DAWN’S POV “Stop hiding behind those veils, you scary kitten, show your face” the witch demanded from Scarlet. It was all happening so fast. One minute it was all about me and the next the witch was challenging the queen. I can tell it, it is very obvious that she knew the face behind the mask. It has been her plot all along, setting up father against daughters and sisters against brothers, and shredding the fragile heart of a mother to shreds. I am not surprised though, she is a witch and that is the best she can do. But it would not be as easy as she thinks, that I can assure her. I will fight with my sister to make sure that she pays for all she had done to my family. That is my promise to her. “I said to keep quiet” alpha Fred yelled at the witch. “Seize her” he ordered. What happened next was unbelievable. Not even in my wildest dreams would I have believed that such would be possible. It made me realize that truly, I have greatly underestimated the man who was once my father. As the guards harkened to the alpha's order and made to go get the witch, my father roared and angrily flung his hands, and the magical effect made the guards stagger and finally landed on the ground with a great thud. At the point of falling, the sounds of bones breaking and ribs wrecking were heard coming from the bodies of the guards and they all wailed in anguish and could not stand back up. Everyone was taken aback by what we had just witnessed and we all drew back in fear, except of course for Landon who remained where he was standing and tried to hold me close to him. “Tim, you dare to...” alpha Fred yelled and wanted to rush to my father but my father immediately held out his hands to him. In the twinkle of an eye, alpha Fred was suspended in the air with his hands on his neck. He was choking profusely and kicking the air in his helpless state. “I ask that you release him now, Tim” Scarlet ordered. In response to Scarlet’s request, my father directed one of his hands to her in a bid to choke her too. But just as he did so, she twisted her hand at him and the next minute, the bones in his hand crumbled.He yelled out in agony and brought down his other hand. This uncalculated act saw alpha Fred landing on the floor with his back. He sat up and was gasping for breath. Kendra who had been standing on the podium all this while with her face covered rushed over to him and gave him some medicines to take and soon he was alright. She led him up and brought him to his seat. After this, she and Mia went to attend to the guards that are still wailing on the floor. “You dare to use such cheap magic on me” Scarlet growled. I could see fire coming out of her eyes. “Mildrid... Mildrid...” my father groaned. “You... you... dare to...” Mildrid pointed at Scarlet. She was furious. “You chose death, and now you must die” Scarlet snarled. She wanted to make her way down, and Mildrid yelled. “I need to know who I am up against, show your face you if truly seek to do justice” Scarlet stopped, and the Chamlee shouted. “Don’t listen to her, she cannot bargain with you” BETA TIM’S POV I was wallowing in agony and there was Mildrid much more interested in seeing the disgusting face of the queen. Why is she not doing something to ease my pain and what is there in the face of the queen that she can forget about everything and seek for it? I still cannot understand the big deal about this face that everyone is ready to let go of the business of the day and talk about it. Her face is no business of mine, all I want is for this pain to go and we go ahead with the sacrifice and then reclaim our land from this despicable queen. As for her face, she can keep them for her ancestors as I don’t care one bit about it. Immediately Mildrid demanded the veil to be taken off again I heard the Chamlee scream to stop the queen from listening to her. “Don’t listen to her, she cannot bargain with you” As soon as the Chamlee finished, everywhere went into dead silence. Everyone was focused on the queen and no one could say a word. It was already too late for the Chamlee. Because even before he could open his mouth to speak, the queen had already unveiled her face to the utmost shock of all present. “What!” I muttered.I must be seeing double, yes, it is as a result of the pain that I am feeling. It is so excruciating that I can no more make proper use of my eyes as there was no way the sight in front of me could be possible. I still could not accept the state of things until I heard the queen say. “Yes, Mildrid, to end you I am prepared to do even your last wish” I believed I was finally going crazy and so I tried to find my way to Mildrid for help only to realize how scared she looked. However, I still dismissed this as the effect of the grievous pain and tried to make my way toward her only for her to draw back away from me. “Mil... my lady” I called. “Don’t come any close” she warned with gritted teeth. “W... what... what...” I murmured in pain. I turned to look at the revealed face of the queen again. It is true, it has not changed, it still remained her face. “Scar...” I said under my breath. I could not bring myself to complete her name. I know that I have no right to. But how true is this? How possible is it for one to go from a despicable weakling to a ruthless queen? How could this be? It really is my daughter, Scarlet, I can see that, and moreover, Dawn is not surprised by this in any way. Is that the case, is that why she had fought with the Pixies against her people? She was actually fighting alongside her sister. No wonder the queen was bent on freeing her, no wonder the Pixies treated her so nicely. And me, why did the Pixies treat me like a hardened criminal? I remembered then the queen would not allow me to say any word to her and even her servants were eager to spill my blood and use it to wash their land. I should have thought of it. Scarlet would never forgive me for all the many atrocities that I had committed against her. But then who would have thought that she would end up this way, how was I supposed to know that she was destined for something great? If I had even the slightest idea back then, then I would not have treated her the way I did. I would have loved her just like the first daughter that she was. But now it is too late. Even if she was to forgive me for all the many wrongs that I did to her, will she forgive me for what I have done to her sister, my daughter, Dawn? Will she desire that I live another second her on earth knowing that I had done all I could to sacrifice Dawn to some unknown deity? It still baffled me that Mildrid knew all along. It was all a game to her, it has always been a game to her and I was the foolish one in the hunger game that she played with the lives of the members of my family. I trusted her with all that I have got but she used me against my own family. This is unfair. Nevertheless, it is what it is.