The Wildest Woods

by S. K Munt

  But Erika looked nothing but vexed. Pale, worried and heartsick. ‘You can’t ask me to ask you to give up your entire life for me, Prince Kohén.’

  ‘If my friends stay with me, I’ll be giving up nothing but a lot of dirty looks, awkward conversations and a crown that I do not want. Sure, I know I’ll experience some of those here too, but I won’t have to contend with my brothers and that’s what I’m really running from. And some of the people here have asked for forgiveness for bigger sins than the ones that I have committed, so if they’ve been more or less accepted than I’m sure that I’ll find a way to make sure those that distrust me accept me too- even your sidekick with the flaming hair.’ But she didn’t look convinced, so I sighed and held out my hands. ‘I don’t want you to force yourself to welcoming me into your life if I was just a passing fancy, so tell me, beautiful girl please… can you love me? Do you want me in your life?’ I pulled my head into the neck hole and tugged my shirt down, kneeling before her and frowning when I saw a shadow shift in one of her mirrors that spooked me because it didn’t seem to correlate with my movements or hers. Damn Theodore and his stupid superstitions, and damn me for having had so much to drink! My head was beginning to pound again and because Sam was nowhere to be soon, I knew it was self-inflicted. ‘Do you want this place kept secret?’

  Erika shook her head, still lost in her disbelief. ‘That’s not my decision to make! And even if it was, I’m much too clouded in the head to be expected to make it! You must speak with the king and give him the chance to confer with his advisors-’

  ‘I will not allow any man to make such an important life decision for you again, whether it be me doing the deciding, or an archangel.’ I tilted her face to mine, searching her eyes. ‘So tell me… honestly… what would you have me do?’

  Erika leaned forward and kissed me, whispering against my mouth: ‘Do what it takes to keep my home a secret, Kohén of nowhere… but nothing that would jeopardise your safe and swift return to me. And when you do return, and if it turns out that your plot to expose the corruption within the Companion caste has successfully freed me of my bonds… we will see what we can do to make a home and a life for ourselves together here, as God intended.’

  And then we were kissing, and this time, the fireworks were exploding from inside my heart.

  Finally, I’d found a place where I belonged.

  The Book Of Liberation

  By Samuel J McIntyre

  Prelude To A War

  There are certain moments in one’s life when their faith is tested, and the great pirate found his at the bottom of his thirteenth pint of beer. He couldn’t come to terms with the turn that his fate had taken, could not believe that he had just been forcefully escorted out of his own birthday party and scolded by the archangel that had started feeling like a father to him for endangering them all- and he could not believe that when the clock struck midnight, he felt one hundred years older than he had the morning before last- not one year.

  His life had become a living nightmare- again. His angel was upstairs in the arms of another, his past had come out of the kitchen pantry and was lying unconscious in the infirmary, and the people that would have usually offered him comfort were so busy celebrating the possibility that the woman he loved was about to be impregnated by a man that they all hated, that they viewed his presence and his horror as negative energy that might impair their miracle- not as natural reaction to a broken heart. And what was worse was that soon enough, this kingdom would stop being his secret haven, and start being a target. Maybe having a Barachiel heir would safeguard them from Arcadia, and maybe it would start a war but either way, the peace in that demesne was about to be shattered nonetheless, because as soon as Raphael was inked onto a map, every ship in the ocean would make a beeline for it, looking to take what they could from it and leave only anguish and humanity at its worst behind. How could he bring his people here now? What was the point or trying to make a better life for a mass of people, when the darkest souls among them, no matter how small their numbers, always found a way to ruin life on earth for everyone else? Why cut off a Barachiel’s head, when a Yael or another Barachiel’s head grew back in its place and in its seat of power? Maybe God had been wrong to save the world- maybe he should have just wiped out mankind in its entirety, and replaced them with butterflies? Queens like Larkin could make a difference, sure, but they still had to take off their clothes for vile princes in order to do it in this new world, so what was the point?

