The Poison Princess by J. Stone Read Free Book Online Page B

Sythys was at her back.
    “Ruby isss food now!”
    He gave her no respite. The serpent’s fangs
pierced Ruby’s abdomen, injecting incredible amounts of venom
inside her along with the massive wounds. Her body cracked and
snapped from the force of the bite. Her ribs were no longer alone
in their breaks. The beast then unhinged his jaw and began to slide
the immobilized princess down his throat. The insides of Sythys
were warm. The spicy blissroot fruit had made a lasting difference
to the creature, and it felt hot enough that it should burn her
skin at its touch. Instead, Ruby actually felt soothed by the
warmth, as the serpent pushed her further into its long body.
    The princess continued to spit up her own
poison, while she realized the contents of the serpent’s body began
to mix with her own secretions. The creature’s toxic laced stomach
acid and her own poison wrapped around her like a cocoon or a warm
womb. Ruby could see nothing, but she knew that the acid as well as
the poison that the snake had injected into her was of no danger to
her. The venomous cocktail embraced her and rejuvenated the injured
princess. She could feel the bruises soften, the cuts and scrapes
mend, the massive holes in her midsection stitch back together, and
though it was beyond excruciating, Ruby felt her broken ribs snap
back into place and harden there. Before long, the princess felt
whole again, but it would do her no good. She was still trapped
inside the beast’s stomach, and Sythys seemed immune to the effects
of poison, having eaten the toxic fruit for centuries. She had
nowhere left to turn, as her mind faded into the darkness.

Chapter 6. Clouded Judgment
    Ruby awoke in her bed in that drafty old
castle that she’d lived in for her whole life. The familiar silk
violet sheets laid on top her, the arched cream ceiling with a
crack stretching across the width of the room was far overhead, and
the rich purple drapes her mother had picked out to match her
sheets covered the windows. The room was exactly as she remembered
it, and the sun was just coming up, piercing where the drapes
separated. She lay on her side and was curled into a ball, enjoying
the warmth afforded to her by the covers and sheets.
    The princess remembered the dream she had
been having. A foul demon had corrupted her sister. A spell had
driven all the toxins in her body out of her mouth and all the dark
thoughts to the forefront of her mind. She had been magically
banished to the noxious land called the Abyss, where she had found
a serpent too old to possibly be real. The ancient beast had
swallowed her whole, at which point she’d woken there in the warm,
comforting bed. The dream had been madness. How she could have ever
come up with something so absurd was beyond her.
    At that point, Ruby realized that she was
completely naked. She never slept like that. She always wore some
layer, and the princess knew that this couldn’t possibly be real.
The dream had been the truth, and this was the dream. As much as
she wanted to say that this was real, she knew that she couldn’t
whitewash everything that had happened to her away as if it were a
fiction. Turning over to lay on her back, Ruby discovered that she
was not alone in this dream.
    The horned woman, Scarlett, was lying next to
her, and when the princess moved to her back, she pressed firmly up
against her. She was just as beautiful as the last time they’d met.
Her orange hair fluttered down to her shoulders, ending in copper
ringlets, and her eyes glinted with that same red glow, accentuated
by the distinct orange eye shadow. The princess could feel the
temptress’ body was quite naked as well. Ruby blushed, as Scarlett
placed both hands, one on top of the other, on the princess’ chest
and then rested her chin on her hands, looking straight into her
eyes.
    “Hello, my princess,” the horned woman said
with a smile.
    “You again?” Ruby asked, her toes fidgeting
uncomfortably at the other end of the