or an aunt or an uncle or if it were even Arvena, I would have gotten over it, but the gruesome death of my love and unborn child…" Her voice quivered. “M-my child…I never even got to hear him cry…” She shook her head and drew a deep shaky breath. "This pain I will carry till I die. The only thing that will give me some respite is when I bring this fucking place down and rip Aksha apart like she did my Eston."

"How do you plan to do that from here?" Meera asked, frowning. "In that condition?"

Kalrina smiled. "I have a plan in mind."