Here Lies the Queen

Chapter 4

Bella and Hunter set off as soon as Hunter was awake. He healed quickly overnight and was able to walk. They had not gone more than twenty feet when they came across a body.
It was ripped open, from throat to navel. Bella looked closer and saw all of the organs had been removed. All of the bones had been picked clean of meat. Her stomach turned over as she looked at it. Blood spilled around the body in a perfect circle. The face had been severely clawed up, so much that she couldn't see who it was. A gleam on the ground drew her attention. She picked up a small piece of metal.
"It's Samuel," she said softly. Hunter squeezed her gently.
"He decided to come," he said. "He died nobly."
"He died because I led him here!"
"No." Hunter's gaze turned sharp. "Are you feeling okay? You've been acting strange. You've never cared about someone who died for you."
"He sacrificed himself for me. I'm allowed to be sad. And yes, I'm fine. All the pressure is just wearing on me." She refused to meet Hunter's eyes. "We should hurry." Before they left, she knelt beside his body. "May your soul grace the eternal waters of death."
Hunter led the way, cutting down grass and things that got in the way. They came to a lake and stopped to rest. Bella unwrapped his wound and studied it. The wound had begun to close, but webs of green shot out from it. She followed the longest one to just under his sternum.
"What is it?" he asked upon seeing her face.
She cleared her throat. "Nothing. You'll be fine." She wrapped it in clean bandages and kissed him.
"Care for a swim?" He didn't wait for an answer before picking her up and throwing her in. He splashed in after her.
"I look disgusting," she said. As she looked down, she saw a cloud of dirt expanding from her. She unraveled her hair and dipped it in the water.
Hunter paddled over to her. "Then there's only one way to get clean." His grin turned mischievous as he unlaced her clothes. She faced him and tugged his off. Hunter threw them up on the shore with a wet slap. He didn't so much as flinch before kissing her. She wrapped her arms around him and kissed him back deeply. Hunter reached down and hooked her legs around him before moving inside her. She groaned and he chuckled.
"Have you never had sex in a lake before?" he teased.
"No. And neither have you unless there's something you're not telling me." She raised an eyebrow.
"Of course not." He thrust again and again and soon the air was full of moans. She surged forward as her climax tore through her. Hunter moved faster and faster. She could feel her release again moving along her spine when Hunter stopped. Bella immediately pulled back.
"What is it?"
Hunter grimaced, then smiled. "Nothing."
"It's not nothing," Bella seethed. "If you're hurt, we'll stop."
"I'm not hurt."
"Don't lie."
"It barely hurts."
"Hunter, you need to rest. You're not immortal!" Bella stepped back from Hunter and pushed him into the shore. "Rest."
He eyed her body appreciatively. "You look good."
Her body warmed. "I said, rest." She grabbed their clothes and walked to the water's edge. Dirt rose up from them as she scrubbed. She risked a glance behind her and saw Hunter watching her.
"I'm resting," he called. "Although you certainly make my heart feel like I'm not."
"Then sleep." She turned back. She had just finished cleaning them when she heard someone singing.
It was in a different language, yet she felt as though she could understand it. The song flowed over her veins as it rose and fell. It cracked open some deep part of her that she had shoved down and locked. She pulled on her clothes and tossed Hunter's next to him.
"Where are you going?" he asked as she walked past him. She shushed him and followed the song. "Bella!"
A rational part of her told her to stay away, but it was so soothing. It had been years since she felt this kind of peace. It touched her soul in a way nothing had been able to do in a long time.
She followed the song into a small clearing. A squat little cottage surrounded by flowers greeted her. The vibrancy of the place shook her from the song's grasp. Before she could turn away, an old man emerged from the cottage. A straw hat covered most of his face, but she could see he was covered in wrinkles. Green robes were draped over his body. He noticed her and limped over to her.
"Hello, my dear." His face wrinkled into a smile. "How can I help you?"
"I have a friend back there." She motioned behind her, towards the lake. "He's poisoned and he needs help."
"How unfortunate. What was he bitten by?"
"A Snowghost."
"Oh, dear!" He shuffled back into his house. "We must hurry then. Please, wait here."
She waited as he got whatever he needed to. How curious it was he didn't run from her! She could snap her fingers and he would be dust. However, she needed him, whether she liked it or not. She was about to check on him to see if he had died when he emerged with a basket full of plants.
