Shady

“Levin,” Jerica corrected. “And yes. He finds it funny.”

“Um, no,” Jerica said, realizing she shouldn’t have made that link. “Biryn is just an asshole that managed to get buddy buddy with Levin. Bastards.”

“My uncle’s head advisor.” She shrugged. “They’re both quite terrible.”

“Yeah.” Jerica shrugged again. “He started when I was 4. It’s not like it’s new.”

“Only if you’re too emotional,” Jerica grumbled. It WAS painful. And so was this conversation. And all the words still echoing in her mind. She shrugged. “You get used to ...

“Of course I’m angry,” Jerica muttered. “But I’m tired of arguing with you. And you didn’t say anything I don’t already know. I’ve heard all that and worse, and it’s ...

“Yeah.” Jerica watched the back of her head as she rushed ahead. Despite how annoyed Jerica was with Evaline, it didn’t change that they shouldn’t push too hard, so she ...

“I don’t know about you.” Jerica started after her. “But I find them to be pretty important. We’d still be hungry and stuck in a wolf-surrounded tree.”

“We know there’s only one bow,” Jerica said, slinging it back over her arm. And it’d be going with her if they DID split up. “One basket of food…”

“Why the fuck do you want me to leave you?” Jerica was too tired to get truly agitated. “Our chances for survival halve if we split up.”

“Well, things were fine til you started screaming all the reasons why I should die,” Jerica muttered.

Jerica hesitated, getting more frustrated with each and every compliment that Evaline paid her. It weakened her resolve. Even though the resolve had been slipping away before this sudden change ...

“Maybe I won’t feel like this in a few moments, either,” she snapped, but it was becoming progressively emptier. The negative emotions were ebbing away, leaving her completely empty.

Jerica let the tension from the string of the bow, but kept the arrow notched and kept her hand on it. “My life’s been a waste since it started.”

Jerica took several steps backward to get out of her reach. She'd talked down far too many soldiers and then tackled them to keep them from hurting themselves -- the ...