Chapter 7 #2
“What I wouldn’t do to be dicing right now,” I said to the empty room and slid it on.
Every part of me longed to return to before the coronation.
To sit in a tavern and laugh. But gambling wouldn’t get me closer to ending the pact, only my father’s head would—and if I was being honest with myself, the bastard deserved to die.
Taking his head would no doubt fill the hole Deldren used to inhabit, but I'd already tried once and failed.
What a shame.
The idea of Thelena and Tennith locked in the kingdom with brutal dragons and my even more bloodthirsty father—I shivered. But I was getting ahead of myself.
First, deal with Aelendir. Next, deal with my father.
As the door rustled behind me, I expected the cold to bite into my face, but it merely tugged at my cheeks with its icy fingertips, refusing to probe beneath my mantle.
During deep frost, even with a mink cloak, the wind would cut through me, slicing deep until I was frozen to the bone. Ilyatrian winters were unforgiving.
Aelendir was waiting by the cottage while he scanned the forest’s edge. He waved for me to follow, then disappeared around the corner. The cold didn’t bother him either as we traced the snow-covered path.
My heavy breaths condensed before me, leaving white trails between the barren trunks. “Why are these so warm?”
“The roads?” He didn’t bother to glance back.
“The cloak.”
“It’s lightly enchanted. You know, I expected a princess to be more well-read.”
I halted in my tracks, my heart thundering.
He continued a few more paces before turning to glare at me with a mocking smirk. “Oh, should I not have known that?” He stepped forward, a sickening grin marring his sharp features. “Princess.”
“I didn’t tell you who I was.”
“No, but your pact did.” He closed the distance between us and grabbed my forearm.
The rune flashed on my palm, tinged with pinpricks.
His eyes flicked across it, like he was reading.
“Princess Lorelana, age twenty-eight, signed on the eighteenth bright star. Murder of Arthvur Gelding Demitruis. Pact of plague.”
“Pact of plague?” I whispered to myself.
“It means that until it’s completed, you will sicken. Eventually, your insides will split apart and spill out of every last orifice.”
The color drained from my face. “I—I need to go.” I began to backtrack, but he yanked me closer by my arm. I needed to figure this out now. They didn’t tell me I was going to melt from the inside. Or warn me that I would rot while still breathing when I made that godforsaken pact. Bastard demon.
Bastard I’phri. They all deserve death.
This changed things. It wasn’t just an annoyance written into my flesh—it was certain death, in a disgustingly painful method.
“Woah there, princess. You didn’t think I’d just let you die, did you? You can’t leave and you can’t perish. After all, you owe me. You worry about repaying me, and I’ll sort your pact.”
I didn’t believe him, not for a goddamn moment.
“That sounds like another deal,” I shot back. I wasn’t about to sign my life away again.
“No, not one you’d be marked with. Think of it as an informal pact, a handshake between friends.”
I shot before him, cutting off his path with an accusatory finger. “You’re not my friend.”
He sneered and stepped around me. “I’m glad you agree.” Then he continued down the frostbitten path. Every once in a while, he glanced back over his shoulder. “Don’t be so melancholic. You won’t die under my watch.”
My heart skipped a beat. There was an earnestness in his voice that left me uneasy.
Why did he care if I died? After he threatened me with a knife?
More so, I worried it was a promise he couldn’t fulfil.
Whether or not I owed him, the pact would be ticking down.
My hours were limited, and I’d have to make the most of them.
Finally, the trees parted around us, baring stables.
Many of them were built side by side, creating a labyrinth of dark wood.
He led me around the back, ushering me into one of the sliding doors and shutting it behind us.
It was roomy, far too large for any horse I’d met.
The thunderous huffing in the corner behind the planking confirmed as much.
So when I gazed into the back corner where the noise emanated, I thought my heart might stop.
“That’s a dragon,” I sputtered. A silvery serpent was in the back, lounging on a pile of hay. It didn’t notice my presence in the slightest, glancing over us briefly before it returned to its nap. It was smaller than the ones that leveled Ilyatria, maybe only a quarter of the size.
“This is a dragonling. The key difference is that it won’t swallow you, and instead may only take an arm or a leg. Keep note of where your limbs are at all times.”
“Why am I here?” My mind swirled with the possibilities. Was I to slay a dragon, or perhaps train one? Someone had to ride them; that’s how they leveled Ilyatria a day prior.
“You’re going to be shoveling and mucking these stables.”
Anger flared across my chest. “Absolutely not, I will not clean dragon shit.”
He grinned. “You’ve got a filthy mouth for a princess.” His teeth grazed his lower lip. "I wonder what else it could do."
“Shut up,” I snapped, my cheeks heating. “I’m not doing this.”
I stormed out of the barn and weaved down the path. I needed a weapon—but more than that, I needed space before I put my measly blade into his neck. He was an ass, but he’d sheltered me and saved me from the brink of death. Killing him now would end poorly for me.
“Best of luck finding your way back to Ilyatria,” he called over my shoulder.
I dug my nails into my palm and weaved through the dead trees, searching for the cottage.
I followed the ankle-deep footprints, but the flurries around me thickened.
Soon, they were nothing but faint marks, and then they disappeared into the surrounding snow.
The gales only took a few minutes to wipe away any remnants I’d been here.
I swung around, but the marks behind were long gone. I moved further, trying to find what was a path, but quickly the trees blended until I was wandering through empty branches that I swore I had seen ten paces prior.
My hands began to tremble, though the cold hadn’t touched them.
The dead limbs around me rustled, though the wind had died. My nape pricked, and a chill ran down my spine.
Princess. The word whispered through the trees, almost emanating from the bark itself. My blood chilled.
Princess.
I spun around seeking the source, but there was none. I was alone. The falling snow continued to thicken, blinding with its white clouds. My quick breath fogged over but was quickly lost to the flakes.
I moved to the nearest tree, seeking what little shelter it had to offer. But as soon as I grazed the bark, it shuddered beneath my fingertips.
I screamed. “Aelendir.” My voice cracked, aching as it ripped through my chest. I don’t know why I called for him, but I did.
“Princess,” a voice said behind me.
I swung around, expecting my doom to be looming. But Aelendir stood there, his form dark against the thick snowfall. “You called for me? Surely you didn’t get lost in the blizzard.”
I wrapped my arms around myself. “Of course not.”
“Did you find your way back to your kingdom?”
I bit my lip. “I thought it best to pay my dues with you before returning.”
“I’m sure. Follow me,” he replied, retracing his steps.
I didn’t hesitate and kept at his heel, not letting him get out of sight.
“Keep your wits about you in the Eltide forest,” he called over his shoulder. “Sometimes it gets hungry.”