Page 2 of Taken By the Barbarian King

People are screaming. Dogs are barking. There’s a deafening roar in the air.

And there are giants.

Literal giants with waist-long hair, towering heads, and shoulders above everyone else. They’re blue. Head to toe. Every inch of skin, and I mean, every inch. The only body parts I can’t confirm with my own eyes are the… ones covered by honest-to-god loincloths.

What the actual fuck?

Have I stepped onto a movie set? Or maybe into another dimension?

What the hell are these things? I stumble backward in an attempt to run, but instead, I trip over something small and squirmy at my feet. My arms windmill as I go down, and I land hard on my tailbone. Pain shoots through me and the wind is knocked out of me.

One of the blue giants rears his head, zeroing in on me. He growls something, then takes a couple of stomping steps in my direction.

I scramble backward, only to hit a wall. Shit. Crap. Fuck.

He growls again and it sounds suspiciously like “princess.”

Princess? Princess Alexandra! I don’t see her. But then, it’s hard to see anything around the blue giant looming over me. I can only hope that her protective detail has ferried her safely away.

“Wh-what do you want?” I ask, heart in my throat.

“Prin-cess,” the blue giant says again and there’s no mistaking the word this time. They’re looking for Princess Alexandra. They want to kidnap her, maybe hold her for ransom, maybe kill her. They don’t look like the type who give up after the first failed attempt.

The blue giant bends over me, his dark hair billowing around him like a cloud. His icy blue eyes narrow as they take me in, raking down my body, then back up again. It feels like he’s examining me, assessing me.

I squirm, trying to curl myself into a ball, as if he won’t be able to see me if I’m small enough.

“You. Princess.” He points a blue finger at me, then gives me a poke in the chest. It’s surprisingly light, like he’s testing to see if I’m real.

Does he… does he think I’m Princess Alexandra? No, he couldn’t possibly. The princess and I look nothing alike. She’s tall and blonde and beautiful. I’m a short, mousy brunette with glasses. She wears one-of-a-kind designer dresses while I’m in my staple pencil skirt and blouse. No one with eyes would ever mistake me for her.

“Me?” I shake my head frantically, then stop. If they think I’m the princess, then they won’t go after Alexandra. If they think they’ve been successful, then they won’t try again. Which means…

“I mean, y-yes, I–I’m Princess Al-alexandra. I–I’m the one y-you’re looking for.” The words feel wrong on my tongue and shame fills me as I lie. Not just lie, but pretend to be a member of the Royal Family. I don’t know which laws I’ve just broken, but I’m sure the punishment for impersonating royalty has to be severe.

The big blue man grunts and straightens, his eyes never wavering from me. “You. Princess,” he says again, with more conviction this time.

I think he believes me. He actually thinks I’m Princess Alexandra.

He gestures to two others behind him who immediately step forward, and reach for me with giant hands. Did I mention they’re blue? Because they are. What in the Avatar is going on?

“No! No! What are you doing?”

They manhandle me, one hand on each arm, and haul me off the ground.

“Don’t touch me! Get your hands off me!” My fight or flight instinct kicks in and I’m in one hundred percent fight mode. Much good it does me, though. My feet land uselessly against their legs. I try to dig my heels in instead, but they have no issue dragging me along. Wrenching my arms out of their grasps only hurts my shoulders even more.

“Let me go! You big, blue bastards! If you know what’s good for you, you’ll let me go this instant!”

They stop and for a second I think my screaming has gotten through to them. But no, they’re not stopping for me. They’re stopping because a scrappy little thing has thrown itself at them.

The thing is tiny, with scraggly fur and a bark that sounds more like a chirp. I’m not sure what it is. I never cared much for dogs, let alone toy ones. But this one… it’s harmless. The blue giants could crush it with their feet, could send it flying to the stratosphere with a well-placed kick. But the dog growls and bites at the man who looks to be in charge.

It would be hilarious if I wasn’t in the middle of a kidnapping. My kidnapping. Fuck my life.

I watch on. Miniscule dog with fur in its eyes versus an enormous blue man–and the dog seems to be winning. The giant tries to shoo it away, but the dog latches on with its little teeth. He shakes his leg, trying to dislodge the dog, but it doesn’t budge. The man lets out a series of grunts and growls, almost like he’s trying to talk to the dog before he finally gives up.

He bends down and grabs the dog. He looks like he’s going to wrench the poor creature in half, but he doesn’t. He just holds it in front of him. The dog bares its teeth at him. He bears his own teeth back. They’re at a standoff until the doors of the animal shelter burst open and armed police officers stream into the courtyard.

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