Page 207 of The Queen’s Shadow

“I don’t need anyone to take care of me.” I said, curling my hands into fists in my lap. Koda looked sad.

“Everyone needs someone to take care of them from time to time, Little Sprite.” He turned away to look at Rycon again, pursing his lips. “Even if they’re too stubborn to admit it.” He finished, and I wondered if we were still talking about me. The way he was looking at Rycon made me wonder if he thought that maybe he needed someone to take care of him too.

After each of the fighting pairs had a clear winner, Rycon interrogated each of the victors, asking why they had chosen to either kill, or spare the lives of their opponents. Kyro had beaten Riko but had spared his life when he had yielded. When asked why he hadn’t killed him, he just shrugged and gave Rycon a cocky little smirk.

“I’m not done with him yet.” Kyro said, earning himself a scowl and a middle finger from Riko. Rycon had smiled at this, and if I didn’t know any better, I would say his eyes flashed with pride.

“Good. You move up a rank.” Rycon rewarded Kyro before moving on.

“Let’s go for that walk.” Koda suggested. “I want to stretch my legs.” Koda let Rycon know where we were going and he grinned at us nodding, letting us know he would catch up with us once he had set up the next exercise.

“K’yen can handle the next one, it’s not as violent.” He smirked, before waving us off.

“I’m going to take her to the meadow. We can meet there for lunch.” Koda said before lumbering off into the forest, clearly expecting me to follow him.

“Stay close to Koda.” Rycon said as I made my way past him, and I frowned at the warning. I wasn’t planning on giving him the slip, so I didn’t bother with a reply.

Koda led me through the trees until we came upon a clearing with a happily babbling brook. There were massive alien looking flowers curling up the bases of Kapok trees that lined the perimeter of the space, and the dappled sunlight that filtered through the thick canopy above made the space feel like it was touched by the magick of a sun god.

Koda slipped off his giant fur pelt and laid it out on the ground, gesturing for me to take a seat with a smile.

“We call this space the meadow.” Koda explained, looking around the magical little clearing with a warm glint in his eyes. “I used to take Rycon and Rhyalla here for picnics all the time when I visited them while they were cubs. I thought we could have a picnic together, for old times sake.”

I grinned at him, unable to keep the amusement off my face. “Isn’t it a little cliche for a bear to love picnics?” I teased and he let out a booming laugh, shaking his head.

“Impish Little Sprite.” He chuckled, before turning away. “I will be back. I’m going to go see if Rhyalla needs help carrying anything over.”

I nodded, smiling at him as he made his way back toward the community, leaving me to enjoy the sounds of a nearby bubbling brook. I let the sounds of the rainforest wash over me and I closed my eyes, allowing myself to relax. I was glad I had let Koda convince me to leave the house today. It was nice to get out, and this meadow-like place he had taken me to truly did feel magickal.

I felt honored and special to have been invited to participate in something that was clearly a childhood tradition for Rycon and Rhyalla. Rycon didn’t talk about his parents often, but I could see the way he looked at Koda as if he were a parental figure. I got the feeling that spending time with the bear shifter was the closest he could probably get to seeing his dad again.

Listening to the rustle of the leaves around me, I frowned at the sound of a twig snapping. I opened my eyes and glanced around, looking for Koda. Was he back already? I pursed my lips and scanned the clearing. There was no one there.

Straining my ears I listened carefully, but the meadow had fallen still and silent again. I slowly got to my feet, frowning.

Something didn’t feel right. I may not have been able to access my powers, but I was still a well-trained warrior. Twigs didn’t just snap on their own. Someone was watching me.

The thought of being attacked sent a rush of fear through me. It was still too soon after my rescue for me to feel confident in a fight, especially without my powers… I didn’t even have a weapon on me. I could feel the familiar beginnings of panic crawl through my veins and wrap cold fingers around my frantically beating heart.

“Show yourself!” I tried to sound sure of myself, but even I could hear the tremor in my voice. I was acting like prey in a community full of predators. I was basically asking to be hunted.

Silence.

I rocked on the balls of my feet, fighting the urge to bolt off into the trees. Rycon’s warning about running from him rang like alarm bells in the back of my mind. Running would make it worse for me if I truly was being hunted.

I jumped, as there was another snap, and suddenly I was on my back, with the weight of a male pressing down on top of me. I was able to get out half of a scream before the male clapped a hand over my mouth and snarled. The shifter had mismatched eyes, one was yellow, and the other was ice blue. His hair was buzzed short, and he was wearing a Heart of Midlothian Football Club soccer jersey.

“What do we have here?” The shifter growled. “What could a daemon possibly be doing in Olkuyrbe?”

I was frozen, terror gripping every inch of me.

Come on Kasha, fight!

I screamed to myself in my mind. I tried to breathe past the panic but was having a hard time with the way his hand was clasped over my mouth. He released my face, only to wrap his fingers around my throat, rage lacing each line of his face.

“How did you get in here?” He snarled, his face so close our noses were nearly touching.

“I - I came here with -” I never got the chance to finish my sentence, because a dark streak slammed into the male on top of me so fast that I barely registered the fact that Rycon had, once again, come to my rescue.