134
It wasn't until I left the palace grounds that I realized I had nowhere to go. Samantha won’t let me into her home and Madame Negro wouldn’t let me into the servants’ quarters. Where am I to go now?
“Are you lost baby girl?”
Sia.
Overjoyed, I turned around, and wrapped my arms around him. However, something didn’t feel right. I pushed him away.
“You’re not the prince.”
This man, this impostor chuckled. “Only a few can tell. I’m surprised you’re one of them.”
I took a step back. “Who are you, if you are not the prince?”
I watched keenly as he morphed into someone else. A man, with a scar across his face. His clothes were simple and made of won out leather.
“I am Mujin, the shapeshifter.”
“Shapeshifter? Does that mean…”
“I can change into anyone at any time? Yes.”
“So that means you can change into me?”
”Aye, but taking the form of a werewolf, doesn’t interest me.”
Does anything?
“Mujin, I'm going to need you to do something for me.”
‘No.”
“No? You haven’t even heard what I want to say.”
“I don’t need to hear it because I already know what you want to say. You want me to accompany you to the palace to see the queen so that I can tell her that I was the one who saw the people in your stead. That I was the one who brought shame and disgrace to her family.”
He hit the nail right on the head. “So, will you, do it?”
“No, stupid. The queen will have my head.”
“I’ll pay you.”
He snorted. “Your gold is not worth my head. Plus, you should try getting a roof over your head first before paying for mine.”
I scowl at him. “There must be something I can do to get you to agree Mujin.”
“There is, which is leave me the fuck alone!”, he snarled before walking away. I latch onto his wrist, pulling him back. He shoves me aside, breathing hard.
”Touch me again and I will return the favour!”, he sneered.
”You’re the only one who can help me, Mujin.”
“I don’t want to help you. It’s not worth it.”
“You don’t know that.”
“Actually I do. The last she wolf I helped is the reason I lost my family.”
So he lives alone. Interesting. “I’m so sorry to hear that Mujin but I am different.”
“How so? She wanted me dead. You want the same.”
“What I want right now is for you to allow me spend a night at your place.”
“If the royal family has shut their doors to your face, what makes you think I’ll open mine?”
I sigh. “I’ll pay you once I’ve found favour with the queen.”
He laughed. “If you hadn’t found favour with the queen, you and I won’t be having this conversation. It’s the people you need to find favour with.”
“And how do I do that? Find favour with the people?”
“It’s simple. You give them what they want?”
“Which is?”
“Your head on a spike.”
…..
“Surely there has to be another way to get the people to like me other than, well you know, giving them my head?”
Mujin stopped in his tracks and turned to me. “I thought I told you to go away?”
“You did? Well, what I heard was follow me.”
He sighed and continued walking.
I inched after him, careful not to make a noise. “I know you’re still following me.”
I stopped walking. “Mujin, come on. I don’t ave a place to stay and you would hate to leave a vulnerable woman like me in the open.”
“No, I wouldn’t. You know why? I don’t care,” he snarled before yelling. “Hey everyone! Look, the she-wolf has come out of her cell!”
I watched, horrified as several heads turned towards me, a murderous look in those eyes. I swallowed hard, and no one needed to tell me to run. But how far could a pregnant she-wolf go before the angry mob catches up to her?”
My feet hit the snowy ground with force as I throw myself forward. I don’t dare turn back, preferring not to look at the mob behind me. A packet of snow hits my arm and I hiss. When did they start throwing stuff? An arrow whizzes past me and I curse, picking up my pace.
Not only throwing things, but now they are shooting arrows? Just how deep is their hatred for me? I didn’t feel it until I took a sharp turn to my right.
Warm blood trickled down my thigh and I stared at the arrow sticking out of my mid-thigh. It was then I realized that if I didn’t get help, I would die and so would my child. But what am I to do with my bleeding thigh? I just sat there, opposite an antique shop, waiting for death to come.
“Shit! Shit! Shit and shit!”
I looked up, surprised to see Massa. “What are you doing here?”
He smiles. “Blood loss must have made you dumb.”
My smile falters. “Oh, it’s you,” I mumble, frowning as his face morphed into its original. “Have you come to kill me? You know, finish me off?”
He laughed. “I have no intention of killing you, baby girl.”
“Didn’t seem like it when you announced my presence. And don’t call me baby girl.”
He rolled his eyes. “Can you walk?”
I glare at him. “What do you think?”
“Of course. I forgot you she-wolves are so weak and pathetic.”
“You’re an asshole.”
“Says the girl who wants me to sacrifice my head for hers.”
I roll my eyes. “Shouldn’t the mob have reached here by now?”, I ask, confused because I can’t hear their angry voices any longer.
He chuckled. “So eager for death are you not? Well, let me tell you something. It’s not your turn today.”
”Are they coming or not?”
“No because, no sane person wants to disturb the king’s peace. I made them understand that and they grumbled on their way home,” he answered, sparing me a glance.
“If it’s a thank you that you want, you won’t get it from me.”
He chuckled and tapped my wounded thigh.
“Get up. My yard is a few miles down”
”I told you I can’t walk.”
“I know, which is why I’m going to carry you.”
“I don’t want your hands on me,” I wheeze out, blinking a few times to stay awake.
“Then walk. It’s not like I want your skin against mine.”
“Fine. You can carry me. But keep talking so that I won’t lose consciousness.”
He scooped his arms under my knees and carried me bridal style. The moment my head touched his shoulder, I lost consciousness.
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