Chapter 111: Bella’s Fall And Doris’s Plea!
Neve was heading back to the cave when he caught someone yelling at a beastman in the distance.
The beastman was trying to mind his business, just passing through the village with two rabbits he was holding. They were freshly caught and he was probably bringing them home to his family. But someone was following him, yelling and screaming at him.
Neve blinked and looked closer.
It was Bella.
"How dare you ignore an order from me?" she yelled, following the beastman persistently. "I’m still the princess of this tribe! You have to listen to me! You have to obey me!"
But the beastman just kept walking. He did not even look at her. He did not even acknowledge that she existed. He just ignored her completely and kept moving with his rabbits.
Neve shook his head in disbelief.
"She hasn’t changed a bit," Neve said quietly to himself. "Even after everything. Even after being stripped of her fangs and marked as a pariah. She still thinks people should listen to her."
Sorin stepped up beside Neve, also watching the pathetic display.
"She’s really expecting people to obey her with her fake royal blood," Sorin said, looking away from Bella and turning back to Neve. "Even now she thinks her status matters. She doesn’t understand that everything is gone."
No one was listening to Bella anymore. Everyone was doing their best to ignore her completely. They walked past her like she was invisible. They refused to acknowledge her existence. She had become exactly what the Pariah Status had intended for her to be. A ghost. A phantom. Someone who no longer existed in the tribe’s eyes.
Neve felt a flicker of something that might have been pity, but he pushed it away.
"Somehow, I wished I could throw something at her to eat," Neve said. "Just to help her survive. But I can’t do that because she’s a bad person. Because she would just use that kindness to hurt us again."
"Let’s go, Sorin," Neve said, turning away from the pathetic scene.
But before they could take more than a few steps, someone blocked their path.
Neve stopped and looked at the person standing in front of him. His mind raced trying to remember who this was. He had seen her before. Recently. Somewhere important.
"You," Neve muttered, his eyes narrowing as he tried to place her. He remembered seeing her. When she came to summon Cael to meet his brother yesterday after the announcement. He was there.
The girl smiled warmly.
"My name is Doris," she said, placing a hand on her chest. "Lady Doris," she added with a smile.
Neve did not particularly like the idea of speaking to her, but she kept smiling at him. That smile looked fake to him. Practiced. Like she had learned how to make that expression from watching other people. But even though he did not like it, he could not simply ignore her and walk away. That would be rude.
Sorin immediately stepped forward, his protective instinct activating.
He put his hand out, creating a barrier between Neve and Doris.
"Did the chief send you here?" Sorin asked, his voice carrying suspicion. "Is Soren trying to do something? Did he send you to spy on Neve?"
"What? No," Doris replied quickly, shaking her head. "I came here on my own. Soren didn’t send me. I came because I wanted to talk to Neve."
She walked closer, stepping so close to Neve that Sorin’s body tensed in preparation to protect him if necessary.
"I overheard what you were discussing with Soren," Doris said, clasping her hands together. "I couldn’t help but listen. I’m sorry for eavesdropping but I was worried about what the chief would say. And I heard your plan. Your beautiful plan to help the village."
She paused, her eyes becoming more earnest.
"I’d like to help you," Doris continued. "I’d like to help you help the village. Please, let me work with you."
Sorin immediately questioned her motives.
"Why should we listen to you?" Sorin asked coldly. "Aren’t you supposed to be Soren’s mate? Isn’t he expecting you to bond with him soon?"
Doris’s face flushed bright red as she cleared her throat uncomfortably.
"Sure, I was supposed to be his mate," she admitted, her voice becoming softer. "But that was only because I needed to protect my family. I have just my siblings who are under my care. My parents died a long time ago and I’ve been raising them alone."
She looked down at her hands.
"Soren promised to do anything to protect them," she continued. "He said if I became his mate, he would make sure my siblings survived winter. He would give them food and shelter and safety. That was the only reason I agreed to be with him."
She looked back up at Neve with determination in her eyes.
"But when I heard your plan to help us, I had hoped that my siblings would survive the winter with me," Doris said, her voice carrying hope and desperation mixed together. "I thought maybe with your help, I wouldn’t need to give up my freedom. I wouldn’t need to be with Soren just to keep my family alive."
She paused.
"Well, that was until Soren refused your idea," Doris said, the hope draining from her voice. "Now I don’t know what to do."
Neve could understand what she meant. Her situation was difficult. She was trapped between her love for her siblings and her desire for freedom. She wanted to survive but she did not want to sacrifice herself completely.
But still, Neve was hesitant. Working behind Soren’s back while he was still deciding would be dangerous. Soren had said he would send a messenger later today. Soren had not said no yet. There was still hope that the chief would change his mind.
"Let’s wait for him to say yes first," Neve said carefully. "Then we’ll know what else to do. We can’t move forward without his permission. We can’t work in complete secret. That would be too risky."
Doris’s expression fell slightly, but she nodded in understanding.
"Thank you for even considering it, Neve," she said, her voice coming out soft and grateful. "I’ll keep trying to convince Soren into agreeing. Maybe if he hears from me how desperate we are, he’ll change his mind."
She bowed respectfully.
Neve waved his hand, not knowing what to say or how to react to her gratitude.
"Don’t mention it," he said simply. "Just keep your family safe. That’s what matters."
He started moving toward his cave already, feeling tired and hungry. He could not eat the meat earlier, but now, after all the walking and the conversations, he felt like eating something. His stomach was starting to rumble.
But going back to the cave suddenly felt very far away. The distance seemed to stretch endlessly in front of him.
Neve sighed deeply.
"Ugh," he secretly rolled his eyes as exhaustion weighed on him. "I wish I could fly."
The words were more of a passing thought than an actual request. But Sorin heard them clearly from behind.
"I can make your wish come true, Neve," Sorin said from behind, bringing out his wings already. The massive eagle wings spread out wide, casting shadows in the snow.
He was preparing to take off. He was preparing to fly.
"Just give your orders."