Chapter 95: Bella’s Mistake And The Secret Revealed!
Bella stood up from where she had been sitting by the fire.
She walked closer to the snake beastman, her eyes drawn to him like he was a magnet. She could not look away from him. She did not understand why she was so infatuated with him. This made no sense.
He was an outcast. He was from a forbidden tribe. He was supposed to be an enemy. Everything about him should have made her want to run away or attack him.
But something about him was making her unable to look away. Making her want to get closer. Making her completely focused on him and nothing else.
The girl that had gone to find him walked toward Bella quickly and grabbed her hand firmly.
"Don’t look at him too much, Bella," the girl said urgently. "I was also caught up in the same trance that I almost fell for him. I’m sure that’s something the snake tribe can do. Some kind of ability they have."
He clapped his hands together slowly, like the girl had just confirmed something he found amusing.
"Don’t stare at me," he said, walking deeper into the cave. He positioned himself directly in front of Bella, his tall frame blocking out most of the firelight. "Tell me, why did you seek me out? I should be on my way reporting to my king about Neve."
Bella forced herself to break eye contact and look to the side. She tried to focus on the fire instead of on him. It was harder than it should have been.
"About Neve?" Bella smirked, her confidence returning now that she was not looking directly at him. "You are yet to get the most important information about him. The information that will make him infinitely more valuable to your king."
He lifted his head slightly, his interest clearly piqued.
"What are you hiding?" he asked. His eyes and voice suddenly went cold. The warmth that had been there a moment ago disappeared completely, replaced with something dangerous and calculating.
Bella shivered involuntarily but tried hard not to look or act weak in front of him. She was a princess. She had status. She would not cower.
"Well," she said and looked at the girl behind her. The girl was shaking her head frantically, like she was begging Bella not to do anything stupid.
But Bella had never listened to her lackeys. That was not how a queen bee operated.
She turned back to Jereth.
"I’ll have to trust you before I tell you," Bella said carefully. "You have to promise me that you’ll use the information I’m about to tell you to get Neve out of here. Even if it means kidnapping him. I need your word that you’ll do whatever it takes to take him away from this tribe."
The snake beastman was quiet for a moment, studying her face like he was trying to determine if she was being truthful.
"Trust me?" he asked, his voice carrying amusement. "Fine. My name is Jereth. I’m from the snake tribe. I’m the messenger of the outcast king. I’m sure that’s enough for you to trust me."
Bella nodded slowly. It was not much, but it was something. It was a name. It was identity. It was enough.
"I’m Bella," she said. "Former princess of the leopard tribe. And the information I’m about to give you is simple but incredibly valuable."
She took a deep breath.
"Neve knows the medicine. The cure. He knows how to cure the golden frog poison. The most lethal poison in the entire beast world."
Jereth’s eyes widened noticeably.
He suddenly reached out and gripped Bella’s shoulder hard enough that she felt pain shoot through her arm.
"Do you speak the truth?" he demanded, his voice urgent and sharp. "Are you absolutely certain about this?"
Bella winced from the grip but nodded anyway.
"Yes," she said. "Believe me. I poisoned a man myself to frame Neve and make him look guilty. But instead of dying, the man lived. Neve ended up curing him. He must have someone how extracted the poison and applied some kind of treatment and the man survived something that should have killed him in minutes. I don’t know what he did."
Jereth stared at her for a long moment.
Then he released her shoulder and stepped back.
"This is exactly what my king wanted to confirm," he said, his expression shifting into something that looked like satisfaction. "This is the key to everything. This is why you are so valuable."
He turned to leave, moving toward the cave entrance.
"I’ll have to give this news to my king immediately," he said without looking back. "If my king decides to make a move, Neve will be gone from this tribe before you know it. He will be our prisoner. He will be forced to share his knowledge. And then the entire balance of power in this world will shift."
He paused at the entrance and turned back to look at Bella one more time.
He walked back to her slowly, deliberately.
He took her hand gently and brought it to his mouth. He kissed it softly, his lips lingering against her skin just long enough for it to be intimate.
Bella felt her face flush completely. Heat spread through her body at the touch. It was intentional. It was calculated. But it was also real.
"Thank you, Bella," he whispered against her hand. "You’ve given my king exactly what he needed."
He released her hand and shifted immediately.
His human form dissolved and reformed into a massive snake. His body coiled and uncoiled, becoming long and sinuous and powerful. Without another word, he slithered out of the cave at incredible speed.
This time, no one could catch him. No one could stop him.
He was gone.
.
Bella turned around to look at her girls.
She was smiling, still feeling the warmth of his lips on her hand.
The girl who had been taking care of her, who had been warming her up by the fire, walked directly toward Bella.
And slapped her right across the cheek.
Hard.
The sound echoed through the small cave.
Bella shrieked, her hand going to her cheek immediately. She glared at the girl with fury.
"How dare you?" Bella screamed. "What the hell do you think you’re doing? I’m a princess! You can’t touch me like that!"
"I can and I just did," the girl said, her voice shaking with anger and emotion. "You’ve made a huge mistake, Bella. A really huge mistake."
"What?" Bella asked, confused and angry. "What mistake? I just made a deal that will get Neve away from this tribe. I just secured my future."
"You’ve always supported you because your father was good to me and my siblings after our parents died," the girl said, her voice cracking slightly. "He was kind to us when no one else was. He gave us a home and was a good man."
She paused, swallowing hard.
"But you just let out a huge secret to our enemies about the cure for the golden frog poison," the girl continued, her voice rising. "What if they kidnap Neve? What if they force him to tell them how to make the cure? What if they use that information to attack us? What if they come here and burn this village to the ground?"
She stepped closer, her eyes filled with unshed tears.
"How would I protect my siblings, Bella?" the girl asked. "You’re a princess, surely you have ways of running and hiding. You have resources and connections. You selfish bitch! What about the rest of us? What about those of us who don’t have anywhere else to go?"
Bella stood there completely stunned.
She had not thought about it that way. She had been so focused on her own revenge, her own desires, her own need to hurt Neve that she had not considered the consequences for anyone else.
She looked back toward where Jereth had left as a snake.
He was gone. Completely gone. There was no trace of him except for the faint smell of snake musk that lingered in the air.
And with him, he had taken information that could destroy everything. Information that could turn the outcasts into an unstoppable force. Information that could get Neve kidnapped.
Bella realized her mistake.
Too late.