The Hunter
I hadn’t seen much. The princess had been too careful, constantly checking over her shoulder, so I hadn’t been able to track her as closely as I would have liked.
After Frisk and Kendra caught us cuddled together in the crevice, I’d felt… rattled. Waking up entwined with Eira had felt strangely comforting. As if to open my eyes and see her naked form next to me was completely normal. The most natural thing in the world.
When I’d snapped out of it, I hadn’t felt like myself. I needed to be alone.
Only after I sensed Eira wandering off did I realize she had done the exact same thing. I needed to find out what she was hiding. I saw her pull something out of her pack, but I hadn’t been able to identify what it was.
But in this moment, with her caught red-handed, she didn’t need to know that.
I had heard them speaking of the queen. And Eira’s condition.
She was dying.
The thought sent a confusing array of emotions spiraling within me. Relief, for then I would be free of my bargain with her. Bewilderment, because Frisk was right—why would the queen send me after a dying princess?
And, strangely… sorrow.
If I searched deep within myself, I was full of grief at the thought of Eira dying. And I had no idea why.
She was infuriating. My life would be much less difficult with her dead.
And, of course, I was bound by Calista to kill her myself.
But in spite of all that, I didn’t truly want her dead. Not if I was given the choice.
Eira clenched a small bundle of fabric at her side, lifting her chin in defiance. “I don’t owe you explanations, hunter.”
“You’ve made that much clear.” I drew closer, and her hold on the bundle tightened. “But if you think you can sneak away without anyone noticing, then you’re more foolish than I thought.”
Her nostrils flared, her eyes blazing with rage.
But she said nothing. My gaze dropped to the wrapped object by her side.
I could take it from her. It would be easy to wrestle it from her grasp, even if she put up a fight.
Even with the fae bond punishing me for harming her. I had disarmed stronger foes before.
But there was something in the princess’s eyes I hadn’t seen before. And it stopped me, freezing me in place.
Fear.
I had never seen her afraid before. Not of me. She’d feared for the sake of her animal friends. She’d also been afraid of the Demon Fae, but fiercely so. Ready to fight. To survive at any cost.
But right now, for the first time, she was afraid of me. I had the upper hand, and she knew it. My entire livelihood relied on knowing my enemy and what they feared the most.
This woman feared me. She feared me exposing her secrets.
A hard lump formed in my throat, my next words dying on my lips. I didn’t know what to say. When I had emerged from my hiding spot, I had known exactly what I would do: find the truth.
But right now, staring at this frightened princess and the defiance and ferocity still burning in her expression, I wasn’t sure of anything anymore.
This wasn’t the vagabond princess the queen had painted a picture of.
Eira had been raised to believe she would be queen someday.
Instead, she’d been banished and hunted, barely surviving.
And I played a part in her suffering.
Something loosened in my chest, and I exhaled slowly. “Keep your secret, Eira.” I turned away.
“What?” she blurted.
I glanced over my shoulder, amused by her bewilderment. “I said you can keep this secret. Our bargain requires me to bring you to the castle. I don’t need anything else from you. So I’m letting you keep this one.”
“Theron—” She took a step toward me, then faltered.
I turned to fully face her. She stared at me, lips parted and eyes wide, her face slack with shock.
“You aren’t who I thought you were, Snow Princess,” I murmured. “I’m a killer. A murderer. A blade the queen wields for her own will and pleasure. There is blood on my hands. I may be ordered to kill you. To end your life in the queen’s name. But this much I can give you.”
Something burned in her gaze, something new and unfamiliar, but I turned away before I scrutinized it. Before this princess unraveled me completely.
With the firewood Eira and I had gathered, we cooked the two hares and shared them between the four of us—Kendra refused, as she kept to a diet of worms, insects, and frogs, and she had recently eaten. I sensed Eira glancing at me repeatedly, but I ignored her gaze.
When we finished our meal, I put out the fire and packed our things, and we set off once more.
A strange new silence filled the air between us as we made our way through the woods, each step taking us farther and farther down the mountain.
It wouldn’t be long before we reached the base of the Athawood Peaks, and from there, the village of Tolston, which was on the outskirts of the Bloxham Province.
