Wicked Ugly Bad (A Kinda Fairytale) (22 page)

“Kingdoms
can be gained in many ways.  The Northlands was usurped just last year.”  His
hands found her shoulders, pushing her back to her knees.  “Charming’s guards
are a pack of clowns.  We could seize control of the palace in moments and give
you everything you want.  Especially, with your friend and his magic.”

“It
wouldn’t be the same as marrying Charming and
proving
that I’m the
rightful ruler of this pitiful kingdom, though.”

And
no one would see her in her not-
so
-bad wedding dress.

“Whatever
you desire, majesty.”  He pressed her forward so she was on all fours and
positioned himself behind her.  “Just know that your loyal men are ever ready
to serve you.”

She
cried out in delicious pain as he slammed into her.

Scarlett
Riding should never be free.

Psychiatric
case notes of Dr. Ramona Fae

“Are
you sure it’s safe to stop here for the night?”  Letty ducked under the
grasping branches of an ancient tree and looked up at him.  “Really, really
sure?”

“I’m
sure.  The flying monkeys will be after us, but the forest will slow them
down.”  Marrok glanced back at her.  “We’ll be okay for a while.”

Very
few people ever ventured into the woods.  The vegetation in the Enchanted
Forest moved of its own accord, attracted to any passersby.  The branches would
grab victims and drag them towards the gnarled trunks, presumably to eat them.

Marrok
wasn’t exactly
sure
about that last part, but he also wasn’t about to
get close enough to test what the plants were up to.  As far as he knew, no one
else had survived an encounter with them.  Better to just assume they were
carnivorous and stay away.

The
Enchanted Forest was an unsettling place, filled with all kinds of hiding criminals,
killer plants, and unknown monsters.  The law never penetrated the thick woods,
so Badness flourished in the gloom.  It was said that just stepping foot inside
of it was a death sentence for anyone Good.

It
was creepy as hell, but that was actually working in their favor.  Not only did
it mean no authorities were around to intercept them, but the endless canopy of
leaves blocked views from above and the constant shifting of the trees helped to
cover tracks on the ground.  Wolves could navigate the woods much better than
the monkeys could, so that cut way down on their chance of being followed.

Marrok
found he
liked
the dense forest surrounding them.  It felt… homey.

“We
need to stop and figure out what we’re doing next.”  Esmeralda agreed.  She
dropped her backpack onto the ground and sat down a fallen log.  “I mean, where
are we
going?
”

“I’m
going back to the Northlands to reclaim my crown.”

She
flashed Avenant a glower.  “And you think it’ll just be as easy as walking up
to your ex-castle and knocking?  If we show our faces in public, we’ll be arrested.”

“So
what do you suggest?  That we live here in the foliage like squirrels?”

“I
suggest
that we lay low and stay out of trouble until…”

“No.”
 Letty cut off the witch’s words with a shake of her head.  “We’re not laying
low.”

“Exactly.” 
Avenant made a “you see?” hand gesture.  “We can’t usurp the usurper if we’re
hiding.”

“
We?
” 
Marrok echoed.  “
We’re
not trekking to the Northlands to get your ass
back on that icy throne. 
We
have better things to do with our time.”

Avenant
looked affronted.

“Listen!” 
Scarlett held up her palms to forestall the argument.  “We need to stop
Cinderella.  That’s our only chance. 
She’ll
be the one sending an army
after us.  If she’s gone, we’ll be home free.  We all have to focus on exposing
her as a fraud.”

“Here
we go with Cinderella, again.”  Esmeralda rolled her eyes.  “Did anybody ever
tell you you’re kind of obsessed?”

“I’m
not obsessed!  I just know that bitch is dangerous.  We have to go to my
grandmother’s house and get the glass slipper.  Once we have that, I can take
it to the Westlands and show everyone that it doesn’t fit Cindy’s evil hoof.”

By
“everyone” Marrok could only imagine she meant “Charming.”

