by Kassie Cox
I had been less worried about the King at that time, as I was forced to wear a ridiculous dress that was the ugliest shade of blue I’d ever seen. With a glass of ginger ale in one hand and a cookie in the other, I had been approached by the Queen.
Before her husband passed away, she had been a true beauty, always upright and sleek. The look in her eyes that day had told me I was going to learn an entirely new side of the woman everyone else in the Kingdom bowed before.
“Did you not want to dance?” She had mocked, knowing full well how much I hated those events. The stuck-up men and women walked around in fancy clothes, devoured wine and pretended they would someday make it into the life of our royals. It was disgusting to me. My lack of an answer made her take the seat beside me, her smile wide and demanding of attention. “Perhaps you’d enjoy a little mission for tonight; would that bring a smile to you?” When I nodded, she reached into her dress beneath one of the many folds and pulled out a beautiful dagger. Engraved with the most beautiful designs, it held my attention more than anything in that room could’ve.
“What will I be doing, Your Highness?” Her well-done brows raised; her smile became a smirk as she narrowed her eyes on someone across the room. My gaze followed in that direction, coming to land on Valor and the little girl he was spending a better part of the evening with.
“That girl has attempted to poison one of your future King’s drinks. Luckily his private guard caught it and got rid of the cup before anything could be consumed. But we’d like to prevent her from trying anything else, as I have a feeling, she was sent to this party for one purpose. Let’s just say I don’t believe it’s for an evening of fun with the future King.” Immediately, I took the weapon, understanding the queen’s motive behind this mission. I carefully slid it into the folds of my dress, where I’d had a maid put a pocket.
Originally the pocket had been added to steal a few small bottles of wine, but I supposed this use was just as well.
“When she goes to the washroom, follow her. Do what you need to do.” She stood quickly, giving a passer-by a smile and a wave before dropping her eyes to me once more. “You need not worry about noise. In fact, let the little bitch scream.” With that, she was gone leaving me to my own devices as I prepared for my first kill. Hopefully, it ended with the ruin of this horrific dress.
It took a solid hour of keeping my eyes on her to catch the girl moving away from Valor, giving him a kiss on the cheek before walking towards the only available room we had for the guests in the castle. I made my way toward her, smiling at those who spoke to me and easily ignoring their attempts at conversations.
My eyes never left the entrance of the woman’s washroom until I’d reached the large wooden door. I looked around and slipped inside. Closing the door silently behind me, I made eye contact with the girl in the mirror as she reapplied her lipstick, a pretty smile coming to her lips as she saw me.
“A beautiful ball, is it not?” She laughed out loud, as if she wasn’t here to murder the boy I’d sworn to protect. At my lack of response, she gave me a concerned look but quickly hid it and turned back to the mirror with raised brows. I faced towards the door, took a deep breath, and clicked the lock into place. Her sharp intake was the response to my action, a soft heel click as she stepped in whichever direction.
Upon my turning, I could see the recognition in her little blue eyes, and I anticipated she was going to fight with the fists clenched at her sides. Her eyes roamed over me, taking in the threat that she’d never have a chance at beating. At that young age I was short, not intimidating unless you counted the dead look in my mismatched eyes. When I pulled the dagger from my pocket, however, I sensed a bit of fear run through her.
“You do understand why I have to do this? Don’t you?” I kept my voice level, head tilted to the side as I took a small step toward the girl. Her hands came up, as if they would stop the knife that would kill her. The cool expression turned to pure horror as I took another step.
“There’s no need! It was just a tranquilizer! I wanted to scare him. I promise, I’d never actually kill-” I rushed her. A loud scream left her lips as I threw a punch, meeting her teeth with my knuckles. She tried to hit back, a weak attempt at a slap to my head and I used her off balanced position to my advantage. I kicked the side of her leg, causing her to hit the ground with a loud cry. When I placed the knife to her throat, I pushed my fingers into her hair, holding her higher up as I felt wetness pooling at my feet. Her last scream was cut short as I quickly dragged the blade across the rest of her throat. Blood was everywhere. For a moment, she struggled, trying to stop the bleeding with her own hands, but within seconds, she fell limp, dead as I continued to hold her above the stone floor.
The sound of the bathroom door crashing open revived my senses as Valor’s personal guard was the first to see the young woman dead by my hand. The Queen stepped in, avoiding the pieces of broken door that still held strong to the hinges. The look on her face was one that I hadn’t expected. She seemed disappointed, but quickly enough she turned away. Valor approached from behind her, shocked from head to toe. The future King’s eyes followed the blood and piss on the floor all the way up to my face. Betrayal was written across his features.
“May I keep the dagger, Your Highness?” With that, I let go of the girl, blood splattering as I watched Valor throw up to his left. A satisfied Queen nodded and with that, I left, not looking back as I headed to my room for a shower.
“I had expected you to be crying when I’d found you there, but instead, you seemed bored as if the fun was over now that she was dead.” Mirela gave a sad smile. “I thought that would fix you, bring you to life and that you’d be eaten alive with the guilt of murdering that young woman in cold blood. But to this day, you don’t care. The lack of remorse is almost volatile, quite honestly, but unlike everyone else in this Kingdom, I know that you did not choose to be like that.”
