Neela

Neela

Pain lanced up my ankle, searing and undeniable. My left foot hung off my leg at an odd angle, and I couldn’t even look at it.

That asshole Ronan had left me in the mud, miles from anywhere, with a broken ankle. I wanted to say I couldn’t believe he’d stoop so low, but I could believe it. The Ronan I’d met in the bar was a fake—the real one was coldhearted, calculating, and apparently did not welcome the Floran Princess with open arms.

All four real heirs wanted to get rid of me, probably so they could rule Verda alone. Typical power-hungry political move that would have been right home among the street crews in the Docklands.

They wore fancier clothes and had fancy colorful eyes, but these fae were just as lowlife as anybody from back home.

That made my life much easier because I knew what I was dealing with. If they’d been kind and welcoming, I’d have been out of my depth…but rude and murderous? That I could work with.

I shifted, and agony lanced through my ankle. I must have run about two or three miles through the forest, so that was two or three miles I had to hobble back on a broken foot.

No way would I try to finish this race. I didn’t care if I won or lost, I didn’t care about their stupid point systems, and I didn’t care if I didn’t gain the skills I needed to Ascend.

None of that mattered because I wasn’t fae, so I would never sit on their stupid throne or kill myself to receive my full powers.

None of it mattered. But I couldn’t admit to that and get these assholes off my back because they’d know I’d stolen the precious Floran Bracelet from the actual fae princess.

Fuck my life.

I winced through the pain, pulled myself to standing, and grabbed a long stick to use as a makeshift crutch. The track was muddy and wet, and I hobbled up the slimy slope, struggling not to slip on the slick surface.

Each step was agony as my dangling foot wobbled, and my nerves screamed. The sole of my good foot was scratched to shit from my barefoot sprint through the forest.

If I was fae, I could glide as smoothly as they did and my damn ankle wouldn’t jar. That would be nice.

I wanted to give up. Wanted more than anything to lie down on the mud and be still, but I couldn’t.

“Just give up,” he’d said. Well, I wouldn’t give him the bloody satisfaction.

Nobody got the better of me.

He might think he was in a position of power and could bully me into submission, but he didn’t know I was a fake, that I had the upper hand and was just toying with him while I figured out how to stay in Arathay.

The fire in my ankle burned hot, but the fire in my belly was even hotter. I would get revenge on Ronan for breaking my ankle and leaving me to die. I’d get revenge on the whole entitled gang of them, but especially Ronan.

He was the one who stared me in the eyes and then walked away, abandoning me with a broken leg. He’s the one who gifted me that mind-blowing orgasm last night. What kind of a man screwed your brains out one night and left you to die in the morning? Worst one-night stand ever.

My tattoo tingled, and I glanced down, spotting a ripe fruit that looked like a pear but was deep purple. I was beginning to trust my tattoo, and I spoke into it. “Should I eat that pear thingy?”

It tingled again, which I took as a yes. Since when did I take advice from a demonic tattoo? I sighed. Since now.

When I took a bite of the juicy fruit, the agony in my ankle lessened to a dull throb. “Fuck me.” I gobbled down the whole thing.

The pain didn’t disappear, but it subsided to a tolerable level.

This whole shitshow reminded me of when Randy’s crew had beaten me senseless and then dumped me in the woods outside of town with a twisted knee, and I had to limp back to civilization. I did it once, so I could do it again. I didn’t even have a magical fruit that time.

I grabbed another pear and stuffed it into my bra to carry, in case the numbing effect wore off, then hobbled along the path again, still using the crutch and hopping but going much faster since my ankle didn’t scream with every step.

A stream tinkled beside me, filling the air with a sweet dewy mist, and I couldn’t resist scrambling off the path and collapsing beside it. I drank greedily from the flowing water.

Only it wasn’t water but a slightly sweet wine that quenched my thirst and sent a joyous mood buzzing through me. Man, I could love this place.

Minus the evil princes and princesses who wanted me dead, of course.

