I should have wanted to fight. I should have wanted to scream and yell, even though I knew that no one would be close enough to hear. I should have done something to save myself, dagger or not. There should have been some part of me that wanted to walk away from this.

But something in me was twisted and spent. I felt like I had already beat the odds once. I had broken the rules and escaped by the skin of my teeth. It had been luck that had saved me. Now, I had been foolish and the universe was punishing me. Or maybe this had always been my fate and no matter how hard I fought it, it would always return. I could escape this time, only to be hunted again or to walk into another trap.

I could not defeat three men who were experienced in this kind of thing. Maybe if I had been like my sisters, I could have commanded the swamp water around me. It wasn't much and it was impure, but it might have been enough for the stronger sirens. I could have raised waves that would strong enough to knock them all off their feet. I could have spoken in a sweet song that convinced them to let me go.

But I was not a siren equipped with powers that made the common man tremble. Just as I was not a resourceful, scrappy human woman who would have been smart enough to avoid this situation entirely. I was some kind of useless mix of both, powerless and raised in ignorance.

I tried to pull my hands apart once. The rope didn't give, biting into the skin on my wrists instead. 

After that, my shoulders slumped with defeat and my head dropped down.

"That's a good lil thing. You aren't gonna give us any trouble. Are you?"

I said nothing, just stared at my quaking hands, wishing so badly that I had turned a blind eye and remained seated in that noisy tavern. It seemed that those who minded their own business and didn't interfere with the works of the world were the ones who stayed safe.

Geoffrey stepped towards me, releasing his grip on my bound wrists, and his fingers moved towards the strings that laced up the front of my bodice. I was barely able to raise my eyes, feeling so sick before he even touched me. A deviant smirk stretched over his features, his eyes so hungry. This was it. This was the nightmare that haunted me whenever I was alone in the dark, whenever I walked through a narrow alley or someone spoke too loudly.

A glint of silver flashed and a blade was pressed up against the man's thick neck.

"If you value your life, you best not lay a hand on her," a voice warned from the dark. It was a voice I had committed to memory. 

Leo.

My legs would have given out with relief had I not seen the two other men, John and William, both retrieve arrows from their quivers. They might have struggled with killing werewolves, but I didn't doubt that they could take out a single human.

I let out a soft whimper. But the sound was covered by a whizzing noise, then a solid thump. 

Both John and William froze. In the dim light only offered by the flickering lantern, I could see the feather of two arrows, the heads buried in the trunks of trees on either side of the pair.

"I wouldn't do that either," Leo said. I could hear a smile in his voice.

Geoffrey's Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed audibly. The short knife remained against his throat, at the ready. His hands slowly came upwards in an act off surrender. "Listen, if you want her, you can have her. We don't want any trouble, we can just put all of this behind us."

The blade twitched closer to jugular. 

The arrogant smirk was no longer carried in Leo's tone when he spoke again. "She is already mine. And if you didn't want any trouble, you'd let women walk home alone at night with no problems. You wouldn't hunt werewolves for sport. You wouldn't be giving my kingdom a bad name with our allies."

The small ounce of ease that had been in the air evaporated. Before, it was one group of crooks against another. Now, it was law breakers against their ruler. The dust was settling and it was clear who the winners would be.

"Jacob, if you would please," Leo said after a moment of silence.

Like a ghost, his right hand man materialized out of the night with thick cords in his hands. Leo remained steady and unwavering as Jacob bound Geoffrey's large hands behind his back. Once the final knot was secured, the pair moved on to John and William who lost all of their color from their face and looked a little ill. I was sure that the two archers still had their sights trained on the offenders and Jacob bound them just the same. The lantern was taken from them and an additional one was lit, now that the men were not utilizing surprise.

"Now we're going to tie you all together like pack mules. Won't that be fun?" Jacob taunted.

Leo slowly approached me then, the knife he used to halt the violence was now gone, disappeared somewhere. 

I knew that it was Leo. I knew that it was the man I was supposed to be marrying in just a couple short weeks. But when he took a step towards me, all I saw was those green eyes and movement that was all male.

