3 Chapter 3. Crimson Birds (1/1)

There were two wedding tables set up inside the banquet halls of Biah Manor.A large table sat at the front of the room filled with food and drinks for the Men from Yuliah's side of the family and Men from the groom's side.For in the Northern Kingdom when a woman gets married the groom's family pays a dowry to the bride's family, it's a sign of respect and compensation for taking away one of their loved ones, and once a Woman leaves her father's house, she is now part of her husband's family only.This table is where the Men sat and negotiate dowry price and went over wedding formalities.The more beautiful and educated a Women was the more costly her dowry was.So even though it was Yuliah's wedding day in the Northern Kingdom because of the duties, the Men were tasked with they had higher importance and always given the head of the table.The second a smaller table sat to the right covered in a bright red tablecloth and adorned with fresh flowers.At this smaller table sat Yuliah waiting to greet her wedding guests and next to her Liang her fiancé was seen drinking heavily.

Yuliah chooses a long red dress made of silk and had lace sleeves; the dress flowed out at the bottom covering her heels.Her dress was held together by a sash tied tightly around her waist, and the sash was adorned with jewels not seen in the Northern Kingdom.Being that she hated everything about the Northern Kingdom, she decided against wearing the traditional multi-color patterns the women usually wore on their wedding day.Yuliah had half of her jet black hair pinned up exposing just enough of her ivory skin, and it contrasted well with the red of her dress making her a stunning sight.Known for her beauty in the Northern Kingdom Yuliah had even captured the lustful eyes of the King who wanted her as his mistress, but Liang had beat him to her.

Liang leans over and whispers to Yuliah, ”You look beautiful in that dress, I can't wait to see it come off.I'm going to fuck you so hard tonight,” in his usual sadistic tone, then proceeds to plant a wet kiss in her ear. She could smell the liquor and feel his hot breath on her face; the combination made her feel like gagging, but it was better to show no reaction to Liang.The more she reacted to him the more it excited him.

Yuliah tries not to imagine the horrors he'll inflict on her tonight but she can't, and a lump starts to form in the back of my throat. She swallows hard as tears start budding in my eyes.Reaching for the glass of water sitting in front of her Yuliah takes a sip hoping that bit of distraction would help suppress the tears but it's too late as a single drop escapes her eye running down her cheek. Quickly she pulls a handkerchief from her sleeve wiping the tear, and then the spit Liang left on her ear, reminding herself to wash it later. As she tucks the cloth back into her sleeve, Yuliah catches a glimpse of the pair of crimson birds embroidered on the handkerchief now stained with Liang's nauseating spit. They looked beautiful and majestic with their wings spread ready to take flight. She wanted to be those birds so badly tonight and take flight escaping her marriage and the invisible chains shackled to her ankles.

Those crimson birds had also been her favorite piece of the handkerchief, and it wasn't the first time she'd seen them, well not in the waking world only in her dreams, but it was always the same recurring dream.The one where she's frantically chasing a Man in a field of grass, the grass is thick and dense, and it's up to her neck.She can't see where he's heading but desperately tries to catch up. When Yuliah manages to get within a few paces of him, she can see that his shirt is torn open in the back from his left shoulder down to his midsection and blood is seeping through the cloth. Through the open cut in his shirt, there's a pair of crimson birds tattooed on his back the same ones from her handkerchief.In her dreams, there's an urgency of needing to catch up to him but her legs are like cooked noodles, every step is just a wobble and flop until she falls over and when Yuliah gets up he's gone. It always left an unsettling feeling and an ache in her chest, and she would cry for no reason at all.

Yuliah felt maybe she put too much thought behind the Crimson Birds, because her Father gave the handkerchief as a last remembrance of her Mother, and she willed it into her dreams.Who knows but there was no denying the beauty and fascination she had with those Crimson Birds, but now its beauty soiled by Liang as she would be later.