~ 9 ~
SAbrI
“Be silent,” I hiss at Anya. There’s nothing of value coming from her mouth—the desperation is causing her to blabber.
As I drop my weight to keep her from squirming, the ghost of her touch lingers against my ear. I know it’s just another lie, another trap. Because that’s all she is: just a lying, thieving criminal. And she’s not going anywhere now that I have her.
Crushing other unwanted thoughts before they can form, I look around for something I could use to restrain her; Unfortunately, my supplies are with my company, but if there’s some rope or vines, I can make do. My head has cleared, and the blood lust has subsided. The thought of killing Anya is no longer overpowering my better senses. I’ll bring her back for justice like I originally planned.
I look down at Anya, expecting to see fear or at least some kind of begrudging acceptance for her capture. Instead, she’s just laying there with her hair floating leisurely in the water around her head. Most irksome of all, that smirk is back on her lips.
I feel a sudden prickle of doubt.
Anya’s chest swells beneath my touch and I brace myself for another break at freedom, but she releases the air in a long and sharp whistle, then relaxes.
I glare at Anya. “What did you—”
A soft but distinct sound has me cutting off my words. The echo over the lake makes it hard to pinpoint exactly where the sound is coming from, but it’s an odd noise that has me on full alert.
Is that… scuttling?
Whatever it is, it’s getting closer. There’s an uncomfortable clicking sound beneath the clacking that would have every hair on my body standing up if I wasn’t completely soaked with lake water.
I need to handle this first.
With one more furious look at Anya, I shove her deeper into the water and stand up. Her affronted splashing noises behind me aren’t enough to cover the ominous clicking of whatever is approaching.
It doesn’t take long. Something large is moving along the shore of the lake at breakneck speed. It’s clearly not human, and at first I’d think it was some kind of dog—except it’s low to the ground and has way too many legs. As it approaches, the glowing mushrooms reflect off the creature’s armor-like skin. A nightmarish tail is curled up and poised over its back as it scuttles toward me.
A scorpion!?
It’s much larger than any of the scorpions I’ve had the misfortune of seeing in the past—this beast looks like it crawled right out of one of the desert biology books in the castle library. The useless knowledge that it might technically be an arachnid and not a bug comes to mind, but I don’t particularly care.
What I do know is that I want a weapon in my hand by the time that thing makes it over here.
I dash from the lake, my boots digging deep into the wet set to propel me forward with as much speed as I can muster.
There!
My sword is laying by the wall. I skid to a halt, nearly dropping to a knee as I snatch up my blade and spin it toward my would-be attacker—only to find the creature missing.
Where did it go!?
I whip my head back to Anya—and see the scorpion at the edge of the lake. The water seems to have slowed it down, but it’s taking slow steps toward where Anya is sitting.
Curses!
I grit my teeth. As much as I don’t want to go anywhere near the monster, I can’t let it eat my target. Securing my grip on the handle of my sword, I start toward the water’s edge.
“Anya!” I yell. “Get up!”
Anya tips her head to the side. She lifts a hand and knocks it a few times against her ear, as if to dislodge water.
“Hmm?” she says. It’s like she can’t see the scorpion racing toward her as she lounges about.
“What are you doing!?” I shout at Anya. “Do you want to die so badly? Move! ”
“Die?” Anya laughs. She looks up—right at the creature who is just an arm’s reach away. “Oh, this isn’t how I’m gonna go.”
She reaches out and, to my complete horror, puts a hand on the creature’s back.
The scorpion’s tail shakes in the air, but instead of plunging it into Anya’s bare throat, the beast makes a high-pitched clacking noise and wiggles. Had it been a dog or a cat or any normal creature, it would have been almost cute. As it is, I’m not sure what I’m more disgusted by—the monstrous bug, Anya touching it so casually, or that I was, once again, tricked.
I settle for furious.
“It’s yours!?” I shout.
“Yup.” Anya gives it another pat, rubbing her palm against the scorpion’s armored back. The scorpion clicks again; I get the twisted sense that it might be happy.
“Anyway,” Anya says as she sits up. She rests an elbow on the creature as she looks up at me with a flat expression. “I’m done playing rough. So if you want to keep swinging, you’re playing with him.”
I shake my head, appalled. “Absolutely not.”
“Then how about this.” Anya flicks a strand of wet hair from her face. “You come with me somewhere warm and we talk things out—calmly. Just like old times. Deal?”
