Page 14 of The Naga Princess's Soldier Mate

I made my path casual as I unraveled the leaves from around the thick, fatty, meat-and-nut-filled bars. There were two males who stayed hot on my tail, one of them being the orange-freckled one who had knocked me out. I did not like the look in his eyes; it made me feel dirty, like I wasn’t a Naga princess but a toy he could play with. The heat in that gaze made me feel cold inside.

I reached Khawla, trapped inside a net, first. They had bound his wrists in front of him as well, which seemed like a fatal flaw—it would allow him to gnaw through the rope. Then, I saw thedespondent look in his eyes, and my belly sank with mirrored pain. That’s right; Kusha had not gotten up from that fight. I broke off half a ration bar—a small portion for a big male like him—but I was going to save as much food as I could for Reid.

When I reached up and slipped that piece into his limp fingers, he blinked his amethyst eyes at me slowly. “You’ll need your strength, Khawla,” I whispered. “Your children need you.” He blinked again, first with his outer eyelids, then sliding his nictitating membranes in from the sides. The gaze I received next was more alert, sharper. He gave me a small nod and raised the food to his mouth, swallowing the chunk whole.

I turned toward Reid next, my heart pounding furiously and my scales itching with the urge to tremble. If I let on to my guards how nervous I was, I was sure they would put a stop to this. All I could do was try to act as casually as possible and hope that they saw no objections to my sharing food with the other prisoners. Food was important to Bitter Storm; they never had enough of it. Would they understand my urge to share?

Lowering myself beside Reid, I forced my hands to move slowly as I raised a tiny bite to his mouth. He appeared to be sleeping, his head drooping low, chin to his chest. If not for the steady rise and fall of his breathing, I might have thought he was dead. His lips were warm to the touch when I brushed the food against his soft skin—another good sign. I hoped the scent would rouse him enough to get him to eat, and it did. He opened his mouth and swallowed when I pushed the bite inside.

Neither of my guards said a thing as I continued to feed my male more of the dense food. I could feel their eyes boring into my back, though, and imagined the disapproval on their faces. I didnot care; I had achieved what I wanted to achieve. Every bite that Reid swallowed would make him stronger—or, at least, that was the theory. There had never been anyone in my life to rely on except Zathar and my dad when I was little, so it was strange to put my fate in someone else's hands now. I just knew that if I could give Reid his strength back, we’d have a chance. He’d know what to do to get us out of this.

My ration bars were almost entirely gone when Reid hazily lifted his eyes to my face. The warm brown was a balm to my soul, as was the rapidly sharpening alertness. He was back—it had worked! On the next bite, his lips brushed against my fingers in a way that shot a sharp lance of sensation through my belly. He’d done that on purpose. How did he always know how to make me feel like that? This was the worst moment to be turned on, but I felt better for it, like things were going to turn out just fine.

I did not hear him approach, but I saw how Reid raised his head and rushed to take the last bite. When Aser spoke, I was not surprised he was there. “Feeding the prisoners? I did not take you for a soft-hearted Kepi,” he drawled, with a hint of dismay and confusion. Of course, he had not—out of all the Thunder Rock females, I had been the one in the most fights. After Zathar’s tough love, I knew I would have to be the one to strike first if I wanted to make it, so I had. What information about me that had reached Bitter Storm would have made my reputation sound fierce, even if females like Astrexa and Evarah had sensed my weakness.

I raised my brows at him and gave a derisive snort, making myself sound as annoyed and dismissive as I could manage. “Who says this is anything but self-interest? I need to keep my options open and my potential allies strong, don’t I?” I hatedwhat had come out of my mouth and feared what Reid would think of it. But his warm brown eyes weren’t on my face; they were locked on the food as I kept feeding him the last bits while I spoke. He looked much better already, the paleness had left his skin, as had the dark circles beneath his eyes. It could have been my imagination, but it even seemed like he’d gotten bigger with every bite he took.

