Page 79 of Between Realms

He swings to knock it out of my hand.

With unexpected skill, I surprise him by spinning it in my palm. Then, quick as an elf, I slice his arm.

Yet, my victory is fleeting. With his Elven fast reflexes, he reaches out and crushes my wrist.

As my hand releases the knife, he grabs it and angrily tosses it over his shoulder. The knife lands on the fae side of the portal.

“I warned you to behave. I should kill you after all.”

I become completely still. “You will suffer from a deadly curse if you kill me.”

He stops and glares at me. “What?”

“I’m cursed.”

The elf stares at me blankly.

“I told you! I was leaving… The prince discovered my cursed nature.” My voice is calm and commanding, hoping to trick him into walking away. “On my back, I have a mark.”

He pauses, questioning my sincerity. Then he rips my dress, exposing my upper body. For a moment, he doesn’t see the almost invisible mark by the pale moonlight, but then he jerks away. “Fucking cursed.”

“Yes! I am!”

In frustration, he pulls out his dagger and slices me deep across my thigh. “Well, let’s see how long you last on your own.”

I gasp at the fiery sting.

Then my abductor tosses the dagger into the snow just out of my reach. After he steps back through and returns to Elfhame, he closes the portal behind him.

Now I am alone, freezing in the cold and bleeding out.

No one will come for me. No one knows I need help—not yet. Not before it will be too late.

I crawl to the dagger, which has Eldrin’s personal crest. I realize the male has stolen Prince Eldrin’s property to make it appear that I’m guilty of theft of royal property, illegal possession of a blade, a royal’s blade,andof running away unescorted.

Naturally, Eldrin, Oakes, and Jaden will think the worst of me. And if I am found and caught, they will be forced to punish me for these crimes.

I contemplate tossing the blade aside, but if I survive, I will need something to protect myself in this unknown land. I am vulnerable.

My head swims with all that has just happened.

I look under my skirt. The cut on my thigh is deep, but doesn’t bleed as fast as it might have. He didn’t hit a major blood channel. Pressing on the wound, I rummage through my pack, which, thankfully, the male has left with me. I cut off a strip of my old skirt with the knife. Tying the rag around my leg wound, the bleeding slows, but I still worry about continued blood loss.

I need help. An Elven healer like Oakes could close the wound swiftly. But do mortals have healers like him? There is so much I don’t know or understand.

Pushing myself off the ground, I stagger, but remain mostly upright. In the distant dark sky, a hint of smoke etches the moonlit sky.

Fires often mean people.

I head in that direction, but a mile later, the blood loss and the cold drains my resolve and the last of my strength. Finally, tired and knowing I can’t last much longer, I collapse onto the ground.

I scoff at my situation and think to myself,a short mortal life made even shorter.

Why didn’t I attempt to leave the castle before now?

No, I lingered. What a fool I was to think that a mortal could ever be accepted in Elfhame.

Now, I will die alone in the mortal realm’s woods without ever meeting another human. Maybe it’s better this way.

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