The Princess
Of course Theron had been eavesdropping. I shouldn’t have been surprised.
He didn’t hear anything too damning, but when he witnessed the blood bargain, he would certainly have questions. He already noticed too much during the fight with the Demon Fae.
It was a risk I had to take. There was no other way to enlist the help of the pixies. I needed a show of strength right now.
And far more was at stake than just Theron’s life. If the pixies assisted us, believing I would hold up my end of the bargain, then perhaps I would have allies in the war against Calista—more than just my band of human rebels.
Theron was wearing his signature scowl, his eyebrows lowered and his lips thin.
His skin was ghostly pale, and he looked irritated that he’d been caught.
He rubbed the back of his neck, the motion oddly stilted.
My eyes narrowed as I scrutinized him further.
Then I noticed a flash of brilliant blue, and my heart seized in my chest.
Kendra.
Theron’s arm slid down to his side, then curled behind his back. If I hadn’t been watching for it, I wouldn’t have noticed the small white shape darting out of his fingertips and vanishing into the snow.
Not only was Kendra with Theron, but the hunter was… helping her to escape? I wasn’t sure if I was more touched or stunned by this show of affection for my scaly friend.
When Kendra had vanished from view, Theron hobbled forward.
To his credit, he made it to the center of the crowd without falling over.
Not only that, but he managed to climb up the mountain to get here.
If it weren’t for the shadows under his eyes and the pallor of his skin, I would question whether he’d been truly poisoned.
“A little worse for the wear, aren’t you, darling?” Nyra crooned.
Theron only glared at her.
Nyra beckoned me closer with a look of glee on her face, and I approached, pulling up the sleeve of my shirt to expose my wrist. As I did so, I pressed my thumb hard into my flesh, infusing my invisibility into my blood.
I didn’t do it often because it hurt like hell.
Fiery pain spread through my veins, and I bit down on my bottom lip so hard I broke skin, leaving a coppery taste in my mouth.
It’s only for a few minutes, I told myself. Just hold on to your magic for a few minutes. That’s all.
Black spots danced in my vision as the agony throbbed against my skull, pounding relentlessly. I could barely hear Nyra’s voice as she uttered the terms of our bargain.
“I, Nyra, Queen of the Athawood pixies, swear with my blood that neither I nor my clan will hurt Princess Eira or her companions, and that we will heal her injured friend, provided that she swears to give my people freedom when she becomes Queen of the Winter Court.”
Nyra looked at me expectantly, and I gritted my teeth, trying to think clearly through the blistering pain.
My voice was stilted as I said, “I, Eira, Princess of the Winter Court, vow to give the pixies freedom when I become Queen of the Winter Court, in exchange for Queen Nyra’s promise not to harm me or my companions, and to heal my friend. ”
Nyra sliced the dagger into her palm. Black blood oozed from her wound and dripped onto the snow. She brought the knife to my wrist with a hungry look in her gaze. I closed my eyes, focusing on channeling my magic further into my blood, praying this would work.
The sharp sting of the knife barely registered amidst the roaring pain in my body.
But I certainly noticed the stunned gasps around me.
Nyra cut into me again. More gasps.
“What sorcery is this?” she screeched.
I offered a weak chuckle. “Hmm, that is strange. It looks like I have no blood to offer you after all.” I opened my eyes, taking in the wide gash on my wrist that exposed the pink underside of my flesh. But no blood.
Nyra stared at me with a mixture of rage and disbelief. “You tricked me! I’ll have your head for this!”
“Ah, but you can’t.” I rolled back my sleeve, holding on to my invisibility for a moment longer. “The bargain prevents you from harming me if I survive the ritual.”
“There was no ritual,” Nyra seethed. “We did not complete the bargain!”
“Not true. I gave you my word, which is as true as any fae bargain. And you shed your own blood, which means you are bound.”
I had to let her think I wasn’t bound to the bargain. But this wasn’t true. My blood had been shed—it was just invisible.
I was still bound by the terms of the blood bargain. And infusing my magic into my blood lessened the force of the bond, keeping me alive. Otherwise, Nyra was right—the strength of her pixie magic likely would have killed me.
