Author's Note: Sharing this absolutely ADORABLE art of Annette this week from @ellenwennberg.se on IG. I think this is the first solo art of Annette I've gotten haha. She looks so cute here! 

Ridley

Annette and I pushed through the underbrush as we made our way through the woods that surrounded the cottage.

"I still feel like waiting to reveal you're alive at the wedding is cutting it too close," I said softly.

"It's our only shot," Annette replied. "Stefan's probably keeping an eye on everyone in the castle, specifically those close to me since the demon queen knows I'm alive. I'm sure my brother has been watching out for James's village as well. The only time we can even hope to sneak James Andrews and I in to demand a public retrial is when he's completely occupied with the wedding."

I nodded stiffly. "But still, what if something goes wrong or we're too late and he ends up actually marrying-" that's when I suddenly stopped, my eyes growing wide.

I had thought after spending the night at an inn in town I was completely sober but I was most certainly seeing a stick drag itself across the forest path in front of me.

My mouth hung open. "What in the-"

"What the FUCK?!?"

I looked over now to see Annette staring horrified at the stick as well.

"Princess...your language..."

"Sorry. I've just been really feeling the whole new swearing thing lately. It's un-lady like, I know. But fucking hell Ridley, what is that?"

So I really wasn't just seeing things.

And then suddenly my gaze locked on even more moving sticks, rolling and dragging themselves from the underbrush like a swarm of insects. I stumbled back a few feet only to find even more rising up from the dirt beneath me, rolling to join the others.

Annette and I exchanged a horrified glance before our gaze finally returned to the mass of sticks and twigs, both realizing with a start what was happening.

They were rolling together, falling into place as if they knew exactly where to go, all to spell one giant word that lay spread out before us.

'DANGER'

Annette turned to me, eyes wide. "But what is it even trying to warn us abo-"

And that's when the explosion hit, blowing us backwards.

I fell to my knees, feeling the heat from the blast against my face, a low ringing from the sound echoing in my ears.

"Princess, are you alright?" I stammered, anxiously turning to check on Annette.

"Yeah, I'm fine....what the hell was that?" Annette mumbled, stumbling to her feet.

I quickly clamored up as well, brushing the dirt from my clothes. "Well...I can't be one hundred percent certain but I think I might have an idea..." I gestured to the thick cloud of smoke drifting up above the branches in the exact direction we had been headed...the cottage.

Annette's eyes went as round as saucers. "You think that explosion was from...?"

I nodded stiffly.

Cautiously we stepped over what I now realized was an incredibly timed warning. Slowly we stalked forward, continuing towards the source of the smoke until we were close enough to peak out at it from the bushes.

There, where the cottage once stood, was simply a pile of soot, rocks, and ash. The rest of the forest was still with the exception of a few ink black squirrels that scampered off into the underbrush.

Then it hit me.

"Wait..." I whispered. "Do you think those were demons?"

"Ridley, are you still drunk? Those were squirrels."

"Right...right...I know, but think about it. They were pitch black, just like Vandel's bird form. What if they were demon guards. It would make sense, right? Vandel's mother read his mind and knew you were still alive. This must have been another attempt to kill you."

Annette's hands flew to her mouth, muffling a gasp. "You're right! Wow, it must be pretty shitty for them. The demon prince gets a fancy animal form like a raven and you're just a fucking squirrel. No wonder the demons keep their animal forms so hush hush. Most of them must suck."

"As much as I would love to...well...speculate on the variety and logistics of demons turning into animals (with our extremely limited biological knowledge of them) might I suggest princess that we spend our time worrying about the situation at hand. The demons just blew up our hiding place for you."

"We'll figure something out. It's not the end of the world."

I tried to keep my voice level when I responded, feeling a small wave of deja vu recalling when I used to try and help her with her studies. "Princess, I just wish you'd take this a little more seriously. If we had arrived just a few moments earlier, hell, if we hadn't been distracted by that moving pile of sticks, we could both be dead."

Annette's eyes suddenly widened. "Wait! That's it!"

I blinked. "What's what?"

"The demon queen won't stop until she's sure I'm dead, right? So why don't we give her what she wants. Let's make her think without a shadow of a doubt that the explosion worked and she killed me."

I furrowed my brow. "And how are we supposed to guarantee that?"

"You tell Vandel."

I froze. "W-What?"

"It wouldn't be that hard, you just slip on the ring, tell him I died and then his mother reads his mind and thinks she has nothing to worry about."

I felt a strange cold feeling of dread creeping into my chest. "But...how could I? It would be lying. I...I can't just lie to him...it's wrong...I just...princess I can't..."

Something strange seemed to drift over Annette's gaze now, her mouth drawing into a thin line. "You had no trouble lying to me and the rest of the kingdom before."

The words caught in my throat. "But I..."

"Why should he be any different Ridley? This is for all our good, hell, it's for HIS own good."

"But...I..."

"Ridley, this is non negotiable. This is our one chance to keep suspension off us until we can get the queen in checkmate. If we hesitate she might come poking back around here and we'll lose this single opportunity."

"But princess, how can I live with myself if I lie to him?"

Annette's expression was ice cold. "How can you live with yourself if you don't?"

As all these thoughts spun through my head Annette roughly yanked up the necklace from around my neck, holding out the ring.

"Ridley, this isn't a suggestion. This is an order from your queen."

And with that she shoved my finger into the ring and I was gone.

------

The room was pitch black as I emerged into it, a mess of items still scattered across almost every available surface. My heart was pounding so thunderously in my chest that it felt like it could burst free at any moment.

"Ridley?" a voice came weakly from the corner.

My breath caught at the sound of it.

There he was, just as he'd been the last time I'd come here.

I think back then I'd been too distracted and consumed by panic to fully take in just how awful captivity had been to him. His hair had grown longer and even a bit untamed, which felt extremely out of character for him. It fell almost past his chin, falling into his eyes which had dark bags resting below them. He hadn't even bothered to keep up the glamor spell on his neck, the thin scar barely apparent across his throat in the darkness. His face looked hollow and tired and I wanted nothing more than to pull him into my arms and tell him everything was going to be alright.

But of course...that was impossible.

Besides, who the hell was I to know what the fates had in store for us.