That’s when I feel the hard press of steel at my back, making me widen my eyes.
Can it be?
It’s hidden beneath the undergrowth, out of sight of the she-wolf, but can I grip the handle before she crushes my skull?
I bide my time, asking before I die, “Who are you?”
She only cackles harder, yet I go on. “Who sent you?”
“None of that matters now.”
I don’t remove my gaze from her tonsils as they squirm at the back of her throat. “No, I think it does. At least give me this courtesy.”
She stops cackling. Then she growls,“I don’t know why my brother wants you so badly.”
Brother?
So, she’s the king’s sister.
Well, at least we have one thing in common; it’s not as if I asked to be related to him either. He wants me dead because I’m a threat to his throne, so he sent his sister to do his dirty work for him.
“Now shut up and keep still while I kill you…”
This is my chance. I must strike, now.But then she pins my arms down with her paws, and I shed a silent tear.
I was too late. I’m going to die after all.
An arrow hisses through the air, puncturing the wolf’s other eye, and I shuffle away, finally free from the rotten stench of death. I didn’t have time to grip the handle, but none of that matters anymore. Because I’d know that arrow from anywhere…
Help has arrived.
The wolf whips her head around, flaring her nose, and I almost cry for joy when I spy him standing amongst the snowdrops, looking like a hero from a storybook as he draws another arrow.
His hood is up, and all I see of him are those glowing eyes. They’re pissed.
“Ivy. Get behind me.”
I don’t move, peering back and forth between the wolf and Tegwyn.
“Now!”
At his command, I scramble to my feet, coming to his side.
The she-wolf snorts when she detects Tegwyn’s scent.“What have we here? The handsome prince coming to save the little princess from the big bad wolf? Cute.”
Tegwyn throws his hood back, and the wolf halts. Even though she’s been blinded, she can still sense his horns, the claws, and his generalotherness.
He chuckles. “No handsome prince, I’m afraid. Just another monster, like you.”
The she-wolf bares her teeth, and it almost resembles a smirk.
Tegwyn speaks. “Change forms. I want to see the bitch beneath the wolf before I kill her.”
She snarls.“You’re a disgrace to Fae kind. Falling in love with adung?”
“And you’re a filthy cur,” he chimes back. “Now reveal yourself.”
Her eyes burn brighter than the moon upon the night sky of her face, and she finally lunges.