Nyra released a wild scream before lunging for me. I stood there, unflinching, as the fae bond stopped her in her tracks. She stiffened, her limbs going rigid and her hands clawing at her temples in agony. She roared in pain, falling to her knees in front of me.
I merely watched with a small smile on my face. My gaze flicked to Theron, who stared at me in utter shock. His eyes roved over me as if searching for some hidden weapon I was harboring.
Oh, yes, he knew there was something else at play here. I would need to be extra careful around him from now on.
“I didn’t know you could do that,” Frisk muttered, sounding impressed.
I shushed him, keeping my eyes pinned on the queen.
When the pain of the fae bond subsided, she slowly rose to her feet, gasping for breath.
A few pixies surged toward her, but she waved them away.
She cocked her head, assessing me as if re-evaluating my strengths and weaknesses.
I was certain she’d first seen me as a weak human. But now?
Now I was a worthy opponent.
Silence surrounded me, but I leveled an even stare at the queen, waiting for her response.
Her expression changed. A slow smile spread across her lips, and a deep, rich laugh resonated in her throat.
Her laughter intensified until she threw her head back, her body quivering with her mirth.
A few other pixies joined in, but most of them looked uncertain, as if they worried their queen had gone mad.
Nyra clapped her hands together with glee before fixing her eyes on me once more.
“Oh, you surprise me, princess. Not many can do that.” Her laughter subsided as she appraised me with warmth in her gaze.
Or as much warmth as she could muster with her all-black eyes.
“Come. Join us for a meal. I will heal your friend.”
I lifted one finger. “By join us for a meal, do you mean…”
Nyra laughed again. “I mean we will feed you food that is safe to eat. Some pixie tribes feast on human flesh, but I assure you we do not.”
Relief filled me as I drew closer to her.
“Thank you for your hospitality, my queen.” I felt my invisible blood trickling down my arm, so I tried to discreetly press my hand to it to stop the flow.
Nyra might have warmed up to me, but that didn’t mean I wanted to give away the fact that she had actually drawn blood.
“And thank you for the entertainment,” said Nyra. “It is not often I witness trickery that rivals us pixies. Are you certain you have no pixie blood in you?”
I suppressed a shudder. “Quite certain.”
“Brune, see to it that our guests are fed and have a place to rest for the night,” Nyra said, turning to the orange-skinned pixie standing behind her.
“Oh no, we don’t—” I started to object, but Nyra waved away my excuses.
“It’s a blizzard tonight, princess. Do you intend to sleep on the ice?”
I fell silent at that. I thought again of my father’s words: Allies can come to us in the most unlikely of places.
For good or ill, these pixies were now on my side, provided I could deliver what I had promised. Perhaps it wouldn’t hurt to stay and mingle with them. It might strengthen our connection and improve relations going forward.
Perhaps I could make my father proud.
Several pixies yelped, and I turned toward the commotion. Theron had collapsed, finally giving in to the weakness claiming his body. No doubt the strain of climbing the mountain had done him in.
“Ah,” Nyra said idly. Her great lavender wings spread wide and she flitted in the air before zooming toward the wounded hunter with lightning speed. The rapid movement of her wings reminded me of a hummingbird—a blur of color that made me gasp with awe.
While everyone was distracted, I took a moment to tear a strip of fabric from my tunic and wrap it around the cut on my arm.
When I was sure the wound was bound, I glanced up in time to see two brawny pixies hoist Theron up.
His head lolled, and his damp brown hair flopped over his eyes.
Blood and ice, he looked terrible. Seeing him like this made me realize just how much he had been holding back before.
He must have pretended to be unconscious while astride Mauro.
That was one determined assassin.
Nyra lifted a hand and pressed it to Theron’s chest. The hunter groaned, his body jerking violently.
White light burst from the center of his chest, and he unleashed a horrible scream that made me jump, my skin and bones trembling in horror.
I stepped forward, my hand outstretched, but I wasn’t sure why.
What could I do? But that scream… It was full of terror and anguish, a sound I never expected to come from a hardened warrior like Theron.
It shook me to my core. And as much as I hated him, I never wanted to hear that sound again.
The pixies seemed unaffected. They merely looked on with mild disinterest as if this were an everyday occurrence. I pressed a hand to my chest as the scream went on, shutting my eyes against the sound. But it burned in my ears, searing right through me.