“Eh, he’ll live,” She replied.
“You know, I’m starting to understand why your mother would want to make you submit. You’re like a wild animal. You don’t care that you have two princes from a neighboring kingdom. We could be here to discuss important political matters! You’ve imprisoned us both, you tortured me, and I’ve let all of that slide because I would’ve done the same. But I draw the line at my brother. Leave him the hell alone,” Thame snapped, struggling harder against his bindings.
Aribelle was in his face in an instant. Her hand wrapped around his throat as she hoisted him several inches off the ground and held him in the air.
“You understand nothing,” She shouted. “I am what she made me. I didn’t choose this. I didn’t decide one morning that I wanted to be cursed with the consequences of a petty witch who couldn’t control her own anger! I didn’t want the responsibility of ruling three-thousand people, but I have no other choice! I was created out of spite, raised as a weapon, and played for a Goddess damned fool.”
Thame looked down upon her in horror at not just her story, but also the tears that flowed freely down her cheeks.
“I didn’t mean to make you cry. I’m sorry,” Thame choked out.
“What?” Aribelle yelped, seeming to snap out of her melancholy.
She dropped Thame unceremoniously to the ground, where he landed in a heap of tangled limbs and chains. Her hands went to her cheeks, and she brushed off the tears with a look of stunned amazement on her face.
“These are real tears,” She said to herself, awed.
“Of course, they are,” Thame said, bewildered. “I am sorry that I am the reason they fall.”
“There must be magic around,” Aribelle said, pulling herself together and ignoring Thame.
Thame stared at Aribelle’s retreating form for several moments before a wild thought struck him.
“Have...Have you never cried before?” He asked.
“No one has ever made me cry,” She replied over her shoulder as she walked around the cabin to the front.
Thame sat leaning against his post, thinking that her answer wasn’t entirely truthful.
“Are you alright, brother?” Thame asked Dru, shaking clear his thoughts of Aribelle never having cried before.
“Oh, do I exist to you now?” Dru sniped, tears streaming down his own face.
Before Thame had time to respond, Dru continued, his voice hoarse from crying.
“If you’re going to bed her, be quick about it. At the first chance I have, I am writing father and getting the hell out of here.”
“Don’t you think we should find out more? Did you not hear what she said about her mother and how none of the horrible shit we’ve heard about this place is Belle’s fault?” Thame asked incredulously.
“I think I missed that because I was getting stabbed by the psycho woman you keep staring at like a lovesick puppy,” Dru griped.
“Calm down, brother, I just went through much worse than that for three days, mind you,” Thame said with a roll of his eyes.
Dru sighed deeply, and Thame smiled.
“That’s it, brother, just relax,” Thame said encouragingly.
A loud thud sounded, and Thame looked over to see Dru passed out on his side. The sound of approaching footsteps alerted Thame to reason; Tarja. Leaves crunched beneath booted feet as Aribelle, Tarja, and Wren made their way to the back of the cabin. Wren kept glancing at Dru with concern but relaxed visibly when he let out an obnoxious snore.
“He’s all healed,” Tarja said. “Need me to stay, Alpha?”
Aribelle shook her head and replied, “No, we’re just going to pack up and meet everyone in the morning.”
Tarja nodded and disappeared into the forest, leaving Wren and Aribelle standing beside each other awkwardly.
“What are we packing for, Belle?” Thame asked conversationally.
Wren made a strange face and looked between Aribelle and Thame several times before knitting her brows and walking over to sit on a tree stump near Dru.
“Tomorrow we leave for Rynoch,” Aribelle said with a smirk.
Thame knew that Aribelle thought the idea of venturing deeper into Jurot would scare him, but it did not. On the contrary, he was excited to see more of her kingdom, more of her. For the first time in his life, there was a woman he really wanted to get to know. If only she felt the same, he thought with a forlorn sigh.
“You can go in and start packing, Wren,” Aribelle said. “I’m just going to grab some firewood.”
“Yes, Alpha,” Wren replied with a bow of her head.
“Don’t forget to grab two tents! You’ll need one for you and your lover boy,” Aribelle called out with a laugh.
When Wren was inside, Aribelle walked closer to Thame, checking the chains and manacles closely. Leaning down to his ear, she inhaled deeply and then whispered to him.
“Tomorrow, we will find out exactly what you want in exchange for your secrets.”
Thame gave her a half-smile, his mind filled with thoughts he didn’t want to think about. What if she was as evil as they were led to believe? He knew she was ruthless and cold, but if anything she said was true, then he needed the whole truth before he could move forward with their plan. She could be innocent, or at least not worthy of death, or a life lived under a spell.
But what if she wasn’t innocent? What if she was evil? What if she was a threat to his kingdom?
Although he did not want to admit it to himself, Thame wasn’t quite sure he would care as long as he was with her.
Ten: Purest Evil
“Momma, what happened to the last Alpha?”
“She would not obey me anymore, my beauty, and for that, I took her head.”
It was hours before dawn when Aribelle woke the princes to begin their journey to Rynoch. The forest surrounding the cabin was eerily dark, heavy mist hanging low to the ground curled around the trees. What little moonlight glowed from the otherwise pitch-black sky only served to illuminate the dense fog, making it appear more sinister and otherworldly.
“Hurry, the pack awaits,” Aribelle barked, unlocking the manacles.
Thame stared dumbly as the chains fell to the ground at his feet. Dru looked equal parts hopeful and scared.
“You are letting us go?” Thame asked dubiously.
“Of course not.” Aribelle scoffed with a shake of her head. “Thank the Goddess that you’re pretty because you haven’t many brains.”
Aribelle led them both to the front of the cabin, where Wren and several large bags sat waiting.
“If you are not allowing us our freedom, then why release us from our bonds?” Thame asked.
“That is unimportant,” Aribelle said with a shrug of her shoulders. “It’s time to leave.”
Wren shouldered two of the bags as Aribelle did the same to the others. The women set a leisurely pace down a well-worn path that led from the cabin to the woods.
“Wait just one moment, Belle! I say this is important as it is my life of which we are speaking,” Thame shouted from behind.
Aribelle continued walking, giving no indication that she heard Thame.
“Let’s just go.” Dru hissed loudly.
“That would not be wise,” Aribelle said, stopping in her tracks.