“Come with you?” My laugh is dry. “First you attack my company, then you threaten me with a giant bug, and you expect me to come along quietly?” The handle of my sword is cold and slippery as I point it directly at Anya and her wild monster. “You’ve truly lost your mind.”
“The way I see it—” Anya sits up, propping her head on her hand “—is that you attacked my base, you tackled us both into the lake, and now you are pointing a sword at me and my pet.”
“That’s—” I purse my lips together. Trying to reason with Anya has gotten me nowhere.
Instead, I deliver her the coldest royal stare I can manage, ignoring the feel of the lake muck that’s drying and cracking on my cheeks. “You’re entitled to your perspective. I’m entitled to mine.”
“Entitled indeed.”
“Excuse me?”
“Forget it.” Anya throws a hand in the air. She sighs. “Regardless of what you think of me, I won’t hurt you, Sab.”
“Is that so? Forgive me for not knowing what to think when you’re threatening me with your nasty bug.”
“Mikko isn’t going to hurt you either. Promise.”
“I said no .”
Anya’s shoulders lift in an if-that’s-how-you-want-it motion. She removes her hand from the scorpion’s back.
It clicks once, as if checking. When Anya doesn’t move to stop it, it launches forward, scuttling as fast as its legs can carry it through the water—straight at me.
I dig in and hold my ground for a very honorable three seconds. But when the creature reaches the shoreline, pointed tail swinging and horrible claws clacking, I realize I’m at a disadvantage on the flat ground. I don’t want that thing anywhere near my legs.
I brace myself—and run.
The shuffle of the scorpion is loud behind me and I know it’s gaining on me. The cursed thing is extremely fast, not to mention that it’s also probably better at seeing in the dim glow of the cavern.
There’s a pile of rocks ahead that might have once been a wall. I grab the ledge, but it’s too high—I have to toss my sword over the top and use both hands to heave myself up. With a grunt, I swing my legs over the ledge and scramble back, panting.
The sound of metal clattering against rocks has my heart squeezing. With a feeling of dread, I see my sword go tumbling down the other side of the rock pile to the ground below.
Curses.
A few seconds later, the scorpion scuttles around to chase the noise. Its dark eyes reflect the bluish glow from the mushrooms along the wall and its tail curls, then sways slightly as it steps toward the lost sword.
I take another deep breath through my nose. This has bought me a few precious moments, but the back side of the rocks is less steep than the front. The horrid critter will probably be able to climb up once it’s done with the sword.
Which leaves me trapped without a weapon.
“Done playing?”
I glance up to see Anya strolling along the shore toward the rock pile. The grin on her face is downright criminal.
I spit out, “You’re a bad person.”
Anya shrugs. “Comes with the territory of being the Thief Lord.”
“Curse you.”
“Hey now,” Anya says with a tsk . “That’s not how you curse someone. All those fancy lessons, and no one taught you how to cuss? C’mon, princess. Gimme a ‘fuck’.”
I muster the most offended look I can manage in this situation and open my mouth to respond maturely, but a hissing noise yanks my attention back to the other side.
The scorpion is stepping on and off my sword. It lets out an enthusiastic hiss each time its sharp feet tap against the flat of the blade; the nasty little thing seems to be having fun.
I clench my hands, and my nails scrape into the rock. The scorpion’s beady eyes snap up and lock on mine. A shiver races down my neck.
With the loudest click of its pincers so far, it scuttles off the sword and leaps—actually leaps—halfway up the pile of rocks.
It’s way too close! And my sword…!
I only have a few seconds before those sharp pincers, poisonous tail, and horrid eight legs to reach the top. I’m trapped with only my bare hands as a weapon, and there is no way I’m touching that thing.
“Fine—fine!” I shout, without tearing my gaze away from the rapidly approaching scorpion. “I’ll come with you. Just call it back!”
“Will you be a calm and rational princess?” Anya says, as easy as someone discussing the weather, “or are you going to have another tantrum?”
“I’ll listen,” I cut back. “You have my word.”
Anya grins, then purses her lips. The sound of her whistle through the cavern has the creature jerking to a stop. It perches on the edge of the rocks, just out of reach.
I try to slow my breathing as it watches me. Its vicious tail waves behind it.
Anya whistles again.
With one last creepy look, the scorpion scurries back down. It twists, almost cat-like, around Anya’s legs.
Now that the immediate danger is over, a sense of heaviness sweeps over my body. Everything catches up all at once. I sit back against the rock and press my hands against my temples.
What have I just agreed to?