Free The Poison Princess by J. Stone

much, as the other
side proved quite safe for her.
    From the new chamber, Ruby reached back
through and snatched Sniggle, placing him back on her shoulder,
where he resumed his nap. The new area of the cave was darker than
where she had previously been, but ahead she could see a patch of
the mushrooms illuminating a slow moving stream. The princess
rushed toward it, eager to get clean after the long time she’d been
forced to wear the serpent’s sick on her skin. She plopped Sniggle
down on the ground and jumped into the waist deep water, not
bothering to remove her dress first.
    Ruby submerged herself in the water, running
her hands through her dark hair and untangling the matted strands.
Only coming up for occasional breaths of air, the princess tried to
scrub all of the serpent’s viscera off her skin and clothing as
well. The water was icy and frigid to the touch, but she didn’t
mind at all. She felt good to get the grime off her after all that
time slogging around in it.
    The princess felt fresh and good for the
first time, since she’d eaten that poisoned strawberry. The
sensation was doomed to not last too long, as her poison quickly
continued to dribble forth from her mouth. At least it was isolated
to just her own sludge and no longer the snake’s as well, she told
herself.
    As good as the impromptu bath made her feel,
Ruby still felt some emptiness inside her. She wasn’t certain that
it was thirst exactly, but she had to start somewhere. Pooling a
bit of the water in her cupped palms, the princess raised it to her
mouth and tried to take a sip despite the dripping poison. Though
she managed to swallow the fresh liquid, it didn’t have the effect
she would’ve hoped for. Rather than replenishing her, the water
instead made her feel sick and worse than she had before the drink.
She felt the liquid come back up, and she retched it out along with
the poison. Ruby couldn’t even swallow water anymore.
    The pangs in her gut were yearning for
something else it seemed. Her only other guess was that the
sensation was some twisted version of hunger. She hadn’t seen much
to eat in the caves, but Ruby guessed that near the water was as
good a place as any to find life. The princess pulled herself out
of the water, her dress completely drenched and dripping with water
and the fresh poison spilling down on it.
    She started to move forward, but the soaked
gown was so heavy that she thought it would only slow her down.
Stretching her hands around to her backside, Ruby managed to undo
the ties keeping her dress on, and after a time, loosened it enough
to remove it. The princess slipped the straps off her shoulders and
wiggled it off down to her feet, leaving her standing in only her
plain, white chemise that had a stain of purple down its front
where the poison had seeped through. Ruby laid out the soaked dress
on the rocky floor, hoping to allow it to dry faster that way.
Sniggle, meanwhile, who had been sleeping peacefully at the side of
the stream, woke up and took notice of the strewn out gown.
Naturally, he moved over to it and decided to continue his nap
there on the softer palette.
    While the dress dried and Sniggle slept, Ruby
went in search of food along the underground stream. She feared
eating the glowing mushrooms would be a mistake for some reason, so
she was hopeful that she could find another frog. Eating a raw frog
didn’t strike her as something she would have ever thought herself
doing, but times were desperate. She needed sustenance, and that
was the best she could manage. Without her long flowing dress, Ruby
could move much faster and quieter, so she expected if she were
able to find one, she would be able to sneak up on it. She had
something of a chill and tremored a bit, but she was able to work
past that.
    The princess walked along beside the stream’s
path for what she expected was a couple of hours. The way had been
simple, and it would be impossible for her to get lost on the way
back, so she