Thirteen
Aeryn
The morning sun filtered through the cloudy sky above as I made my way to the edge of the courtyard, near the castle gates to the north. My stomach churned with a mixture of dread and anticipation.
Today was the hunt.
Nox would choose the winner to spend the evening with him. It wasn”t a trial, but Liam had said the king thought a contest would motivate some of the contestants.
Motivate them to do what?
The thought of Nox spending time with another female, of his hands on her, made my blood boil. Which was ridiculous. I didn”t want to be a queen, much less have a shot at beating out the other contestants.
I picked up my pace when I saw they were already gathered, several preening like lovestruck doves. Their demeanors juxtaposed with their attire. Sleek grey and black hunting outfits and shiny weapons didn”t quite scream simper in the way ballgowns and high heels did.
Four of them had put on full faces of makeup.
“Lady Aeryn, you”re late,” Nox chastised, his gaze raking over me.
Heat flushed my skin. “My apologies, Your Majesty. I had some ... trouble in the armory.”
Trouble getting lectured by Lorne because I didn”t want to carry a sword, something I was shit at wielding. In the end I”d exited with a bow and quiver full of arrows, despite my insistence I had no intention of killing anything.
Nox glanced at Lorne who trailed behind me. The Vanilla Ogre grunted, which apparently meant it was fine because Nox let it go.
Lorne made his way to the front of the small crowd. “The rules are simple. First, for those of you who can, you will lose your portaling ability when you enter the hunting grounds. Second, this is not an actual trial so all the training rules still apply. Think of it as an opportunity.”
“An opportunity for what, My Prince?” asked Cadence, one of the vapid and superficial females who only kept company with Zoriyah and a few others of similar upbringing.
“Do try to think before interrupting, Lady Cadence,” Lorne answered testily, pausing for the snickers to die down.
I smiled. The male was growing on me. My fist lifted to hide my mouth when I heard Mirrelle”s cackle.
Cadence was a Twat with a capital T. I”d tried making friendly conversation with her and her sister, Callis. They pretended they couldn”t see me because, “Small pieces of dirt were so hard to see.”
Callis had risen out of her seat when I”d responded with, “Too bad the same can”t be said for large pieces of shit.” She sat when Cadence hissed Dori”s name as a reminder.
There wasn”t enough coin in the royal coffers to get me to willingly socialize with that pair of tarts.
“Second,” Lorne continued, “you have until sunset to capture your prey. The female who presents the finest kill will join the king for an evening of companionship.”
My stomach knotted.
“Any other questions?” No one spoke so he motioned everyone through the gate.
Cadence sidled up to Nox, stroking his arm with her manicured nails, the glittering white polish contrasting her reddish bronze skin. “Will you be giving us a head start, Your Majesty?”
Nox”s eyes sparked. “No, my lady. You”ll have to outhunt me.”
Her glossed lips pushed out in an overdone pout. Nox patted her hand, smiling indulgently.
If I”d had claws I”d have swiped at both their mouths.
Once we”d all made it beyond the gates, Lorne moved ahead of the group, eying the crowd. “You begin ... now!”
The contestants scattered into the forest. Excited shrieks reverberated through the trees. All except me and Sofiya. We didn”t chase after them.
Sofiya hadn”t gone hunting since the day a baby deer had died in her arms. And I”d never hunted just for the sake of killing something.
“I”m surprised they”re so gleeful about it,” my friend lamented. “And disappointed.”
“Few predators would bow out of a hunt, Sofe.”
She turned her amber eyes on me. “But to laugh with joy? Like it”s a game of cards? I don”t think so.”
“Aren”t you going after your prize?” Nox interrupted, coming to stand beside us.
“Sofiya and I don”t care to compete for companionship.”
Sofiya laughed then immediately clamped her hands over her mouth. “I’m sorry, Your Majesty,” she apologized, words muffled.
“No worries, Lady Sofiya. I find my little hellion every entertaining.”
