Another man appears with a flute in his hand. He tilts his head. “You are too old,” he declares.
“For what?” I wonder.
“That’s the pied piper,” Nash informs me. “He’s employed to collect unpaid debts or he will lure their children away.” Well, that’s terrifying.
A huge wolf man is the next to leave his hut. Behind him follows an older woman, who is busy tucking her hair into a ponytail. I don’t want to know. The gray wolf’s eyes zero in on me, and his pupils blow wide.
I gulp and glance down at myself to check what set him off. He lets loose a growl, tenses his legs, and leaps forward. Theo jumps in front of me, arms outstretched. “She’s not Red,” he snaps. “Get control of yourself.” The wolf bares his teeth, but backs off.
Oh boy, the red dress. Stupid choice. More and more villains pour out of their homes and come to sit on the stone benches surrounding us. One thing is clear; these poor people are miserable. It’s written in everything from their threadbare clothing to their posture and petty squabbling.
I lower my sword, not sensing any sort of violent intent from the mysterious creatures surrounding us.
“I am Mordis,” the spider declares. “And this is the League of Failed Villains.”
There’s a rumble of disquiet around the circle. I don’t think they enjoy their group name. Calling someone failed is bound to start them out on a bad foot each and every diurnal.
“Who is this?” the older woman who followed the wolf demands.
“I’m Daphne, and I mean you no harm.”
“You are waving a giant sword around,” the beautiful woman points out.
I glare at Excalibur. While it might be a conversation piece, it is not welcome right now. “Go back,” I whisper. The sword hums, making my fingers tingle. “Don’t argue with me. Return to the knights’ chambers. We shall be along shortly.” The metal vibrates but fails to disappear.
“Who is she talking to?” the pied piper snarls.
“I do not need saving right now,” I tell Excalibur.
“Her sword,” Malachi answers. “Don’t interrupt or she will have to start again.”
I arch a brow at the steel in my hand. “Yes, I’m healed. No, you are not a failed villain. You cannot join them. You arewanted.” I shift on my feet. “I’m not trying to get rid of you exactly. I am trying to extricate myself from the legend where I die.”
The sword sighs and then disappears. I look up, finding a range of amusement and wariness on the faces surrounding me.
Mordis raises her forelegs and gestures to a gap on the stone benches. The knights back up slowly toward the offered seating. Nash’s hand wraps around my waist, and he lifts me off my feet to sit on his lap.
I glance over my shoulder at him. “I’m not planning to cause chaos. You don’t need to hold me.”
“It’s not for you, it’s for me. I just need to reassure myself you are okay.”
My heart melts into a puddle at his feet, and I lean back against his hard chest. He runs his lips over the spot behind my ear, eliciting a shiver. “Threefold, Daphne. I hope you are ready.”
My eyes widen. I am so ready.
“Why is she staying?” the beautiful woman snarls. “We don’t need a maiden here to witness our failures.”
I blow out a long breath. “I may be a maiden, but I am not fair, gentle, graceful, or smart. I take the narrative and turn it on its head without meaning to.”
The woman in the raven feather dress leans forward and squints at me. “You are failed?”
I shake my head. “I don’t think like that. Predictability and compliance has its place, but not in my life. I might not conform to the Idols’ expectations, but I am carving my own path in the realm.”
Nash’s hand tightens against my stomach, stirring heat below.
“You are with this knight?” the man in the tattered cloak asks. “You have found true love?”
I glance at either side of me, meeting the gaze of each of my knights as my hand covers Nash’s. “I am with all of them, and I have found something deeper than love.”
