★ Wattpad Featured: #FreshReads #InHerWords2022
❝You're not taking me to bed. Ever.❞
❝...Who said it had to be on a bed?❞
A disgraced immortal and a legendary folk hero are desperate to locate a blacksmith who can break the enchanted handcuffs that...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Sunkanmi was a natural leader and Xosa didn't mind following, so that was one thing they could agree on.
The path before them widened into the jungle, dense with mosquitos and other fauna. A lone deer-eagle screeched overhead, clearly not cowed by Sunkanmi's deranged screaming earlier.
It rankled her how easily she lost control. And for what?
[Why can't he take this seriously? Doesn't he know what's at stake here?]
Xosa was supremely unbothered. He whistled while they walked, hands in his pockets. To the untrained eye, he was indecipherable. But Sunkanmi read the tension coiled in his spine like a children's pop-up book.
They made it about ten feet into their journey before she broke the ice. If they wanted to survive this, it was best to start the partnership without any pretenses. Full disclosure. An open forum.
"So... what are you doing here?"
"Uh..." The god wiped his hands on his trousers, jingling their chain. "Isn't it obvious?"
"No, I mean what are you doing here? On this plane of existence? Gods don't stay here long enough to bleed. Samsxal is a vacation paradise, not a retirement home."
"Oh," Xosa's forked tongue traced his teeth. "That. Well, the short answer is my brother relieved me of my godly duties and exiled me so I would suffer for the rest of my years among you evolved apes. No offense."
[How would I not take offense to that?]
"And the long answer?"
Stretching like a giraffe, Xosa reached up with his free hand and rocked an overhanging branch. Small pink fruit showered down like hail.
"Historically, I haven't been a very good person and Poallu was tired of coming to my aid when I refused to learn from my mistakes. He didn't realize it was too late to help me until my shenanigans affected him directly, and he couldn't kill me because he loves me too much, so his only option was to strip my Crown of Wrath and send me where he didn't have to see me. Out of sight, out of mind."
"Let me guess. You insulted his vintage ambrosia? No, no, don't tell me. You ate from his forbidden apple tree? Oh, I got it! You stole his thunder, literally. "
