Witches, Princesses, and Women at Arms Read online

  Falon sat up, staring at her. “You?”

  Sianna sat up too, pushing her fingers through her hair. “According to the records,” she said self-consciously. She looked at Falon. “I didn’t lie to you. I just…”

  Falon silenced her with a kiss. “You didn’t know if I was trustworthy,” she murmured. “So you’re her Highness, Princess Sianna?”

  “I was,” Sianna agreed, coiling a strand of Falon’s hair around her finger. “Perhaps, I can learn how to be again.” She kissed Falon again, lightly, then drew back with a quiet sigh. “But first, I need to help my people.”

  Falon smiled. “You have an advantage over your enemies,” she said, one hand pushing the sheets aside. “You have a dragon who considers you a friend, and a witch who will interfere in the affairs of a queen.”

  Sianna looked down as Falon’s hand moved lower, her breath catching when fingertips teased her. “I can see that,” she said, though she had to smile. She caught Falon’s hand, holding it against her thigh. “You’ll stay?”

  Falon’s smile was brilliant. She leaned close, and whispered against Sianna’s lips, “You have my protection.”

  Sianna’s fingers combed through Falon’s hair, and she kissed her again. “I hoped you would say that.”

  ROBBER GIRL

  Madeleine Shade

  The last raven left when the weight of winter forced the golden carriage deep into the snow. I had spent most of my journey north to the Snow Queen’s realm on foot, so the ride was a welcome change—one I wasn’t eager to give up. The men sent to guard me were cursing about the stuck wheels when the sound of swords rang out. I stayed hidden inside, hoping the screams belonged to raiders even though I knew it was a foolish hope. When rough hands pulled me out of the carriage, I kept my mouth shut and my hands tucked away in a fur muff given to me by the prince and princess. The band of thieves could have the gold, for all I cared. Like it or not, it was time to move on. Certainly, I could hitch another ride on my journey north.

  “See ya later, boys,” I said, waving the brigands aside. After all, I’d seen worse—much worse.

  A hand slapped me across the mouth, stilling my repartee. “You’re not going anywhere.” I dropped the fur to the blood-soaked snow.

  The remains of my escorts lay scattered across the snow-covered slopes curving up from the frozen road. A grizzled old woman advanced toward me.

  “Let her go,” she said, licking her lips. “This tasty morsel belongs to me.”

  My captor released me so suddenly that I fell forward on my knees in a snowdrift. All around me, the band of thieves bowed to the robber queen. She reached down, yanked her curved knife from the ribs of a dead guard, and raised the blade to tickle my throat. Sorry, I thought, I won’t be able to find you after all.

  I closed my eyes against the image, waiting for the deathblow, but it never came. The blade fell away from the tender skin of my neck and a hair-raising scream forced my eyes open. A lithe girl rode the old woman’s back, yanking her wiry gray braids like reins.

  “Curse you, you devil’s spawn,” the robber queen cried out.

  Not a single one in her band of thieves moved to help her.

  “You should have kept your legs closed then,” the girl gloated.

  The robber queen fell to her knees. “Have mercy on me, child.”

  Yet the girl refused to release her hold. “Promise me the prisoner first and then I’ll let you go.”

  The robber queen attempted to nod, but the girl’s hold on her braids was too tight.

  “Yes, yes,” the old woman brayed, “anything for my precious darling.”

  The robber girl released her hold on the grizzled braids and leapt nimbly off her mother’s back. She stomped through the crushed snow and stepped on a dead guard’s bloody back to get a better look at me. Even with her human stepstool and black thigh-high boots, she had to look up at me. I’m used to being taller than everyone else. It comes from a shady family history. No black sheep, but my great-grandmother had a thing for the color red and its allure to werewolves. What can I say?

  The robber girl smiled, a feral grin that made my nipples stand involuntarily erect. What sharp teeth you have, I thought. Suddenly, I wished I had brought my great-grandmother’s red cloak along for my journey, even though it’s not my favorite color; I look best in a green so dark it appears black in dim light.

