Black Pearl

Chapter 62

I braced as well as I could. My eyes locked onto the gleaming metal, watching it slice the air as easily as it would slice my throat. I was about to become one of these men, face down in the dirt, bleeding out, with a lifeless gaze. Still, I fought. I caught his blade on mine and held strong, shaking and trembling against the pressure he used.

Would Leo even know that I came for him? Would he ever learn my side of the story? Would it even matter if he did?

My opponent smirked, seeming delighted by my struggle, my will to live, even if it was only for a few more seconds. "Such a pretty princess. You must have such a pretty siren heart. I can't wait to show my king."

I hated that those were the last words I was going to hear, loathed that his would be the last face I saw. But I was powerless against it. I had been wrong. I was not a great killer, not a beautiful mix of the wildness of the ocean and civility of humanity. Here, there were no designations. I was a prize or an obstacle.

I heard a dull thump, my thoughts of death fading with slight curiosity. The fairy opposing me made a strangle noise, one that I hadn't heard before. My attention left our battling blades, watching his eyes widen and his lips part. His intent no longer seemed to be on killing me as he took a step back, but I stayed ready. Mouth open, he attempted to say something as his sword was dropped, discarded on the battlefield. Blood trickled past his lips.

I jerked back in horror. Was this on the spells they possessed? Was this a trick? Or had someone spotted me and they wanted my heart all for themselves?

The fairy fell to the ground with a muted groan.

An arrow protruded from his back having penetrated the leather he wore.

"Oh my God," I whispered, stumbling a step. I debated running then, fleeing like a coward to the tree line and never coming back. War was hell. And I no longer wanted to be in the center of it. Despite all of my pride and my previously self-sacrificing behavior, I felt that I could not overpower the simple need to survive.

Something clamped down on my arm. A scream rose in my throat, about to release my distinctly feminine voice into the air before a wet hand clamped over my mouth. I was about to raise my blade, about to strike blindly, when I recognized the person before me.

Chest heaving, wide eyed with a set jaw, he didn't seem like the same man who laughed at my attempts to attack him on a beach after my wedding. And he was far from the man who grinned with amusement when he saw my husband seething with jealousy.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Willow's guard demanded.

His hand finally dropped from my face and I was able to see the crimson coating his fingers. I inevitably had sticky blood streaked across my cheeks now. On another day, that would be a horrifying thing to encounter, here, seeing him was enough to make me feel a pinch steadier, like I might not actually die this second. It was all false hope really because war was still being waged all around us and it only took one stray arrow, one well timed strike to end it all. That fell away when I realized that he was wearing only a shirt and pants. I almost scolded him for being so foolish.

But I stared at him, saying nothing at all.

"You can't fight. You never could," he hissed as if I hadn't realized this fact all on my own. "You're lucky that King Archer spotted you. You would've... "

"I'm going to die," I stated, my voice quaking. "I didn't know that when I left my island, but I know it now. I couldn't let anything happen to Leo. I couldn't let him go without him knowing- "

"This is a fucking battle, Princess Ember. We don't get to decide those kinds of things out here." His eyes flashed to the side and before I even saw it coming, he lunged, batting away an opponent's blade. More were coming. My anonymity had expired.