She made bug eyes at me. I ignored her as much as I ignored the flutters I felt over his wording.
“I can see you, Sofiya,” Nox declared dryly, dropping the formalities. “Why don”t you go over to the gate with Lorne while I have a quick word with Aeryn?”
She curtsied and jogged over to the big blonde with a permanent scowl. Once she was out of hearing range, Nox spoke.
“You”re still bound by the rules, Aeryn, so I can”t have you sit out. I expect you not to do anything stupid out there. I”ve taken extra precautions, but I can”t save you from yourself.”
“If you meant to offend, it worked,” I huffed. “You think I asked the wraith to pull me into the river?”
He grabbed my chin. “Stay safe. That”s an order from your king.”
With that, he released me and stalked into the forest, leaving me alone with nothing but the echo of his words and the memory of his touch burning my skin.
Vexing male!
When a few excited shouts drifted through the trees, I gritted my teeth. Someone had noticed the king was finally out on the hunt.
“Come on,” Sofiya called and I slipped into the forest behind her.
Shockingly, Lorne took up the rear, too close to me for comfort. “Any particular reason you”re imitating my shadow, Prince Lorne?”
“Yes.”
I looked back over my shoulder at the frowny fae. “That”s it? Just yes?”
“Reword your question.”
“Okay. Prince Lorne, why did you hover over me in the armory and then follow me into the forest?”
“Ask my brother.”
I glared at him. Sofiya giggled and both sides of his mouth lifted, almost into a full smile. By the gods. The angry bear really did have a thing for my friend.
This was far more interesting than interrogating him for playing bodyguard. Hearing the rush of water nearby, I wasn”t going to pretend I didn”t feel safer with him close by.
After a short time, we came to a small clearing. Sofiya pointed, having spotted a deer picking its way through the brush. No one pulled their weapon. In fact, Sofiya was looking like she might try to go over and give it a hug.
“Let”s keep exploring,” I whispered, not wanting to scare the deer. “We have a lot of time to kill and I”d like to map out the areas just in case we end up here during the trials.”
Lorne grunted something that could have been the word smart.
“Look at you handing out compliments, Sir Lorne. I knew you had it in you,” Sofiya patted his arm. He chuckled wryly and Sofiya beamed.
I couldn’t decide if I should worry about her flirting with the Prince of Falcondale. Too distracted, I chose a direction and started walking.
For the next hour or so, we meandered, moving away from any shouts or voices we came across. I paid close attention to everything, but there were few unique markers around.
“Are we lost?” Sofiya asked.
Lorne shook his head then did the worst thing he could possibly do. He lifted an index finger to his lips and made a sign to listen. Then he drew his sword.
I froze in my tracks, scanning around us. The trees blocked most of the sunlight, cloaking the forest and making it difficult to see. An unnatural stillness had settled over us, as if the whole wood was holding its breath.
The hairs on the back of my neck prickled with warning. My heart thudded against my ribs. Sofiya and I shared a wide-eyed look.
A flicker of movement caught my eye. A dark shape lurched between the trees, distorted limbs twisting. Yellow eyes glowed from within a misshapen head.
“Get behind me,” Lorne ordered.
Only three feet away, I slowly slid to his back.
“Sofiya,” he said calmly.
I looked to our left. “Sofiya. Get over here, now!” I whisper-yelled.
She was motionless, the yellow eyes were blazing in her direction. “I don”t think I should move,” she whispered back. “And I don”t ... I don”t think that”s an animal.”
The creature took a step forward, into a ray of sunlight.
“What the fuck?” Lorne asked no one.
I couldn”t make sense of what I was seeing. It was as big as Lorne, with a broad frame and lengthy brown arms, but it had the face of a fae. Long, gnarled tusks grew out of its jowls. Patches of rotted flesh hung from its bones.
The creature emitted a foul stench that wafted toward us, the scent of dark magic and decay. It was clearly some kind of magical construct, but what kind? A golem? Some sort of corpse puppet?