  Yes, Cairo had known darker times than this, but he could not take comfort from that, or use his past as some sort of perspective because he wasn’t so sure that he had survived his past. Most of the time, he was all right. Most nights he could sleep without being shattered by nightmares of Iana’s final moments, and sometimes he could go for weeks at a time without thinking about it at all… but when the shadows from his past did creep up on him, they chilled him to the very bone, and that’s what news of Teddy’s presence there had done; frosted not only over his bones, but his heart. How was he going to look inside himself and find the ability to forgive Larkin with ice in his chest? And how was he going to be able to linger here for even one more hour, when he knew that at any moment he could turn a corner- and come face to face with the little boy that he’d terrorised? It wasn’t like he could even turn to Larkin for solace- she was going to be a complete mess once her thrall wore off and probably looking to lean on him and what could he do? How could he tell her that everything was going to be all right, when he didn’t believe it?

  He couldn’t, so he wouldn’t. He squinted down at his lap and picked up the gun that Kohén had surrendered, before clicking back the safety. The fireworks had started to go off, and by the time he’d wriggled forward closer to the edge of the dock and inhaled his last lungful of ocean air, four cracks had already sounded, meaning that probably only eighteen remained. He couldn’t know that for sure, but Larkin was a sentimental little thing and had an exquisite eye for detail, so he would have bet every cent he had- or every block of gold that he’d just slipped back into her safe- that she’d specified that there should be twenty-two fire crackers released in his honour.

  Smiling at her thoughtfulness as the numbers approached twelve and began to grow larger, reaching a crescendo that he could feel reverberating through his chest even though the kingdom was little more than a feint glow in the distance then, Cairo closed his eyes, pictured her stunning face, then Iana’s, whispered to Satan and God to go fuck themselves- and then leaned forward, determined to leave the smallest mess behind as possible, while ensuring that he got the burial at sea that he had earned.

  ‘Do you know what happened to me when my parents realised that as the third-born triplet, I was to be Given?’ a quiet voice asked and Cairo twisted around, squinting into the darkness with burning eyes and a racing heart as a silhouette almost identical to Larkin’s, but taller and darker and leaner, emerged from the shadows at the edge of the dock. In the washed out night and to his hazy, drunken gaze the gown was the same, the hair was the same and the timeliness was certainly familiar… but the woman walked differently, exaggerating her female-ness, and when she stepped into a beam of moonlight, her skin gleamed rather than glowed, and he sagged in disappointment. Of course Larkin wasn’t coming- she had other things- and men- to do. ‘Or should I ask… do you know what my father did?’

  Cairo was too stunned for words, so he simply shook his head dumbly, but kept the gun pointed at his temple. He knew what this was and although it wasn’t going to work, he was too intrigued by her sudden appearance to do anything but stare. Why was she out here? It was a half hour’s walk back to the Château!

  ‘He started working with me- teaching me how to act like a proper little lady, hoping that I would be lucky enough to be chosen by King Bronx… who was just Prince Elliot then.’ The Companion continued to walk towards the pirate as languidly as she walked anywhere, but he didn’t move to run, because he knew that she wouldn’t bother with t
rying to physically restrain him from doing anything- she hadn’t the nature. If anything, he supposed that she was just looking to get a front row seat to the kingdom’s biggest scandal.

  ‘Things were different then, of course. Janiel hadn’t yet lifted the restrictions on how many children one family could have, and everyone was so poor that the idea of being Given was regarded was more of a blessing than a curse. Yes, your child would grow to prostitute herself, but before then and after, she’d have a fuller belly than most, and more protected from the pirate invasions than anyone… or so they thought.’ She sighed and rested on the pole at the end of the dock next to him. ‘My mother and father both wanted me to be chosen, but my father wanted it badly. So, he started teaching me how to pleasure a man early on. I think I was two before he first forced himself into my mouth, and around about my third birthday, he started trying to pleasure me. He didn’t break my hymen of course- couldn’t have that, but there were ways to have me that didn’t involve vaginal penetration, and he had a merry old time showing me just how much ‘fun’ it could be, and what my body had been built to… take.’ She held out her hand, studying her bejewelled fingers. ‘I was glad to be chosen- glad to be taken from him. But being the attentive daddy that he was, he continued training me after- every time I was sent home for a visit, he’d take me somewhere private, and continue my education while my sisters were kept distracted playing with all of the wonderful things I brought back from Mossgrove to share with them. Jewels, toys, sweets… I shared everything with them until the age of thirteen, everything except their innocence and my pain.’ She looked at the pirate. ‘I eventually told Alton, and do you know what happened?’ she smirked and looked away. ‘He took me first, and gave me his favouritism in exchange, and when I had enough of that power, I used it to get my father branded and Banished.’ She snorted. ‘That’s why I enjoy sex so much, Cairo- I’ve learned that if I give men what they need, I’ll accumulate power in return, and so long as I have enough of it, nobody will ever be able to hurt me again.’

