VILLAIN

Chapter 18

Everything after that was a blur. The attacking foliage obscured my vision, and my attempts to claw my way out were only met with yelps of pain from my companions as my nails scratched them. We were all lumped in together, a mess of arms and legs and heads, scrambling to fight back against the beings – whatever they were – who had surrounded us. In the end, we were forced to admit defeat. We had no weapons, no time to prepare, and no chance of help arriving anytime soon. We were right in the thick of the forest, and three of our number could hardly walk.

"Alright, alright!" Max shouted. "We surrender!"

The trees seemed to think that was quite funny, but they did mercifully move away from us enough for me to see again. I quickly scrambled out from under Prince Oscar, feeling for my mirror inside my bodice just to make sure it was still there. When the cool glass met my fingers, I almost let out a sigh of relief.

And then I realized that we were still currently being ambushed by trees.

"Who are you?" I demanded, which was only met with a chorus of laughter from the trees.

"Show yourselves!" I tried again.

The trees seemed to consider this, shaking and bobbling for a moment before abruptly popping off and leaving in their place eight strange-looking men with long, blackish hair and painted faces. They wore some sort of animal hide covering around their waists, their chests bare and painted like their faces. Their noses were large, and their lips were turned down in frowns. Their skin was a dark kind of tan color, and they wore feathers in their hair. I noticed with confusion that their eyes were all a dark brown, the color of the Peasantry. But if they were Peasants, then...why had they attacked us? They glared at us triumphantly, not saying a word to explain themselves – apparently they weren't concerned about the breach in their role as Peasants.

"Release us, Piccaninnies," Max said confidently, despite our position.

One of the taller men folded his arms across his chest, shaking his head resolutely. "You forget you are no longer Pan."

Max's lip twitched with disdain at this, but he kept his chin high. "Then what do you want from us?"

The man continued to glare unflinchingly. "We do not want. You know we follow Chief."

Max's jaw sharpened. "Then what does your Chief want with us?"

Another shake of the head. "Not for us to tell. Chief's business."

"Alright then," Max replied, never looking away from the man. "Take us to your Chief then."

I turned to look at him in shock. "What are you doing?" I hissed.

He didn't so much as look at me. "I know what I'm doing."

I almost rolled my eyes at him, despite the situation. "Well then might you clue the rest of us in?"

For a moment, he looked like he wasn't even going to answer at all. When he did, it wasn't that much better.

"Just trust me."

I held in a snort, but I couldn't resist muttering, "I don't."

Max didn't reply to that, but I could tell he'd heard from the way his jaw muscles twitched. He set his shoulders back, staring straight at the men surrounding us as he wordlessly offered up his hands. The man he'd spoken to earlier retrieved a coil of rope from one of his comrades, firmly securing Max's hands and then looping the rope over a thin branch. I watched in mild bewilderment as one man yanked Max's feet out from under him, unable to enjoy his subsequent yelp due to the fear festering in my chest. The men proceeded to tie his feet in much the same manner as his arms, until he was just a long branch-and-Max triangle.