My anger burned as I observed the old sorceress and her grandchild. This woman should be living in comfort at the end of her life, not struggling to survive. She was probably one of the old pensioners that lived off the elderly social programs Malovia had, until my cousin had cruelly taken them away. As far as I could tell, she was the young girl’s only guardian. What would happen to the child once the old woman was gone?
It didn’t seem like Malovia cared. People ignored the old woman and the child as they stretched out their hands for any offering they could beg for. A few passerby muttered curses, or gave looks of disgust, like seeing their misery ruined their day.
Emma let go of my arm. She reached into her pocket to place a few gold coins of Malovian currency into the outstretched fingers of the old woman, but a police officer from the Arcanea Alliance stepped in front of her and slapped Emma’s hand away.
“No handouts,” he barked. “Panhandling is illegal.”
“How could you be so cruel?” Emma asked. “They need our help!”
“These derelicts have been warned to stay out of the city,” the officer spat, and he pulled a baton out of his belt. “Now they must pay the price.”
The officer raised his baton to strike the old woman, who cringed away. Emma shouted, “No!” and stepped in front of her, throwing out her hand. A blast of magic erupted from her fingertips and spun outward.
The officer ran head-on into one of Emma’s shields. He was thrown backward, and his body slammed against a brick wall. He moaned in pain, snarling as he got to his feet. “You little bitch, I’m gonna—”
I stepped in front of Emma. “Excuse me, but you have dared to touch the hand of my mate.”
The officer looked me up and down, unimpressed. “And why should I care?”
“I am still the prince regent, and you will show her the proper respect.” I could feel the wolf inside of me raise its hackles as I faced the officer. Alexei, Theo, and Stefan stepped beside me.
Together, we provided an intimidating front. He must’ve figured it wasn’t worth trying to take on all of us at once, so the policeman sneered. “For now.”
He turned on the old woman and the little girl. “Get out of here! If I see you around again, you’ll really get it next time!”
The old woman and the child shuffled off. The girl cried as the old woman tugged at her hand to move along. Emma’s expression burned. She went to say something, but I knew whatever was coming out of her mouth wouldn’t be good, so I cut her off before we could get into more trouble.
“I’d like to see your badge. Iwillbe speaking to your superior,” I threatened.
The officer’s lip curled. “Do what you wish. You have no power anymore.”
The policeman strode off. By now, the old woman and the little girl were gone. Emma was shaking, tears in her eyes. “We should go after that bastard and teach him areallesson.”
“It’s not going to help,” I told her. This time, I was the one who laced my arm in hers. “Come on. Let’s go.”
We moved on to try and find happier things, yet happiness did not appear to be found, because we happened to run into Igor. He was prancing around in the parade in his alicorn form, a long wreath of autumn leaves around his neck. He was trying to show off to a group of women in the corner, who were pointedly ignoring him. A child tried to climb on his back, but Igor bucked him off, and the child went tottering to the ground. He cried as he ran off.
Gods, we all hated the guy. He was deplorable.
Igor saw Odette coming, and clearly panicked. He transformed back into a man and removed the wreath, tossing it to the ground and stepping out of the parade.
“I detest children,” Igor said as we came near. His eyes roved on Odette, before he glared at us. “I thought you were going to spend the festival withme.”
Odette didn’t take the bait. “Why were you showing off for those girls?” Odette asked, crossing her arms. “The only shifters that participate in the parade are the single ones who want to find mates, and the last time I checked, you weren’t single.”
“Youmakeme feel single,” Igor accused. He wrinkled his nose at Odette’s dress, and Theo’s vest. “So now you’re matching withhim? That’s cute.”
Theo’s cheeks reddened. Alexei didn’t use his empathy magic to calm him— or anyone else. Kiara grabbed his arm, but he shook his head no.
“We match every year,” Odette protested. “It’s tradition.”
“This is ridiculous! You’ve replaced me withthem!” Igor pointed at the lot of us. I didn’t miss that his finger was directed right at Theo.
Odette made an angry sound. “I’m so tired of you being jealous of my friends! It really needs to stop!”
“You know whatI’mtired of?” Igor accused. “You lying there like a fish whenever we have sex. If you acted like youenjoyedit, I wouldn’t have to get attention somewhere else.”
Odette stomped her foot. “Wellmaybethe sex would be better if you actually did something to get me going, instead of just putting it in and having your way!”