“Where are you going with this?” I questioned her, my patience thinning as I tried to prepare myself for the death I was most likely going to face. She cocked her head at me, a wry smile appearing on her aged face.
“I’m trying to tell you that there is a very specific reason that you can’t feel things, that you lacking emotions is not some chemical imbalance. You need to know this before you go into those woods because I am entirely sure that this is fate leading you into something that you will most certainly not understand. There are many secrets with your past, Keres. I just so happen to be the only living human being who knows them. Perhaps if you make it back, I can share them with you some time.” Curiosity ran through me but not enough to question her further. I didn’t care that there were things in my past that I didn’t understand. I’d never truly questioned how I’d turned up at the castle as I had been an infant at the time.
The past was the past. It was strange to me, however, that Mirela knew all this information.
“Perhaps, if I make it back. Now I must get going, Your Highness.” I gave her a lazy bow, “You know--dogs to kill and humans to save. All that- “
“If you think this is a joke, then this will be the roughest time of your life, child. I suggest you walk into that pack with respect, or they’ll eat you alive.” I didn’t stop walking as she called after me, but her words did make an impact.
I thought about what she’d said throughout the rest of the night, trying to discover my own answers to the questions that only that woman seemed to know.
Chapter 5
I had no clue as to where they expected me to go. Draven and I packed our horses in mid-day light. The King stood a few feet away, a silent resolve of anger across his face, dark circles under his eyes from his lack of sleep. He’d spent the night walking the halls of the castle, I could hear him as I’d been trying to get rest for today.
Mirela was nowhere in sight, and I hadn’t seen her at dinner the night before. Valor didn’t mention her to me. Granted, I didn’t ask.
“You sure you want to come?” I questio
ned the terrified looking male in front of me. He gave me a nervous smile before mounting his horse. A sharp nod is all I got before he turned away to face the direction we had planned to go. I figured we’d just ride back to the territory we’d just taken; perhaps we’d find the beasts there. If not, then I wasn’t sure what to do.
“I can’t believe you’re really doing this.” Valor spoke, his voice low as he stared at me. His unrelenting glare made me sigh in impatience. The man really didn’t understand the benefit of this plan. Not for me, but for himself.
“Everything is going to be fine—you have to trust me on that.” My words came easily, but I knew they were a lie. So, did he. Everyone in this Kingdom knew me and Draven most likely wouldn’t be coming back alive, but no one dared to say it.
Before I could step away Valor put his hands on me once more, his heavy breath hitting my face as he made direct eye contact with me. Those large hands gripped my shoulders, and they slowly moved upward until one was in my hair, the other on my chin.
“Your Highness what- “His lips crushed mine, the force of his anger going through me as the man kissed me furiously. I didn’t respond—I didn’t know how to respond as he let out a low groan. My body stilled; my eyes widened with confusion. Only when he pulled away did I make the hasty decision to rip away from the man I’d known my entire life.
The King looked struck, as if the stars in his sky had just aligned, yet I felt as though I’d just been stabbed in the stomach. A strong pain shot through me as I stared at him with a shocked expression.
He’d completely caught me off guard, and I did not like that. Instead of replying to the move he’d just pulled on me, I mounted my horse, continuing to look at the man who’d just put his mouth on mine.
The pain in my chest grew as a wave of nausea hit me.
“Tell your mother I will see her soon.” My last words drifted before I whipped my head away from him and pushed my horse forward. Draven did his best to keep up as I put the most distance between the King and me as I could. My head swirled with confusion, disgust—I’m not entirely sure of everything that went through me as my horse picked up speed.
I only slowed down when we approached the edge of the Kingdom, the forest we’d barely made it out of a few nights ago sitting so close in front of us. My eyes scoured the tree line, looking for some clue as to where we should go. The wolf was well hidden, but I could make it out against the dead forestry. I whistled to the animal, making it jump to its feet and glare at us from a distance.
Draven groaned as it sprinted across the field, making its way around the trees and leading us more to the left than I had traveled. We followed it, asking no questions as the half man half beast led us in the direction that could very well be our death.
“I don’t think the animal is very happy about being our escort.” Draven did his best to whisper to me, but when the dog looked back at us and growled lowly, I know that it heard. With a swallow, the male beside me shook a bit, his eyes widened.
I swallowed my laugh, not wanting the beast to think I was willing to show any kind of reaction to the threats he gave us.
The way wolves moved interested me. They were creatures of nature in a human’s skin for half their lives. I imagined that even in human form these beasts still acted on instinct, using their noses and walking like the predator that was hidden beneath their thickened skin. Sure, I’d met with the leader of that pack we’d ridden ourselves of, but I had spent most of time making sure the bastard of a man didn’t get close enough to rip my King’s throat out. I was less concerned with how he moved and more about where he was trying to take us, as he’d made many threatening gestures in front of me in the day, he had visited the castle. Downright disrespectful that man had been. Granted, we had been kicking him off his homeland, but that should’ve given him an incentive to kiss our asses.
