Crown of Faeries

28 | Knavery

Out of all the eight men and women to have to drag me deeper into the forest in the middle of the night, I got stuck with Scar.

Her silky dark brown hair swayed back and forth with her confident hips as she strutted herself further between the winding bark of the trees. Her right hand was wrapped around a single rope that clipped itself to my neck collar. She tugged me slightly, just to taunt me, and I floundered forward.

Reaching up, I grimaced as the thick leather band chafed against the back of my neck and pulled at my soft hairs. Scar knew exactly what she was doing and I couldn't help but to stare daggers into her back.

The seven other men behind us were whispering and slapping one another as they dragged along my reluctant friends. And each time I tried to look back to give a supportive stare, Scar would yank me serval feet ahead only to jerk me right back in my place.

Scar's crystal eyes glanced back over her shoulder as a sly smirk crossed her delicate looking face. "So what made you the princess?" Her soft velvety voice cooed back at me as she swung her lit torch around to illuminate my scowling face. "What's wrong, beautiful?" She teased with a deep glimmer passing over her eyes. The flames of her torch licked and slithered across her high cheekbones in a defining contrast and I felt the pang of envy erode at my heart. Scar smiled and her vibrant white teeth caught the light in a small spark. "What? You don't want to talk to me? You know I'm one of your kind."

I snorted. "I doubt that. You're a Hunter."

Scar shrugged and her smile widened. Twisting, she straightened her back to allow her corded muscles in her stomach become more prominent as the shadows dug deep around us. "I may be part of a group who hunts the half bloods of the wretched faerie lands, but that doesn't mean I'm not on your side."

"So then what exactly do you need me for?" I snarked and she looked at me with an impressed stare.

"Didn't know a princess could possess a mouth like yours." Scar admitted and it nearly caught me off guard. "And I have some wealthy buyers who would love to ransom you off to the Tae Rune kingdom."

The Tae Rune kingdom? Where in Gods name was that?

I felt ashamed in that moment as I cast my eyes downwards in thought. I'd lived my whole life in Monte and never stepped foot out of the Mona Village that laid in the middle of our small rural area. But I'd heard pretty much everything of the other passing villages and state lines that brought our colonies together. I even knew about kingdoms across the ocean, and yet, I'd never heard one thing of faerie lands or the Tae Rune kingdoms.

Did my mother know of these things? Did my father tell her of these places? Did he take her there? Was I the ruler of these lands or of something much larger?

But the thought of my father made my head sag into my chest as I huffed out a solemn breath. My father had been a lie and my mother had made me in a lie. Was that why she was so bitter towards him at first? Or maybe she could have known who he was...

My thoughts were suddenly stopped as I walked right into Scar's shoulder. "Don't get any ideas, beautiful. You're not my type." Scar's eyes wondered back to Freya and I saw the nymph looking very nervously up into the stars.

What was there relationship? Romantic? I shuttered at the thought.

"You're not my type either." I snipped back and Scar croaked out a laugh.

"Think you're funny, don't you?" She yanked on the rope and my nose came crashing into her porcelain face. "Try to remain a good girl tonight. I'd rather not have to kill you."

A growl escaped my throat as I glared deep into her eyes.

Someone heavy in step came bounding towards us and Scar jerked me away from her. My heel caught on a trees root and seconds later, I found myself among the dead leafs and bird scat. Huffing my newly darkened hair from my face, I glanced back at my friends.