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18
Terror rattled through her bones, but rather than run from the scene before her, she raced towards it. Her bare feet pounded across the ground, and she cursed the unwieldy size of her skirts as she tripped, falling to her knees. She’d worn the dress for him, but now when she needed to move the most it felt like a chain hauling her to the ground. Her toes burned as she tried to get back to her feet, slipping on the fabric again, and frustrated tears sprang from her eyes.
A cry caught her attention in the distance. Lifting her gaze to Erik, she watched as the first of the dark figures tackled him to the ground.
“No!” she shouted at the top of her lungs, magic surging through her body, through her veins. She willed it into the ground and great shards of earth exploded from the ground, throwing the other figures back before they could join the attack.
A storm gathered overhead, lightning cracking across the sky. Fury burned away her terror and she rose, a spell rolling across her tongue. They could not take him from her. She wouldn’t allow it. She’d fought for so long to gain Erik’s love, his trust. No matter what monsters wanted him now, she would not lose him.
She threw her hands out and her spell flew with the one thing that meant most to her. “He is mine!”
Mina jerked awake and yelped in surprise as she saw a pair of bright green eyes staring back at her. She tilted sideways, and her body dropped off the tree limb, drawing a scream from her throat. She fell through the tree branches, bracing for the impact of the ground, and then abruptly she hit two strong arms. Her body jerked in their grasp and then came to rest against a strong familiar chest.
“Princess, are you okay?” Harker gasped, setting her carefully back on her feet.
Clinging to the front of his shirt, she shook her head, pinching her eyes closed and opening them again. “I…I don’t know what happened. One minute I was hiding and then the next I was...”
A dark figure dropped from the tree a few feet away and she yelped again.
Harker’s arm tightened around her and massaged her shoulders. “Easy. It’s just Seward. He figured out where you’d hidden and climbed up to get you.”
The thin werewolf bowed to her, his dark hair flopping over his forehead as he bowed. “Forgive me, Milady. I did not mean to startle you.”
“It’s okay.” She said, gathering herself again.
“We should get you topside again. Lucy was worried sick when you didn’t show yourself.” Harker said, turning them towards the walkway that cut through the little village.
Mina pinched the bridge of her nose. “How long have I been in the tree? I thought Seward was hurt.”
“He was healed. It’s been four hours. No one could find you. The scent of the tree, and the enchantment. It kept you hidden from all of us. It was smart thinking, but I guess you fell asleep?”
She shook her head. “No. It was…there was something else…I don’t know.”
“It’s okay. Let’s just get you back to the palace. You can rest there before your dinner with the King.”
Her head lifted. “Right, I almost forgot about that. Thank you.”
“Not a problem.” He chuckled. “It’s my job.”
“I thought your job was protecting the king,” she said, smiling up at him.
“It is,” he laughed. “But the king has expanded my duties to protecting you as well, Princess. I am to be your personal guard until you decide whether or not you want to be our queen.”
Mina stopped dead halfway up the hill. “Queen? I…I never really thought about that part of this arrangement. I never realized that marrying Erik would make me the Queen.”
“I…I assumed it would, I’m sure if that’s not what you want His Majesty would understand.” He frowned, glancing past her to where Seward trailed behind her.
Mina shook her head and strode forward. “No. It’s okay. I just…I just never thought about it.”
“Let’s get you back to the palace,” he said, putting a comforting hand on the small of her back.
Mina leaned into it, grateful to have another friend in this new land, and then was promptly tackled to the ground by a forceful blonde the moment she crested the hill. Mina’s back smacked into the ground and she grunted.
“Lu—” she coughed. “I can’t breathe.”
Lucy scrambled off her and hoisted her back to her feet in a quick jerk. Mina’s head spun and she swayed on her feet.
“Sorry,” Lucy said, brushing her head back from her face. “I just…I got worried when we couldn’t find you.”
