The Forsaken King

I did my best to act unsurprised, as if I’d encountered their kind many times.

The leader halted feet away from me, and with dark eyes the color of bark, he looked me over. He didn’t size me up as an opponent. He sized me up…in a very different way. An intimate way. In a way that was only welcome with my explicit permission.

Spike stayed behind him, and farther back were four more, all with the same jaws.

My hand held on to the hilt for dear life. There was no doubt I’d have to draw it and fight for my life. I’d have to behead them before their teeth could pierce my flesh. Just one bite…that was all it would take to make me bleed to death, to be past the help of any healer.

He suddenly pulled his teeth back into his mouth, his mouth opening wide so he could swallow the teeth back into his throat. They must have interlocked perfectly, never perforating the inside of his cavity, spaced out just enough to let his breath pass through to his lungs. “I didn’t mean to frighten you.”

“You didn’t.”

“Really?” His hand glanced down to my blade. “Because you seem frightened right now.”

“Or just annoyed.” I freed my blade from the sheath and held it at the ready, to prove that I knew how to use it, that I wasn’t easy prey like a bunny in the snow. “My presence is required elsewhere. Don’t impede my journey.”

As if I’d said something funny, he grinned. “Where is your presence required? The place from where you just fled?” He stepped forward, and just as he did, Spike and the others did too. “I recognize a runaway when I see one.”

Six-to-one. Those weren’t good odds.

He drew closer, but I didn’t step back. “You flee from Queen Rolfe. Why?”

“I didn’t flee. She’s sent me on a very important mission—”

“I know who she sends, and you aren’t one of them.”

“My business is none of your concern. Now, step off.”

He grinned, giving me a glimpse of the teeth he’d just withdrawn. “Feisty.”

“I wish to part in peace—not bloodshed.”

“Bloodshed.” He spoke the word like he savored it.

Shit. “Queen Rolfe is not to be angered. And she will be angry when I don’t return.”

“That was the risk she took when she sent you out here. You know that.” He took another step. “Or do you?”

I held my sword steady.

“You dress like a Rune. But you aren’t one.”

Rune? I had no idea what that even was.

“You don’t look like one. You don’t speak like one. But where you are from…” He inched closer, taking his time as if I wouldn’t notice. “That I don’t know.” Now, he moved quicker, withdrawing his sword at the same time.

Here we go.

He spun then brought down his sword with all his strength, as if he expected a clean slice through my arm.

I sidestepped the blow then blocked it before I returned his attack with my own. The steel rang when it collided with his. I kicked him back and continued my assault, doing my best to overpower him before he learned not to underestimate me.

He parried blow after blow, but he did have to back up, and that was satisfying.

He lowered his blade as he retreated slightly, his dark eyes wide with undeniable surprise. “Now you’re even more lovely.” He gestured to Spike behind him.

I could handle one good swordsman, but not two.

Spike withdrew his blade as he marched toward me.

I had to kill one of them. Fast.

A dagger flew through the air—and impaled Spike right in the neck.

Blood stained his teeth before it dribbled over his lips to the snow at his feet. He fell to his knees as he reached for the dagger deep in his flesh.

A cloak of fur and fangs came into view. “Leave, Klaus.”

Klaus lowered his blade to his side. “How romantic. His Highness comes to his damsel’s rescue.”

“You couldn’t land a single hit,” I snarled. “I’m no damsel—”

“Silence.” Huntley kept his gaze on Klaus, the leader of this gang of…whatever they were. “I told you to leave.”

“This is neither my land nor yours,” Klaus said. “Each of us has every right to be here.”

“But you don’t have the right to attack my people.” Huntley’s broad shoulders were hidden underneath the cloak as it rose slightly in the frozen wind. A glimpse of his sheathed sword was visible on his hip, and his back held a shield and a large ax.

“She’s not your people. I know the scent of a Rune, and she doesn’t have it.” His eyes flicked past Huntley to look at me.

Huntley sidestepped, blocking Klaus’s view of me once again.

“So, what is she?”

Huntley ignored the question. “Walk away, Klaus.”

“I don’t think I can now…not when I’m this invested.”

Silence hung in the air, heavy silence, silence filled with lethal tension.