Royal Pride

by Zelda Knight

  "Wait!" Min-joon cooed as she doubled over in pain. He swept her into his arms and laid her back down on the bed.

  "You're injured. You haven't fully recovered. And it will..." Bo faltered, turning in the opposite direction of Toshi, who slowly turned to face Sarah once more.

  "And...it will?" she gasped out, holding her stomach, thankful their magic had at least removed the visible signs of Ju-long's beating.

  "Why don't we play a game? Three riddles for a master of deception. Figure them out before our fox flames run out, and you will be free to leave. If you're not able to in time, you will accept not one but three offers of immortality," Bo Chang said, completely changing the direction of the conversation altogether.

  She cupped the back of her neck to soften the effects of the whiplash he’d just given her. Sarah propped herself on her elbows as Toshi came forward, helping Min-joon tuck her in like a baby.

  "And if I refuse?" she asked, wondering if that was even an option.

  "You automatically forfeit, of course," he said, with a small smile that did not reach his pointed ears.

  Is this all a game to them? I'm supposed to figure out riddles trapped in their ancient palace while my clan descends into civil war in my absence?

  For Sarah knew Brother Lieu was crafty, but not efficient. If she remained away for too long, without the pearl in hand, discontent would grow. Some would feud, or turn their attentions on the Lunar Rabbit Clan, hungry to prove themselves to establish this power. She might have failed to recover the key to inconceivable power, with secrets yet untold, but Sarah would not let go of her only avenue towards freedom.

  Because if I'm not the head, the Solar Rabbit Clan will never let me go. I'll remain indebted to them. And what life can I build then? To become immortal sounds so tempting, but it's just another chain. I love deep and I love hard, but they do not love me. They love because fate has told them to love, and they have fallen in love with many versions of “me.” I’m just as disposable to them as my family.

  It took her up to that moment to put a voice to why she had drawn away from all three of the fox god shifters each time they proposed, even though she had seen and felt their Red Strings of Fate. As childish as it was, she couldn't get over the fact that she was replaceable. How many eerie versions of her own face had greeted her in that terrible dream?

  It is said one reincarnates into many beings, male and female, human and animal, repeatedly. But each version of herself has looked like her, some younger, some older, some darker, some paler, but all recognizable. How many were fated to be with not one, but three gods?

  Sarah knew her reasoning made little sense in any logical way. If she became immortal, they would love only her for eternity. But she couldn't reconcile her feelings of inadequacy until she realized the sheer number of "Sarahs" Bo Chang, Min-joon, and Toshiyuki had loved before her.

  "So, you choose to forfeit?" Toshi murmured as he stroked her hair with his clawed hands.

  Min-joon took hold of her right hand and knelt beside her, amber eyes smoldering with affection. She noticed they always shifted to that honey-like color when their emotions were intense.

  Sarah shook her head no, so Bo Chang continued, "I speak without a mouth and hear without ears. I have no body, but I come alive with the wind. What am I?"

  "An echo," she answered without flinching, loving the way Toshi's claws scraped against her itchy skull. The massage was as divine as their home.

  "... Very good. I have cities, but no houses. I have mountains, but no trees. I have water, but no fish. What am I?" he tried another riddle, and she answered just as quickly.

  "A map," she spat, coughing gently. Something rattled inside of her, and all of their elongated eyebrows furrowed.

  They looked at each other in utter confusion as to how she could answer the riddles so quickly. Sarah shrugged, adjusting the sleeves of her gown. They were easy enough, child’s play really, and easily available on the internet. What did they expect from a master of manipulation such as herself? To be tripped up by them would just be embarrassing.

  "You said you had three for me. Give me the third." She grinned, feeling a little cocky even in her severely weakened state.

  "... I am a gem that never tarnishes but dulls when desire dies. I increase in true value with each passing hour, and contain the trials and tribulations of your heart? What am I?" Bo finished the riddle with a smile that reached his ears that time around.

