Mimbi woke up with a sudden jerk of the iron cage. A young girl of about seven who had fallen asleep with her head on Mimbi’s legs also woke up, scared by her sudden movement.
“Where are we?” Mimbi said to no one in particular. There were twelve other girls in the cage with her, but no one answered. No one knew.
The road where they had stopped was narrower than the one they had been traveling on, and the trees’ lumbered over it, making it hard for Mimbi to tell the approximate time. She was hungry, thirsty, and she longed for a bath.
As the Hova escorted the prisoners towards the wall, a routine had settled in among the captors and captives. Every two hours or so, a Hova would come around to give the girls water, some fruits they picked up along the way, and they’d select one of them to feed off. Mimbi had been lucky that she hadn’t been selected yet. Four girls from her cage had already been fed off, and they bore the stained wraps that marked
Scarlett’s felt like her skull had been torn open. She felt the pain before she opened her eyes, and she didn’t know where she was or what had happened. Her back was on something scratchy, and she no longer felt the weight of her swords tied to her belt.That miserable, dishonorable rat, she thought. Luca had betrayed her. If she had just listened to the annoying Hova, and she wouldn’t have let her guard down.When she opened her eyes, she realized she was in the corner of a room in the barracks, along with the wounded. What the hell happened after Luca attacked her from behind?She got up, and the abrupt movement made her dizzy.“You fell and hit your head,” said a plump woman who was changing bandages on someone’s burned leg. “Lie down and wait until your concussion has passed, else you’ll pass out again and I will not carry you back to your haystack.”Scarlett ignored her and rushed outside.
“Hey, you’re all right!” Voty said as soon as Scarlett stepped into her former home. She was so startled that she almost yelled.“What are you doing here?” Scarlett asked when she had composed herself from nearly having a heart attack.“I came to get some things for you. I didn’t know how long you’d be in the barracks. Eh, it’s the healing center now, I guess. How did you hurt yourself so badly by walking into a lamp?”“I fell. I’m so clumsy!” was all Scarlett said, as she went towards the kitchen area. Seeing the giant pot where Grina used to make her delicious stews made her want to cry.In the morning she had been fueled by rage, not caring who or what stood in her way to get the Hova out and use him to rescue Mimbi. Now, with a cooler head, she began to analyze the possible consequences of her actions.Where would she go if she was exiled?Grina had once said t
When Scarlett returned to Luca’s tent, it was well into the night. The stars had moved in the dark sky, and she calculated that there were only one or two hours left until dawn.The guards who patrolled the camp were dozing off, leaning against each other. That suited her perfectly.Before entering the tent, she felt slightly embarrassed. She had never been in such a small space with a man, least of all with someone like Luca. But she gathered her courage and she stepped inside.She wasn’t ready for what she saw.Scarlett had thought that Luca would be up, tying any loose strings about their plans or getting ready in some way. But he was half-naked and snoring on his cot. Had they really been planning to do something at dawn? Or were men just always like this?First, she set her swords and pack on the floor. It wouldn’t do to wake him up looking like she was ready to attack him again.Then she coughed, trying to catch his a
Luca stared at the three girls while he cleaned the burn wound on his arm. The Karainas had hurled fireballs at them from behind the flaming gates, and one dashed right past his elbow. The wound wasn't deep, but he wouldn't stop fussing about it. Scarlett couldn’t tell what he thought of their escape. A tense argument seemed to be going on in his head as he daubed the wound with a yellowish ointment, looked at the girls, shook his head, then sighed, and stared at the girls again. “Are you going to speak? I need to relieve myself,” Pakuri said all of a sudden. Luca had summoned them and asked to talk to them, but then had them standing there seemingly for no reason. “I’m trying to understand the logic behind your actions," he said. "I understand you three are all barely of age, but you are supposed to be Karainas. I get that you wanted to avoid fighting the other Karainas, but you could've come to me first." “I tri
Scarlett’s first impulse was to run towards the camp, but another arrow flew close past her shoulder. She took cover behind a wide hollow tree, trying to figure out where the attackers were coming from. Not far, Voty was hurling fireballs towards the general direction that the arrows had come from, but it was hard for her to throw them and not hit the trees. Scarlett assumed she didn't want to set the whole forest on fire. "I honestly never thought sleep was a luxury," Prince Marcellus said, finally opening his eyes. Scarlett heard the sound of metal crashing against metal, and realized Luca's soldiers must already be engaged with whoever was attacking them. The arrows didn't belong to the Karainas, so she had no idea who they could've belonged to. Whoever it was, it was strange that they hadn’t shot Prince Marcellus. He was the easiest target in the forest: tied up and completely immobile. “Ok, I’ve had it with this,”
