Underland, #1 by Rebecca Goodwin

Author:Rebecca Goodwin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Rebecca Goodwin

Chapter Twelve

The stone wall scrapped my back as I scooted as far from Rob—er the rabbit—that had suddenly appeared in his place. Then it twitched its nose at me and I swore it winked. Was Rob a magician like Hadden? I swallowed the lump in my throat as my insides froze. Hadden had warned me about the queen, and I hadn’t listened. I was so sure this was my grandma that I was still struggling with doubts.

“Rob?” I choked out.

In a flash, the bunny disappeared and there stood Rob like before. I rubbed my eyes. Was I going mad?

“Wha—How?” I stumbled over my words my mind rebelling that any of this was real. How could it be? People didn’t transform into animals. It was impossible. Except, I’d seen lots of bizarre things since walking through the hedge-gate.

“I’m a rabbit-shifter,” he answered.

I scoffed. “There’s no such thing.” Sure, in legends and myths there were werewolves and dragon-shifters but never someone turning into a fluffy, white rabbit. Wouldn’t it be better to transform into something else? Something more powerful like a tiger or bear?

“Yet here I am.” Rob sat down across from me, his back pressed against the opposite wall. “And without my watch, I’m late all the time, so the queen whips me and keeps me here for durations of time.”

“That’s awful. I’m so sorry that happened to you.” My heart squeezed as I empathized with his plight. I rubbed my arms. The thorns from the plant guard things were removed thanks to Rob but a dull soreness still permeated my skin. He didn’t deserve to be treated this way. “Why haven’t you run away then?” And why hadn’t the people rebelled and overthrown her?

“I tried but I’m bonded to her because I’m her herald. It’s my job to announce anyone coming into her rose garden for any reason or one of her court parties, where her favorite pastime is beheading her enemies.” He shivered, his skin growing ashen.

“Can’t you quit? Tell her you don’t want to work for her and get someone else? Or better yet, get a new queen?”

“My dad told me stories of another queen. Half the land went to the queen of hearts and the other went to the white queen.” He gave me a soft smile. “Every time it rains, this queen becomes infuriated. She has to renew her spell each time.”

Spell? I still was finding it hard to understand that magic might be real in this world. But it was better I understood as much as I could to figure a way to get out of here and find my real grandma. “Why? What spell?”

“Because all the white roses grew, breaking through her magic, and showed those of us who don’t remember the white queen that she is the true ruler of Underland, not the red queen.”

Goosebumps danced along my flesh and I licked my lips. “Um... Why is the white queen the ruler and not the red one?”

He gave me a look like I’d just asked him why clouds were in the sky.

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.