  Sarah's eyes widened, and her tongue flicked out to lick her lips. Adrenaline coursed through her veins, life returning to her weary body. She was a jewel expert. This riddle should have been child's play.

  However, to her dismay, she was stumped.

  What can possibly never tarnish but dull when desire dies? The desire of who? The wearer or someone who admires? What increases in value with time but also holds emotions? Could it be some sort of mystical gem even I haven’t encountered?

  The air was heavy with tension, Sarah’s shoulders straight as an arrow as the gods' eyes bore down on her from all sides.

  "So, are you still game, Bijoux? Or do you forfeit your heart to us now?" Bo Chang sounded so sure of himself, like he had it all figured out, and there was no way she could win.

  But Bijoux loved nothing more than a challenge. She leaned forward and grinned so hard one could mistake her for a fox shifter.

  “No way. You have a deal. Just know when I figure out your last riddle, you all will be the ones forfeiting your hearts to me.”

  Chapter Twelve

  SARAH

  The New Riddle

  Almost a month had passed since the failed heist. Sarah’s soul and body were nearly obliterated in holy flames, and the infamous Bijoux ended up as a guest in the palace of her three ex-lovers. Sarah had grown bold after solving the fox trio’s riddles, but now she was stuck and didn’t know what to do. What was one to do when faced with a dilemma like hers?

  Freedom? Ha! She should have at least allowed herself the freedom of some scorching hot sex rather than endless days of waiting for... what? An opportunity to return to Earth only to be butchered by a betrayer in her clan, for she had little doubt a war was being waged down below. She hated to admit it, but the changes to her body made her afraid.

  They claimed she couldn’t return until the next full moon, but as each day passed, she didn’t feel herself growing stronger. Far from it, she felt weaker than ever before. She'd wondered briefly if they had been poisoning her, only to remember she'd shared a drink with Old Crow, and nothing had happened.

  Truth be told, food and water weren’t a necessity for them anymore. And why would her fated mates attempt to kill her because they lost a game?

  "Gotcha!" she tensed and then melted like chocolate when she felt Toshiyuki's arms wrap around her shoulder. He was always the most playful of the bunch, and she was grateful for it at that moment. It helped distract her from her racing thoughts.

  "What is it now? Shouldn't you be preparing my way back to Earth, hm?" she joked, turning in her chair to look up at him, his hands still wrapped around her rather frail shoulders.

  He frowned. "Let's not think of that right now. Can we not convince you to stay? If you hadn't been so quick to hop out of our bed last week, we could have shown you what you'd been missing."

  Sarah smirked. "Who says we can't still fool around when I get back to Earth and reclaim my rightful place as heir to the Solar Rabbit Clan?"

  “Fated mates with benefits? I like the sound of that. Why don’t you stay here though, with us, just like this, and let us give and take? Marriage to a god isn't like a mortal, you know. We can do what we want whenever we want, please you until your numb to desire, Bijoux. Win-win.” Sarah blushed as Toshi’s playful hug turned sensual, his lips pressed to the nape of her neck as his hands trailed up her stomach and cupped her breast.

  Through the thin fabric of her nondescript robes, it felt like his silky palms were touching her bare skin. She groaned. They were divine nuisances, bu
t oh so skilled in the art of lovemaking.

  Or is it because we are fated mates, Sarah wondered absently as Toshi tweaked her nipples. That it feels so good?

  “You should rely on your mates more. We can provide, protect, and...” his voice died away as she pouted up at him. Sarah never pouted, but she was feeling playful that day.

  “I can do that myself," she retorted, enjoying the back and forth, feeling like herself again.

  "How?" Toshi purred, visibly turned on, even as he was bursting her bubble. "You don't have the pearl. You can barely even walk these days."

  He had a point, but his injection of reality only soured her already terrible mood. "So be it! I didn't need the pearl to get to the top. There are more treasures out there to be found."

