Page 26 of Courting the Fae Captain (Romancing the Realms #4)

“Knowledge is and always will be our greatest form of strength.”

“If I don’t return by nightfall … don’t come looking for me.” My voice was quiet, but my gaze was hard as I looked between them. “I mean it. If I’m still out after dark, you stay put.”I squeezed Sherai’s arm, then stepped over her trap and out into the wilderness.

Outside, birds chirped in a nearby tree, and the soft sound of a frog warbling met my ears.

Good enough for me. I made my way across the slope in the direction of the bird sounds, searching around tree trunks and dead logs for any sign of food or medicinal plants.

A cluster of Fairy Inkcaps dotted a stump, and I leapt on them eagerly, placing them into the basket.

I spent the next couple of hours scouting the area, not only for food, but to get a lay of the land.

The terrain was a mix of rolling hills that gave way to dense vegetation on all sides.

The stream we’d found carved a snaking path down the hillside, likely converging with an outlet leading to the ocean.

Maybe a river connected somewhere lower down, but I wasn’t prepared to make the hike to confirm it.

There was food everywhere, if one knew how to look, and countless animals lived on the island as well.

Rabbits and poultry, for the most part, though there could be pigs or goats.

They’d be grazing somewhere safe and quiet, hidden away from predators, but I saw plenty of signs of smaller creatures.

Burrows and nests, and the soft rustling of birds in the trees was a comfort as I went about my tasks.

I hadn’t spotted anyone as I foraged, which was both a relief and a worry.

Perhaps staying in one spot wasn’t the best strategy.

We could be sitting ducks. Worse still was the thought of new alliances forming among the other females, which could only make things harder.

I didn’t blame them, it’s what I had done after all.

I shook my head. Worrying was a useless notion that kept the body in a state ready to take flight.

Fear and stress were detrimental to the body’s function.

And I needed mine in working form, which meant focusing on what I was out here to do.

Luckily, it didn’t take much longer to find a healthy portion of morels and berries—the edible kind as well as those of the poisonous variety.

A spear or a blade was just fine, but they weren’t the only weapons that could come in handy.

Knowledge, as Sherai had so aptly said, was the most pliable tool to work with.

I filled my basket with chamomile and calendula, when shortly after, I heard something or someone running through the brush.

I frowned, parting the leaves of some overgrown bushes, ready to flee or fight if necessary.

I sucked in a breath as I saw a lone female running in my direction.

Her brows lifted, but she quickly took in my basket and my face, then voiced one word to me, “Run.”

She didn’t stop as she sprinted toward me. Blood was splattered over her nightgown and pale face, and her red hair streamed behind her like a river of copper.

“Quickly,” I urged. “Into the bushes.”

Maybe it was foolish to try and help this girl.

But I remained firm, holding out a hand and encouraging her to come to me.

She looked at it like it was a beacon of hope, her legs pushing harder as she ran.

Too fast. She stumbled over a rock, then fell forward, sliding over the grassy slope.

She lifted her head, her pale blue eyes focusing on my face.

They widened moments later when a dagger tore through her throat.

“No,” I cried. My chest jolted, my stomach lurching, but there was no helping the female.

She tried to speak, but all that was heard was the sickening wetness of her blood drowning her. Gurgles and choking followed until her pupils blew out and she slumped to the ground, her hand still outstretched.

After her face hit the ground, I finally tore my eyes from her and saw the females responsible.

Four bolted towards me, their faces slick with blood.

By the swirling patterns and streaks, it appeared deliberately hand-painted.

By the fucking gods. We’d been here scant hours and already they’d descended into madness.

There was no winning against such odds. Not when it seemed the females were frenzied from the scent of blood and the promise of another victim to hunt.

Perhaps it was due to some dark, fucked up ritual to honour Valere.

I made a mental note to ask Akira later and was on my feet in seconds, running through the forest back toward the cave.

Down, down, down the hillside and around the many tree trunks and rocks I had passed.

Once I saw a familiar gnarled tree, I turned sharply away from the direction of the cave, ensuring I kept track of how to get back.

I would circle back when it was safe. Foraging had been easy …

simple and slow. But this? My injury barked in renewed pain, and fresh blood seeped from the wound as I exerted my body.

Fuck. I couldn’t keep this up for long. Couldn’t keep running with no end in sight.

Why were they so damn fast? I was small, and I was nimble, but I wasn’t built for cross-country running.

No, I had to bring them into new territory.

One I was more than comfortable scaling.

I searched, scanning the trees until I found a clearing.

A small smile curved my lips as I looked up.

Before me stood a towering tree that must have been centuries old, with how large its roots and branches were.

The ancient tree’s bark was gnarled and textured, giving me the perfect footholds and handholds to latch onto as I climbed.

Something came whistling towards me, and I let go of one hand, hanging from the other, as a spear slammed into the tree’s flesh.

I was momentarily awash with dizziness. I groaned as I refocused and swung my full weight back to grab the handhold.

Just a little higher. A little longer … then I was swinging myself over a branch and lying on my back as I gulped in air.

I leaned over the side, then immediately ducked as another spear came flying towards me.

It missed the tree entirely, arcing through the air and landing somewhere off in the forest.

“Go after her,” one said. She had a brown bob stiff with dried blood. “What are you waiting for?”

“I can’t climb that!” the blonde she spoke to said. “She moved like a damn cat. I don’t know how to do that.”

