The carriage ride home went by rather quickly, all things considered. Though the pain in her arm started to radiate through the limb as if it was on fire. This was one of the first times that Briar found it hard to stay still through a ride. Usually she had a book or some sort of gossip pamphlet to go through on the road, but now her mind was swirling all over the place. Debating this new, life changing choice she decided to give in to.
Her family seemed worried about her as she struggled to string thoughts together, however Nesryn seemed to think she already knew what had happened. To be fair, with her limited knowledge of the world, Briar would have thought the same if her twin came back like she had. The only option that was accurate enough would be that the woman had lost her innocence. That she regretted it and that she came back feeling disgusted with herself or shameful. Her mother looked like she had thought the same for a few moments before she saw Briar clinging to her injured arm as if it was a lifeline.
"You need to explain what is happening, sister." Nesryn watched her older sister with those pitiful eyes. The girl was rocking slightly, subtle enough that it could have been the natural movement of their ride, wide eyes staring down towards the floor. She still felt cornered except now it was from her kin's interrogation. She patted her skirts where her knees presumably hid beneath, "God will forgive your sins."
The older sister let out a sob as she realized that heaven was something she had completely sacrificed now. She was to be a demon now and no repenting for this sin would let her join her ancestors in the clouds. God shows little mercy on those that were purely wicked. No matter how beautiful her soul was, it was trapped within the body of a sinner now. Nesryn grimaced at the sudden sound since it was ingrained into all of the women that emotion was only to be shown behind closed doors. They didn't know what to do when presented with such things.
"What did you do, daughter?" Briar couldn't look Abigail in the eyes, instead curling into herself so that her head nearly touched her knees. The other Blythe women watched her in shock. Sudden bursts of emotion wasn't something the girl was prone to doing. It was something neither had seen before. "Did he promise you something? Is that why you went through with it?"
The woman continued to weep albeit in a more quiet manner this time around. Now it seemed they both thought she had given herself fully to the man. However, Briar was thinking rashly. She didn't care to explain that their thought process wasn't accurate in the slightest. She just wanted all the talking to stop. Her head pounded at an oncoming headache.
"Did you forget your teachings?" Her twin's voice was high-pitched and scandalous. With their mother sharing Nesryn's mindset, she thought she couldn't possibly be wrong. "Men all have nothing but their temptations. None of what they promise is true unless you begin to bear a child. Even then that's guaranteed, Bri." Briar wondered in a short flicker of clarity whether her sister thought what happened would be worse than the truth or not.
Slowly, she raised her head to stare back at them with bloodshot eyes. "You think so little of me?" Her voice was shaky as she asked the genuine question. Neither looked ready to answer.
Abigail looked down at her daughter with a pitiful frown. Nesryn seemed simply disappointed in this new prospect. The crying girl faced her lap again with wild eyes, allowing her untamed hair to fall in front of her face. Annoying strands inevitably stuck to her wet cheeks as she let them do as they pleased. What did it matter when her image was already ruined for the two of them?
"I thought we both promised each other that we wouldn't do that. That we would make our own paths not follow…" Nesryn stopped and glanced at their mother. The matriarch wasn't a stupid woman, her face flushing a dark red at the idea that her children saw her in a bad light. "Please tell me you didn't ruin the family like this."
"I didn't give myself to anyone, little sister." A sneer had overtaken her beautiful features. She glanced up from behind the thick curtain of her hair. Nesryn flinched back at the unhinged look that was completely zoned in on her. The girl had never had violent tendencies, but this was not the twin that Nesryn recognized. "If you suggest that of me again, I will show you a sinner."
"Your sister is just trying to protect you, Briar," her mother scolded. Briar's wild look flipped over to her mother's for a moment before it fell back to the floor of the carriage. She had enough respect for the woman that she wouldn't mention the idiocracy of her statement. "If that didn't happen, then what happened? Is it something to do with your arm?"
Now they decided to mention the wrist where her blood was starting to soak into her puffy white sleeve. At this point, Briar doubted that they even cared about any of it. They were more worried about her innocence than the fact that she was currently bleeding out. She gasped as white hot fire started to worm her way through her muscles. Pain was easy as it raced up to her elbows and up to her shoulder, but it made her fingers twitch.
The carriage came to a slow stop in front of a cozy, second floor home within the city. Their home was a baby blue color while houses around them were different shades of whites, creams, and tans. It was one of their family's many homes. This one was simply a townhouse bought for them to ride out their first season. Their father was the only one that didn't come into town for all of this. He didn't care to know how well their marriage prospects were moving. In all honesty, he had other women to keep him busy out at their summer home.
