The Instincts Within

“This has nothing to do with me. If you would excuse me.” Yuki moved to leave, but was forcibly stopped by Grimm grabbing her arm.

“I’m afraid, princess, that you no longer have a place in this palace.” Yuki blinked in astonishment.

“How dare you assume to speak for The All Father,” Yuki hissed!

“These people are only here to witness.” Grimm motioned to sides of the hall. “Once I make a decision, it is final and I am under no obligation to tell you the details.” Grimm then leaned in close to Yuki’s ear and growled a hushed whisper. “I will explain everything in due time. For now, please trust me.”

“I will never trust you.” Yuki pulled herself free from his grasp. Staring him in the eyes, she squared off, ready for whatever came her way.

“I don’t have time for this,” Grimm whispered to himself. “You are the collateral for my alliance with The All Father,” he shouted. His words echoed in the hall. Yuki’s eyes widened as she slowly realized what the offer entailed. She ran past Grimm in a panic to The All Father’s side. Collapsing at his side, she clinged to him.

“Please! Tell me it isn’t true.” With tears in her eyes, she pleaded. However, the stoic look on The All Father’s Face gave her reason to panic.

“You are his bride.”

Several armed guards stood in her way. Yuki tried to run past them, but they caught her, picking her up with ease. She thrashed about, crying and screaming for someone, anyone, to help her. Her screams echoed against the stone walls of the palace. The echoes bounced back, taunting her as if to say that no help would come. An uneasiness settled in the hall. Hushed murmurs and judgmental whispers swirled the space, drowning out Yuki’s screams. In the moment it took for twilight to settle into the stillness of night, her fate had been changed.

Yuki collapsed into the arms of the guards, her cries muffled by the now dull roar of the hall. Through her tears, she could see the awkward way the people moved. The murmurs were not of her situation, but of her actions.

“How can she not be embarrassed by the way she acts.”

“No wonder The All Father has married her off to a distant warlord.”

“I would never allow my daughter to disrespect me in such a way. How disgraceful.”

“It’s hard to believe she’s a princess. Shouldn’t she be more composed? Humph.”

Yuki felt the weight of her actions begin to crush her. Every whisper was an arrow stabbed in her heart; her world crumbling before her eyes. Yuki fought off the tears, searching for an ounce of courage to ask for one last thing from the all Father.

“Can I,” she yelled over the crowd. “Can I,” yuki repeated herself. The All father put up a hand and the hall soon fell silent. “Can I at least be permitted a few of my possessions?” Yuki looked at the all father with pleading eyes. He never could resist her pleas before. This time however, his face was as stoic as a mountain being persuaded to move by the wind.

“You may have all that you came with.”

Yuki stood there as the guards restrained her. Tears flowing down her face, she mimed the word “no,” over and over again. She had nothing but the clothes she wore. Clothes she despised for the meaning they held. Yuki shifted her gaze towards Grimm. A swarm of emotions began to swell within her. Tears still streaming, she narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips in aggravation. This man, this warlord from another realm, gifted her yet another instance of tormented horror.

Grimm closed his eyes and sighed. He thought for a moment, rubbing his temples, about what to say to deescalate the situation. He was there to prevent a war, not start one on the domestic front. “Let us sign the agreement and be done with this. I wish to be on my way back to my providence.”

The All father smirked in agreement. He waved his hand in the air, summoning a young scribal stoat with documents in hand. Grimm sat, opposite the All Father, and signed. The All father signed his name, Oor’d Ward’r. He stood up taking the documents and paraded them around the room above his head for all to see.

“This treaty entitles The Grimm to all he has been given this day. See that both sides are equal in height, size, and language of text. They are a perfect copy of one another.” The all Father Ripped the documents apart and handed Grimm his part of the deed. “I give this to you in good faith that our borders will stay at peace and if Either need called upon, the other will come to their aid.” The two men locked arms on the deal, each drawing blood from the other with their sharpened claws. Dripping the blood to seal the contract, each handed off their document to their vassel, finishing the ceremony.

“I would like to leave as soon as possible. Please have someone send for my bride’s things,” said Grimm. Yuki winced at the thought of belonging to such a beast.

“She has everything she came to me with. Take her and go before she embarasses herself further.” The dismissiveness in the words of The All Father caused Tears to flow down Yuki’s cheeks once more. The guards that were restraining her, reliced her and she fell to the floor in a heap of uncontrollable sadness. Grimm approached her and knelt down.