“For fuck’s sake, I’ll do it myself. Here, kitty, kitty. Need someone to help you out of the tree?” A third, this one a darker brunette, said and moved slowly but surely. I cursed beneath my breath as I rolled and continued ascending. “Don’t be shy. I’ll get you down soon enough,” she taunted.

I eased myself onto a branch directly above her, then considered.

I had tried to avoid bloodshed and fighting with the other females.

But I realised I wouldn’t have a choice.

They wouldn’t stop. They were people like me who had been forced to enter the Rite after all—people like Akira, who had been dumped here by fathers and brothers—all males in a world that favoured blood and power and masculine dominance.

Only they weren’t all forced here. There were others who wanted to win the captain’s hand for whatever reasons of their own.

Maybe these four belonged to that group.

Maybe they had been twisted one way or another into playing the game for the males.

Maybe they didn’t value their fellow female the way I, or Akira, or Sherai, or my mother, did.

We were sisters, we were obstacles in a course designed for one victor.

They wouldn’t show me mercy. Just as they hadn’t shown that girl any mercy when they cut her throat.

But I was not a deer to be shot and strung up.

I certainly was not a cat stuck in a tree.

I looked down at the brunette who was stuck midway up the tree, about two metres high, and took a deep, calming breath.

I gauged the distance between us … and stepped backwards off the edge.

I grabbed a branch just above hers as I fell and quickly swung my legs with my knees slightly bent and pushed my feet forward.

My feet crashed into her gut, sending her toppling off the tree branch with a scream.

I swung up onto the branch with ease and crouched down to see her broken body on the forest floor.

She hadn’t landed well. Her limbs sprawled at odd angles, and blood pooled from the impact to her skull.

Her three allies stood over her, their faces a mask of fury as they looked up.

“You can hide in that tree all you like, but you’ll have to come down eventually,” the blonde said with a sneer. “I can smell your blood. Without aid, your wound will fester.”

“We’ll be waiting when it does,” a raven-haired one added.

I slumped against the tree’s trunk and clutched at my side. Sure enough, that trickle of blood had turned into a blooming wetness. Sweat beaded my forehead, and I shivered, resting my head against the bark.It was going to be a long, hard night.

A shriek rent the air, instantly waking my body from the drowsiness it had slowly been succumbing to. The soft glow of dusk filtered through the canopy, signalling the end to what had been an exhausting day.

I’d come so close to falling asleep, but I’d kept my eyes firmly open and ignored the dull throbbing of my injury as I waited.

The females below hadn’t bothered with another attempt to climb the tree, but they did remain at the bottom as they’d promised.

They even had a fire going, warming their hands by it and settling close.

I watched the crackling embers longingly.

What I wouldn’t give to stretch out beside it and feel the heat in my bones.

I squeezed my eyes shut and rolled my neck as I shifted position.

My ass was going numb from sitting for so long, and I was so tired.

I needed medicine, just as those murderous assholes had said.

Sherai was right—my Fae body was strong and sturdy, but there was only so much it could do to fight off bacteria and prevent an infection.

Another shriek sounded somewhere in the distance, echoed by several others.

Closer this time. Instinct heightened my awareness, making me sit up straighter.

My blood had turned cold at the sinister, mournful undertone of those cries, and I shivered on my perch.

Aside from the cave, this might actually be the safest place to be if those cries belonged to land-prowling animals.

The same couldn’t be said for the females below me, however.

They got up and stood back-to-back, spears in hand and on high alert, with the fire between them and the shrieks. Then the creatures came.

They were dark, almost wraithlike things with sagging skin and eyes of deepest black.

Their hind legs were bent backwards, like a goat, but it was their movement that shocked me.

They skittered, sometimes on all fours, sometimes on two legs, and they moved fast. I couldn’t look away as one leapt at the females.

But the blonde one managed to take it down with a calculated jab to the heart, and the gangly creature fell in a mess of tangled limbs.

Its head lolled as it hit the ground, and I cringed at the mouth filled with sharp, spiky teeth as it heaved one final sigh.

The female with the blood-stiff bob plucked a stick from the fire, brandishing it with panicked waves.

The monsters retreated to the shadows immediately, hissing at the light.

Interesting … but it was not enough. The creatures chittered and clicked in a way that seemed like they were communicating with each other, then scuttled closer in unison, flanking the females. It all happened quickly after that.

The bloodied-bob female launched her spear, missing her target as the creature darted slightly up the trunk before launching at her.

The scream she uttered felt like it pierced my very soul, reverberating through me with a melancholy ring.

Her limbs went flying shortly after, and her head was torn clean off with little effort.

The creature held it like some kind of trophy, clinging onto the hair on her scalp as it dove onto her remains to begin feasting.

The raven-haired female took one look at her dead friend and ran.

She made it all of ten metres before the creature was upon her.

My stomach wanted to revolt. My bladder wanted to empty itself.

But I didn’t dare move a muscle or make a sound as the other two creatures turned towards the blonde and pounced.

I didn’t look. Didn’t make a sound as she screamed over, and over, and over again.

Her groans turned to gurgles that went on for what felt like an age as they tore her apart, and all I could see in my mind’s eye was them taking their time, piece by piece, to dismantle her.

Even after it fell silent, the grotesque eating sounds continued long into the night.

All the while, I sat still and focused on my breathing.

One sound, one single mistake, and they would rip me apart.

They didn’t look like they would have a problem climbing.

Tears welled in my eyes, the horror of what had just happened—what was still happening—washed over me.

All I could do was squeeze my eyes shut, clamp one hand over my wound and the other over my mouth, and wait.

I spent the night listening to the sounds that would forever haunt my dreams after that night.