The Nutcracker Bleeds by Lani Lenore

her as if it mattered. Her breathing
quickened, her heart sped, and she completely forgot about the center of the
universe.
    Bugs . Hundreds of
them, along with their writhing larva, crawling over each other at the bottom
of that shaft. Was this what the jester meant when he said it was not so easy?
Bugs… Anne hated bugs !
    “Get
the marble!”
    She
heard the voice, but could hardly understand the words.
    “W–what?”
    “ The
cat’s eye !”
    Below
her, the bugs twisted, excited by her presence, and just as she’d nearly
managed to calm down by telling herself that they were still several inches below her, one flew up and landed against her cloth boot.
    Anne
screamed. She couldn’t hold it in. She kicked, but that didn’t stop more bugs
from flying up to crawl across her. They were brown, lightweight bugs with
transparent wings, each about the length of her palm. Even though she
struggled, she recognized them. Termites . This was indeed a trap set for
wooden toys.
    “Anne!
You have to get the relic! It’s right there!”
    She
opened her eyes, fighting away the bugs that were swarming through the air
around her. The jester was right; the marble was right in front of her. Before
she could waste time on the bug that had lodged itself in her hair where her
bun was wrapped, she grabbed the marble, curling herself into a ball around it
as the bugs continued to light on her.
    Immediately,
she was pulled up. The jester tugged her to the top of the hole, battling the
bugs that how now discovered him as well.
    Back
out of the pit, the strings came free of her as if magically loosed. They’d
been tightly wound, and yet fell from her body as if they’d been simply lying
across her. This was no time to question it, however. She ran, holding the
cat’s eye tightly. The jester already had a head start. Behind them, the
termites rose into the air in a thick swarm.
    “You
knew about this!” she accused, holding the marble tightly beneath her arm and
freeing herself of bugs with the other.
    “You’re
not made of wood!” he yelled back defensively, picking up speed.
    She
roared in anger and did the same, cursing him silently.
     
    6
     
    They
carried on back the same way they had come, though this time much less
cautious. The farther they went, the less she could hear the insects swarming
behind her until the sound died completely. It was a good thing, because Anne’s
lungs and muscles couldn’t take anymore.
    She
dropped to the ground, out of breath, her grip on the marble so tight that
she’d almost lost circulation within her arm. The jester fell to the floor as
well, clumsily. When Anne managed to gather more breath, she spoke to him.
    “That
was dirty,” she gasped, glaring.
    The
puppet took in a few deep breaths and then shrugged carelessly. His ghastly
grin renewed.
    “Does
it matter now?” he inquired, standing once again. “We escaped–you without a
scratch and me without a hole–and you have your relic. All is well.”
    He
moved to help her up, but she jerked her arm away, insisting on doing this on
her own. She had misplaced her trust in him. Anne moved on ahead, sure now that
she could find her way out of here on her own if she had to. Her body was tired
and aching, but her mind wouldn’t leave the last thing that the puppet had told
her.
    All
is well.
    Was
it? Perhaps, as far as could be expected, it was. She’d completed the task
without serious incident, and if nothing else, she would have Olivia’s acceptance
and no soldiers would be hunting her. The more she ran it through her mind
along the way, the more she calmed until her breathing was once again steady.
    Back
in the shaft where they’d ridden the teacup lift, the jester prepared to take
them up once again. She watched him, wondering. Why had he helped her? Why, in
the first place, had he offered to be her chaperone?
    Was
there some secret reason? He wouldn’t betray his Lady and country…? Perhaps to
have the cat’s eye for himself? Was