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Chapter 20: The Wild Unknown
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2021-11-16 15:34:16When 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
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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
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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,”
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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
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“At ease,” said Queen Edda, and everyone stopped being statues who were looking at the floor and went back to what they were doing. They seemed to purposely avoid glancing in her direction. Luca rose but bowed his head again once he looked at his Queen. She in turn, kept looking at Scarlett while she spoke. Scarlett was dumbstruck, having had no time to react with the Queen’s sudden appearance. She never imagined that the Queen would be in the muddy courtyard, especially with the soft rain. “I thought you were dead. Why didn’t you send a messenger? Who are these people?” said Queen Edda, finally looking away from Scarlett. “Your majesty, we… suffered a few incidents. I’d prefer to speak of them privately if you will let me. The women are Karainas,” he said, stepping aside as to let the Queen get a better view of the girls. Pakuri and Voty were still on their rheas behind Scarlett, so they moved to the side and nodded their heads in ack
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"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
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"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
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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
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