Sure
enough she kept talking with a disgusting amount of confidence.  “When
Cinderella is exposed as a lying bitch, Charming will make sure we all have
pardons.  I’m sure of it.”

“The
other princes and I don’t always get along.”  Avenant admitted.

Esmeralda
snorted at the massive understatement.  “Yeah, didn’t Charming try to kill you
in a duel or something?”

“He
would never do that.”  Scarlett said instantly.

Marrok’s
jaw ticked.

“You
jackasses do whatever you want.”  Dow snapped.  “I’m outta here.”  He kept
going through the trees.  “I can move faster on my own, so don’t follow me.”

“Who
is
that man?”  Avenant demanded.

Marrok
watched Dower march off.  He didn’t like the guy around Scarlett, so he was
more than ready to see him go.  But, it would probably be better if he just
killed Dow.  What if he circled back at them?  There didn’t seem much of a
reason for him to stage some kind of ambush, but why take a chance?

“Don’t.” 
Scarlett said quietly.

Marrok
glanced at her.

“Just
let him go.  He’s not worth getting blood on your hands.”

“Red,
unlike your handsome prince, I don’t mind getting blood on my hands.  Good folk
like your precious Charming trained me to hurt people.  It’s my job.”  But
Marrok did as she asked and allowed Dower to disappear into the woods.  At
least he was gone.

“It’s
not your job anymore.”  Scarlett gave him a smile and crouched down to help
Benji build a pile of leaves for Drusilla’s unconscious body to lie on.  “Now
you’re free.  We all are.”  She looked around at the others.  “Maybe for the
first time ever, we’re
free
.  We aren’t being told what to do, or that
we aren’t Good enough, or that someone else is in charge of us.  We’re finally in
control of our own happily ever afters.”

Marrok
had never really considered having his own happily ever after.

From
the looks on Esmeralda and Benji’s faces, he surmised they hadn’t either.

Even
Avenant seemed perplexed by the idea.  “What are you suggesting?  That we
not
return to our old lives, even if your newest impossible plan somehow works and
we’re pardoned?”

“I’m
suggesting we all have a choice.  What do you
want
to do?”  Scarlett
arched a brow at him.  “Do you even know?”

Avenant
developed a faraway look and fell silent.

“Alright.”
 Marrok cleared his throat, feeling awkward.  It was hard for Bad folk to adjust
to Letty’s way of thinking.  They were used to being oppressed and controlled. 
The world suddenly seemed huge.  “Everybody get a couple hours sleep and we’ll
keep moving towards Letty’s grandma’s at dawn.  I’ll keep watch.”  The rest of
the group was dead on their feet.  They needed the rest and he needed to scout
the area.

Marrok
watched as they all settled down in the thick grass of the forest floor, looking
lost in their own thoughts.  In a weird way, he no longer found the share
circle so annoying.  Well, he still found them annoying, but it was more of a
familiar, low-grade annoyance, now.  Almost like there were
his
annoyances.  He would’ve liked to make a fire for them, but he couldn’t risk
the smoke.

Marrok
was debating the best direction to try for a stream when he saw Scarlett
watching him with a concerned frown.  She was the only one not preparing for
bed.

He
met her eyes.  “You okay, Red?”

“You’re
not leaving, are you?”

He
squinted in confusion.  “Yeah, I’m going to go look for water.”

“But…
you’ll come back?”

Realization
dawned and Marrok somehow kept his temper from erupting at the insanely
insulting question.  Did Scarlett honestly not understand what having a True
Love meant?  Did she think he’d
ever
leave her?  That he’d just abandon
her in the Enchanted Forest with a useless group of still-pretty-annoying idiots
and a fuck-load of enemies on her trail?  Was she goddamn
serious?

She
looked serious.

Unbelievable.

Too
frustrated to even answer her, he went stalking off to find a stream.  He could
sense one was nearby, which was why he’d picked this spot to stop and rest.  But,
he wouldn’t leave earshot, especially not with Dower wandering around.  How
could she doubt that?

