Crazy is the Name of My Game

( 32 ) Dip and Slip

Bai Aglaia

"Who dare trespass the sacred lands?" I asked in a low, venomous voice as two heads simultaneously snapped to my direction. I had an arrow poised at the taller man's chest.

He jumped backwards and took out a long blade, almost the same curve as the one strapped in Hans' belt when I found him two new moons ago. And like Hans, he too shared the same gold-like hair and the same forest-colored eyes, only his was duller.

The one beside him stayed fixated in his position, unfazed by my declaration. Gloved hands shoved the dark cloth covering his head, and red curls fell out of a bundle, tumbling down the palest face I have ever seen in my existence.

Not a man. The second intruder was a woman.

"Do you speak my language, barbarian?" the woman in long flowing clothes asked in the same accented voice as Hans. Her eyes held mine in a gaze so intense, it pierced my soul. She searched my face for any indication that I understood her, but I did not give her the benefit of the doubt. I tilted my head and hissed at her, looking down at her with warning in my eyes.

"It is clear she does not, my Lady," the man said as he took a tentative step forward. His voice was gruff, hoarse, like the foreigners who sailed the ships and loitered the plaza, yet they held reverence towards the woman. "Let us leave. Such a lowly heathen must not taint your pure gaze. I cannot even begin to think that the Head Guardian will associate himself with her kind."

The woman simply stared at me, analyzing my lack of emotion.

"Leave," I told them, my head held high. “Now.”

"Lead us to the Head Guardian," she spoke without removing her eyes on me. Hans. She was looking for him. It cannot do. My inner skin bristled at her rudeness. No one, I mean no one, could order me around. Not even the pale ones from foreign lands.

"I smell him on you," she said flatly when I refused to answer. "Do not deny it barbarian."

I will show you how a barbarian behaves.

The corners of my lips curled at the end as I leaped from the branch directly in front of her. Aghast, she took a backward step and tumbled on her long flowing dress. Serves her right! Who told her to wear such clothing in the first place! Why, even without the sun, she would melt in those layers of cloth!

"My Lady!" the man exclaimed in panic as he helped the dainty woman up. She was smaller than me, and thinner, and paler. It was apparent that I was stronger and more beautiful. A burst of pride warmed my chest that I was able to show her that I was not one to be intimidated. She was all talk. In truth, I should be the only one demanding things here. After all, this is my territory.

Her companion shot me a fierce glare. "How dare you do that to Lady Marianne?! Do you know who she is? She is a princess in a kingdom that is a hundred times wealthier than this pathetic island! You are not even worth kissing the soles of her precious shoes!"

Without announcement, I pressed the blade of his sword against his neck. Tiny rivulets of blood trickled down his tanned skin. He was not fast enough to realize I snatched his weapon from him. What pathetic excuse of a protection was he?

I snarled. "Do not tempt me, stranger. I can only tolerate so much degradation from your filthy mouth. I am the daughter of the ruler of these lands, and as such, have all rights to eliminate you just for speaking to me without permission."

"You are nothing but a savage." He twisted away from me, and I easily let him. He smelled of animal, horse, and I hate the smell of horse.

"So you do speak my language," the woman piped in a firm voice, her thin mouth twisted to a frown. I held the foreign weapon at an arm's length and buried half of its blade in the grassy mound beside me. "Why do you hide it?"