Blaze: A Little Red Riding Hood Dark Fairy Tale Retelling (Happily Never After Fairytale Retellings Book 10) by H.P. Mallory

Author:H.P. Mallory [Mallory, H.P.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-07-06T23:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER ELEVEN

BLAZE

An insistent rapping on my chamber door draws me from my deep stupor.

I’m not sure when my eyes slid shut, or how I managed to sleep with twilight visions of Queen Arianwen flitting through my mind. I could have sworn for a time I was the siren queen, fighting off one of the most feared creatures in Fantasia. I tasted blood in the water and felt the heat of Sol on my skin. But the vision fades into the distant, becoming the hazy quality of a dream almost at once, and the more I try to grasp the finer points, the more quickly they slide from my grasp, draining like water through a sieve.

“I’m coming in now, Miss Blaze,” a man’s voice says. It sounds vaguely familiar, but I can’t immediately place it. “You should cover yourself if you’re indecent.”

With a spurt of embarrassment, I glance down at myself and realize that I’m still wearing yesterday’s clothes. It’s silly to feel self-conscious about it, given my occupation. I’ve run myself ragged for weeks, only bothering to bathe or change clothes when no one was chasing me, or until I could no longer stand the grime, whichever came first. Still, it seems rude to rumple a princess’ things when she’s given me clothes and a place to sleep.

The door creaks open and I drape the coverlet over myself to disguise my error. One of the huntsmen is waiting at the door—the one with raven-black hair and a solemn demeanor. Draven, I believe.

He tactfully slides his gaze from me when he finds me clutching the coverlet to my person, coming to the wrong conclusion. He clears his throat and holds something out toward me. It takes a second for my eyes to focus enough to make out what it is in the pre-dawn. He’s holding out a rucksack, not unlike the one I carried before I was captured. This one is nicer than mine. After years of running, fighting, and exposure to the elements, my rucksack had been bleached by sunlight where it wasn’t singed by fire. It had been getting threadbare in places, too.

“You should find some clothes in here,” Draven says. “Three days’ worth, along with the supplies one of your hellhounds insists we’ll need. Dress quickly. He says we leave before the sun rises.”

I shake off the last of the grogginess and nod. That makes sense. Sunrise is the nearest conjunction. We’ll have to wait hours to take advantage of the next one. Maddox must intend on ushering us back into the dizzy, awe-inspiring space between worlds in an effort to race time. We only have a few days before Morningstar reaches Delerood. We’ve known that’s where it will end from almost the very start. Another chosen—Goldy—had a vision that told us as much. If we’re going to undermine Morningstar, this is the way to do it.

“They’re not my hellhounds,” I say, catching the rucksack when he tosses it underhand toward me. “If anything, you could say I’m theirs.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.