“Marrok.” 
Letty chased after him, apparently still convinced he was making a run for it. 
“Wait!”  She hurried through the creepy trees and Marrok reluctantly slowed
down to let her catch up to him.  “Let’s talk about this.”

“Does
it seem like I want to talk, right now?”

“You
can’t go.”  She insisted.  “Just take a second and think about…”

“I
have been with you every step of this plan.”  He interrupted.  “
Every one
.”

“You’ve
been amazing.  I couldn’t have pulled this off without you.  But, the plan’s
not over yet.  We still have a long way to go, but if you give me a little more
time…”

Marrok
cut her off, again.  “How little?”  He demanded, spinning around to face her. 
“How long do you think all this will last?”

She
swallowed.  “Maybe… two days?”  It came out sounding like a question.

“Until
that damn wedding.”  He translated, getting even angrier.  “Until I help you
break-up Cinderella and Charming, so
you
can have him.  After that, I
can just go, huh?”

“I
can fix everything once I get to him and show him the slipper.”  She said
desperately.  “Just stay with me until then.”

He
pressed the palms of his hands into his eye sockets and let out a humorless
laugh.  “Christ, if I could, I would walk away, right now.  I really would.”

Or
at least, that’s what he wanted to tell himself.

She
planned on going back to that stupid prince!  Why the fuck should he stick
around to see that?  The woman had total faith in Charming, who’d let her rot
in prison, but she didn’t trust Marrok, who’d just helped her escape!

It
was his own fault he was so angry and discouraged.  As a whole, Baddies tended
to be untrusting, solitary creatures, but he was getting so…
attached
to
Scarlett.  Goddamn it, why couldn’t she be attached to him
back?
  Did he
need to steal her a fucking castle?  He could do that, but it would take a couple
of weeks and she didn’t even want to give him
that
much time.

What
would he do if she never wanted him?

Why
should
she want him?

Letty
stared at him, looking wounded.  “Whatever I’ve done to hurt your feelings, I’m
sorry.”

“You
didn’t hurt my feelings.”  He muttered, even though she had.  “That’s not what
this is about.”

“Please
stay with me.”  Scarlett pulled out the big guns.  “I need you.”

Marrok
winced.  Had anyone ever said that to him before?  He didn’t think so.  Wolves
would chew on poisoned apples before they admitted they needed anyone else, so
very few people threw those words around the halls of villainy.  He liked
hearing them, though.  God knew, he needed Scarlett so much it was gutting him,
so she might as well reciprocate.

“Just
hang on with me for a little while longer.”  She pressed.  “Please.”

Marrok
sighed, exasperated that he was so damn
attached
to someone who was so damn
difficult.  He wasn’t going anywhere, though, so why were they even arguing
about it?  “Alright.”

“Alright? 
You’ll stay?”

“Well,
it’s either that or leaving my True Love to die in the forest.  Does that seem
more in character for The Big Bad Wolf?”

“No.”
 She blinked at his tone.  “Of course not.  God,
that’s
why you’re mad! 
I’m sorry.  You’re right.  It’s hard for me to adjust to…”  She glanced away. 
“It’s just hard for me,
because I
know
I’m not who you would’ve
picked for your True Love, if you had a choice.  That’s all.”

Marrok
couldn’t argue with that.  All his life, he’d had an image in his mind of his
True Love and she was not this bossy, crazy, too clever, too Good, believer in
happy endings.

“No,
you’re not who I would’ve chosen.”  His mouth curved when she shot him a scowl.
 She didn’t appreciate that easy agreement.  “But, I would’ve chosen
wrong
.” 
He’d been a fucking idiot to have ever doubted fate’s reasons for giving him
this woman.  No one else would
ever
suit him.  “You’re the right choice. 
You’re the
only
choice.  I would never want another.”