A sea of trees stretched out between me and my home, housing ferocious creatures that would strip my flesh from my bones and spit out my crown after. My name would not save me here.
I was too far from the safety of the castle to call for help. I knew the rules. Anyone out after dusk was fair game, and I had been stupid enough to fall asleep under the hoary sky.
The lullaby that was sang to me as a child floated around my head. The words were a warning...
Hush, hush, don’t cry but smile, else those who bite will come before dawn.
Hush, child, hush, child, else your soul, we shall mourn.
The anumi that stalked the woods at night had excellent hearing, so any slight sound would alert them to my presence. I looked around. Behind me were white cliffs. Slices of damp grass ran around stretches of mud toward the edge, leading to the sea. I had walked through the trees earlier, staying on the beaten track while nocturnal creatures slept, but I wouldn’t make it through alive without the sun.
If I stayed where I was for long enough, I could maybe survive the night. I wanted to count on the guards to come looking for me, but even they were afraid of the woods at night, and who could blame them? Venturing into the tree line was a death sentence, but so was defying my father, who ruled with an iron fist. He would be furious if he found out no one came to save his heir to his throne.
I saw the beast before it saw me. An anumi wandered out through the trees. Its thick fur coat was as black as night. One would mistake it for a wolf, were it not for its piercing red eyes and larger size. Its paws clawed into the earth. Their eyesight was terrible, allowing me protection in the shadows. I did my best to slow my breathing, going against the want of my racing heart.
The beast’s breath rattled while it sniffed around the area. I stepped back as it neared. A twig snapped under the heel of my boot. I froze to the spot, holding my breath. It sniffed the air, licking its long tongue around its razor-sharp teeth and short snout. It let out a growl, then broke into a run. I made a beeline for the edge of the cliff. The creature’s short-winded gasps followed me as my muscles screamed for me to slow down. The cold ached my lungs with each breath.
I could smell the salt from the sea when I reached the edge. Sharp rocks at the bottom, surrounded by white currents, pointed up as a warning. I was in mer territory, and they were nocturnal creatures, equally as dangerous as the anumi.
Die now or die later, I decided.
I glanced back for a quick second. In my fear, I had left behind the one thing that could have saved me, my staff. It lay as a silhouette against the grass. It was too late to get it now, and my heart ached.
The anumi pounced at me, leaping through the air. I kicked my feet off the edge of the cliff, pushing out as far as I could, missing the fatal bite by mere inches as it snapped its teeth against the air.
Over the sound of crashing waves, I could make out the distant shouting of my name being called; the castle guards had come looking for me after all, but it was too late. My scream was silenced by the deep waters. The icy cold of the water sliced through me, freezing the air in my lungs and shocking me into stillness. My head felt as if it would explode. I squeezed my eyes shut to block out the chilled darkness.
The sea was unforgiving; when I surfaced, the waves pulled me back under. My heart pounded vigorously. I fought against the freezing temperatures and pushed myself toward the sky again. I gasped half a breath before I was pulled away by a strong current. My bones cracked, but I couldn’t feel a thing. I was numb all over. My head pounded as I grasped around at the empty blackness around me. Pain seared through my body, something grabbed me, another hand tugged me in the opposite direction, and as I resurfaced, everything faded away.
***
Lost in a daydream of a world where I could have ruled, I floated in silent suffering. My body would never be found in the sea, my bones swallowed by the demons of the deep. I would never get to join my ancestors who were buried in the depths of Ash Forest.
“Hand me the mugroot,” a voice instructed from above me.
I was alive. I had to be. People didn’t talk in the spirit realm. Without warning, I was aware of the flesh and bones that housed my soul. I howled. Pain ripped through me with each breath, any slight movement crippled me in agony. It felt like my skin was being ripped off me in pieces.
My body swayed from side to side. I was lying on something hard. I could hear a mast creaking and sails flapping in the wind. Sprays from the ocean hit my wounds.
“She’s in shock,” another voice said.
Acid rose from my stomach and up to my mouth. I choked and my throat burned, then I snapped my eyes open as I gasped for air. I waited to adjust to the darkness as small white spots filled my vision like stars. Hands crossed my line of sight. A searing pain pinched through my forehead. I squeezed my eyes shut again in response.
A strong scent of rum, damp wood, and fish filled my nostrils. One of the men pushed something rough and hard into a wound on my leg. I yelped loudly, and my body convulsed.
“Hold her down,” the man barked.
Strong hands held my arms and legs down as they continued to push it in further.
“Please,” I begged, my hoarse voice sounding unlike my own. “Stop.”
“Keep her still,” the man demanded, ignoring my pleas. “She’s losing too much blood.”
“The venom!” a woman shouted. “It’s too late. We can’t help her.”
“She’ll be fine, Bella!” the man barked. “Mercreatures! I’d kill them all if I could.”
The logical side of my brain kicked in. Of course a mercreature had bitten me. Venom from their bites was known to paralyze their victims, which would explain why I couldn’t move much. My thoughts weaved together, muddling into scenes that didn’t make sense. Boots thudded atop the wooden deck. More people closed in around me; I could smell their musky odor.
“You’ll be all right, maid. Stay still for us.” He made an effort to sound reassuring as he squeezed a liquid into a cut on my arm. It burned, made worse by a salty spray from the sea that hit the deck. Hot flushes amid cold shivers ran through me as I fought to fight the venom.
Desperate for any distraction to pull me from their torture, I thought back to home and the faces of my family. Our broken kingdom, Magaelor, long hidden under darkness and separation from the dark fae, was closer than ever to being brought together by my betrothal to prince Blaise. The wedding was supposed to happen in the fall, and only that had brought any comfort to my mother. She mistakenly believed my marriage would bring her and Father back together. Since I had accepted my fate and understood my charge, I realized the importance of uniting the kingdoms. What had once been my father’s ambition has become mine too, even if it meant an alliance with a Lazarus prince.
I yelped again when it all became too much. Squeezing my eyes shut tightly, I begged for relief. I clenched my teeth so hard, I was surprised they didn’t shatter. It was all too easy to give in to the looming darkness, to let it pull me from the suffering.
My duties stretched out to the corners of my mind, giving me motivation to live. I was the only true heir, the only good leader to take over the kingdom when my father would die. Without me, Magaelor would go to my awful cousin, whose passivity and uneducated notions of “peace” would lose our nation to Berovia. I had to find a way to live, to fight through this pain, and get back home. The kingdom would one day need a queen, and for that, I had to survive.