Elara's POV.
Edric and Cedric are sitting by my side, behind Father who is directly behind the horses, holding the leather straps called reins. I think it must be painful for the horses to have these "reins " things all around their mouth and nose, and to be pulled everywhere by the jaw is not how to live. This is my first shock on this trip.
"Father?" I call out front between my brothers.
They had placed me in the middle to protect me, but then fell asleep right after. I do not understand how anyone can fall asleep on such a bumpy ride.
"Yes, Princess," Father replies, his voice a little louder over the horses' footsteps.
"Are the horses not in pain?" I ask, looking at Star as he ran.
He was kicking his fore leg to the back as his hind leg kicks dirt..
Father chuckles lightly and turns around for a second to look at me. His eyes are soft and his gaze is fond. He looks at me with an expression I think is pride, and then he turns back to the road.
"Princess, they are in pain, but when we go back home, they will eat and be fine again." He says, and I can hear the smile in his voice.
"But do they have to go through the pain?" I say, not willing to drop it.
Again, Father chuckles.
"If we try to do this any other way, the pain will be worse, and they could die. Even the idea you are thinking will not work." He says, turning to meet my eyes briefly.
"No, the reins will not work on their legs; it will tangle, and they will not be able to run. They will only fall and get hurt." He says.
I nod, seeing the logic, and then I lean forward, ready to share another idea, when he cuts me short with another lecture.
"If the reins were on the neck, every tug would break something; they would die."
They will die. I swallow back a lump in my throat as an image of Star dying builds in my head.
"Listen, princess, sometimes the right way is not always comfortable. And pain is necessary, it is not always so bad, see?"
He pulls the reins harder, and they go taut in his hands. Then he raises them high; they fall on the horses with a loud slapping sound. Star and Melody raise their heads slightly in response, and somehow, they are running faster, making this ride even bumpier.
"See?" Father says again..
I do not see. My eyelids are suddenly heavier, and I'm starting to think this bumpy ride is making me sleepy. And I finally understand why my brothers are asleep right now. This is very tiring.
I should give Star and Melody a treat when we get back home, lots of treats, is my last thought as my eyelids finally close, and a very bumpy ride, sleep takes over me.
I wake up with a start, my eyes are trying to focus, but the world is blurry at the moment.
Something is weird..
Then it clicked.
The world is blurry at the moment, because everything is bright.
Too bright, it is hurting my eyes. My eyes finally find their focus, and I place my hand over my eyes to shield them from this strange brightness. It is disorienting, and it feels like the light is burning my skin.
A thought clicks like a door lock.
"Is this the sun?"
I peel my hands from my eyes and look to the sky. It is surprisingly blue. The clouds are not grey here, they are blue and white and moving. Worse, there is no moon. Instead, there is a glowing ball of light that is difficult to look at, it hurts my eyes, and I think I will cry.
"Hey, no need for insults." Someone is saying.
That's Cedric's voice. And suddenly everything comes back to me. I am on a trip with my father and brothers.
I turn and see my brothers and Father, and three other men. They look mean and are scowling, which I think makes them ugly.
"No insults? Yeah, maybe not. You lot are walking insults anyway." One of the mean men say and the other two are laughing.
From where I stand on the cart, I can't see my brothers faces, but I can tell that they are very angry, even Father seems grim from behind.
I do not hesitate.
"Oi!, do not talk to my family like that," I shout and successfully get everyone's attention. Cedric has a small smile as he stares at me.
I climb down the cart and walked to the men.
"You are ugly and mean, you are the walking insults." I yell, and folded my arms across my chest.
The men look livid, and one of them, one I think is the ugliest, raise his arm as if to hit me.
I do not flinch
Edric catches his forearm, and his face is black and grim, as he throws the man's arm back so hard that he trips and falls.
"Don't you dare!" Edric sounds really angry.
Cedric places his arms on my shoulders protectively.
"Or what? You are gonna come after us with your killer howl?" Another man steps up to Edric.
Something jumps in Edric's face, and he looks both angrier and somewhat angrier.
"Killer howl?" I say,
"You want to hear it?" Edric says at the same time
The third mean man croches to my level, meeting my eyes.
"Oh! You don't know about your curse?" The third man says with a sneer.
Cedric pushes him away so hard he falls back.
"What curse?" I ask Cedric raising my head to look at him.
"Don't mind him." He says simply.
Now the three men are laughing, my brothers are glaring, and I'm lost.
"Your powers are a curse, little tramp."
"No, GrimFangs had the coolest powers." I yell back.
"Sure and what does it do?"
"Cause pain, and dismay and death." The second man answered the question before I got a chance.
"No! You are more ignorant than you look. Our howl grants everyone's final wish. It's the coolest thing ever.." I say seriously.
"Sure." The third man says, and all three burst out laughing.
I looked from the laughing men to my brothers, and I am right. Right?
"Gentlemen," Father says and stepped forward, bringing a strange calm to the tense situation
"If you are not interested in buying, we will take our business elsewhere " Father says.
We all turn to him, Edric and Cedric first, then me because they turned.
"Whatever.."
"But you have to apologise to my family," Father says.
The men scoffed.
"Like we would apologise to you cursed lot."
"Foolish GrimFangs."
"You should, if you don't want to know what it means to grant your final wish." Father's voice is quiet and a grim kind of calm.
He looked scary. Good scary.
The smiles drop from their faces faster than I can blink. The swallow visibly and mumble a quick sorry.
"Like you mean it," Father warns
Then they bowed to their waists and apologised, saying really loud sorries.
The trio scurry after, but not before I hear a "that's why they are the most hated" and an "I wish someone would just wipe them out "
I do not really understand, but it was enough for an eight-year-old to know that the GrimFangs were cool, but not everyone thinks so.
At that moment, I made a resolve to show everyone just how cool our powers really are.
I will make sure they eat their words.