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Suddenly, the armor felt too tight around Kallie’s ribcage, squeezing the air from her lungs.
Laurince tipped his head back. The dragon’s mouth pointed to the sky, and he shouted an animalistic howl into the night air. The other Frenzian men echoed his call, Rian included. The noise echoed in the air and sent the birds sleeping in the trees scattering.
Kallie’s legs wobbled underneath the faux skirt, but she had nothing and no one to lean on in the sea of women.
Then, the men charged into the forest.
All but one, anyway.
With his helmet propped on his hip beneath his arm, Sebastian remained behind as the rest of the men disappeared into the shadows of the forest. Dozens of servants holding torches moved to flank Sebastian, creating a wall between the woman and the disappearing men.
Around Kallie, the women grew restless. They bounced on their toes, giggling to one another as they waited to charge into the forest after the howling men.
Sebastian’s gaze scanned over the woman, and when it landed on Kallie, a slimy smirk slithered its way onto his face. The tick of his mouth sent an unwanted chill spiraling across the back of Kallie’s neck.
“Ladies, I am sure you are nervous about walking into a forest alone at night. But please, rest assured. Our guards have monitored and searched these woods for the past week. The most dangerous thing you will come across in there,” Sebastian said, cocking a brow, “will be us. But don’t worry, if and when you meet one of us, we promise not to bite.” He looked at Kallie and winked.“Too badly, anyway.”
First, Kallie wanted to hurl; then, she wanted to stab him.
Kallie, however, was not the only one disgusted by the prince’s words, for a woman beside her muttered, “Goddess above! I feel unfortunate for whoever happens upon him.”
Kallie snorted, then instantly cleared her throat to cover it up, for she was keenly aware of her father watching her.
The woman inhaled sharply. “Did I just say that out loud?”
Sebastian continued talking, but his words slipped past Kallie unheard.
Kallie mumbled, “Mhm.” Kallie glanced at the woman from the corner of her eye and recognized the Tetrian princess immediately. The top half of Medenia’s pitch-black hair had been sectioned into three braids joined at the crown of her head and held together by a thin black rope. A white feather had been tied around a single braid beside her ear. She wore a black fur shrug connected by a leather strap around her shoulders.
Tetria was the only Vanerian territory where a queen had ruled since its existence. The only true matriarchy. When Kallie inquired about the queendom, her father had always found some reason to dismiss her questions. He had described Queen Cetia as a wild woman without morals, for she and the other Tetrians favored the goddess of femininity and motherhood, Nerva. Domitius had described their traditions and customs as being wild, untamed, and uncouth. He had described their castle as a mutilated thing infested with tree roots and pests.That alone was reason enough for her father, who thrived in his marble castle, to dismiss the queendom.
“My apologies, I had not meant—” Medenia began, but Kallie cut her off.
“No need to apologize. He is notmybrother.” If anything, Kallie was glad to know that at least one other woman in the crowd was not fawning over the Frenzian prince.
“Not yet, I suppose.”
Kallie’s stomach turned sour. Before she could respond, a pair of servants handed Kallie and Medenia a light wooden bow. Taking it, they inspected the weapon. While a bow and arrow was never her weapon of choice, Kallie did know how to handle one, even one this light and flimsy.
Meanwhile, Sebastian continued his speech as the rest of the women were handed bows, “Do not worry about hurting us either. We are not giving you real arrows. Giving an untrained person an actual weapon would be foolish. Our weapon’s master has designed the arrows you will receive before you head into the forest only to stick to our armor rather than pierce it.” Sebastian knocked a fist against his chest. “Now, ladies, I believe it is your turn to hunt. Good luck.” Sebastian winked.
Somewhere nearby, a couple young women giggled, but Kallie’s flesh crawled as Sebastian smirked at her. Kallie tore her gaze away from him as he donned the helmet and jogged into the forest.
Jacquin stepped into the space Sebastian had evacuated at the front of the platform. Clapping his hands together, he directed the women to form a line. Before the men had run off, Jacquin had informed them that the women would enter the forest one at a time after the men had ample time to hide in the woods. As the bride, Kallie would be the last to enter the forest to make it more challenging for her to find her betrothed.
Standing in front of Kallie in the line, Medenia glanced back over her shoulder and whispered, “A strange tradition, no?”
Kallie chuckled softly. Even though Kallie didn’t know the Tetrian princess well, her aura was sweet and warm, comfortable somehow. Perhaps their shared titles connected them, the familiarity of bearing a kingdom’s name on one’s shoulders.
“If we’re being honest,” Medenia whispered as she shifted on her feet, “I would much rather go hunting for real, and I do not even eat meat. This fur isn’t even real.”
“Then why participate at all? You’re a guest. Surely you could have opted out,” Kallie asked, brows furrowed.
Medenia huffed, taking another step forward as the line continued to dwindle. “I would think you, of all people, would understand.”
“Understand what?”
“One’s responsibility to their kingdom and their parents. I am here representing my entire kingdom. I cannot simply bow out.”