  "More so than your health?" he warned, pulling away as she shrugged him off, nails digging into her shoulders before he let go, afraid of his own power if his expression meant anything important.

  She winced but didn't flinch, not wanting to exaggerate the pain she was in. "If anything, I think staying here so long has made me weak. Remember, mortals aren't supposed to be here at all..."

  "Then become immortal, Bijoux," he insisted, obviously pained by her persistent refusal. "What is so wrong with us that even immortality would be so unappealing to you? Do you... hate us so much?"

  "Hate?" Her mouth fell open in shock. "Would I fuck you all on and off for years if I hated you? I don't hate any of you, Toshi, I just want to be..."

  "Free? Free to die? Free to be abused? Free to fight all your life for what? Fame? Glory? Wealth? You can have that and so much more! Forever. By our side. Please... Please, Sarah. Must I beg you?" His tone turned from anxious to angry in the flip of a dime.

  Sarah bristled. “Enough! I need to focus.”

  He snapped back. “You should rely on your mates more. We can provide, protect, and...”

  “I can do that myself. When I'm back home, I'll do that myself. We can still...meet. Make love. Have fun. Life means a little more when you know it'll end, you know." Sarah tried to sound uplifting, even though she couldn't even console herself of her position.

  “Fine then. Keep toiling away as your soul withers away, Bijoux.” He looked sad, radiating pity.

  Under normal circumstances, it would have pissed her off. But now? She could do nothing but hang her head and allow her dark hair to hide her misty eyes.

  What could she say? She was way over her head and outside her depth but relying on an immortal was the equivalent of counting sand. She’d die long before she finished what she started. Sarah could be vulnerable and let them shield her. But for how long? Fated mates or not, could they prevent death and unlock everlasting freedom? If Sarah couldn’t figure it out, how could she ever dream of saying “I do?”

  He nuzzled her neck than with the tip of his nose, reaching around to grip her chin. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t get angry with you over something so simple. In all honesty, I'm just desperate, Bijoux. Even if you accepted us, I... Let me talk to my co-fated. We will... We have to find a way."

  He walked away and vanished in their signature plume of smoke, leaving Sarah more confused than when he first came, and longing for his touch on his skin, Min-joon's lips on her lips, and Bo Chang between her thighs. Maybe her horniness was trying to fill the void of sadness welling up inside of her heart. Maybe deep down she knew death was closer than she imagined it to be. For her, she was merely resisting her most basic instincts.

  Or maybe Sarah was still afraid of her own inadequacies, not being able to trust, not being able to love without reservations. Maybe she was fighting an unwinnable battle, a battle against her self-esteem and arrogant ambition?

  Who knows? All I know is that I need to rest. I've solved all the riddles, but the real puzzle lies ahead.

  Either way, she retreated to her room to hide away until the next full moon, hoping against reason all would resolve itself in the end.

  Sarah paced her inner palace halls, an unnamed structure on the far end of the vast compound. The full moon was approaching any day. Since her run-in with Toshiyuki, however, no one had come to see her again. True, only two days had passed, but there were only a few days left before the moon god's power would be at full blast.

  "Maybe I should just do it? How many people have a shotgun wedding and come out of it a goddess!" she reasoned, plopping down on the silk sheets of her own enormous bed.

  "But can a goddess get divorced? Do gods have Red Strings of Fate between each other?" They must, she thought, but the fox god trio's strings only connected to her, not to each other.

  What if they grew tired of sharing and fought, and she caused more problems for them in their realm? What if they dissolved when she ascended, and then she had to live out forever alone?

  "What if I stopped playing twenty questions with myself and just talked it out with them like adults?" she said out loud, but even the most obvious answer seemed hopeless.

  They were hiding something from her. She didn't know what it was, but she knew they were. It was obvious from the way they avoided her eyes or drifted off when speaking. Especially the way Toshi had acted since she met him in that strange world. For now, she knew it was not a dream. Because, if Ju-long had been consumed, and the flame so blazing hot it still burned where his tower stood, it stood to reason she should be more than dead. Her soul should have been annihilated by her own spell.

