Page 62 of The Cursed Kingdom

No, she does something significantly worse.

She begins tocry.

Her bottom lip wobbles, and she turns away from me and stares off into the woods as she bites back a sob. I was hoping she wouldn’t be one of those women who cries at the smallest of inconveniences, but it seems she is.

Wonderful.

I try to ignore the tears as I rifle through the items at my feet. I grab a cleaner first, something to kill the dirt. I went light last time to preserve it, but it clearly wasn’t enough for her weak human genes.

Her calf muscle tightens beneath my fingers as she braces for me to put it on, which I take as a good sign. She must recognize what I’m using, and I don’t have to worry about her panicking when the cleaner touches her skin.

Kie helps me pour the liquid onto a single-use cloth, and he casually steps behind the human as he waits. He’s positioning himself to cover her mouth should she decide to scream again, which I really fucking hope she doesn’t.

I wipe the cloth over her knee, covering the entire wound with the stinging liquid. I don’t remember her cuts looking this bad yesterday evening, but I wasn’t paying much attention.

My kind heals quickly, as do faeries, and I greatly underestimated just how fragile human bodies are. If we want to deliver the human to Zaha in one piece, I fear we’ll have to wrap her in thick cloth and carry her.

The human hisses as I clean her wound, but she doesn’t fight me when I grab her other knee and do the same. I move to do her elbow next, but I change my mind when I see how good it looks. It seems to be healing pretty well on its own, so I’m going to leave it alone for now.

“I need stitches,” the human mumbles, staring at her knees.

I shrug. She’s not wrong, but I only brought so many sutures and I need to save them for severe injuries. Blood loss isn’t a concern right now, and the human will survive without the stitches. She’ll be left with nasty scars, but Zaha won’t mind. As long as the human’s face is untouched, Zaha will be pleased with the present. The gods love cute things, and the human’s big, brown eyes; full lips; and mildly chubby cheeks fit the bill.

Zaha will love her.

The human shivers, her entire body convulsing.

Her dark-blonde hair hangs limply around her shoulders, the soaked strands sticking to her bare skin. Kie should’ve done more to ensure her hair didn’t get wet, but I imagine it was hard to control when she was fighting him.

Still, the wet head will make it harder for her body to warm.

I need to hurry.

I take a moment to examine her knees and ensure there’s nothing foreign inside the wounds before slathering on the human ointment and some salve to mask the scent of blood.

The human remains tense, her body rigid as I wrap the wounds.

“We’ll turn around while you dress,” Kie says as I release the human’s leg.

I shoot him a sharp look, and he meets my stare head-on. I may not like how uncomfortable the human is around me, but I never agreed to let her out of my sight. If we begin giving her liberties now, she’ll come to expect them.

She’ll grow bratty and hard to control.

Her fear keeps her in line, and I intend to keep it that way.

Kie looks me in the eye, daring me to argue. He may technically outrank me, but his title of crowned prince means nothing when we aren’t in the company of his people. I have never bowed to him behind closed doors, and I won’t begin today.

“No,” I say. “Kiewill turn around.”

If he wants to give her privacy, that’s his prerogative, but it’s not mine.

The human grinds her teeth, the sound aggravating. She still reeks of fear, but it’s considerably less than before. Hopefully, this bathing has finally made her recognize our disinterest in raping her. If we wanted to, we would have already.

I breathe in, detecting a hint of shifter. It’s a distinct scent, impossible to mistake. They’re close, and if I can smell them, they can smell us.

Fuck.

I turn toward Kie. “Get our things.”

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