To Seduce a Scribe (4)

Romantasy flash fiction

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Previously… (1)….(2)….(3)

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(4)

Timush couldn’t escape, he saw Jewel’s luscious rosy lips moving closer slowly. The most beautiful girl he had ever seen wanted to kiss him, and if it wasn’t for the cold stone column, he would’ve fallen into the thorny rose bush behind him. She was the perfect princess - from her golden hair to her velvet smooth skin, her youthful curves and graceful feet, and if Timush were an ordinary man, he would’ve felt like the luckiest man in the whole Kingdom, but…he was a Snakeling. Oh, how he wished he wasn’t a Snakeling! For a second he felt cursed, until he realized his curse was a blessing; right before Jewel’s lips touched his, Timush disappeared into thin air! Poor princess Jewel fell over, hitting her nose against the cold stone column.

While she was distracted by getting up and cursing at her sisters, who happened to hide in the nearby orchard, a little green snake slithered away from the spot where Timush stood. Carefully weaving its body through the thorns, it moved as fast as it could, crawled into a crack on the base of the pavilion and waited until the princesses would leave.

“What a passionate kiss, Jewel! I have no doubt your lips could warm up even a stone, too bad they never touched our lovely Scribe!” Princess Emerald ridiculed her young sister.

“Hush, Emerald! He might still be here! I saw him turn into a small creature!” Ruby whispered as both approached Jewel. The latter was holding on to her red nose, swelling by the minute.

“Shut your mouths, both of you, and help me! I think I might be bleeding! Oh!” Jewel noticed blood on her hands. She nearly fainted. Ruby supported the unfortunate princess.

“Well, I guess you’ve lost our bet!” Emerald rejoiced.

“Not yet!” Jewel retorted.“The bet is on, until he kisses one of us!”

“I don’t think you’ll be a good kisser for the next few days, so it’s just a question of my charm and persistence,” Emerald replied casually.

“Dear sisters, please reconsider! What would happen with the poor man if our father finds out? And his people? A Snakeling cannot touch a woman…”

“We know!” The other two barked at Ruby.

“Nobody will find out, Ruby!” Jewel said, “unless you tell on us. He won’t say a word, that I’m certain of! Oh, I’m in such pain…” Jewel howled, holding on to her nose.

“Come, let’s get you some ice,” Ruby suggested.

As soon as the princesses were gone, Timush crawled out from his hiding, turned back into a man, and ran without looking. His heart still raced, his head buzzed, he did not expect to lose his cool so easily! Suddenly he bumped into a man walking through the garden.

“Hey, watch where you’re… Timush, old friend!” The man exclaimed.

“Ashwin! Oh, I mean, my Lord!” Timush bowed. The man burst out laughing.

“No “Lords”, I beg you, my friend!”

“What brings you here, Ashwin?! I did not expect you’d be back so soon from your travels,” said Timush.

“I would not miss my youngest sister’s sixteen birthday, though Heaven’s know, she’s still the biggest brat ever seen!”

“You have no idea…” Timush spewed out before he could stop himself.

“Oh? Pray, do tell!” The man said with a cunning snake’s smirk on his face. Indeed, he bore a striking resemblance to his younger sisters, the princesses. The Heir of Hebeny, prince Ashwin was a stately man with a short, wavy stack of chestnut brown hair and a pair of green eyes. He and Timush had become good friends while the prince spent several years on the Snakeling island, studying the ancient wisdom of his father’s kin. Prince Ashwin was the one to present Timush to the King as the new Scribe after the old one retired.

“I’m ashamed to say, but my sisters are flirts… this time, though, they had gone too far!” Ashwin exclaimed, after Timush trusted him with the secret.

“I do not wish for your father to find out, though it might be the right thing to do,” Timush pondered.

“Oh, no! They have father wrapped around their little fingers. We’ll deal with this without informing him. My sisters deserve a good punishment!” Prince Ashwin said with a snakish smile rising on his face.