Exiled Princess

Chapter eighteen

The men keep their tattooed, scared arms wrapped around me, all the way to the end of the divine, snow-flecked forest. A muddy, rocky trail suddenly appears, where a black-mooned, luxurious carriage is waiting, surrounded by even more armed guards. I let go of an exaggerated breath; I can't feel my legs' flesh anymore, my blood feeling like frozen ice inside my arteries, and my trachea aching from the chilly air filling its pipes.

''Dumb her in the back of the carriage.'' Seok-jin orders coldly, seeming bored. ''Between the trunk, she'll stay there.''

Dumb her.

I'm too empty to care. Honestly, I've been told worse.

A man with a vicious scar flowing from his brow down to his throat throws me inside the small space that is only meant to handle suitcases—looks like my ebony body served me after all.

I let go of a sharp gasp, twitching from agony. That was not nice.

The soldier doesn't spare me a single glass, while he closes the lid over my squashed body. For the first time, the darkness that follows suddenly feels rather welcoming. Another wail escapes me, this one not from the cold. A tear painfully slides over my crimson cheeks, followed by another.

I let them take me only so I can use the rest from not traveling the dangerous forest alone–that could easily switch into the tearing of claws over flesh. Only if they keep me wrapped up like this, I won't fathom the idea of being able to kill them all.

It's funny how the thought of killing now comes this easily to me.

I laugh.

Something is clearly wrong with me.

I shake my head, another bubble of a giggle clawed from me. I killed Nayeon.

I killed her. I killed her. I was betrayed by them. They tried to kill me. I killed the girl I spent time playing cards with, a girl teasing my pathetic state. I killed her. And I feel a guilt that could kill me from how shameful I feel–shameful for being this weak.

My thoughts take another twisty turn, now thinking about the real reason my father chose to take the risk, and exiled me.

It's known beyond nation that banning a princess from her land is an act of treason. And he's still done it. He had to have a good enough reason.

Now that I think it through, when looking at white-hearts–it's clear they never liked to crawl out of their comfy zone. That relates to many things I've witnessed; the fact that we are now powerless to defend ourselves against humans because they've gone ahead of us in technology; the fact that the midnight cats still kept their vintage style even between developed folk. Maybe my father exiled me just because I am a woman, and he hates the thought of a woman ruling over his nation.

But that reason is almost laughable.

''Ugh!'' I shout, frustrated. There's this one thing left to think about, one thing that is bothering the Hell out of me. What happened back there, in the forest? I just cannot explain it. All I remember is a wave of blinding wrath hovering over my senses, then Seok-jin asking me my name, and I foolishly telling him my real one. He must be having a blast while laughing about my mad state now with his mates. Of course, if I was in their place, and I couldn't remember Nathaniel, I would've laughed my heads off at his blunt statement too.

But the thought of it still sends me to the furthest of chilly mad.

A sudden piercing pain bursts in my skull, and I become aware that nails are currently digging into the back of my head.

I try pushing away from the pitched stingy metals, but the space is just too tight. A warm liquid slides into the back hem of my shirt, and I don't have to look to know it's my blood.