Darkness falls soon enough. While the naturalists work to repair the boats, Mallie and Karma head to the river, just twenty feet away from their small camp, to catch the night’s dinner. At first, just the soft trickling of water and the buzzing of nocturnal creatures is all that can be heard, but as Karma has learned, Mallie does not do well with the quiet.

“You’re…” The girl pauses, as if searching for the courage to finish her sentence. Karma prepares herself for the onslaught of hatred she’s sure to feel pouring from the girl at any moment. “Crudely beautiful.” Her eyes dart to the short haired girl, just for a second.

Karma removes her boots and rolls up the legs of her pants before entering the river. “One would not think that my beauty would be your focus, considering you are one of my hostages.” It’s not as if the girl could have forgotten the predicament. After breaking her brother out of prison, she was sure to have had plans outside of guiding a stranger, a royal one, to the lands of battle.

She wonders for a moment, what exactly their plan was. None of them can go about normal lives now. They’re already children of terrorists, and adding in the acquaintanceship with an escaped convict, their faces will be plastered within every major province soon enough.

Mallie sighs as she follows Karma’s lead. “No, no one would think that. It’s just, you aren’t as I imagined you would be.” Karma removes her gloves and tosses them to the bank. “I mean, everyone in the nation has heard stories about the King’s sponsored heir. They’re grand and painfully painted. They're always tales of terror with a certain calculated ferocity hidden in them. Well, you are cold and powerful, just as we expected you to be, but you don’t seem cruel.”

Her lips curl. “Do you believe that in the few days you’ve been by my side you’ve learned a single thing about me?” Karma stares into the water, her eyes drying as she watches for motion beneath the soft current.

Mallie pauses next to her, taking a moment to look over her nation’s first princess. “I’ve learned that you're fast on your feet and quick to anger. You’re cunning, and because you’re cunning, you’re also attentive.” She turns her attention to the river as well, conjuring a spear without a trigger word. “You also don’t like to accept water or help from strangers. You would rather coerce it, so you have full control of the situation.”

While Karma could give Mallie her props for coming up with a concise list of just a few of her traits, she doesn’t. Anyone with eyes and time would notice these things about her, and that is only because she has allowed it. Karma shrugs just as she spots movement.

She blinks to relieve the burning in her eyes.

“Disgusting!”

Her eyes open, her heartbeat speeding up. Karma looks around, though she knows she will not find the owner of this voice. Her hand shoots out, her nails latching onto the wriggling creature in the water. How had she forgotten about what would happen when darkness fell?

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

She blinks again.

“You vile girl!”

Her lips part as she chucks the fish to land. Mallie attacks another with her spear. Karma swallows. “You’ll have to get the rest.” She pulls herself out of the river, picking up her slimy meal as it still struggles for a breath of water that it will never get. Karma leaves Mallie, her eyes peeled open so forcefully that she can feel a breeze on them.

She should release the curse. But as soon as she does, all the exhaustion will hit her simultaneously. She’ll be knocked out for days. But- Karma shakes her head.

There are no buts. If she cannot release the curse now, then she simply must suffer through it. She still doesn’t trust Million not to slit her throat in her sleep anyway. Karma returns to the small camp, her fish hanging off her dominant finger.

“You nasty child.”

“Where are your shoes?” Looking down, she realizes that she indeed did forget to grab both her shoes and her gloves. A sigh leaves her as she sits before the small fire. Million had killed all the grass in the area to prevent the fire from spreading. What a useful skill to have.

She wonders if it applies solely to nature.

“Filthy beast!”

Her toes dig into the crumbly earth. “I left them to dry by the river.” Karma withdraws her dagger and begins to peel the scales off of her fish. “How are the boat repairs coming?” Her eyes flicker to the overturned wooden canoes. They look old and unreliable, but surely should something happen, the river won’t be too hard to swim in.

Hunts smiles, patting his friend’s back. “This one here is a master with wood. He filled all the problematic holes. We should be good to get them in the water once we make some oars.” Karma nods, taking note of Mallie’s steadily approaching form.

“Look at it!”

Karma grits her teeth, her jaw clenching painfully. Tossing the fish towards the fire, she rises. “I won’t be eating tonight, rest easy.” Then she heads back towards the river.

“I said look at it!”

Perhaps the water will muffle the voices and help her keep her eyes open. All she has to do is keep her eyes open. “Wait!” A hand wraps around her upper arm, and Karma’s body is responding automatically. Her free hand shoots out, fingers curved to swipe at skin.

Million catches it. “You need to eat.” He glosses over the fact that she had almost succeeded in shredding the skin off his face.

“Let go,” is all Karma says in response.

“This is what you want?!”

He releases her but doesn’t back away. “You need protein. It might seem like you’re okay at the moment, but malnutrition catches up to the body quick. You aren’t eating as much as you need to.” Her brow raises as she looks him up and down.

Of course, she knows why he’s acting this way. Her curse took hostage his loyalty and his soul. She understands that it isn’t exactly his fault that he’s unable to leave her to her own devices, but that doesn’t stop the anger from slithering up and wrapping around her neck.

“This is your future!”

It twists, constricting her throat, it’s tongue flicking out as it hisses into her ear. Voices begin to blend and mesh. “He’s tricking you.” “You’re going to die.” “Do it!” “Foul girl!” “Do it!” “You must eat.” “Treacherous creature!” “Do it!” “Devour him.” “Now girl!” “Please, just a little.” “Your knife.” “Do it!” “He’s mocking you.”

“Do-”

“Princess?”

“-it!”

“Hey man, just let her go.”

“Do-”

“If she dies, we all die!”

“-it!”

“Skipping one meal won’t kill her, Mil, come on.”

“Do-”

“One meal becomes two.”

“-it!”

Her throat loosens.

A shriek falls out.