  Up close the girl appeared to be around my own age. She watched me with deep-blue eyes. Her blonde hair spread about her fair face like a halo. Her pink lips puckered as she looked me over from head to foot. In that instant, I hated my inherited darkness—my black eyes and dark hair, dusky skin and plum-colored nipples. More than anything, I wanted to be all cream and strawberries and gold like her.

  The robber girl finished her appraisal and placed her small hands on either side of my face. She pulled me down to her, pale fingers wound through the thick cloud of my loose hair, and kissed my lips, tugging on them with her sharp little teeth. My pussy quivered and clenched as she probed my mouth, tonguing each tooth before she released me.

  “Don’t worry,” she said, patting my cheeks as though I were a child. “You’re safe now.”

  Safe from what?

  The robber girl grabbed my hand in hers and pulled me past her proud mother and the ring of thieves to a reindeer tied to a towering pine tree.

  “I suppose you expect me to carry both of you,” the reindeer lamented.

  I’ve never liked talking animals—too many bad memories—so I looked up to study the perfection of the cloudless blue expanse stretching above me.

  There was a smack, a hand against flesh, and the muscles of my ass clenched even though I was left untouched.

  “Knock it off, Bae,” the robber girl said. “You are plenty strong enough to carry both of us.”

  I wanted to lift my skirts, kneel at the girl’s feet, and feel her small hand heat the flesh of my round ass. Spank me, I thought. Ride me, I thought. And then I blushed furiously. What has come over me? I questioned myself. Too much travel, I told myself. I’ve been alone too long.

  “Come on,” the robber girl said as she tugged at my hand.

  The reindeer—Bae, I reminded myself—knelt in the snow.

  I moved to mount the shaggy beast, but I must not have moved fast enough because the robber girl’s hands pressed against the firm flesh of my ass. I pushed back. Yes, I thought.

  She smacked my asscheek hard enough that I could feel it even through the padding of my heavy skirts. Everything else seemed so surreal, I relished the sting. It made everything clearer.

  “Let’s go,” she said, abrupt.

  I shrank inside myself at her censure and swung my leg over the reindeer’s bony back. She mounted behind me, pressed tight against me, and placed my hands on the reindeer’s harness. “Hold this, girl,” she commanded.

  “My name’s Gerda,” I said.

  “Good,” she said. “You can speak after all.”

  “I’m looking for someone.”

  The robber girl chuckled and drove her heels into the reindeer’s flanks. “Take the long way home, Bae.”

  The reindeer lurched to his feet, and I tightened my hold on the harness.

  Her cool little fingers slipped under my blouse and began to play the hollows of my ribs. She pressed closer, rubbing her tits on my back. The heat between her thighs pressed into me. I couldn’t help myself, I began grinding against the reindeer’s back.

  “You’re a naughty one, Gerda,” the robber girl said as her hands pushed up higher to flick my nipples.

  Yes. I moaned. Don’t stop.

  The robber girl kneaded my tender flesh, teasing my full breasts with clever fingers. My juices were filling my panties as my rocking became more frantic.

  “Faster, Bae,” she shouted. The reindeer raced through the trees. My head dropped back and she bit my neck and pinched my nipples hard between her fingers. The orgasm ripped through my body, every part of me shuddering from the release.<
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  “That’s a good girl,” she said. “We’re going to be such good friends.”

  The robber girl smoothed my flesh and tugged down my blouse. I slumped forward, embarrassed by my wanton behavior.

  Evergreen trees thinned as we entered a high mountain valley, dotted with wooden structures. Bae stopped at the largest building, a rustic barn with a high loft. Next to it sat a log cabin with a steady stream of smoke curling out of the chimney. The girl leapt off the reindeer’s back and opened one of the barn doors, leading Bae into the welcoming warmth. She peered up at me, looking as innocent as a porcelain doll. And then she smiled, breaking the illusion.

  “I’m Alice.” She held a hand out to me. “Welcome to your new home.”

  “You live in the barn?”

  “No, silly,” she said. “But I spend a lot of time here with my collection.”

  I peered around the barn from my position high on Bae’s back. As my eyes adjusted to the dim light, I realized we weren’t alone. An odd assortment of animals shuffled in the stalls.