"Please, lead the way." His fingers twitched at his side. Maybe he did know what she could do to him. Bella escorted the man back to the lake where Hunter waited. His breathing was shallow. The old man's limbs popped as he knelt down.
"How did you sing like that?" Bella asked before she could stop herself. "I've never heard anyone sing so beautifully."
"It must be beautiful if it got your attention," he said with a wink. "I gather you don't hear much music in your kingdom."
"No." And that was all she said. He bobbed his head and continued to work. The man began to chant as he placed the plants around the wound. It began to glow green and Bella leaned forward. The wound was closing by itself. The green lines shot back into the wound before it closed all the way. The man sagged back into his heels and wiped the sweat from his brow.
"What are you doing all the way out here, if I may ask?"
"A quest." She didn't elaborate. Then an idea formed in her head. "Do you know how to find the Mother Pearl?"
The old man's fingers curled into a fist and he got to his feet. He pointed at her. "You shouldn't ask such things." He bent down and gathered his things. "If you know what is good for you, you wouldn't go after it."
"So you do know where it is!"
"Doesn't mean I'm going to tell you."
"Please, good sir. I'm trying to save my kingdom."
"So is the other Queen. Why should I help you and not her?" The old man shuffled back to his cottage. Bella followed him.
"My kingdom is still intact. And I'm going on this impossible mission to save it from her. I'm doing this for my people."
"Are you? Are you willing to make the sacrifice?"
"How do you know about that?" she demanded. The old man stopped in front of his door. "Never mind. I should kill you now."
"Then you won't know how to find it," the old man said and shut the door.
"Please!" She knew she was begging now but didn't care. "Please. I need to know." She sagged against the door.
"I don't know what to do," she whispered. Why she was telling this stranger this, she didn't know. "I'm terrified. What if my people would rather live under Shayde's rule? What if I'm not good enough for them?"
The door creaked open and Bella scrambled back. The old man peeked his head around and looked at her. "Now you're asking the right questions. But you still haven't given me a reason to help you."
She stood and squared her shoulders. "You will help me because I am the Queen. And I command you to help me."
His skin wrinkled as he smiled. "There you go." He disappeared for a moment before emerging with a scroll. The paper snapped as he unfurled it. It was yellow with age, and it looked like it was made out of some type of skin.
"The Mother Pearl is found only if you are lost," he read. "It is crafted from dragon breath and coated with a jellyfish membrane. Anyone who wears it is blessed with intelligence and wisdom."
"Yes, but how do I find it?" Bella asked. Her hands ached to grab the scroll from the old man, but she refrained from doing so.
"It says here you have to sail a ship off the end of the world." The old man glanced at her. "Find a ship, sail until you are lost, then you will drop off a waterfall. After that, it's only described as darkness. There's no telling what's down there."
Bella nodded, already turning back to Hunter. "Thank you," she said as an afterthought. The old man saluted her and closed the door.
Hunter was awake when she reached him. His wound was completely healed and he was struggling to put on his clothes. At the sight of her, he jumped to his feet.
"Where were you?" he demanded.
"No time. We need to find a ship." She helped Hunter dress then grabbed his hand. "Hurry!"
Bella and Hunter crashed through the forest. She didn't care what horrors she awakened, as long as she had Hunter by her side. Twigs scratched her face, and at one point she ran straight into a spiderweb. After that, she resorted to her magic to burn anything that got in her way. As they got farther away, she realized she never got the old man's name.
They reached the pier as the sun was going down. The sun cast its golden rays down upon the land, turning everything bright red; fire red. Bella shielded her eyes as she scanned the dock for a ship to take.
Sailors bustled around, singing their jaunty songs. A man stumbled out of a stack of boxes, a woman on each arm. They giggled as he led them away. A spew of curses drew her attention to a young man. He was trying to move several trunks onto a ship. As she watched, he dropped a box, then another, then another. She cracked a smile as he cursed again.
Hunter nudged her. "There," he said, pointing at a small ship at the end of the harbor. Several men swung from its sails. They wandered down to the ship and waited. A man emerged from the captain's cabin and walked down the gangplank to meet them.
"How can I help you fine folk today?" he said. He had an accent that made the words roll around in his mouth before he spoke. His skin was tan from years in the sun and his face was lined with wrinkles.
"We are in need of a ship," Bella said. "We were hoping you could spare some room and take us."
"Where to?"