  The frost in the pirate’s heart had become a hot sweat that had moved to every one of his limbs, and he was fairly certain that he was about to throw up. ‘Words cannot describe how fucking appalling that story is,’ he said, his teeth actually chattering in his rage.

  ‘I know, yet I survived it and now, I know happiness every day.’ She looked the pirate up and down, and then curled her lip in judgement before turning away. ‘But I’m sure your situation is worse, isn’t it? Satan forbid you know one day’s unhappiness in two years, or be given the chance to apologise for the one thing you’ve done wrong in your whole life…’

  The pirate hissed in annoyance, getting to his feet. ‘Pain, is pain. You cannot compare one person’s suffering to another’s.’

  ‘No… but I can compare one person’s spine to another’s and the way I see it, Kohén Barachiel is twice the man that you’ll ever be, as is McIntyre, because there’s no limit to the things that they will forgive that girl for.’

  ‘Because they don’t love her! Not really! So they can’t be as hurt by her actions as I can!’

  ‘And yet you do…? Funny way of showing it. Farewell, your highness, I’ve had over fifty lovers in my bed but now that you’ve had the same one twice with a gun to your head, and even though we weren’t actually seeing one another either time, I’m going to put one to my own, pull the trigger, and compound your grief and guilt.’ She clapped her hands together slowly. ‘Nice work, soul mate. Why don’t you just save her the agony, and blow out her brains, huh?’

  The pirate wiped tears from his eyes. ‘I -’

  ‘Don’t give me excuses. I’ve lived a long time and I know a lot of men, and the straight ones can be broken up into three categories: the ones that like hurting women and think it’s their right to, the ones that try to do the best they can but occasionally fuck up… and the ones that love women, and champion them no matter what.’ She wet her lips. ‘You’ve lived most of your life in the last category, but if you slip into the second now, who will protect her from the ones in the first, like my father?’ She shrugged. ‘Do what you like. I’m sure Larkin’s evolved enough to protect herself...but don’t curse how evil some members of the human race are, while you were about to give up fighting against them. If you die this night, you’ll be remembered as a hero and possibly even a martyr...’ she picked up her skirts and sashayed off, lowering her voice when she saw two giggling girls racing over the hillside and to the shallows of the bay, hand in hand and absolutely oblivious to the fact that they’d just narrowly missed out on sharing the water with a corpse, ‘but eventually, Larkin will realise, as I am about to, that you were only masquerading as one the whole time, and Sam will end up being the father to her child that you aren’t fit to be- soul or not.’

  The pirate growled in fury and turned around and kicked the side of the boat, hard enough to hurt every bone in his bare foot, but not so hard that he could distract himself from the agony in his heart. He looked at the gun in his hand, then over at the girls that were stripping off and frolicking in the water, and realised how despicable his plan had been. He groaned again and then hurled it out into the water before dropping to his knees and sobbing in grief. All night tears had been trickling from his eyes in a never ending stream but now he clutched the dock and howled, cursing Lady Lucida, and hating himself more for it, all the while trying to muffle his sounds as much as he could, so as not to detract from the fun that the skinny-dippers were having- the fun he should have been having.

  The kind of fun he’d never know again, if he didn’t take destiny in his own hands once more.

