Page 70 of Ruling the Green

Then… Nira, the troll, the redhead.

The wall of water, a floating Nira, and blackness.

My head whipped up and I was looking at the back of the redheaded fae.

His arms were behind his back, some sort of fabric covering a long length of metallic chain that, when I followed it, found tightened around my wrists.

Beneath it, the flesh of my wrists were burned raw. Almost like… no.

No.

A fae wouldn’t be so cruel, would they? To use iron on another of their kind?

Even as I thought it, I knew my answer.

Yes, of course.

Many, I was sure, would do it if it meant they got whatever they selfishly desired.

Noticing the iron, though, only seemed to intensify the pain. It seemed to sear deeply, cutting into the bone, slipping into my marrow.

My blood screamed with it.

My mind scrambled.

I had to focus.

I needed to think.

“Panic will never do you any good,” Nira’s lesson came back to me. “Think past it to plan and fight.”

I sucked in deep, greedy breaths, trying to focus my attention inward, not to my wrists.

As soon as I could think straight again, it came to me.

My water.

My water could heal me.

But with both wrists bound as I was dragged through The Green, how could I get to it?

If I could just… get him to slow down or stop, I might be able to pull against my chains enough to use my hands to find the flask and pour it over my wrists.

If the pain stopped, maybe I could fight again.

A whimper escaped me as a rock scraped down my bare back, over my butt, down my thigh. I felt the burn of the cut, the warm wetness of blood, then the sting of dirt slipping into the open wounds.

I thought of trying to grab a rock with my feet and use my legs to toss it at him. But the chances of hitting him were slim, and infuriating him were high.

He turned suddenly, and there was a tree. It was young still. But with a thick, strong trunk.

I didn’t think.

There wasn’t time.

I wrapped my thigh around it, feeling the bark biting into my bare skin, creating dozens more scratches.

My other leg wrapped around, using the strongest part of my body to hold.