Chapter 9
nine
Iknew three things for certain. First, Aelen was unbelievably powerful, shockingly so.
Even my father couldn’t set a stable ablaze in the blink of an eye.
Second, I’d escaped death innumerably, only for it to become a shadow that would never stop looming over me.
Finally, that shadow of death would likely come from Aelen.
I was certain it would be him who killed me, despite his promises of keeping me breathing.
I’d only known him for a few days and was already tired of his unceasing presence.
Further, his utterly striking looks exhausted me, along with his short, tapering moods. For every time he would look at me and smile with honeyed words, he could certainly snap and shoot mine back at me.
I hated that.
More, I hated him. Bastard.
I’d spent the past few days playing nice during the day, avoiding arousing suspicion, while exploring the paths at night.
When the snow grew heavy once, I’d skipped an outing, but besides that, I’d never missed an opportunity to search for a way to the stables.
The paths were long sets of winding mazes, and I was terrified of getting lost. It was impossible to retrace my steps from the day, for once night fell, the nighttime snowstorms had already brushed away the day’s tracks.
Worse, it was an entirely different world at night.
The trees would bend, sway, and creak, casting strange shadows that never stilled, unless I bathed them in the lantern’s sapphire glow. That was the only thing that kept them still, and whatever lurked in the woods at bay.
Thus far, it had kept the terrors of Eltide away.
Trying to tame the dragons wasn’t a possibility during the day either, because Aelen always kept such careful watch, lingering at the stable doors and observing my every move. He’d stopped complaining I wasn’t mucking, but he wouldn’t let me get anywhere near the dragons.
I lifted the lantern, and the shadows swam from the entrance hall into the bedroom. I still hadn’t gotten used to that and shook away the chill. I swear a figure darted behind the door, but when I opened it, it was already gone.
While the freezing tendrils licked at my cheek, I gathered berries from the thin, spindly bushes that lined the side of the cottage.
No leaves remained, the fruit a crimson ghost of their past presence.
I didn’t doubt one could kill a full-grown man, but I wasn’t planning on getting them near my lips.
They were stark red against the ivory wasteland, and I needed a way to track my paths through the wood.
I had already searched the first four paths and found they only circled back. This evening, I chose the one that wound downhill. Hopefully, it wouldn’t open to several new paths, like the previous four.
Tossing a berry into every other footprint, I navigated down the hill, making hardly a sound.
Even the crunching of snow was barely audible.
I only slowed once a croaking filled the trail, like a great marshfrog—except this sound never stopped.
Its croak grew until I thought the sound might swallow me. Only then did it cease.
There shouldn’t be frogs here—there’s no life.
The lantern’s light flickered. I thought my heart might stop, but the brightness picked back up and flooded the line of spindly trees. I had to keep going. If I didn’t, I would die mucking stables for the bastard I’phri. And that would only please him. So I pressed ahead, searching for the dragons.
Little bird.
The words whispered through the trees, and I jumped. It was enough to spill half my pocket onto the snowbank. I stilled and listened intently, but the voice never returned.
“It’s just my imagination,” I whispered. But my voice shook, and I gripped my sleeves until I thought the leather would tear.
I only took a few more steps before a hoot came from the barren canopy. I swung the lantern to track the sound, but couldn’t see far beyond the lower thin branches. Nothing moved.
A chill crawled up my spine like a ravenous spider. There were no birds here, I was certain of it. If animals remained in the forest, they would have stripped the bushes bare. There’d be no berries.
But with the next step, a shriek rang out and my blood ran cold. The bark coating the trees before me shifted and lifted, as if it were a gutted fish being descaled. It shivered. I shook.
My breath caught in my throat, and I stumbled back a couple of paces until something squelched beneath my boot. The pile of berries I dropped crushed beneath my foot, their crimson weeping across the snow.
It looked like the flood that ran down the stage when they took Deldren.
A shadow shifted across the long, dark where the lantern light couldn’t reach. I screamed.
When Aelen emerged from the trees, my fear switched to a far more familiar emotion. Rage.
“What are you doing here?” I demanded. “Were you following me?”
He frowned, a look that never seemed to suit his smug face. “Your telltale glow can be seen deep into the woods. You’re a fruit ripe for the picking. I thought I told you to stay out of the forest past sundown.”
