Page 94 of Kiss the Filthiest King

That's because I'll do it. I'm not a hound.

"But wouldn't you like a name?" I argue out loud. "Something pretty." Her whiskers twitch. "And fierce. That would make your enemies tremble at the very sound?"Her ears prick at each word.

Such as?

My mind races. I built it up so much, now I need something fitting. I glare at Rain."This was your dumb idea. We're taking suggestions now."

"Fangs?" she suggests.

The nixie's teeth flash in answer. Definitely not.

"Luna?"

Oh, please.

I don't think cats can roll their eyes, but she comes very close.

"Furia." The word’s out before I will it to. "After the Furies, or Erinyes. They're pitiless instruments of fate. They hunt down and torment those guilty of the vilest of sins. They never give up. And they never miss."

Nixies, as it turns out, can purr.

This time it's not my own voice in my mind interpreting what she means. A low, growly, somewhat seductive timbre resounds.

That's acceptable.

And now, I see more. A powerful run through the land, a flight over dark sky, the power of the wind pushing under her velvety wings.

And a memory, singular and at the forefront of her mind. In this visual, she was in the air, but bundled against safe, familiar fur, comforting smells all around. Her mother and siblings. Family. And then, something flashed in the air, like lightning, throwing the powerful beast off course.

And a fall, down, down, down, into dark, empty water, and cold loneliness.

She'd been alone since then, dragging herself to shore exhausted, almost dead. Her first prey all evaded her. She would have starved.

"There, there little one."

I see a face. It's mine, and it isn't. The hair is black as night, the eyes, empty.

"Feast."

No, this wasn't me. I don't sound so cold, and calculating. I could never have touched her trusting, loving head, and said, "You will sleep now, for many years. Fear not, little friend. You'll serve your purpose in time."

And then, just like an innocent, screaming newborn, this nixie was turned into stone.

Until I opened the castle up again, awakening her after a thousand years.

How confused she must have been. How lonely and afraid.

This creature, like all of us, has been manipulated by my mother from the start.

I stare at her, shocked into place.

"Furia," I repeat, softer this time.

I don't voice the vow out loud, but I mean every word all the same.

Iwilltreat you better. Better than my mother, and better than fate.

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