Don't Mess With Time

Chapter Eighteen

Theresa brandished her shield and her finger glowed gold.

Amber swallowed and took a breath.

She finally found her voice as Theresa neared.

"Do you have my mice?"

Theresa was still smirking.

"Mice... hmmm..." Theresa put her finger on the edge of her lip and tapped as if in thought.

Amber tried not to stare at where her finger touched.

"Oh! Those mice. Must have slipped my mind."

Amber broke her eyes away from where Theresa tapped and stared into her pristine blue eyes.

A bit of her frizzled hair hung in her face, but Theresa Either didn't notice or didn't care.

Theresa suddenly moved her shield so that Amber could see where her arm hooked into the shield to hold it.

She hadn't noticed how the shield appeared before.

It bore the seal of Camelot on the front, its lions and eagles staring back at her.

But that was the front of the shield and now Amber was looking at the back of it.

It was a deep, thick shield with small straps that hooked around Theresa's forearm and wrist, which she held to with her hand.

Right above Theresa's hand and arm (had Amber never seen how strong those arms were before? What was wrong with her?!), there were several small holes within it.

Amber had no idea what those could be used for, but before she could wonder, she saw three small firms huddled in them.

Her mice.

Theresa was still grinning and Amber's mice didn't seem too upset with their location.

"I didn't want them to get all wet, so I thought I'd keep them there."

Amber felt her face burning and thought it was a wonder she wasn't somehow on fire.

Amber felt her finger glow and raised it, the orange color looking somehow a lighter color than before.

"Give them back."

Her tone was menacing and had all the cold she had been taught in her time spent at the School for Evil.

Though her masterful tone had won praise from her teachers, Theresa didn't seem to notice any difference.

The Ever just grinned at her.

"You want them back?" Theresa took another step forward and the two stood only a few feet apart now.

Theresa closed the distance until they were only a few inches away.

Amber felt frozen.

If she had been in her normal state, she would have cursed Theresa and stolen her mice back.

But right now she couldn't seem to do anything but stare at Theresa.

The princess leaned forward, her face dipping down so that she was at about the same height as Amber, which was saying something considering the height difference.

"Then take them," she whispered.

As the last word left her lips, the Ever bounced backwards and grinned broadly, holding her shield aloft slightly and locking eyes with Amber.

She suddenly regained the ability to think and her face turned red with anger (of course with anger. Why else would her face turn red?!).

Theresa took a few steps backwards and sunk into the depths of the 'battle'.