With the curse trapping us in our own ecosystem, we’re in a constant state of late spring and early summer. There’s never any rainfall. It never gets cold. It’s a continuous stream of sunny days with a gentle breeze. I believe the witch did this to add tothe monotony of being trapped within the grounds of the castle. So, I now know that outside of the curse, it must be winter.
I also now know with more certainty that something has to have weakened the magic of the curse enough that certain aspects and boundaries that have been placed within the magic are failing.
Logically, I know a sense of fear should be trickling down my spine at the thought of facing these three wild animals, but I only feel a pulse of excitement. They aren’t the only ones starved for a little bloodshed.
I unsheathe the two large daggers I have in my belt and spin them between my fingers, acquainting myself with the feel of them. It’s been a long time since I needed to use a weapon, and my body practically hums to life with the calling to do so. The three wolves stalk toward us, spreading out so as to attack us from a variety of angles. I have four men with me, making us outnumber them five to three.
It would hardly seem like a fair fight, except that the closer each wolf gets the more I realize exactly how large these creatures are. Their hackles are raised, their teeth are bared, and their eyes are still locked on me. Well, this should be fun.
The one in front, clearly the leader, leaps at me, but I dodge out of its way. The idiot standing behind me clearly wasn’t paying attention or doesn’t have very good reflexes, and I can hear his tortured scream as the wolf’s teeth sink past his flesh and muscle into his leg.
It’s both a physical and mental effort not to roll my eyes. We now only outnumber them four to three. I partially wonder if I should throw one of my daggers at his neck to put him out of his misery, but I figure the healer’s in our infirmary will mostly likely be able to patch up his leg.
Instead, I leap onto the wolf’s back right as it begins to buck back and forth, never releasing its grip on the man’s leg. I sinkboth of my knives into either side of the wolf’s neck. With a whimpered cry, the wolf releases the mans leg before its heavy body hits the forest floor with a satisfying thump. I don’t get to relish in my victory because I feel the full weight of one of the other wolves slam into my side and knock me to the ground.
One of my blades slips free of my hand from the brute force of the attack, but I thankfully am able to keep a grip on the other one. Before I have time to react, the wolf is lunging at me, mouth wide open, ready to strike. My arm goes in front of my face to defend myself right as the animal clamps its jaw down, its ruthless canines sinking into my flesh.
I clench my jaw so tightly to keep from crying out in pain that I hear a pop. My warm blood begins to dribble down the wound, staining my shirt and the ground beneath me. The dagger that was clenched in my hand slips through my fingertips, as my muscles begin to spasm from the intensity of the wolf’s bite.
When the beast yanks me off my feet and begins dragging me, I push past the pain ricocheting through my body and clear my mind. My eyes scan the forest floor, desperate to find a new weapon I can use against this overgrown mutt. As the wolf tugs me further, I feel a large rock scrape against my shoulder, and immediately reach my hand out to wrap my fingers around the lifeline that Mother Nature provided me. With a deep breath, I use all of my strength that I can muster and smash it across the animal’s face.
It instantly releases me from the shock of the blow, and I waste no time striking one of its paws with the same rock. I hear its pathetic yelp of pain as I roll myself away. Gathering its wits, it readies itself to launch at me again, no doubt wanting to sink its teeth into another bit of my flesh. I scramble to my lone dagger resting just out of reach in a pile of leaves. Wrapping my fingers around the weapon, I swiftly spin around ready to face my attacker, but it’s gone.
My eyes are meticulous in scanning my surroundings, but all I see are two dead wolves on the ground: the one I killed, and another one my men must’ve handled. The third wolf, the one that specifically bit me, is now gone. It had to have run off when it realized it was out-numbered.
“Fuck,” I curse, sliding my dagger back into the leather sheath on my belt. “We lost one of them.”
“I’m sure it ran off when it realized it didn’t stand a chance, Your Highness. It won’t be back,” The servant, I think his name might be Adam, states.
I stalk past him and grab my other dagger before putting it in my belt. “Monsters always come back,” I spit out. “Someone get him to the infirmary before he dies of blood loss.” I nod my head toward the man who’s nearly passed out, the wound on his leg profusely leaking a deep crimson that has now formed a puddle around him.
I begin my trek back to the castle, stopping by the infirmary only to grab some healing paste and bandage wrap before going straight to my room to clean up. I don’t realize how much blood and muck I’m covered in until I wash it from my body. Once the water cleansing my skin is no longer tinged with color, I step out and begin sewing the bite marks littering my forearm. I apply some healing paste to the wounds before wrapping my forearm tightly in a soft bandage.
As I’m lying down, I find myself unable to fall asleep. Every time I begin to drift closer to slumbering, I see that beast’s giant crystalline eyes glaring at me. As I look down at the wrapping on my arm, where the shredded flesh from the animal’s teeth resides, I ponder how something was able to break past the castle grounds. What we killed wasn’t some kind of indescribably strong animal, or a magically crafted beast. It was a normal pack of wolves. There was nothing remarkable about them.
The curse is very clear in shutting Azalea out from the world. She can’t leave, and nothing can come in.
Does this mean she will be able to leave?The question strikes me like an arrow to my chest.
No.I won’t let that be an option. She can’t leave. No matter how weak the curse becomes.
19
Azalea
Icouldn’thaveavoidedall the discussions of the wolf attack from the previous night if I wanted to. And believe me. I want to. If I have to hear one more person say howbraveBraxton was for allowing himself to get gnawed on by an overgrown dog, I’m going to scream.
I’ll admit, for the briefest of moments, when I heard about what happened, I was concerned for him. But then I fully woke up, came to my senses, remembered what an intolerable asshole he is, and banished those feelings far, far away. Do I want him to die? No. But that’s only because if he dies then I won’t be able to find a way out of the curse binding me to him. That’s the sole reason I even remotely care. Or at least that’s all I will let myself believe.
“You have to admit, it was a little heroic.”
My nose crinkles at hearing Rhoden’s words. Rhoden rolls her eyes at my reaction before tossing her hair over her shoulder. She’s accompanying me as I trail around the castle today. I’ve noticed she tries to do this with me at least once a week, and Ithink it’s because she’s afraid I’ll lose my mind if left to my own devices for too long.
“Last I checked, almost getting yourself killed because a helpless animal wandered onto your castle grounds doesn’t make you a hero,” I scoff.
“Helpless animal?” Rhoden barks out a laugh. “It was a pack of wolves.”
“It was three wolves,” I correct.