I drank my fill, then stood again, balancing precariously on my one good leg while I got my makeshift crutch in position. I stabbed the crutch onto a large tuft of grass and heaved my weight onto it.

A pained squeak came from the grass tuft, and it unfurled, revealing sweet paws with sweet little toe beans and a sweet little face with big brown eyes. It was a creature that looked like a teddy bear and kitten rolled into one, and I would have oohed and aahed if it hadn’t been leaking organs and spraying blood from a gaping wound.

“Oh shit, I’m so sorry.” I bent down to pet the creature’s head when a second not-a-grass-tuft unfurled and lunged at me. As it attacked, the soft teddy bear features morphed into a tiger’s head, its muzzle growing and sharp fangs appearing, which would have taken off my hand if I hadn’t fallen back on my ass and shimmied away.

I bum-shuffled and scurried along the creekside as fast as possible. This thing could easily kill me. But it shrank back to its normal size and returned to its mate. A high keening sound filled the air, turning my skin to gooseflesh.

The creature licked its injured mate, its grief-stricken cries piercing the woods. The smaller, bloodied animal’s gentle whimpers ceased.

I backed away, turning to leave. Nobody helped me, and I helped nobody; that was my rule. I didn’t owe these creatures anything.

Except I did. I owed them both. I’d javelined one right through its belly, and it was bleeding out. The high-pitched keening continued. My carelessness hadn’t only ruined one life but two.

“Fuck it.”

I bit into the second purple pear, then held out the fruit segment to the two creatures. The healthy one, larger and a darker green than its injured mate, snarled at me and bared its vicious fangs.

Still, I approached. Slowly, damn slowly, while keeping one eye on the growling beast. When I got within range, I squeezed pear juice into the bleeding mouth. The whimpering stopped, and the darker animal watched me carefully, intelligence gazing from its large brown eyes.

I’d stopped the pain and could leave with a light heart. Creatures died all the time in the wild, that’s why it was called the wild. They didn’t call this place the gentle or the safe, did they? It wasn’t my fault if a beast sustained an injury and then died.

I turned and crawled away, and the second creature let me go, but it wailed again and licked its mate, and the sound of its grief coated my skin.

“Fuck it. “I shimmied back down to the creature and swept it into my arms, eyeing its vicious protector warily.

“Fine, you stupid thing,” I told the injured creature as I cradled it against my chest. “I’ll take you home. Liz will find you a doctor. Or a vet.” I sighed as I wedged my crutch into my armpit and hopped onto the path again. “You and me both, buddy.”

I hobbled home on my bare, bloodied foot, going as fast as possible and holding the blood-soaked bundle of fur against my chest. Its mate followed me every step of the way, growling quietly but making no attempt to stop me.

After an eternity, I made it back to the moonway that led to the Rose Palace. Thank God Liz had told me to look out for the pile of stones that marked the entrance to the magical path, or I never would have found it.

I emerged at the back of the Rose Palace with the two teddy bear tigers in tow. I called for help and collapsed onto a bush, which kindly caught me.

Liz sauntered outside with a sassy expression, probably coming to mock me for my tattered and muddy chiffon dress, but when she saw me, her face fell. She stopped a dozen feet away. “Why is a snuffle tuff following you? Actually, my real question is, why hasn’t that snuffle tuff killed you yet?”

I was too tired to be scared of that question. Besides, I already knew it was dangerous, but it hadn’t hurt me yet. I wiped a muddy hand across my brow. “It isn’t following me. It’s following this.” I held up the bloodied bundle in my hands, and Liz backed up a pace. “Can you fetch a doctor for it?”

She looked at me like I had asked her to fetch me the moon. “You want a Healer for a snuffle tuff?”

I nodded. “And for me.”

She couldn’t argue with that, so she agreed and ran inside to summon one.

“Hey!” I called after her, and she paused to hear me out. “You were right about the dress,” I admitted, primly patting down my torn and grubby chiffon rags.

Her pale green eyes lit with mischief. “Of course I was. I’m right about everything.” With a sassy little curtsy, she turned and dashed off to find a Healer.