Page 20 of Barbi and the Villain

“Don’t eat the grass, PomPom!” I call out, running to her.

God, I hope she hasn’t ingested anything. Who knows what the grass in this world can do to her? Fear grips me. One moment I was not paying attention and it could very well prove to be a fatal one.

Bad mom!

“PomPom,” I cry out, raising her in my arms and prying her mouth open to check if she ate anything off the ground. I study her teeth and the color of her tongue, releasing a huge sigh of relief when I realize she didn’t.

“Good girl,” I praise softly. “You’re my good girl, aren’t you?” I coo, brushing my lips against her fluffy forehead.

She rumbles deep in her throat, a sound that suggests her pleasure.

As I turn to leave, however, my gaze becomes affixed to another drop of color at the base of the bushes, the contrast striking against the deep green of the foliage and the dark brown of the earth. (Okay, maybe it caught my attention because it’s a light pink.)

I crouch down, brushing my hand over the small, bulbous root. A memory flashes in my head. Lady Jocelyn had described a plant like this in the third book when she’d been studying plants with magical properties. She’d noted the somniferous properties of the root. Even in the smallest doses, it had the power to knock over a horse.

Stealthily gazing to the side, I spot Ivan talking to someone in his troop and pointing at me, no doubt besmirching my name even further.

My eyes sparkle as an idea forms in my head.

We shall meet the Queen at the feast. But if Ivan and his goons are asleep during that time, they won’t be able to accuse me of anything.

My lips curve in a sly smile as I quickly pull on a couple of roots and pocket them. Now I’ll just need to find a way to add them to his food.

A comical, almost malefic laugh bubbles in my throat—finally I get some main character energy! Ivan won’t even know what hit him.

“Come, PomPom,” I say, taking her with me back to our horse. “Maybe the next book will be about us. Just imagine. Barbi and PomPom in Akkaya.”

Instantly, I’m flooded with snapshots of our adventures, including defeating Ivan as a symbol of the oppressing patriarchy. It would be a victory for all pink lovers out there! He’d be on the ground, tapping his hand against the floor as a signal of forfeiture while PomPom and I would be standing victorious next to him.

PomPom releases a happy bark.

“Yes, baby. We’d be the next superhero duo,” I coo in her ear. And the cherry on top, everyone would forget about Lady Jocelyn and her BonBon because me and PomPom would be the new it duo.

“Lady Barbi?” Willy’s worried voice breaks the spell.

I open my eyes, blinking as I come face-to-face with Willy and about ten other soldiers behind him. A crowd has formed around me and PomPom.

“Don’t move, sir. You’ll hurt Lady Barbi and PomPom,” another soldier adds, his eyes on the ground.

“Get this fucking bitch and her dog off me,” a strangled voice calls out.

Oh God. I’m almost afraid to look down. But I have to.

Slowly, I direct my gaze to the ground where Ivan is currently on his belly, his hands gripping the grass. PomPom is biting his ear off while I’m holding him down with my foot.

Horrified, I quickly grab PomPom and jump back.

“I’m so sorry. I don’t know how that happened,” I stumble over my words.

“You’re fucking dead!” Ivan yells, jumping at me. But the soldiers form a wall between us, keeping him away and telling him to calm down.

“Are you all right, Lady Barbi?” Willy comes to my side, looking mighty worried.

“I… I don’t know what happened…” I stammer. It’s almost as if I closed my eyes and then woke up in a different world—pun intended.

“We know it wasn’t your fault. We all saw what happened,” he starts and my eyes widen as he recounts how Ivan had come to me, demanding I show him my de Havilland birthmark—apparently, there is such a thing. PomPom had jumped out of my arms and tripped him. He’d lost his balance and fallen face-down in the grass, after which PomPom had attacked him—quite viciously going by the big scratch on Ivan’s cheek and his bleeding ear.

“You bitch! I’m going to kill that fucking dog,” Ivan continues to shout in the distance, but he’s contained by four soldiers so he cannot come near us.

---