One of the two coachmen came around from his place at the front and opened the door for the women. It took him a moment, but he was quick to see that not all was right within the ride. His wide eyes stared down at the girl curled into herself. Abigail turned over and frowned at the stunned look. "Go inside and get the maids to draw a bath. I don't want to see a single man or woman on our way up to our rooms. You will be punished for a single character out of line." He knew when to take a hint and scampered away into the home.
The woman screamed bloody murder through gritted teeth while she had been in the middle of her hundredth apology to her mother and sister. It hadn't even reached the second hour of them getting home from the worst event Briar had ever witnessed. The metaphorical roots of pain had become intertwined with the focal point being the center of her chest. Nesting firmly in the pumping organ that was simply trying its best to keep up with the hyperventilating. Nothing could keep this digging its way through whatever was in their way. Taking root into all that she is.
Her mother had forced her to show them what he had done to her after continuous denial on her end. It was something she was forced to give into in the first hour and a half of being held down in that bath tub. Abigail had lightly rolled up her suffering daughter's sleeve just as Mahlikai had done just hours before. It forced a chill down her back as she momentarily relived the traumatic experience. She tried to ignore that, deciding to remind herself that she did ask for it. This was what she thought she wanted and was what she got for not reading the fine print. Now she had bigger problems.
Abigail breathed in and out a single shaky breath as she stared down at the uncovered bite. This had her daughters taking their own fearful looks at the damage he had caused. It wasn't too large of a chunk that he took out of her, making her wonder if a part of him truly did care for her, but it was still large enough that it could have been fatal. The wound seemed to be infected in some way or another, which made it quickly begin to swell as her body fought against giving into whatever death it could have offered. The skin was even turning purple around the edges of the shredded skin. The blood around had finally now dried, but that was nowhere near what the women were concerned about.
Dark red, braided branches began to attempt mending the flesh back into its healed position. They were slow and meticulous with their movements. Stitching the skin back as if it was simply a doctor with a needle and thread. It wasn't anything how she imagined skin should be healing. It was like there were literally tree branches that had been under her skin. Waiting for something like this to happen. When was the last time she had a wound like this one?
Perhaps Briar was seeing things. Maybe they weren't branches that were wriggling just beneath the skin. It would have been easy to say that the pain was making her imagine running more wild than it usually did. That is, if there wasn't that look of surprise on her mother's face. Her mother's eyes were wide with her chest rising and falling so fast that it seemed like she was hyperventilating just as her daughter was.
"Oh my poor daughter. Oh goodness, my sweet girl," her mother croaked out pitifully. She seemed more in pain at the sight than the one sporting the wound actually did. Briar almost laughed hysterically at this new twist. It must have been hard for her to speak, even in the hushed whisper she used. It had been a while since the twins had heard her mother's voice. Even back in the carriage, her words were clipped and short.
Their father had made his thoughts on her sayings rather early in the marriage. Whatever she said that wasn't to do with the upbringing of their children didn't matter enough for it to be spoken. He was quite clear about that. Even with his daughters, he didn't care to make any sort of casual conversation. It was to be put aside and left for their mother to lend an ear to. He had done his job in raising them.
However, Abigail wasn't too innocent herself either. A maid spoke of her story to the siblings once before. About how their mother lost her innocence to their father before their marriage and how a pregnancy scare forced them together. Although Briar admired her mother's determination in moving up the ranks, she thought the way she did it was blasphemous. Both of them had their faults and they both paid karma their fair dues.
Briar was on the verge of tears once again as the breeze around them brushed against the wound. She thought that would cool down the burning sensation, but it just made the grueling moments even harder for her. The girl couldn't decide what felt better. The harsh, freezing cold that caressed her exposed flesh or the tightly-wound, dirty fabric that kept it warm while cutting lines into the smooth flesh. The fabric, she soon decided, since it let her get used to the pain of it while the wind was often inconsistent.
"It's alright, Briar. You'll be alright," her mother tried to comfort her. It didn't seem to be working as a few tears had already slipped down her dried cheeks. "He didn't know what you were. He didn't it would be as painful as it is now." Perhaps it was just her mother talking gibberish or the fact that the bathroom was still spinning around her. Either way, she was having trouble understanding what words were coming out of the matriarch's mouth. Was she trying to say that she was always a demon? Briar didn't want to be a demon. Briar didn't want to be anything at all.