Instead he wanted to act like a beast in my presence, and then a coward when it came time to show what he was made for. He was a man I’d never respect, and deep down, I hoped the one leading this pack wasn’t as spineless as the last. If I was to die by the hand of these savages, I expected it to be by a worthy hand. It had to be someone who didn’t hide away when danger knocked on the door.
Over half the day was spent on horseback, going at a slower pace than I preferred. One wolf walked in front of us, and two of them behind. Once I’d noticed the extra beasts, I had taken two of my daggers from my boots. I may not kill them all, but if I was attacked, I’d take one of those fury bitches down with me. They didn’t seem keen on getting close to us, however, just close enough to keep us caged.
They walked us through a bit of brush; when we emerged, it looked as though we’d stepped into an entirely different world. The land around us was well filled with cabins and a large home, like the one I’d burned to the ground just a few nights ago. The memory of that night brought a little smile to my face, as I always enjoyed accomplishing my tasks even if it had led me to this moment.
“This is the little fairy, huh?” The woman’s voice was full of amusement as we approached. Her blonde hair was cut very short, golden eyes were set below a pair of pale brows, and she was taller than almost any woman I’d ever met. She was a tad lanky but toned, a force to be reckoned with, I was sure.
“Short in stature, but big in spirits,” I retorted, my eyes staying on her as a crowd of beasts gathered around us. Some looked more upset than others. I imagined these animals were just itching to get their claws into the woman who’d murdered one of their own pack members. Killing the entirety of another pack probably rubbed them the wrong way as well, but I wouldn’t assume.
“Your people have been released onto the new territory of yours, so our part of the deal has been met. We are people of our word, believe that or not.” The woman said, her eyes narrowing on someone behind me. Before I had a chance to turn around, I was tackled from the horse, the force of the wolf knocking the breath from my lungs.
I tried to get to my feet quickly, inhaling a large breath as a brown beast bit at me—barely missing my neck. My dagger swung for its head, slicing through its ear and causing a riot to break out around me.
If these savages wanted a fight, then I’d give them one.
Chapter 6
The first beast backed down quickly, with one ear gone and a good cut to its side. Two more jumped on me quickly, their teeth nipping and barely tearing at my skin as if they wanted to cause damage but not death.
I growled out when a human foot landed on my back, knocking me to my knees. I spun to see a large male, his shaved head gleaming in the sun as he tried to put another foot into my side. I caught the limb easily, jerking him to the ground with me as I brought my elbow down on his knee.
A howl left his lips as I tossed him away. I was ready to get back to the wolves.
They circled me, one jumping every few steps while the other watched my movements carefully. I decided to lunge for the more active one, my dagger landing right into its hip as it tried to jump from me. I was met with a growl and a pair of teeth in my wrist, pulling me roughly away from the other wolf who was whining in pain.
The first time I’d ever killed a wolf I’d been with Valor. At twenty, I wasn’t all that experienced with the beasts, but I had been told many tales of them and had even seen a few from a distance, but never had I approached one.
We’d been on some picnic in the forest, nothing far from the castle of course, but it wasn’t open enough for a few beasts to sneak into. Valor had invited a pretty little maid to join us, and I was supposed to be the one protecting the King from his own desires and whatever threats proved worthy.
It ended with me half asleep against a tree while he and the little woman did whatever a little farther into the brush. I’d heard the steps, the sound of a predator stalking its prey, and I had been on my feet in an instant.
I looked into the dead black eyes of a rogue that was scrawnier than any starved dog I’d ever seen. Its growl was something between a gurgle and a
whine, and it had continued to stare at me as I put myself between the beast and my King.
“Your Highness, you need to run.” My words had been steady, as I did my best not to make the beast attack before he had a chance to escape. I heard rustling and a few curses before the animal lunged. Desperate growls left its dried throat as it tried its best to get me down.
My sword was quick that day, landing a solid hit to its shoulder and making it fall. It hadn’t stopped. Even the smell of its own blood had sent the creature into a frenzy—snapping its jaws at me repeatedly before I released a long grunt and brought my sword down on its head.
The weapon stuck into the beast’s skull, making it go still and fall to the ground. No more sounds were released until I heard a footstep behind me. I spun, lunging at whatever else was trying to kill me.
Valor had stared up at me, the smile on his face confusing, but I had ignored it. I’d yelled at him, cursing his name and threatening to lock him in the castle for the rest of his days. He’d laughed and told me how amazing it had been to see me kill the beast so quickly.
I hadn’t waited to see what became of the monster whose life I had just ended.
Hits and bites came one after another, a foot to my jaw made me woozy enough to finally hit the ground and not try to stand back up. I could hear them speaking to me, yelling words of anger.
They threatened my life and that of my King. I rested on my hands and knees, trying to take in deep breaths, but the pain in my ribs hurt with each attempt.
“A real warrior this one is!” Yelled a woman who’d walked to the middle of the circle, her eyes trained on me as she shot me a mocking grin.
If I only got to kill one more of these monsters—this bitch would be the one.
I ignored her features, caring little about anything other than the face she’d make when my very last dagger landed its mark. I waited patiently, faking my injuries a bit as she got within a foot of me.
