No one had warned Scarlett that getting out of the dress would be even harder than getting into it.
She tried to unlace the straps holding it onto her body, but whenever she twisted her left shoulder, a pang of pain made it impossible to do anything but pull. After a few minutes, she was sure that she had tangled the straps on her back.
Hoping that Voty might still be up, she left the room, trying not to make noise. Thankfully, there was no one in the corridor. As she passed Pakuri’s room, she was extra careful not to walk into a statue in front of it. When she arrived at Voty’s room, she knocked on the door, but no one answered. She opened it slightly and peeked inside.
Voty was at the foot of the bed, crying. She lifted her head up towards Scarlett, wiping the tears that had dampened her cheeks.
“What’s wrong?” Scarlett said, walking into the room and closing the door behind her. She meant to sit on the bed but she tripped
“What are you doing here?” Luca growled. Scarlet froze in her place. She realized how bad this looked. Her dress was loose as if she had just put it back on or been in the process of removing it. And Prince Marcellus didn’t look too good himself, with his hair all messed up. But it had been that way before he arrived… not because they had interacted physically in any way. “I just came to give Miss Scarlett some information. I’ll be going back to my room. Don’t bother with the chains,” Prince Marcellus said, holding his hand up as if it were beneath him to listen to Luca. Then he walked away, leaving Scarlett to face Luca, who looked at her as if he wanted to kill her. “Information?” he said, raising his eyebrows. “It’s a long story,” said Scarlett, sighing. “I am all ears.” “It’s... something I can’t share with anyone, just yet.” “And you expect me to believe that all you were doing with that monster was talking? Look a
“What… what does that mean?” Scarlett said, sitting down on the bed. Of all the things that could have happened to her, this one was the one she least expected. “Just that it’s in your blood. I don’t know what… triggers it, so to speak. I don’t know anything at all, actually. I only tasted it once, a long time ago. On someone who later died because of an unnamed disease. And it doesn’t smell like sickness to us. Remember I told you I can smell diseases on humans? To me, you smell normal. So it has to be that…” “So you’re not technically sure, then? Are you?” “I’m pretty sure,” said Prince Marcellus matter of factly. “I’m not going to tell anyone… if that’s what you’re worried about.” Scarlett held her head between her hands, massaging her temples. “You just told me I may have an incurable disease that may or may not kill me someday. Do you really think it matters if anyone knows?” “It does if they think you’re part Hova. They’re convin
“What are you doing here?” Luca growled. Scarlet froze in her place. She realized how bad this looked. Her dress was loose as if she had just put it back on or been in the process of removing it. And Prince Marcellus didn’t look too good himself, with his hair all messed up. But it had been that way before he arrived… not because they had interacted physically in any way. “I just came to give Miss Scarlett some information. I’ll be going back to my room. Don’t bother with the chains,” Prince Marcellus said, holding his hand up as if it were beneath him to listen to Luca. Then he walked away, leaving Scarlett to face Luca, who looked at her as if he wanted to kill her. “Information?” he said, raising his eyebrows. “It’s a long story,” said Scarlett, sighing. “I am all ears.” “It’s... something I can’t share with anyone, just yet.” “And you expect me to believe that all you were doing with that monster was talking? Look a
Scarlett blocked Humbert’s attack by crossing her two swords into an X. It was so strong, that the collision between the metals sent sparks flying. She kicked him in the stomach, making him lose his footing, and sent him staggering backward. Humbert smiled, revealing his missing front tooth, and then began to circle Scarlett, who followed his movements closely. He charged again, but this time, sent his sword to Scarlett’s side. She ducked just in time, to the screams of the other soldiers. “Hey, Humbert! It’s just a spar, take it easy!” a soldier cried out, louder than the others. But Humbert didn’t seem to have any plans of doing so. He continued to attack Scarlett, swinging his sword left, right, and even managing to scratch Scarlett’s thumb. The wound was tiny, but a small piece of her skin had been cut off, and it bled down her hand. Scarlett had never fought someone as big as him. But his size also made him slow, and he was gettin
Scarlett took a detour before heading back to her room, hoping to find Pakuri and Voty, but they were nowhere to be seen. The few servants she saw practically skittered around her as they struggled to not stare whenever they crossed paths in the winding castle corridors. From the outside, it didn't look as big as it was on the inside. She hadn't even been to the highest floor yet. Not wanting to get lost, she followed the same path she had taken and arrived at her roo to find Gerta standing next to the door. “Miss, what happened to you?” she said, looking at Scarlett up and down. She hadn't even noticed that her arms and legs were full of scratches. Her clothes, which hadn’t looked too good in the first place, were torn in several places where Humbert’s sword had nicked her. “I was practicing,” she said, patting the swords on her hip. “Ah, well… Queen Edda asked to see you. I’d ask you to go change, but I fear that wi
When Scarlett left the room, she realized that Gerta hadn’t asked her to leave her swords behind when she went to talk to the Queen. Did that mean that the Queen trusted her enough to have her around her with weapons? Even if she sounded like a cold, calculating woman… Scarlett decided she liked her. Perhaps it was true, and there was a bit of herself in that woman. A door abruptly opened in the hallway, startling her. “Where is she?” Luca burst in, fully uniformed with the Golden Company’s armor, looking terrified. “Who?” "The Queen." "Her room. I just left," Scarlett said, pointing towards the door. "What is going on?" “Go to your room and lock yourself there,” Luca commanded, walking past Scarlett. “What is going on?” she repeated, as she watched Luca run towards the other door. She was very confused. “There are Hova in the castle." With that, he went into the Queen's room.
Mimbi had never been so glad it was raining. Lady Numia had been wanting to leave for three days, but the skies had different plans. It poured for the better part of two days. On the third day, a light drizzle enveloped the camp, making everyone cranky and bored.She had even forgotten to ‘punish’ Mimbi for her insolence of refusing the clothes she had offered.The air was chilly and damp, so the other girls were ordered to stay indoors, lest they catch colds which could then go on to infect any of the Hova that drank from them.Even though Lady Numia ordered everyone to keep away from them, Mimbi noticed that some of the girls had fresh wounds from where a Hova had used her as food. Some sneaky guards had probably fed off them anyway, hoping that Lady Numia would turn a blind eye to some indiscretions. And the girls were probably too afraid to say anything if they even knew that Lady Numia was protecting them.However, it wasn’t the gir
Scarlett landed gracefully next to the two Hova. Prince Marcellus groaned, while the assassin finally managed to lift himself from the ground. He had lost one of his knives, but he quickly grabbed the other one and held it out in front of Scarlett. “I don’t want any trouble with you, Karaina,” he said, taking a few steps back. “Oh, but you’ve already started trouble by hurting your prince,” Scarlett said, edging closer to him with her swords raised. It was hard for her not to take her eyes off Prince Marcellus’s body. A dark pool of blackish blood was already forming beneath his face. It stained his cheek, and his breathing was becoming rougher. If she had any magic, she would have been able to end this so quickly. But all she had were her swords. So she charged. The assassin was fast, as he had proven before while fighting Prince Marcellus. He swayed out of the way just before Scarlett’s sword pierced his torso. Then he took a s
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