Scarlett ran after the prince as fast as her itching body could carry her. It was one thing to run in an open field, on solid ground and a smooth path. In the forest, one wrong turn could send her crashing into a tree or a hole in the ground, especially when her skin was on fire.After several minutes, Scarlett was forced to admit to herself that even she could not outrun a Hova. She stopped and fell on her knees, panting as if her lungs were trying to leave her chest just to get a bit of air.The itch seemed to have gotten worse. Now she really felt like ripping the skin off her body. No matter how she scratched, she got no relief. It was like the poison in the plant had been waiting for her to stop, so she could concentrate only on the pain.Laying on the ground, she looked like a fish out of the water, thrashing and gulping for air as she tried to scratch her body with the overgrown roots of a tree.Her two hands were simply not eno
Mimbi felt that if her mother were here to see her, she'd be ashamed of her daughter and heiress.When Lord Galax had used her as food, all she did was wince. She took in the pain and anger and shoved it deep inside her.She wanted to live, and she was in no position to fight. So she would shut up and let herself become food, be bossed around, and comply with Lord Galax's wishes. Because that was the only way he wouldn't kill her.When Lord Galax realized that Mimbi's blood tasted different from the other girls', he had only smiled and said: "Let this be our secret. I hear anyone mention something about you being a witch, and you're dead. You set anything on fire, and I will kill every single one of the girls. Do you understand?"And Mimbi had nodded like an obedient child.She supposed it could be worse. She was set up in a tent next to Lord Galax's, with a soft bed and a little table to take her meals. But then again, that only made her fee
Marcellus really didn't want to have to do this, but he had no choice. If he wanted to save this stupid girl's life, he had to get the poison out of the wound. And it happened that he had a pair of fangs that could perfectly tear into flesh. The problem was that he'd have to bring himself to stop. He'd spent so long without drinking human blood that he wasn't sure he'd be able to resist it. If he couldn't, he'd be betraying all the ideals he'd worked so hard to uphold. Humans weren't meant to be food. They were as smart as Hova, and if he was honest, much better than the people of his race. Humans worked together to make their lives better; the Hova lived their lives scared of one another, constantly vying for a way to get ahead at the cost of other people. Marcellus couldn't really blame them, though. It had been his father who made the Hova that way. His reign of terror was almost one hundred years old, and a century of living in fear could do things to you
Mimbi woke up from the best sleep she had had in a while. She had lain down on the bed after eating the food Lord Galax had gotten her and pretty much passed out, waking up freezing in the middle of the night and crawling under the covers in a daze.It had been such a long time since she had slept on a real bed, with sheets and a soft and fluffy pillow. Somehow, feeling so good made her miss Scarlett and her mother even more. It reminded her of the times when she'd wake up to the smell of food downstairs, and Scarlett and Grina would be arguing about something silly.The sun was barely peeking out from behind the mountains, and she really wished she could go back to sleep. She couldn't remember what she had been dreaming about, but it had been a good dream. And anything was better than her reality now.On the other hand, she was really curious as to why Lord Galax wanted her here. Something was off, not only about the fact that he whisked her a
"We have to stop them," Scarlett said, more to herself than to anyone. She turned, looking at the ground she had stepped on. Every step she took had left a solid piece of glass on the dirt."See, now maybe you'll be good for something," Pakuri said to her in a mocking voice, walking up to her.Voty soon joined them, still holding out her wounded hand. The two kept their distance from Scarlett, but at least they weren't looking at her with fear or hatred. Marcellus stopped next to her, looking out towards the hills."Voty, I'm so sorry. I didn't know... I have no idea what is going on to my body," Scarlett pleaded. "I...""We'll worry about this later. Right now we have to help Luca." Voty smiled at her in her customary sweetly manner."Where are my swords?" Scarlett said."Here's one," Marcellus said picking the Hova sword up from the ground and handing it to Scarlett. It was stained with blood."Whose...""Yo
Scarlett didn't know where she was, but she felt the freezing air swirling around her. She tried to remember what had happened to her, but her mind was blank. Had she fallen asleep? Would she be late for training? No, this couldn't be Karai. It was never this cold here. She tried to move but her limbs didn't respond. Was she dead? She felt her mind begin to recede as if lulling her to sleep, and sleep sounded like a good idea right now. It would be easy, letting go. But just as her mind began to shut down, her field of vision was flooded by a white, blinding light. And she felt... something. As if someone had placed a warm fire next to her or taken her body out to the sun. She smelled something delicious, like sweet nectar. Then she tasted it, and the warm liquid passed through her throat, filling her stomach. One by one the feeling came back to her body. There was solid ground beneath her, and she moved her tongue. The nectar flowed from whatever her lips were holdi