Aser seemed to like what I said; he tossed back his head and laughed, the absence of his front teeth and fangs obvious in his almost gaunt face. “Right you are, Sazzie. But you don’t need an abomination like him,” he said, gesturing with his black claws at Reid. “That barbaric creature has nothing to offer a female like you. I, on the other hand...” He grinned widely, and it was anything but a humble smile. “I am King, and I can offer you a kingdom—two of them. We could unite our Clans, expand our territories. Together, we could wipe Haven off the map and take Copper Tooth’s rich marshlands!” The fanaticism that gleamed in his red eyes was sickening.

Since when did Bitter Storm want to unite Clans? They had always been secular, rapidly multiplying in their mountain halls. I knew my history lessons, taught by some of the village elders. Bitter Storm always outgrew its territory, struggled with famine, and shrank. Then the cycle started anew. Never in those histories had a male seized power and turned his greedy eyes outward.

“Tempting,” I said in a tone that made it clear I found it anythingbuttempting. “Why don’t I sleep on it?” I turned my back on him in clear dismissal. Ignoring the surprised gasp of one of my guards, I settled myself on the moss between Reid and Khawla. I tried to make it seem like I had no preference for either male,simply curling up in my tail and resting my head on my arms. When I closed my eyes and pretended to go to sleep, Aser sighed in frustration, but he left after barking at my guards to keep an eye on me. They did not tie me up again, and I hoped I’d be able to use that to my advantage.

Chapter 10

Reid

Clever, brave, beautiful girl. She’d done it. She’d gotten the food from Aser and somehow managed to feed all of it to me. I had not missed how she had not taken a single bite for herself and had heard the discontented rumble of her belly as she lay down to sleep. I hated that I had taken the food out of her mouth, and I vowed I would make it up to her.

Already, I could feel strength return to my limbs, my vision and hearing improving. There were too many Bitter Storm warriors to risk an escape; at least half a dozen stayed awake to guard the camp. Of the twenty or so warriors that were sleeping, the majority had grouped themselves around us, meaning that we would have to climb over their long, sprawled-out bodies if we wanted to leave. I had a lot of faith in my skills, but I did not think I could manage that without waking at least one or alerting a guard. There were at least three pairs of eyes on me at all times.

The Bitter Storm King might not have looked at me as if he saw a threat, but some of those warriors I’d bested in our skirmish that afternoon. They remembered. So, although I hated waiting and was terrible at it, I settled in to do exactly that. With my strength still not at full power, I forced myself to get as comfortable as I could and wait till morning. Slumping in my bonds, I made sure to make myself look as pathetic as I could; I wanted them to continue underestimating me. So far, they did not realize that I could understand them, and I hoped that meant they’d reveal their plans for Sazzie—for us.

By morning, I had not seen a chance to take my angel and slip away, but I did feel almost fully recovered. On top of that, I had noticed that the bag of supplies, which held the pouch with capsules from Erish, was in the possession of a male not far away. He was soundly asleep, using the bag as his pillow, long auburn strands fanned out across the leather satchel. The guards were murmuring together on the other side of this male, and, by a stroke of luck, the flap that opened the bag was aimed my way. If I could just wriggle the nose of my shoe beneath it, I could dislodge that pouch.

It fell with a whisper onto the slightly soggy, cold ground beside the male, but it had rolled out of reach of my stretched-out leg. I winced, my mind spinning as I contemplated how to get to the pouch without anyone noticing. There was no way I could reach it without breaking my ropes and giving away that I was feeling much better. Could I risk leaving it until they untied me for travel? Hope that I could snatch it up without anyone noticing then? I doubted it.

Turning to look at my angel, I saw that she was still sleeping where she’d curled up on the cool ground last night. A spot somewhere between Khawla and me, neutral ground. Her chest rose and fell, barely covered by the dark purple band she wore. She had slept fitfully, and I did not want to disturb her unless I absolutely had to. That left only one other possible option.