  “Come down, Gerda,” she demanded. “I want to hear your story.”

  I slipped off the reindeer’s back, but my legs buckled beneath me and I tumbled to the straw.

  Before I could attempt to get to my feet, Alice settled on my lap, facing me. She wrapped her leather-clad legs around my waist and reached up to caress my face. “You are so beautiful,” she said. “You remind me of the shadows dancing on the forest floor.”

  She tugged on my hair, drawing me down to her lips. I wanted to protest, to tell her about my quest, but I couldn’t help myself. I wanted her more in that moment than I wanted to speak. I wasn’t ready to share my defeat, my aimless quest to find Kay. I pushed the thoughts aside and dipped my head to breathe in the robber girl’s scent. Alice parted her lips, but this time she let me take the lead. My tongue traced the curves of her face and then moved to explore the heat of her mouth. She sucked on my tongue and I groaned, pulling her close.

  She pushed me on my back and straddled my hips, looking down at me with eyes the color of a twilight sky. “Where did you come from?”

  “South,” I replied, frustrated.

  “I can see that.” She delicately traced the curve of my jaw. “How far south? I’ve never seen anyone with skin the color of yours.”

  The scent of hay competed with the tang of winter in the barn. Something rustled high above in the rafters. I closed my eyes and thought of home: the deep forests, cultivated fields, and lofty castles. Then I reached farther back to my earliest memories of colored silks, perfumed gardens, and southern seas.

  “Gerda?”

  “I had a different name once.”

  Alice shifted her weight off my hips and slithered into the hay beside me. “What was it?”

  “I don’t remember.”

  Her hand slipped into mine. “Tell me.”

  I opened my eyes and peered into the cavernous dark overhead. The small windows in the barn doors were crusted with frost, distorting the little bit of light leaking into the large room.

  “My first memories were of my grandmother. She lived in a little cottage near the woods. We only had a few neighbors with children my age. There was Neva, the first girl I ever loved, and there was Kay.” I sighed and pulled my fingers from hers.

  “Is Neva who you are traveling to see?” Her question was tinged with dark regret.

  I rolled on my side and looked her in the eye. “Neva is dead. My grandmother caught us together. She said our relationship was forbidden.”

  “What happened?”

  “The next day, Neva disappeared.” I sighed and reached out to touch the robber girl’s cheek. “I was told the wolves got her.”

  Alice reached up to clasp my hand. “I’m sorry.”

  “I learned my lesson. I’ve never touched another woman again, until now.”

  The robber girl kissed me long and deep, tugging at my lips with her teeth until I opened my mouth for her to plunder.

  After a moment, I gently pushed her away. “That’s not the end of the story,” I said, pressing my finger against her protest. “I may have put you in danger.”

  She grabbed my hand and pressed it against her breast. I shuddered at the touch of her firm breast in my palm. I curled my hand around the proud flesh and rubbed my thumb against the outline of the puckered bud.

  “I am not afraid,” she said.

  “You should be.” I lowered my hand and sat up in the straw. “My grandmother is the one who drove her away. I know it. She has the blood of wolves running through her veins.” I paused and clenched my fists in my lap. “My grandmother forced me to marry Kay the next week. She didn’t even let me have time to mourn the girl I loved.”

  “Is that why you’re here? You ran away?”

  “Not quite. I did as I was told. My grandmother told him of my love affair and warned him to keep me locked up so I couldn’t attend to my ‘unnatural’ impulses.” I shuddered. “He was no prince.”

  “I’m a prince,” Bae said, tossing his antlers, proving his prowess.

  “Shut up,” said the robber girl.

  I frowned. “Is he?”

  “Yes,” Bae said. “Kiss me and I will prove it.”

  “Go away before I decide to cut out your tongue.”

  Bae backed away, antlers bobbing back and forth as his disappeared into the gloom.

  The robber girl snorted in disgust and looked back at me. “Don’t listen to him. They all say the same thing.”

  “This is something I know. I learned it the hard way.”

  Alice reached out and began to caress my thigh. “How did you escape?”