"The inn! It was the inn!" someone cried out as Marcellus grabbed his head. The explosion had sent him flying towards a lamp post. He stood and turned to see where Scarlett had landed, only to see that she wasn't close by. She wasn't anywhere in the street. "Scarlett!" he cried out, lifting a wooden sign to search under the pile on which it stood. This girl was going to drive him insane. They hadn't even left Arandana, and she was already missing. His eyes widened when he saw the house she had thrown up in. There used to be a two-story building next to it, and now there was only one enormous pile of steaming debris in that same place. No, no, no. She couldn't go dying on him yet. He ran to the pile and began to climb, searching for the general spot where he had left her. "Scarlett!" he yelled. "Can you hear me?" "Hova!" someone cried out, and Marcellus ducked just in time to dodge an arrow coming his way. A middle-a
Luca couldn't help but think of Scarlett as the procession slowly advanced towards Hovern's field. The place wasn't a field, really, but rather a garden, where Queen Edda had opened up a conservatory and a museum. That was one of the first things she had done when she took the crown, turning the place into a beautiful place where people could gather to learn about plants and Arandana's history. She was fond of saying that she'd live there if she could, but one of the agreements the council put in place ages ago was that the monarch of Arandana had to reside in the castle. At least, now in dead, that was where she was going to be laid to rest. Most of the Arandanians stood silently at the side of the road, but some were shedding tears and not holding back their sadness. Most of them had arun lillies in their hands. Yes, Queen Edda had been good to them. Luca knew of so many kings and queens who used their citizens as cash cows, taking more
"What... what is that?" Voty said, stammering and sneezing almost at the same time.No one felt the need to answer her question because just as she asked it, hundreds of horses ran out of the smoking ruins in line, heading east. The black and silver flags they carried told them who they were.The Hova."We have to go back and evacuate the city," Xander said, already turning back his horse."What about the people there?" Scarlett made Sunu step in front of him. "Send Frank or the other soldiers. We have to go see if there are any survivors."Prince Marcellus only watched the scene below them with a frown."Why don't you make your prince go stop them? Get out of the way," Xander said to Scarlett.Without saying a word, Marcellus made his horse gallop straight towards the village on fire. Pakuri followed him in her rhea, and so did Voty.The soldiers all began to turn their horses back, and Scarlett wished she could hu
Scarlett met with Voty, Pakuri, and Marcellus in the stables, where Sunu and the other rheas had been staying. The birds looked ecstatic to see the girls again, pecking at their human companions affectionately. Luca hadn't been in the room when she woke up, and she didn't think there was more they could say to each other, so she hadn't gone looking for him either. It was a dismal day; grey and foggy as if the sky itself was mourning Queen Edda. When she met up with the girls, they informed her that the funeral procession was already underway, so it would have been impossible to find Luca, anyway. "I missed you," Scarlett said to Sunu, brushing her white feathers with her palm, and the bird dug her beak into Scarlett's stomach. "They're not a very talkative bunch," Marcellus said all of a sudden, joining the girls on a black horse. He cocked his head to the right, where four of Luca's soldiers sat on their mounts. One of them mo
The previous interruption from the other day seemed to have incited Luca to not take any chances this time. A split second after kissing Scarlett, he was already taking off her clothes as she backed up towards the bed, fumbling with his buckles.He sat her down on the bed and kept kissing her as his fingers moved towards her thighs and then inside of her, caressing her softly and then with more intensity.Scarlett couldn't think of anything but the pleasure he was giving her. Then he abruptly stood and finished the job she had started, taking off his clothes and tossing them behind him.A long while later, they fell asleep in each other's arms, exhausted and sweaty.Scarlett woke up when the sun was beginning to come out, only to feel his hardness close to her back. She turned and climbed on top of him, waking him up."You're insatiable, Karaina," he said to her teasingly, slowly opening his eyes."Well, something told
The second Lord Galax had left, Mimbi's legs buckled under her, sending waves of pain through her body. She accidentally knocked the table she was holding onto, sending a white vase rolling across the room. It was sheer luck that it happened to roll over the think patterned carpet, or else it would have shattered.She heard quick footsteps running over."Oh, dear! Are you all right, miss?" Lorna stopped when she saw Mimbi on the floor and then ran to her, immediately grabbing her under her arms and helping her stand."Yes, thank you," Mimbi said, but she wouldn't be able to stand for much longer, let alone climb the stairs without feeling excruciating pain."You're freezing," Lorna said once she pulled away from Mimbi.A second later, Mimbi's legs began to shake again, threatening to drop her again."Oh dear, something is really wrong. Can you stand at all?" Lorna said, putting one of Mimbi's arms over her shoulder. "Let me help