  *

  In the shadows up the hill, your narrator watched as the striking older Companion flounced his way, her jewels winking in the moonlight, her lips parted in a pant as she hiked up the dewy grass in her ridiculously formal shoes to where he was waiting with her horse.

  ‘That was quite the pep talk, Lady Lucida,’ your narrator shook his head and chuckled, impressed beyond measure as he handed her the reigns and bent down to rub the scruff of Inoborna’s neck. ‘Why didn’t you just shoot him in the balls?’

  ‘And make your life easier? Stop exaggerating the soulless thing, McIntyre, I’ve been there, and I know just how much emotion gets through- you pretending that nothing but anger does is getting tiresome.’ She put her foot into the stirrup. ‘I know you like the man- you wouldn’t have asked me to go for a midnight fucking ride to save his ass if you didn’t.’

  Your narrator shrugged, bending to give her a boost up into the stirrups. ‘He’s a powerful ally and once Arcadia learns of this place’s existence, we’re going to need all of the allies that we can get. Besides… you were right: his death would have hurt Larkin more than she’s already been hurt, and I won’t abide that.’

  ‘Even if they are soul mates and by saving his life, you’ve screwed yourself out of a fiery romance?’

  Your narrator shrugged. ‘Wouldn’t be the first time.’

  The Companion looked over at the place where the two naked girls were now locked in a passionate embrace in the dark water. ‘Do I even want to know what happened there? Less than one hour ago, you and that girl were going for it on the terrace- we were all placing bets to see if Riesling was going to come over and cut you for tearing the dress. But now it seems like Riesling would have gotten her out of it more adeptly than you would have?’

  Your narrator chuckled. ‘There’s no shame in losing to a woman as attractive as that little Asianan minx is. I gave it my best shot but what can I say…’ He heard the pirate captain sobbing and winced, then bent down and gave Inoborna a swift pat on the backside. Obediently and against his maverick nature, the wolf took off in the captain’s direction in order to offer him the sympathetic company that your narrator could not. ‘When I’m beat, I’m beat and Saul-Yin’s evidently a dragon slayer.’

  Lady Lucida’s dark eyes sparkled down at your narrator as he straightened. ‘No seriously… what happened? That
girl’s wanted you for years. Were you just leading her on in order to keep your mind off other girls?’

  ‘Actually no. Turns out, Devil’s Claw smoke works as birth control in more ways than one. The interest was there, the dress was coming off and the sparks were flying… but sadly, I could not rise to the occasion.’ Your narrator blushed, which was against his nature but what could he do? That had been embarrassing. ‘She got upset, accused me of using her to numb my Larkin pain as you just did- then ran off into the girl’s bathroom crying. Apparently, there was a girl in there that could make her feel a lot better about herself and so naturally… I came to watch her do it in the hopes that the smoke would wear off in time for me to interrupt them and offer to lend a hand.’

  Lady Lucida chuckled. ‘Has it worn off?’

  ‘Alas no, but don’t worry, if at first you don’t succeed… forgo the smoke the next time, and enjoy the show in the interim.’

  ‘Anything to keep you away from the queen’s chamber, I suppose…and from overhearing anything that your pride can’t handle, even though you haven’t a heart to suffer.’

  Your narrator smiled tightly. ‘And there’s that.’

  Lady Lucida shook her head. ‘You’re a piece of work, you know that?’

  Your narrator patted her horse’s neck, meeting her gaze. ‘And you just saved the life of someone that Larkin loves, fulfilling your debt to Satan. How does it feel?’

  ‘I’m sure you’ll know, soon enough.’ Lady Lucida grinned at the mischievous Queen’s Guard and then flicked the rains while digging her stirrup into the horse’s flank. ‘Ha!’

  And then just like that, the horse was taking off and your narrator was alone again.

  Sighing as he wondered just how long he was going to have to wait to know any sort of personal success or joy or release at all, he dutifully began to retrace his footsteps back to the chateau to bear witness to the greatest tragedy that he’d ever known. He didn’t want to overhear anything that would hurt his pride, but if Larkin ended up in danger…