“Can you walk,” he asked sympathetically? Yuki shook her head slowly, sniffing up any fear she harbored for the man in front of her. “Then I’ll carry you.” Grimm said, as he effortlessly scooped her off the ground. In his arms, he was made aware just how fragile and petite Yuki really was. He smiled down at her as he walked. Behind him followed his Vassal, a Squirrel man who had no tail and bore a scar across his right eye that extended sideways across his face.

“Are you scared of me,” Asked Grimm to Yuki?

“I’m not scared of you. I’m simply angry and have no energy left of which to fight,” She said in a condescending tone. Grimm’s vassal let out a snickering laugh.

“What about this situation is so funny to you Ke’Reimun?” Said grimm turning his head to address his Vassal.

“Nothing about it is funny, I’ve just never seen you like this. When did you decide to just,” Grimm shot him a look of silence. “Ok matter dropped. I get it, not in front of her.” A wryly smile plastered Ke’Reimun’s face. Grimm rolled his eyes and looked down at the woman he carried in his arms.

Like all cats in a warm place, Yuki had curled up in Grimm’s arms and fell fast asleep. She dreamed of the palace she was leaving behind. In her dreams she was still safe within the walls of the only home she ever knew, surrounded by the only people she ever came to love. Grimm watched her sleep, amused at how someone so against the situation she had been forced into, could be at peace so easily.

As they were about to leave through the palace gates, a voice could be heard yelling in the distance.

“Wait! My lord, please wait!” Grimm turned around, waiting for the person yelling to catch up with them. She panted when she caught up. The stains on her head covering, still fresh with the scent of blood, took Grimm slightly aback.

“Please, this blanket is all she has of her mother. It is the only thing she has ever cherished with all her heart. Please, she cannot leave here without it.”

“You must be Madrona Simpatica,” said Grimm in a sympathetically apologetic tone. The woman bowed slightly asking her plea once more.

“Please,” she said, handing Grimm the blanket.

“Where we are going, she will need to cover up. She is not accustomed to that level of cold,” he said gratefully accepting the blanket. He gently wrapped Yuki in the blanket. She began to purr in his arms and a warm feeling of happiness began to swell within him.

“You are a deeply caring and passionate man aren’t you?” Madrona asked knowingly.

Grimm put a finger to his lips and smiled. “Don’t tell anyone or my reputation will be ruined.”

Madrona Simpatica smiled to hide the tears she was shedding. ”Please take good care of her. She knows of nothing outside these walls.” She bowed, hoping her one last plea would be a covenant of loyalty bound by Grimm to Yuki.

“I can only promise her safety. Her happiness is up to her. I cannot force her. If she is happy with me, then she is happy. If she hates me for taking her from this place, so be it. I will not force her to be anything she doesn’t wish to be. That is all I can promise you.”

Madrona Simpatica smiled, allowing the tears to fall. Her eyes crinkled, forming half moons that melted into the beautiful lines of age that graced her face. “Thank you,” she smiled. “You have promised more than the All Father could have ever given her.”

“Those antlers the All Father gifted to me, they were yours.” Grimm gave a sympathetic laugh; conveying his sorrow and apology with a slight bow of his head and a remorseful look in his eyes.

Madrona simply smiled. “I leave her to you, my lord.” She kissed Yuki on the forehead as only a mother would, gently stroking her hair, releasing fond memories as she came to terms with their parting.

“We must move on my lord, if we are to meet the others by sunrise,” urged Ke’Reimun. Grimm sighed. The love Madrona simpatica felt for Yuki was not lost to him. Yuki stirred in his arms and muttered in her sleep.

“I’m sorry Jelen. Forgive me.”

“My dear child,” Madrona said through her tears, “there is nothing to forgive.”

“I hope,” Grimm stated, “that I may one day return here with her under the most normal of circumstances.” Grimm turned his back to the palace. “Goodbye Jelen. I hope to see you again for her sake.”

The two men walked though the main gate towards the city below. When they reached the bottom step leading into the busy street, they heard a blood curdling, agonizing scream. The only kind of scream a mother could conjure up after her child had been painfully ripped from her grasp. They turned towards it out of instinct. Grimm began to make his way back up the stairs when Ke’Reimun put his hand on him to stop him.

“My lord,” he said, shaking his head. Grimm knew what he meant by this. The deal had been made, the contract signed, and agreed upon by both parties. If he were to take what didn’t belong to him, all the work he put into gaining influential allies would be for naught.

“You are right as always, Ke’Reimun. Let’s go.”