I stumbled backwards a step. My slipper sank into the mud, vanishing beneath the wet ground in a matter of seconds. I fell back into the swamp with nothing more than a whimper. My dress was soaked through, ruined, but I only squirmed in the mud, moving away from the man as fast as I could while keeping my eyes on him and with my hands still bound.

A strangled noise left my throat when long fingers tugged at the rope holding my hands together, but the restriction was soon gone. My hands sank into the mud on either side of me, prepared to do anything and everything that I could to get away from this man.

Hands came towards me before I could scramble away. As I flinched away, thinking a slap was sure to come, soft fingertips were pressed against the back of my neck. Calloused palms cradled my cheeks. Rough thumb pads swept over my cheekbones.

Crouched beside me, Leo studied my face. "Are you hurt you? Did they do anything to you?"

I wanted to be strong. I wanted to the kind of woman who rolled her eyes at his concern, because that was what queens did. I wanted to show him that I was an equally strong warrior and dust of my dress as if this had been a minor hiccup or part of some elaborate plan.

But I broke like the fragile frightened woman I was. I began sobbing.

"We're here now. You're safe," Leo soothed as the tears started to roll down my cheeks. His rough thumbs quickly brushed them away.

"I-I thought..."

"I know. I know, but you have nothing to worry about now. They're gone. They're being taken to the palace right now, with three of the best men that came with us. They aren't going to hurt you or anyone else, okay?"

I didn't reply. I wasn't sure if I could get a word out between the rough breaths that constricted my lungs. Leo didn't seem to mind. He took my freezing and muddy hands in his own, carefully helping me to my feet and guiding me out of the slew.

Now, with the light of multiple lanterns, I was able to see that the attackers had been greatly outnumbered. There must have been six of them all together. Every single one of them was watching me shiver and shudder and sob. 

"Why didn't you sing? Why didn't you force them away?" Leo wondered in a whisper only meant for my ears.

"I c-can't," I stammered out.

His questions stopped after that when Jacob flanked my other side. The men fell into formation around me and we walked back to that town together. The rough breaths slowly leveled out. I still shook, but I was convinced that it was only from the cold now. It took time, but after a while, I only felt numb. Safe, but numb.

"How did you find me?" I wondered when I could find my voice again.

"We tracked you," Leo sighed. "We were watching the two men in the bar. We knew it was them. We stayed a little longer after they left, wanting to make sure that the confrontation happened outside of Riverstead. The last thing we wanted was locals to gang up on us in their defense. Then we realized that you were gone. We had the two men in guard uniforms stationed outside and they told us which direction you went. As soon as we got off the main stone road, we were able to track you."

We made it back into Riverstead with no delays or issues. No one peeked out of their windows to spy on us. No one called us out as we returned. It was like nothing had happened at all, but the chill would not leave my bones. 

Leo's men took me to an inn where I was given my belongings so I could change into clean, dry clothes for the night. A few days ago I would have been so grateful for the luxury of a warm bed off the ground and dry clothes. 

Now, I just laid awake, staring at the ceiling in the small room, only able to hear the sound of my own breathing.

I had come so close to something unspeakable. I had been so close to being wiped off the map, written out of history. My sisters would have never known what happened to me. The king and queen would have found a new bride for Leo and the world would move on as if I never existed.

The thought made tears surface in my eyes again. I yanked the thick quilt off my legs, no longer able to be idle. I didn't know where I was going or what I was going to do, but I could not lay in this bed, waiting for someone else to try and hurt or harm me. I might not have been an all powerful siren. I might have not been born a princess.

But I was worth something.

Wearing nothing but a my thin night dress, I pulled open the creaky door. The inn was quiet now, all of those who had come in for a bite to eat and some drinks long gone. The once crowded space was entirely vacant. 

But, there were still two occupants in  the open space.

Jacob sat on the right side of my door frame. His arms were crossed over his chest, his head hung as he snored softly.

Leo was on the left hand side. He was standing, his back pressed against the wall with an old, worn book in his hands. He turned his head to meet my eyes. 

"I'm here." He was steady and certain. 

I said nothing in return. I clicked the door shut again and returned to the bed.

I managed to fade in and out of sleep until the sun peeked through the small window.

~~~Question of the Day~~~

If you could have a superpower for one day, what would it be?