Khawla was awake, just like I was, and when I locked eyes with him, I knew instantly that he’d seen what I’d done. The male had lost his mate yesterday; I did not expect him to look in any kind of fighting shape. But there was a fire in his eyes, a glow that hadn’t been there last night. The question remained: Would he align himself with Sazzie and me? Or would he prefer Astrexa?

When he slipped the tip of his tail through a maze in the net, I had my answer. He was closer to the pouch, dangling almost directly over the spot. In seconds, he’d curled his tail around the pouch and pulled it out of sight into the net that trapped him. Nobody was the wiser when, a minute later, everyone started to rouse and the camp burst into action. I hated that I was not in possession of the capsules myself, but at least now I knew Bitter Storm didn’t have them.

Sazzie woke from the commotion, and for a brief, heart-stopping moment, our eyes met. I hoped she could see the promise I wanted to make to her in my eyes: I would get us out of this. I would keep her safe, at any cost. She was not offered any food, and I overheard remarks that they were withholding it because she would just give it away. Aser also ignored her, and to my worry, he was accompanied by an unbound Astrexa that morning when we set off toward the mountain once again.

My female was made to travel under her own steam, but they kept her separate from Khawla and me. It went like that all day, the women at the head of the group, with Aser and Astrexa talking in whispers. The orange-freckled guard kept my angel under close watch, and at all times, I was surrounded myself by the sharp ends of spears. I did not fancy another spear to my belly, even if it had healed at an astonishing rate. That fucking hurt.

Late that afternoon, the mountain began to loom overhead. We’d moved fast, and I had a feeling it wouldn’t be long before we were in Bitter Storm territory. It was now or never if we wanted to escape. I took a big risk by increasing my pace so I could come abreast with Khawla, trapped in the swaying net. Bitter Storm warriors had taken turns carrying the net danglingfrom poles, and I had the impression the rear male was younger. I hoped that meant he wasn’t as watchful.

They were muttering about my pace. One older male was definitely suspicious and warning the others to watch me. They didn’t think I could understand any of what they said, and one of them jabbed my shoulder with the side of his spear shaft to get me to back up. Khawla was on the ball, though, proving he preferred to be my ally right now rather than my enemy. His tail slipped out as I pretended to stumble from that spear jab, and there the pouch was—casually slipped into my hand without anyone the wiser. The Thunder Rock Master Scout did not know the significance of that pouch; he just knew I wanted it, and he’d helped me get it.

With the leather warming against my palm, I felt better. I could feel the little bumps of the capsules inside it, hard like beads. They were going to be unpleasant to swallow, but that didn’t matter. With these in hand, I could recover the nutrients my nanobots burned mid-fight. It would turn the tables.

Allowing the Naga warriors to urge me back in line, away from Khawla, I briefly let them think they were in control. Then, I started counting. If I popped a few of those capsules now, would that be enough to take them all out? Four males surrounded me, Khawla would help if I broke him out of that net, and two dozen were up ahead, with Aser and my angel.

I was assessing the risk that they would try to harm Sazzie to get me back under their control, rapidly calculating those odds in my head. Did they think she meant anything to me? They could, because in our last skirmish, I had surrendered as soon as they captured her. But they might not make that connection,because they clearly thought very little of me. I was the human abomination; I heard them discuss me, ridicule my legs and lack of tail. Even if I’d kicked their fucking asses yesterday, they wanted to believe I was inferior to them. Fine with me—I’d prove them wrong.

There, a rock outcropping meant our party had to go around it, briefly causing half of the warriors to be out of sight. It was the perfect opportunity. Unobtrusively, I loosened the opening of the pouch and prepared to pull free some of the capsules. At the last moment, I hesitated, sensing something was off without knowing what. Pushing the bots to enhance all my senses, I caught what I had already noticed subconsciously: the lack of birds in the trees ahead, the low sound of more voices in the distance. I even caught the scents of more Naga—the leather of their armor, and the muskiness of a damp cave.

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