  I closed my eyes and concentrated on her soothing touch. “Neva.”

  Her hand pulled away. When I opened my eyes, the robber girl was standing over me with a murderous look on her face.

  “Neva saved me.” I smiled. “I saw her through the attic window. She pulled up in a sleigh pulled by thirty white geese. I could barely see her through the blizzard, but I know it was her. She called to him and Kay walked out of the house and into her arms.”

  “I thought you said she was dead.” The robber girl began to pace.

  “Maybe she was. Maybe it was her ghost who came to save me.” I leaned back on my elbows and watched Alice circling me in those black thigh-high boots. “She once told me she originally lived in the Far North.”

  The robber girl stopped pacing and squatted down in front of me. “That’s what you were doing in the thieves’ woods? Heading north to find an old sweetheart?”

  I stretched out and hooked my ankles around her calves, letting my skirts slide up to expose my legs. “No. I’m heading north to find Kay in the Snow Queen’s castle.” I leaned back into the hay and reached to tug my skirts even higher, revealing Kay’s brand burned deep in my inner thigh. “I’m going to kill him for what he did to me.”

  The robber girl’s eyes smoldered as her gaze raked over my exposed skin. She knelt between my legs and pushed my thighs apart. My breath caught in my throat and I closed my eyes, wondering if I’d made a mistake in trusting this strange woman I’d just met. There was no denying the spark between us, though. Neva and I had been budding girls when we began experimenting with pleasure. Despite Alice’s small stature, she had a cunning strength about her that complemented the secret wolf bound at my core. If anyone could free me from my grandmother’s curse, she was the one who could do it.

  A rain of kisses scattered along the tender skin of my unmarked leg. Alice worked her way up, pushing the fabric of my skirt up around my hips as she went. I clenched my hands in the straw and held my breath as she approached my center. Light kisses brushed against my panties and then she began kissing her way down my other leg. When she got to the mark burned into the skin, she stopped. “He is a dead man,” she said in a harsh whisper.

  The cold steel of a knife’s blade traced the lines spelling Kay’s name. My eyes flew open and I shrank back. Alice’s eyes had deepened to blue o
n the edge of black. Her pink lips stretched into a grimace exposing her unusually sharp teeth. I sensed a beast lurking within this small golden creature and wondered if I had made a mistake. Perhaps my grandmother had been right. Maybe my lust was an unnatural curse.

  She lifted her head and scented the air. When she looked back at me, her face shifted. “I would never hurt you, Gerda.” She lifted the knife and tossed it aside. “But the man who did this to you will pay a terrible price.”

  Alice stood up and reached out a hand to help me to my feet. “Let’s go inside the house. It’s getting dark.”

  The animals, stabled in the shadowy recesses of the barn, shuffled in their stalls. Chains clinked among the whimpers and snorts. The sound of flapping wings and low moans made me eager to escape. I pushed my skirts down and took her hand. A shock of recognition passed between us and with it the realization that she’d known we were kindred spirits all along.

  She laughed at my surprise. “Come along. You look hungry.”

  The blood of the wolf stirred in my veins. I wasn’t hungry. I was starving.

  Alice pulled me along behind her, giving me a perfect view of her round ass flexing under the cover of her tight black pants. I ran my tongue over my lips and sliced my tongue on a sharp canine. I frowned at the metallic taste of my own blood.

  She pushed the barn door open and we raced across the snowy expanse to the cozy cottage. Lights burned in the windows. Overhead, the sun was racing toward the horizon in a blazing ball of burnt orange. A full moon had already started its ascent into the darkening sky. The pungent scent of pine trees tickled my nose. I didn’t remember the smell being so strong earlier in the day. The wind shifted, blowing Alice’s musky scent back to me. I breathed deep and smiled.

  Inside the cottage, a fire burned in the hearth. Alice stalked through the lightly furnished front room, lighting candles as she went. Instead of furniture, colorful pillows were strewn across fur rugs, layered on the hardwood floor. The log walls were bare of decorations. In the adjoining kitchen, dried herbs and flowers hung from the ceiling, giving off an aromatic fragrance that complemented the smoking firewood.