The King's Abducted Queen

Chapter 3

The mocking tone of his voice ignited a fire within her. It was as if he were a predator toying with his prey. Although fear consumed her, she managed to twist her face into a defiant sneer.

In the darkness, her vision was limited, but she knew the Dark King could see her clearly in the moonlight.

He sheathed his sword and crouched before her, mere feet away. Alira's instinct urged her to kick him, yet her body felt frozen, a cold sweat clinging to her skin.

"Now, tell me, what is a little creature like you doing so close to the border? Don't you know there are monsters lurking here?"

His growl dripped with mockery, and her heart sank as if it wanted to escape her chest. "You're the monster!" she spat defiantly.

"Hmmm, a feisty one," he replied, extending his gloved hand toward her. Instinctively, she slapped it away, only to elicit a chuckle from him, amused by her futile resistance.

In an instant, he grasped her left wrist, yanking her upward until she sat just inches from him. By the time Alira realized what he was doing, it was too late.

Her wrist was before his face, and those gleaming amber eyes scrutinized the white ink tattoo of a sun—the Totem family crest.

"A royal indeed," he remarked, releasing her arm. Now, she found herself awkwardly perched on the cold ground, far too close for comfort. Terror gripped her heart at the thought of what might happen next.

Moments stretched painfully long as he crouched in front of her, perhaps studying her. Alira closed her eyes, unwilling to meet the gaze of this monster. The sound of his steady breathing sent chills racing down her spine.

If the King of Thunder meant to kill her, she wished he would do it swiftly.

After a deep sigh, the king stood, prompting her to c***k open an eye to peek at him. His helmeted head was turned back toward the direction from which he had pursued her—the carriage where her people had met their gruesome fate.

The thought ignited a fresh surge of white-hot rage within her. They were still on Mavis's lands, and these dark gnome creatures had attacked them.

A wave of courage surged through Alira, and before she fully realized her actions, she kicked out her foot, knocking the king's leg out from beneath him.

A stunned "huh" escaped him as his heavy, armored body crashed to the ground. Almost squeaking in surprise at his fall, Alira's body was already in motion.

Twisting away from the ground, Alira scrambled around the fabric of her dress to regain her feet. The dark gnome lay groaning, but she knew he wouldn't stay down long. She dashed through the trees as quickly as her limited visibility allowed.

She hadn't gotten far when she heard him curse and pull himself back up. It felt as though she was soaring above the earth in her desperation to escape and save her own life.

However, her progress was short-lived, for it wasn't long before she heard the heavy thud of his boots pounding behind her.

There was nowhere for her to hide or flee. He would track her down in the darkness, regardless of where she ran. A moment later, she sensed him right behind her. When a powerful hand seized her arm, she screamed—not out of surprise, but sheer terror.

"Didn't your parents ever teach you not to run from a wolf on the hunt? I might get eager and chase you down even harder," he snarled, yanking her around by her shoulders.

"Your comparison to a dog is spot on!" she shouted, spitting at his faceplate. The spit hit his armor, causing his head to jerk back. Instead of reacting with anger, he erupted into deep, guttural laughter, muffled by his metal mask, as he threw his head back in amusement.

Amidst his laughter, he suddenly swept her up and tucked her under his arm. In an instant, she was facing downward, her arms pinned to her sides as he carried her like a sack of potatoes.

"You've got quite the mouth for a royal," he rumbled, striding confidently through the dark woods, each step assured despite the night.

Struggling in his hold, Alira yelled, "Get your filthy hands off me!" The uncomfortable position only heightened her distress.

"You're from the Totem bloodline," he said in a flat tone, "but the capital is very far from here. I wonder what a royal is doing out here with just a small entourage. There's a city nearby, isn't there? Were you perhaps heading there? Or leaving?" His musings seemed more directed at himself than at her.

"Eat dirt!" she retorted, squirming with greater intensity beneath his grip. Her face flushed with anger as he laughed again. Then suddenly, he paused.

"What is that?" Alira couldn't see what he was referring to, her face pressed against the ground. Something in his voice made her still in his grasp, and a moment later, she heard the sounds of shouting and fighting nearby.

A glimmer of hope flickered within her; perhaps some of her guards were still alive and engaged in battle. There had been a Thunder soldier with a bow—might he have shot Nadine while the dark king advanced with just a sword?

Maybe the Mavis guards were overcoming their foes, and as they approached the scene of chaos around the carriage, there remained a chance for her rescue.

As Alira listened to a thunderous growl and the sickening sound of flesh being torn apart, a wave of nausea washed over her, and bile surged in her throat. There would be no rescue.

The creature engaged in battle was unlike anything she had ever encountered. An instinctual fear whispered to her that it was some kind of beast—perhaps one of the dark monsters that lurked in the north.

A man's anguished scream pierced the air, spurring them forward in haste toward the source of the horrifying sounds. "Beast hells," Lord cursed as he propelled them toward the beast and its unfortunate victim.

With a heavy thud, Alira found herself unceremoniously dropped onto the damp ground. As she shook her head to clear the disarray of her hair from her face, she realized they had been brought back to the treeline bordering the road. Her gaze initially landed upon the opulent carriage adorned with gas lamps along its roof, but her heart plummeted as her eyes were drawn again to the scattered corpses nearby.

What she saw next would haunt her nightmares for years to come. A long, feline creature with corpse-like pale skin was ripping into the lifeless body of a Thunder soldier among the other remains.

The sickening crunch and wet sounds of the creature's feast made her stomach churn.

"What is that?" Alira whispered to herself.