Mouse hefted Achlys over his shoulder. “Your turn to have fun in the dungeon. You’re going to tell us aaaaall about your plans.”

Achlys groaned.

Fur shrunk down. Clarita resumed her usual shape and gathered Brittany into her arms. “Brittany, are you okay? Are you alive?”

Brittany blinked her eyes open and smiled weakly. Her lips moved, and a whisper escaped. “Still… hanging in there.”

“Should I call Felix? Does she need healing?” Mouse asked.

Clarita cradled Brittany in her arms. “She… she can’t be healed. Not with healing magic, it’d hurt her. There’s only one way.”

Brittany tried to push away. “I’ll… call one of the girls, they’ll give me blood. You don’t have to.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. I’ll take care of you.”

Brittany jumped. She stared up at Clarita. “R… really? You…”

Clarita sighed. “I… I still love you, Brittany. No matter how much I tried to pretend, how much I hurt, seeing you become someone else, I still love you.”

Brittany whirled around and wrapped Clarita in a hug. “Clarita!”

“Don’t move so fast! You’re injured,” Clarita said, concerned.

Over Clarita’s shoulder, Brittany glanced at Mouse and Cel. She winked and made a subtle shooing motion behind Clarita’s back.

“Oh, I uh, we should be going, huh? Need to put the prisoner away,” Mouse said.

“Yep, yep, shall we?” Cel backed away to the window.

“There’s a perfectly fine door,” Clarita said. She started to stand. “I’ll unlock it…”

“No, no, I think… you two… anyways, uh. Good luck!” Mouse waved and hopped out the window, dragging Achlys behind him. Cel followed after, only half a beat behind him.

Out under the moonlight, Mouse cast a last glance at the window and smiled. “I’m glad it all worked out. For them, and everything.”

Cel nudged him. “Keep looking, and you really will be a voyeur.”

Mouse rolled his eyes. He hefted Achlys over his shoulder. “Yeah, yeah. C’mon, let’s get this girl to prison.”

Achlys struggled against his shoulder. She hissed and reared back, aiming for his chest.

“Mouse!” Cel shouted.

Her teeth sunk into padding. Achlys spat and spluttered, spitting out bits of cotton. “Ugh! Gross!”

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

Mouse raised his eyebrows. “Even if it was me… that looked incredibly hot for a second there.”

Cel slapped him. “Mind out of the gutter.”

“You—you faker! I know what you are. I smell it on you. I’ll tell everyone if you don’t let me go,” Achlys threatened.

Mouse paused. He looked at Cel. “Did you bring the vial?”

“Right here.” Cel held up a small vial, full of black, tar-like fluid.

He sighed. “I didn’t want to resort to this, since it’ll make it harder to discover your plans… but oh, well.”

Achlys retreated in his arms, leaning as far away from him as she could. “What is that? What are you doing?”

“Nothing, nothing. Just a little hallucinogenic. Don’t worry, by the time you wake up, no one will believe a thing you say about the last few hours.” Mouse smiled sweetly. He put a dab of the fluid on his fingertip and pushed it toward her face.

Achlys turned away. Cel grabbed her head and held it in place. She shut her lips tight, defiant, skull-face’s teeth locked shut.

Mouse shrugged and stuck his finger in the gap in the jawbone behind her skull-face’s teeth. When he felt the moisture of her tongue, he retreated. Cel held her mouth shut and waited. Mouse counted to ten under his breath, then nodded. Cel let go.

Achlys spat and coughed. “What—what did you…”

“I already told you.” He glanced at Cel. “He should be…”

“Mouse!” Felix raced around the corner atop Spar. He hopped off and ran over, panicked. “Spar came to fetch me. Are you alright?”

Mouse waved his hand. He quickly smoothed down his dress over the torn-open padding and smiled. “I’m fine. I’m fine. We’ve just… well, we caught the real perpetrator of the recent biting incidents.” He gestured at Achlys.

Achlys’ eye lit up. She struggled in Mouse’s arm, desperate. “Your Majesty! This elf is deceiving you. Look! It’s all fake!” She jabbed her head at the exposed cotton.

Felix glanced at the padding. “I know. It’s her choice, and I respect that.”

Achlys shook her head. “No! She’s—He’s a man!”

Spar stiffened. Beside Mouse, Cel caught her breath.

Mouse stood there, relaxed, a smile on his face. “Your Majesty, I believe she’s a bit confused from all the excitement.”

“You know I prefer when you call me Felix. Twain called me Fell,” Felix pointed out, a bit petulantly. “It’s fine to call me by name.”

“Y—er, Felix. Please, pay no mind to this befuddled attendant. Her mind isn’t in the right place. All this biting…”

“No! Don’t listen to her—him! He’s lying to you! Lying!” Achlys struggled harder. Mouse’s grip slipped. She fell to the ground and jumped up with a shriek. “Snake! Snake, snakes… get them away! Get them away from me!” Afraid, she ran at Spar and tried to scramble onto his back. He reared and shied away, refusing to let her on.

Mouse sighed. “As you can see, she’s quite disturbed. My apologies for showing you such a disgraceful sight.”

“Not at all, not at all. Thank you for discovering the true assailant.” Felix gestured shortly. A cage of light formed around Achlys. She screeched and hunkered down, wrapped into a ball, hands over her head.

Mouse sighed. “I’m glad to see the tail of this. Waking up to an accusation isn’t how anyone wants to break out of a coma.”

Felix stiffened slightly at that, then smiled, a slow, honest thing. He glanced at Mouse. “Actually… I have good news. A little break for everyone is on the horizon.”

“Oh?” Mouse asked.

Felix nodded. “For the first time in a hundred years, water has once more begun to flow at the famous Clearwater hot springs. I think we—you, and myself, and all the princesses—could benefit from a little time away from the palace, don’t you think?”

A hot springs? Mouse tried not to let his face tense. Right after the beach… it’s out of the frying pan and into the fire for me. You go into hot springs naked, so there’s no padding or nice swimsuits to pick up the slack. I’m so fucked…

“Mouse?” Felix asked, brows furrowing.

“Oh! No, I—that sounds so wonderful, I just didn’t know how to react! Ah, relaxing at the hot springs with all the other princesses… sounds relaxing!” He forced himself to smile.

Felix tilted his head, then smiled back, brilliant as the sun. “Excellent! I’ll tell everyone else tomorrow morning.” He walked off, trailing Achlys in the cage after him.

Mouse glanced at Cel.

Cel glanced back. “Good luck.”

Mouse sucked in a breath and shook his head. “Thanks. I’ll need it.”