  But Toshi had saved her, and they had infused her with strength. She'd been so consumed with winning their bet, her competitive spirit getting the best of her, that Sarah didn't think of the obvious.

  What if they are forcing me to stay here because there's something wrong with me? Something wrong with my... soul? It seemed so simple, so obvious, and would explain her fragility and chest pains.

  But how could she imagine that her soul was at stake when they made every attempt to distract her? If that was the case, she didn't think rushing into marriage would solve things. Love could conquer anything, but something had to exist to be conquered.

  "The holy flame burns so brightly it purifies the world." That's what she'd written as a mantra to concentrate her spell.

  Did that mean her soul was at stake if she returned home? A part of it had been drained to even create the fire, so it made sense in a twisted way.

  "So, what can I do? Maybe if we tried to steal the..." Sarah got back to her feet and walked over to a large window.

  That wouldn't do. The moon god apparently was the god of their moon. And while she was a stranger to the god's hierarchy, Sarah knew what hierarchy felt like on a fundamental level. All immortals did not hold the same amount of power. No one prayed to the fox god trio or showered them with devotion. From what she could tell, they lead luxurious lives, yet didn't control much. They lived. That was their gift. They stood above mortals. But Yuèguāng not only controlled their moon. He was also at the center of centuries of human devotion. A god always returned a favor. Maybe his blessing was the only reason Toshi could recover her spirit from the void?

  "This is all giving me a damn headache!" she hissed through clenched teeth, when suddenly a knock came from her door.

  The fox god trio never knocked. It was their home, after all. She thought hard at who it could be and only came to one conclusion that seemed logical.

  “Old Crow? Have you returned?” she called out to her partner, stepping away from the open window.

  However, she was knocked off guard when a large black shadow swooped down from the sky. A flurry of movement later, Sarah was swept away. All that remained was a single black feather belonging to a ravenborn.

  Chapter Thirteen

  LILLIAN

  A cold cloth nudged Lillian awake this time around. Her eyes fluttered before opening fully, gazing into the pained face of her childhood friend turned mortal enemy. As soon as she regained her senses, she pushed him away, backing up until, to her surprise, her back hit a wall.

  She glanced around only to find miles and miles of
the same sunflowers in a field as she's seen before. But as she turned, she noticed she had bumped up against a large tree rather than a wall. It spiraled past the glass-like sky and into another realm entirely. Strangely, bits and pieces were charred like a great fire had consumed the winding bark but had not burned it to the ground.

  "I'm glad you're awake," he finally murmured, lowering his eyes.

  He was still dressed in the same outfit, which meant she was too, and they were both trapped in Yuèguāng's otherworldly word. If it had been any other day, Lillian would have instantly leaned on him for support and comfort. But now her heart had grown cold, suspicious. She heard her aunt’s nagging tone in her voice, warning her always to suspect others. Especially those who were closest. She'd thought it paranoid before, but what could she say now? Her best friend, who would one day lead her personal guard, ended up being a spy.

  "Jong-hyun..." she drifted off as he lifted his eyes and she saw the pain radiating from them. She didn't know what to say, so went quiet, contemplating their next steps. If her father found out that a Lunar Rabbit Clan spy had been so close to his daughter for so long... Lillian dreaded the thought and shut it away.

  Foremost, she had to figure out how they were going to get out of the rabbit's god world alive, back to Earth, and how Lillian was going to find her aunt. What had happened to her in the first place? Had Ju-long the Devil got to her first before she could steal the pearl?

  "You've... been sleeping for quite some time." Jong-hyun's deep voice cut through her own thoughts like a knife slicing through butter.

  She frowned. "Couldn't have been that long since we're wearing the same clothes, and it's daytime.

  "Well," he began, pupils shifting left and right like he was trying to summon the courage to speak, "try three weeks, going on four."