Chapter 31

[ 1,039 words ]

Arabella Toussaint:

“What are you doing?” Zara asked me. I looked down at the little girl sitting beside me. Her cheeks were streaked with tears and dirt. The poor thing had stopped crying, but fear was still visible in her eyes.

I forced a smile and continued rubbing the crushed leaves between my palms before gently spreading them over her shoulders and arms.

“This will help keep the bad wolves away,” I told her softly.

“You think so?” she rubbed her dirty fist against her eye, and I just nodded. The truth was that I wasn’t sure. I just heard it during a class on self-defense in the pack.

I had seen Vanessa applying those strong herbs against her skin whenever she wanted to sneak outside. I was the one who used to grind those leaves for her.

Zara yawned and then leaned closer to me as if I could protect her. The action did something to my chest.

Her grandma would have a heart attack if she saw her granddaughter getting cozy with a slave.

I couldn’t blame her; I was terrified too. Just thinking about what had happened earlier made my stomach twist.

That rogue had been only a few steps away from her, and I could still hear the child’s screams when the beast was lunging at her.

I didn’t know what got into me. One second, she had been on the ground and the next I had thrown myself forward and snatched her into my arms. I was never this quick and this fast. For me, this was unexpected.

My weak knees almost buckled due to the pain, but I didn’t stop. Especially not when a four-year-old child was screaming in my arms. So, I ran blindly. I ran harder than I ever had in my life. Several times I nearly fell. But the feeling that I had to keep this little one safe overpowered everything, every fear.

While running, I also remembered the time when the king asked me to get off the car. At that time, that beast came to my help. Now I didn’t know who to call, what to expect.

It was a miracle that the rogues lost our trail, but then my legs were shaking in fear and exhaustion.

That was when I spotted a hollow beneath a fallen tree and crawled inside with Zara clutched against my chest. We stayed there for a long time.

This time I expected help. Because I had a royal girl with me and I was certain the king would move heaven and earth to keep her safe.

Unfortunately, no one arrived, and the sun started shifting across the sky. My stomach sank. I looked sideways to look at Zara and saw her lower lip trembling.

“Zara.”

She immediately looked up without saying anything. I forced a smile, “Darling. I need you to crawl back inside the hollow.”

“Wh…what about you?” she asked me with wide eyes, and I tried to smile with a brave face.

“I’ll be right here.”

I was lying. After making sure that she was safe, I was planning to climb a nearby hill and look for any search parties. Of course I couldn’t take the risk of taking her with me.

“No. Please…” she shook her head violently, “Don’t leave me alone here. What if the bad wolves come back?” She started crying, and the tears ran down her chubby cheeks that had herb paste glued to them.

“Okay, shh. Stop crying, sweetheart. I’m not going anywhere.”

She was too small to be left alone, and it was my duty to hand her to her family in one piece.

I crouched near her and dabbed her cheeks lightly, “Shh. You’ll wipe the herb off, love.”

Zara sniffed and leaned against me. For a few minutes, neither of us spoke. Then she straightened and looked into my eyes, “Who are you?”

I blinked. What?

“Umm… I’m Arabella.”

“Okay. But who are you?”

I wasn’t sure how to answer that, “A girl…”

The child frowned, “That I can see… but…” She thought for a moment, “Do you live with Uncle Lucien?”

I looked away, not knowing what to say, “Yeah. Because he likes keeping me close.” I mumbled more to myself.

Zara’s eyes widened in shock, “He likes you?”

Shit. She heard. The question caught me off guard. For a moment, I simply stared at her.

“Are you a slave? Grandma told me.”

I nodded, forcing a smile, “Yeah. I am.”

“What is a slave?”

“The one who works very hard.”

“My mum works hard too. Is she a slave?”

Silence.

Good Goddess. I laughed hard despite such a tense situation, and couldn’t stop myself from kissing her cheek.

It had started getting darker, and now it was slowly getting riskier to stay here. She kept asking me innocent questions, but now distant sounds were reaching my ears. Zara was too busy to hear them, but I immediately froze and pulled Zara towards me.

The night was arriving, and the hollow protected us well in the daylight. Instinctively, my eyes spotted a massive tree at some distance. That was the only thing I was good at.

Climbing trees.

“Zara…” I stood up, “We’re going to play a game.”

That immediately got her attention, “Game?”

I nodded, “I need you to wrap your arms around my neck as tightly as you can. I’ll carry you. Okay. But don’t let me go. Hold tight, sweetie.”

She swallowed and held out her arms. I helped her climb onto my back, “Now your kegs too. We need to climb that tree together,” I pointed to the tree.

She followed my instructions and wrapped her legs around my waist, “Good girl.”

I glanced towards the towering tree and took a deep breath, “Hold on tight, honey. One… two … three… go!”

I dashed towards the tree as fast as my exhausted legs would allow. I kept expecting a rogue to leap out from the darkness. The child was smart. Her little arms tightened around my neck while her face buried against my shoulder.

“Don’t let go, no matter what happens,” I panted. Reaching for the trunk, I wrapped my arms around it and began climbing gradually.

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