9. The Hunter
It didn’t take long for Mauro to slump into unconsciousness. Truth be told, I myself hadn’t been able to remain fully conscious for the entire journey like I’d hoped. But I’d been lucid enough to hear what I needed to know.
So the Snow Princess intended to take back the throne. And she was afraid of the dark fae.
I could use this to my advantage.
Tracking the fox and the princess in the blizzard was trying enough even without the poison spreading through my body. But I had to grit my teeth and endure it. Those two would likely get themselves killed by negotiating with the pixies. I knew how to handle them, but I doubted the feisty princess would be able to behave herself. They’d likely already beheaded her.
I had to pause often to knit more of my magic over my wound. It wasn’t much—just an intense burst of glamour to trigger my fae healing—but it allowed the blood to clot momentarily before the poison took over again.
Sooner or later, I would lose this game. Fae magic wouldn’t work on poison. I was on borrowed time.
After what felt like an eternity, I found them. The pixie magic gave away their location, and I quickly covered myself with glamour as I approached. When I was a few paces away, I halted and withdrew my knives, laying them on the snow at my feet before I continued onward. To approach pixies with weapons was a criminal offense.
Another reason the princess would likely be killed. Such a shame.
But then I heard her as she declared with a loud voice, “My name is Eira Calliope Midelia. I am the rightful queen of this court.”
I stilled at the power resonating from those words. Gone was the playful princess who tormented me night and day. Gone was the cheerful optimist whose grin made my blood boil.
These were the words of a queen.
Even the pixies were stunned into silence.
But the princess wasn’t finished.
“When I take back my throne, I intend to change Calista’s unjust laws against those she calls half-breeds.” She spat the words. “I may not be unseelie, but I am half human. You aren’t the only ones to have been mistreated because of your heritage. Humans are hunted and tortured for sport. We’ve been banished from our homes, forced to turn over our land to the superior species.” There was venom in her words that made me tremble.
How often had I thought those exact words? That the fae were superior to humans?
“My father intended to change this court for the better,” she continued. “He loved a human and saw her for the pure soul that she was. We are different, you and I. I may not have wings or pink skin or glowing magic. But I have a soul, just as you. We are more than just our appearances. We are more than our bloodlines. We are beings with desires and goals, feelings and ambitions, and a whole future of choices and decisions if we only have the freedom to make them. I vow that, as your queen, I will give you that freedom.”
I sucked in a breath. If the princess truly couldn’t lie, then she had just made a hefty promise to some of the most savage creatures I’d ever met.
“How are we to believe your promises?” asked the white-haired pixie in front of Eira. “You are part human.”
“I cannot lie,” Eira said. “But, if you wish it, I will strike a bargain with you and seal it in blood.”
Shivering bones, this princess was dooming herself. A blood bargain was far more dangerous than a verbal bargain. Some fae were killed by the intensity of the magic as the bargain was struck; they couldn’t even survive long enough to fulfill their part of the deal.
As a half human, Eira didn’t stand a chance.
“Snow!” Frisk objected.
The white-haired pixie threw her head back and laughed. “You are a fool, princess! You are issuing your own death sentence with this bargain.”
“Then you will lose nothing,” Eira said, her regal tone unwavering. “Strike this bargain with me. If I survive, you heal my friend. If I don’t…” She shrugged one shoulder as if her own life mattered so little to her. “Then you owe me nothing.”
I wanted to laugh along with the pixies. It would be far too easy for me to fulfill my bargain with the queen now. The blood bargain would kill the princess, and once the pixies were finished with her, I would carve out her heart and bring it to Calista.
Of course, I still needed to find a healer. A minor complication.
“All right then,” said the white-haired pixie, her grin widening. “Let us strike this bargain. I hope you have made peace with your gods, princess, because you will meet them soon.”
Eira flashed her own smile. “We’ll see.”
“Nyra, please—” Frisk began.
“Silence, fox,” Nyra barked. “Your princess has made her decision. There is no turning away from this fate.”
I inched closer so I could better see this pixie queen. She looked magnificent indeed with her long hair billowing in the wind, her inky black eyes wide with delight.
“Bring me the ceremonial dagger,” Nyra commanded. A few pixies shuffled, and one broke through the crowd, reverently bowing as he placed a long, jagged dagger in the queen’s hands.
Frisk was whispering something to the princess, but she shook her head, her expression fierce with determination. She looked fairly confident for someone about to die. I squinted at her, trying to figure out what she was planning.
“Don’t stand there and bleed on my doorstep,” Nyra called out suddenly. “Come and join us, good sir. You can get a much better view from here.”
Every pixie turned their heads to fix their black eyes on me.
Well, shit.