“You said to stay out of the dark. I have a lantern.”
He closed the distance until he loomed over me and grabbed my wrist. “The curse hardly yields to the light! The things that lurk among the trees will not traverse into its glow, but will track you like an animal. You could have gotten injured.” He furrowed his dark brows. “Or worse.”
I exhaled slowly, and it misted against his cheeks, clouding his stern expression. I expected him to turn… but he didn’t.
Instead, he sighed and slumped his shoulders, pinching the bridge of his nose. “So why are you wandering in the middle of the night then? In perhaps the most deadly hour?”
The color drained from me, and I moved the lantern closer, hoping to conceal that with its cool glow. I bit my lip, thinking of a decent excuse.
He crossed his arms and shot daggers at me. “Think of a lie quicker. My patience is running out.”
If he knew I would lie, I might as well throw him off with something he didn’t expect—the truth.
“I was going up to the stables. To see the dragons.”
He cocked a brow and guffawed. “That’s why you’re out here risking death? For more death? I had a higher opinion of you, princess. Your self-preservation skills are something to behold.”
“I don’t need you to mock me.”
“Then don’t be stupid,” he shot back. He rubbed his temples before moving to his eyes. "I've never seen such tenacity."
To my great surprise, he took my hand though he didn't entwine his fingers through mine. Still, I shuddered at his warm touch, even through gloves. This would be when he dragged me back to the cottage again.
But he started forward, through the winding path, not back toward my berry lined trail.
“Where are you taking me?”
“If you’re hell bent on risking your life in the forest, I’ve no choice. I’ll show you the dragons, if only to prevent a more serious injury.”
My heart thrummed a dirge, but my mind kept wandering to his gentle touch. I thought he’d be crueler.
I wish he’d be crueler.
“Are you going to show me how to train one?” I asked as the paths finally diverged into the many dim stables. It was shocking how dark it was, after only ever being here in the light of day—or what little light the dreadfully gray skies provided.
“No. I do not believe they will aid you in the way you believe. That’s not mentioning how clumsy and futile your efforts would be.”
Of course, he began with insults.
“Yeah, the dragonlings gravitate toward you,” I said. “But I’d love to see you with a full-grown one. I bet he’d eat you alive.”
I pressed on but he moved before me, letting me stare at his mocking grin.
“You don’t want to see me with my dragon. It would depress you. If I bothered to train you, you’d watch the dragonlings reject you one by one." He punctuated the words with a cruel smile. "If you saw one with teeth, you’d melt into a pathetic little puddle.”
“Is that a challenge?” I shot back. “I don’t see myself falling to my knees after being promised death by a demon. My life is ticking down, and you think seeing you stroke a dragon will break me?”
Something on his face shifted, darkening. He frowned, but quickly righted it as he led me from the stables toward the clearing. Seeing the trees inch closer ignited fear in my heart.
“What about the forest, or the people?”
“The edge of the wood is far enough away, the monsters despise revealing themselves unless they’re certain they’ll kill. As for the other riders, they shouldn’t bother us; they’ve long since taken to their beds. As you should have.”
Once we made it to the very center of the snowy clearing, the wind shifted, and he brushed the flakes from his dark eyelashes. Yet it continued to gather in his tightly bound locks. After relieving me of the lantern, he placed it in the drifts and faced me.
“If I show you my dragon, will you stop wandering about at night without a chaperone?”
My teeth nearly went through my lip. The word ‘chaperone’ was like rusty nails raking against my flesh and grinding into my soul.
But if I were honest with myself, I wanted to see someone work with a full-sized dragon up close before I attempted it myself.
Seeing them across the field was one thing, but within arm’s distance was another.
I gritted my teeth. “Yes.”
“Now say that again with less deceit.”
I tapped my foot, hoping he’d relent, but he crossed his arms and straightened his spine.
I’d have to be the one to give if we were going to accomplish anything.
“Fine, I won’t go out at night anymore. You win.
” I paused and took a great breath before I dared tack on the last part. “If you agree to help me train.”
He shook his head. “I didn’t agree to any such bargain.”
“You implied it on the paths. An implication is enough. What is an I’phri but his word?”