FIFTEEN

                                    

                                          
(CHAPTER 15 - DESPERATE SOULS)
🦢🗡
Flashback
A human Rumplestiltskin was spinning straw in a crude-looking house when his daughter, Seraphina, frantically ran into the little hobble.
"Papa, Papa! They've come for Morraine!" Seraphina said.
Rumplestiltskin grabbed his cane then left the hobble with Seraphina, and they watched from a distances as several knights dragged the young girl away from her screaming parents.
"No!" The mother said.
"No! Please! Please!" The father said.
"No, don't take her! No! You can't take her! She's my baby! Don't take my baby!" The mother said.
"Nonsense. She is a fine, strong girl. She'll make a fine soldier," Hordor said.
"It's a mistake, she's turning fourteen. Only fourteen!" The father said.
"Orders of the Duke! The ogre wars have taken their toll this season. More groups will turn the tide," Hordor said.
"They lowered the age again, Papa," Seraphina said.
"I know," Rumplestiltskin said.
"Take her," the other knights grabbed the girl, "She'll ride with me," Hordor said and the girl was shoved onto the back of his horse.
"No!" The mother yelled.
"You can't have her!" The father yelled.
The mother drew a knife and lunged towards the knight when, suddenly, she and the father were stopped by an invisible force. In the field behind them, there was a cloaked figure on a black horse, who appeared to be the one controlling them, and the parents withered to the ground.
"The Dark One seems to think I can," Hordor said.
The dark figure relented as Hordor, the girl, and the other knights rode off.
Seraphina looked at Rumplestiltskin, "My birthday is in three days. They'll come for me in three days!" Seraphina said.
"We'll find a way...we'll find a way," Rumplestiltskin said as he put a protective arm around his daughter, holding her close.
End of Flashback
Nadia walked out of the pawnshop, running into Elias and Emma, and they all looked at each other, "Uh, hey," Emma said.
"Hi..." Nadia said.
"How are you doing?" Elias asked.
"I'm...I'm okay..." Nadia said.
Emma tilted her head, "You're not, but...I won't push you to talk," Emma said.
"Yeah...anyways, I've gotta get back to the diner," Nadia said and walked past them.