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“Just wondering, I guess.”
What about you? What’s so bad about being a queen?
I groaned and tilted my head back. “It’s not just being queen. It’s everything about it. My mother has to light the globes, reinforce the spells for wildlife, keep the sea balanced, mediate every little dispute. She never has time for anything else. If she leaves for longer than a week, the whole city has problems. I don’t want to take on a role that will consume my whole entire life before I’ve even had the chance to live. Do you know I don’t even know what I like to do? All my life, it’s been tutoring after tutoring. I can’t even tell you what I’m good at, because I haven’t tried anything.”
You’re good at escaping nasty sea witches.
A laugh escaped me. “Hallelujah. I found a hobby to last a lifetime.”
A low grumble came from the bush across from me and I froze.
Chapter 21
Iglanced at the undergrowth in concern as the leaves shook back and forth. “Should we be worried?”
Kaga shrugged, but picked his scythe up anyway. If he didn’t think I should be frantically climbing a tree to avoid whatever lurked in the shadows, then I’d finish my food.
I’d just eaten the last bite of rice from my bowl when the rustling in the undergrowth grew more frantic. Kaga jumped up, and I mirrored his movements, picking up my scythe. “What is it?”
I’m not sure. The jungle is home to many creatures.
I gripped the leather-wrapped handle of my weapon and faced the forest, wondering what was in those bushes. Not one for waiting, I slowly walked toward the noise, twisting my weapon until the blade was flat. Daringly, I lifted it over my head. I aimed for the bush and slammed it right down on top of the leaves.
Why in the realm would you do that? asked Kaga.
I didn’t answer, too distracted by the whimpering and growling. I readied my weapon, about to smack the bush again, when out burst a beast that looked like a brown wild boar, but had horns like a goat on its head. Each horn had tiny spikes coming out of it, like a sea urchin.
Kaga swore. Horncrest boars. They travel in packs.
Sure enough, another one followed it out of the greenery, this one with black horns instead of the beige the other had. Black Horn started howling, an awful grating sound, and Kaga rushed forward, hand out. A bubble of water surrounded the animal, cutting off its call.
Beige Horn grunted and pawed at the ground and bent its head, aiming for Kaga. I stepped in between, waving my scythe wildly, hoping to scare the beast away. The tip of the curve caught it on its nose, and it howled.
I swung my scythe around again when Kaga surrounded my boar in a water bubble. I looked over my shoulder and saw Black Horn on the ground, unmoving. “I’ve got this,” I said.
I know you do. I don’t want it calling more.
“Fine,” I said with a grumble, lowering my scythe. From the right, more scuffling came from the bushes. A blur of movement flashed out of the jungle, a new pair of horns headed straight for Kaga.
It rammed into Kaga’s side, the spikes piercing his side. He couldn’t yell, but the pain on his face told me enough. My heart thudded into my ribs and I whipped around. I brought my blade down onto the boar’s neck, but the skin was too thick there, and it merely grunted.
Kaga’s bubble still surrounded the other boar, who continued to struggle as he grunted in pain. It can’t call more, said Kaga, his voice strained. He grabbed the horns of the boar attacking him, trying to get it away. The creature refused to budge.
I couldn’t just watch. I tried a new angle, threading my blade under the boar’s stomach, slicing upward. Immediately, blood spilled from the creature. It continued to push and with shaking hands, I slammed the hilt of my blade onto the top of its head. The creature was too stubborn to give up, and kept moving forward, horns stuck in Kaga.
Finally, it gave one final grunt and collapsed onto the ground. Kaga kept his bubble on Beige Horn, who was quickly fading. Gently, I pulled the horns out of Kaga’s abdomen. At last, all three boars lay on the ground, unmoving. “Well. That was fun.”
Kaga shook his head in disbelief as blood poured from the holes in his side. With a grimace, I rummaged through my pack for the small medical kit he put in there before we left. I took out the little black bag and gestured for Kaga to sit down.
He joined me next to the fire, and I opened the pack. “I need your shirt off for this.”
Kaga grasped the edges of his shirt, wincing as he pulled it over his head. I swallowed as I stared at his bare chest. I was no stranger to bare chests. Mermen never wore shirts. But being here, in the jungle, wearing my human legs? There was something intriguing, special about it. I picked up a small vial, raising my eyebrows as I read the label. “Life Mend? This is a powerful potion.”
And expensive. It dissolved too quickly in water, so we had none in the merkingdom. Not that we needed it. Our nurses took care of us. Unfortunately, my powers wouldn’t work on land.
I applied a drop of the potion to each hole, about nine total. I grimaced, putting my hands on Kaga’s skin and leaning closer to look at them. “I don’t think any horn pieces are inside. This potion will take care of them if there are.”
Kaga didn’t respond, so I glanced up, blushing when I met his eyes. His eyes were darker than usual as he tracked my movements. Slowly, I moved backward and picked up the bandage, wrapping it around his torso. He winced again, and I apologized, wrapping it around him slower. If my hands grazed his soft skin a little more than necessary, it definitely was just an accident. Out of water, skin felt different. It wasn’t slick, like underwater, but rougher against my fingers.