"Nowhere. We need—"
"We just want to travel the world," Hunter interrupted. Bella threw him a glare. "We're on our honeymoon and we just wanted to explore."
"Well, come aboard then." The captain waved at them to follow him. "How'd you two meet?"
"That's a funny story actually," Hunter began. Bella gazed out across the water as they talked. It was sparkling with the many colors of the sun. A shark fin cut through the water before disappearing.
"I'm going to go below," Bella announced and went downstairs. The ship rocked with the waves and she steadied herself against the wall.
She had just found her balance when someone came crashing into her. They collided and the person fell back with a thud. Books rained down around them.
"Watch it," Bella snarled.
The person looked up at her from underneath a hood. Silver eyes gleamed at her.
"You watch it," the person snarled back. They began to gather the books again. Bella's anger faded to confusion as she heard the person speak.
"You're a girl?"
"Last I checked," the girl said. She pulled the hood back, not enough to see her hair, but enough to see her face. "Unless something happened within the two seconds I looked at myself in the mirror." She studied Bella with a wary expression. "Who are you?"
"I'm Belladonna," Bella said. The girl's eyes flared in recognition and she scooted back.
"Stay away from me," she whispered. Her hand fumbled around for a book and she held it in front of her. Bella would've laughed if it wasn't so pitiful.
"A book isn't going to do much good against fire," Bella said. "Anyway, I'm not here to fight. I just need to sleep."
The girl slowly put down the book. "There's an empty room down on the right." She inched around Bella before getting to her feet. Bella had to look up at her in order to see her face.
"Don't you have a name?"
"Yes." The girl turned and ran up to the deck. Bella snorted and continued down. People were so fun to watch when they recognized her.
The room was barely big enough to be called a room. It was the size of her closet in her castle. A bunk bed was pushed against the wall, and a single light dangled from the ceiling. Bella lit the candle before settling on the lower bunk. Surprisingly, she still had all her knives. She didn't know where her swords had ended up. A mirror hung against the wall and Bella crossed over to it.
Her face was pale and covered in bruises. A cut scarred her face on her forehead. Her eyes, which normally burned bright, were dim. No fire flickered there, as if someone had poured water over her. She unwound her hair and plucked a stick from it. It was too long for this journey. She stared at her reflection for one more minute before Bella gritted her teeth and cut through it.
When she was finished, it hung to just past her shoulders. She fingered it, savoring the feel. Much lighter than it used to be.
Someone knocked on her door. "I have clothes for you," they said. She opened it. The captain stood there. In his hands was a pile of cloth. He flushed as he said, "We don't have much female clothes here, so I had to borrow some from Storm."
"Storm?"
"Another girl." He handed her the clothes. "Have a good night."
He whistled as he walked away and she closed the door behind her. The clothes were not something she would wear. Ever. She studied them: tight black pants, a loose fitting white blouse, and some cloth to bind around her chest.
She pulled them on just as the door opened behind her. Hunter walked in and his eyes went right to the hair on the floor. Then shot to her. His mouth quirked into a smile.
"You look gorgeous," he said. "But I can't pull your hair anymore." He sidestepped as she chucked the knife at him. It thudded into the wall and quivered for a second before going still. "That wasn't nice."
Bella plopped down on the bed. "What if we can't finish this mission? It's impossible!"
"Is that doubt I hear?" Hunter sat down beside her. "Who are you and what have you done with my queen?"
She cut him a glare. "I'm serious. What if Shayde does take my kingdom?"
Hunter took her hand and kissed it softly. "What if we win? What if we put her back where she belonged?"
She twisted to face him. "Where would you go if you died?"
He blinked. She'd caught him off guard with the question, which was not easy to do.
"I don't know. I guess with the other souls my father has to take care of." He looked at her. "Why?"
She glanced down. "There's something I didn't tell you." She explained what the Oracle had told her. It took every ounce of strength she had to keep from crying.
"Well." Bella risked a glance and saw his face had gone slack. He noticed her and his eyes warmed. A small flame flickered. "We'll get there when we get there. Let's focus on one day at a time."
She huffed a laugh. "People say that I'm heartless. But that's because I gave you my whole heart."
His eyes welled with tears. "Bella, you've had mine since the day I met you."
She sniffled and wiped her eyes. "I love you, Hunter."
"I love you, Belladonna." He gathered her in his arms and lay back. "We will write our own history. Not something an old mythical thing says."
"Indeed we will."