It prowled toward Sofiya, then leapt. Lorne tackled her and rolled into the underbrush out of sight. Quick as a whip, it jerked its body around.
The bespelled creature let out a bone-chilling squeal and charged straight for me.
I fumbled for an arrow and notched it to my bow, hands shaking. Naively, I prayed it would run past and let me be.
It was nearly upon me when I loosed my arrow, striking it in the shoulder but barely slowing it down. I dove out of the way just as its razor-sharp claws gored the earth where I”d stood.
Scrambling behind a large oak, I pressed against the rough bark. I couldn”t outrun this beast and my weapon hardly fazed it.
Shit!
The creature rammed against the tree, jolting me forward. The earth shook under its fury. I didn”t know how long the tree would hold. I needed help.
“Lorne?” I called out.
As if my words had manifested the male, I heard him shout for the beast”s attention. Peeking around the trunk, I searched for Sofiya and, unfortunately, found her covering Lorne”s flank with her small swords in each hand.
Where was my gentle friend who”d wept before her name was even drawn?
“P-please leave, Sir,” she kindly requested of the monster.
Ah, there she was.
Then I noticed the blood streaking down her cheek. All the fears plaguing me about her safety, about ensuring she went back to her family, hit me at once.
There was only one way to get her out of this. Gripping another arrow, I stepped out from behind the tree.
“Hey!” I yelled.
“Aeryn, don’t be stupid.” Lorne sounded livid.
The thing spun, swiping at Sofiya, and I shot an arrow at its back. It didn”t so much as flinch. So I shot another and got the same result, only making it angrier.
Enraged, it grabbed a narrow tree and yanked it from the ground, roots and all. Lorne smoothly maneuvered, driving his sword into its belly, swiping and cutting.
Nothing happened. It acted like it felt none of it.
Oh gods.
It wasn”t alive. Magic was animating the thing. If it were a corpse, of course it didn’t feel. We couldn”t kill the construct because you couldn’t kill something that was already dead.
Another screech and it lifted the tree over its head, aiming in their direction.
“Run!” Lorne barked, moving toward Sofiya with incredible speed.
The creature launched the tree and I screamed. The crashing sounds of timber echoed through the forest.
I lost sight of them both through the dim foliage. “You fucking asshole!” I bellowed at the top of my lungs.
My brain shorted out, like the wild had decided to take over, making me take a backseat to my control. I couldn”t let this monster go after anyone else.
The corpse-like thing bared its teeth, yellow eyes gleaming, pulsing with power. Wait, if it wasn”t really alive, why weren”t its eyes dead?
I dropped the bow and removed the quiver.
“Aeryn!” Lorne”s voice rang out from the shadowed wood. I registered footsteps, sprinting closer, his voice getting louder. “Aeryn! Don”t–”
His warning fell on deaf ears as the creature slammed into me with terrifying speed. Its razor-sharp claws punctured my torso before I even registered the thing was on me.
A gut-wrenching howl pierced the air as the beast let out a deafening shriek, its hot and putrid breath singing my nostrils. With one final jerking motion, it collapsed.
My head was between the tusks wedged in the ground, tusks that held the disfigured head above mine. I struggled to free my arms from where they were pinned, but it was futile against the weight of the creature.
Through the haze of pain and fear, I locked on the beast”s one remaining eye. It glimmered half-silver, half-shadow, like a dying flame. The other eye was a gruesome mess of blood, tissue, and pus.
The dagger Nox gave me was wedged deep in the monster”s orbital socket. Relief came fast as I realized it had struck true. But then I felt something warm and wet spreading across my ribs—not relief.
Blood.
A sudden awareness unleashed the pain. It roared through me like a consuming fire, fueled by the talons still embedded in flesh and bone. Unable to catch my breath, I began to fade.
And amidst the chaos of my fading sentiency, I heard Sofiya”s cries ringing out in desperation. I would need to apologize for making her cry.
Assuming I woke up.