"Your highness!"
Nina watched the smiles on Mako's face, a strange mixture of fear and pity and guilt stirring in her heart.
Thunderous footsteps rushed up to her. Three guards appeared, two of them with mighty chains that looked best suited to a ships anchor than to a person.
They bowed. "Accept our apologies! He broke free on our watch!"
Nina opened her mouth to reply but now words would come out. She watched, helplessly, as the guards dragged Mako away from her and bound him in those chains.
His teeth fell to the ground, and he looked more bummed at that than the chains wrapping around his body.
"Cutie~ you're just gonna watch them take me away?" He laughed. "You're so heartless~"
Nina stared at him, horrified.
He was dressed only in a pair of tattered shorts, leaving his upper half bare. His fair skin was littered in scars, some of them fresher than others. He was awfully skinny too, to the point of malnourishment, his ribs jutting out harshly and his arms thin. There were gills on his neck, and pale blue fins on his arms.
And wrapped around his neck was a collar similar to the one on Cael, Thalia's beast husband.
Nina felt sick again, like she was about to throw up.
The guards dragged Mako out. Nina heard his sweet, sing-song voice till he was out of sight.
Only then did the servant who'd brought the news emerge from the bushes.
"He's gone. Thank the gods." The man whispered, his voice shaky.
Nina turned to him. "Why did you run?"
The man's face was pale, whiter than snow. "That man…he's a monster! Your highness, forgive me but I don't know why you're still married to him! My apologies!" He bowed and ran away.
Nina sat in the gazebo, but the sun no longer felt warm, and she no longer cared about her notes.
She walked up to where Mako's teeth had fallen and picked them up one by one.
Fifteen.
Tears stung her eyes.
Who plucks out fifteen of their teeth and just hands it over like a present?
Princess Orchid, what the fuck did you do to these men?!
Nina carefully wrapped the teeth in her handkerchief and slipped it into her pocket before she stormed off in the direction of the guards.
She turned down a bend when sounds of commotion reached her sharp ears. She planned to ignore it, but one name froze her in her tracks.
General!
Immediately, she gathered her gown in her hands and ran in the direction of the shouts.
She came upon quite the scene. In the grand lobby of the palace were some soldiers. Nina easily spotted her husband, Lev among them. But something was wrong.
Deep growls filled the air, and the soldiers appeared to be restraining Lev.
"General! Please come back to us!" They shouted, horror and worry etched on their faces. Some of them had deep claw cuts in their arms and faces.
Nina rushed forward. "What's going on?!" But when her eyes fell on Lev, she understood.
He's glitching again, just like yesterday at the barracks.
She was able to put two and two together, arriving at the conclusion that Lev had a Nanite Corruption flare up.
Lev looked feral. His mane bristled, the softness gone and replaced by sharp spikes. His fangs had elongated, and fur sprouted over his face and hands. One could see that he was transforming into his beast form.
"Let me get to him," she said to the soldiers, her voice trembling with fear. "If he transforms we're all dead!"
Everyone knew that. But it didn't help the looks they threw at Nina. Deep in their hearts, they all hated her. If it weren't to her, their beloved General couldn't be in this state.
Alas Nina couldn't read minds, she had no idea the soldiers wished for Lev to kill her in his feral state. Instead of voicing their thoughts, they all moved back.
Nina, unassuming, whispered her thanks and moved closer to Lev.
"Lev," she whispered to the writhing beastman. His regalia was torn up and dirty, his body underneath was expanding and tearing more of his clothes.
Nina swallowed the fear blooming in her heart as she went down on her knees beside him.
"Lev," she called again, firmer.
He snapped his gaze to her.
She gassed, stumbling back and landing on her butt. His eyes were pools of malevolence. In his human form, he had been able to hide some of his hatred for her. But now she felt the full rush of it.
"You." He growled, swiping a clawed hand at her face. Nina jerked her head back. Some of her hair caught in the way, and he sliced the strands clean.
I'm dead if he touches me! She panicked.
"Get out."
"I can help you, Lev," Nina whispered, her eyes burning. "Please just…let me help,"
He laughed. It was a hollow sound that struck fear into the hearts of everyone, even the servants that were peeking out of the corners a safe distance away.
Lev sat up, he was twice as huge now. Two lion ears sprouted from his head, and his eyes began to change shape.
"Help?" His voice thundered through the air. "I don't need your help. Be gone."
Nina's mind raced for what to do next. It was then her eyes noticed his neck. There was no collar around him.
What? If there's no collar, then it makes sense how he's able to attack me! Why didn't Princess Orchid put a collar on Lev?
She had no time to ponder on plot points. Instead, she focused on her spores. All her thoughts converged on "healing" and her spores turned a soft yellow color. They bloomed into the air, carrying a light, refreshing scent. Some of the soldiers who had mild traces of Corruption sighed blissfully as her spores healed them.
Seeing that it was working, she focused it on Lev.
But the moment she did that, he struck.
He moved fast. One moment he was seated on the floor glaring at her, the next he pushed her into the ground, his claws digging into her shoulders.
"Argh!" Nina screamed as pain shot through her entire body. His claws sliced through her flesh like it was nothing. She felt them in her shoulder bones. "Lev! Lev! Please stop! It hurts!" She screamed, but her voice wasn't getting to him.
"I warned you," he growled in a voice that was more beast than human.
"You're hurting me!" Nina sobbed, tears streaming down her face. Blood pooled around her, the smell of it sweet and sticky, making her feel sick. "You're hurting me…"
[host! Your life is in danger! Use your spores to knock him out! Host!] the system yelled in Nina's head.
Nina wanted to laugh. Barely two days in this place and she's been near death twice.
I can't move…system, I can't move.
[You have to try! You're bleeding to death! Beastblooms don't have fast healing like other beastmen! You'll die! Host please save yourself!]
Nina couldn't produce any spores. The more she bled out, the more darkness filled her vision.
The soldiers and servants watched. Horrified and frozen in place, yet unable to move forward. No one dared step forward for fear of losing their head. And also because they didn't care.
Yet deep down, they were all happy.
Finally, that wicked princess is dead! Praise to the gods! They all thought.
Some of the soldiers who had just been healed by her spores felt guilt. But it didn't last long. Better her than our General, they thought.
Lev roared before transforming into a massive, ten foot tall lion, his claws still buried inside her shoulders. The pain made Nina unable to keep her eyes open.
The last thing she saw before passing out was a flash of blue slam into Lev and rip him away from her. Jagged teeth. A playful laugh. Her blood turning cold. The marble floors are hard and even colder against her back.
I just wanted to help… was what she thought before she blacked out.