Home. Just a few more days, and I would be home.
Eira continued to stare at me, as if she didn’t quite know what to make of me. As if she didn’t recognize me anymore.
I wasn’t sure I recognized myself.
For years, I had been forced to fulfill my contract with the queen. Nothing had stopped me. Nothing could deter me from being free of her, even for just a short season.
My skill in hunting came from my meticulous planning.
But now, for the first time in my adult life, I had no plan.
I had been determined to kill the Snow Princess and bring the queen her heart in order to buy my own freedom.
But I realized that even if Eira and I succeeded in reaching the palace and nullifying our fae bargain, I wasn’t sure if I could kill her.
I thrived on certainty. And right now, I was filled with doubt. I hadn’t been this lost and confused since my father—
I shuddered, my steps faltering. My thoughts were so chaotic, spiraling into territories I’d forbidden myself from years ago.
Do not think of it. Never think of it.
“Theron?”
Jolted from my stupor, I stumbled over a tree root, cursing as I whirled to find Eira watching me, her pale eyes wide with concern. Mauro and Frisk were also watching. Even Kendra poked her head out from Eira’s cloak to stare at me, unabashed.
“What?” I snapped, loathing the pity in Eira’s expression. I would not be pitied.
“Do you need to rest?” she asked.
“No,” I growled.
“Really? Because you seem… off.”
“I seem off? What about you? Where are your quick barbs? Your relentless teasing?”
She smirked. “Are you saying you miss having me torment you?”
I rolled my eyes and turned away from her. I wasn’t in the mood for this.
“Fine,” she called after me. “But if you die of exhaustion before we reach the palace, don’t blame me.”
“I don’t think it’s exhaustion that’s bothering him,” Kendra mused.
“He probably needs food,” Mauro said. “I’m always grumpy when I don’t have food.”
“You’re grumpy all the time,” Frisk said.
“Shut up,” I barked. “All of you.”
“He’s not grumpy,” Eira said. “He’s downright foul.”
“Definitely worse than Mauro,” Kendra agreed.
I closed my eyes. The silence had been so much more preferable, even if it was stilted. My mind refused to settle. If I didn’t get control of this conversation, I would strangle someone.
I had to turn the tables on the princess. Agitating her seemed a lot more appealing than allowing this useless conversation to continue.
“What happened when you were banished from the palace?” I asked loudly.
Eira and the creatures’ mutterings died in an instant. A cold, stunned emptiness filled the silence.
“What do you mean?” Eira finally asked, her tone wary.
“You expect me to believe Calista woke up one day suddenly hating you, then politely asked you to leave the palace, and you acquiesced? I think something happened. She was your stepmother for a while. Something had to have changed to make you leave. To make her hunt you.”
More silence. Blissful, beautiful silence. Oh yes, I could do this all day. I mentally prepared more probing questions that would elicit awkward silences from the princess.
“You don’t know anything,” Eira hissed.
“You’re right. That’s why I’m asking.”
“So I’m supposed to bare all my secrets to you just because you asked? Think again, hunter.”
“How about this—a secret for a secret?” The words left my mouth before I could stop them.
Bad idea, Theron.
But it was too late. I couldn’t take them back.
“Another bargain?” Eira asked warily. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”
“Don’t you want to know something about me as well? I’ll share one of my secrets if you share yours.”
She hesitated. “Not just any secret. You have to answer one question fully. No omissions. No hedging.”
One question. What were the odds she would ask the one thing I didn’t want to answer?
The odds were high. Eira had a tendency to poke in the precise spots I wished she didn’t.
But curiosity burned within me. I did want to know what had happened with Calista.
Not just to understand Eira better, but to understand Calista.
I hadn’t particularly liked the queen, but I had always believed her to be the rightful ruler of the Winter Court.
Now that my perspective was changing, I wanted to fill in the gaps.
How far did Calista’s deception go? What else had she been hiding?
“Fine,” I said. “We have a deal.”
“This is a bad idea,” Frisk muttered.
Mauro snorted in agreement, but Kendra shushed them both, her blue eyes fixed on me and Eira. She seemed excited.
“Calista didn’t banish me because of my human blood,” Eira said, her voice firm. “She banished me because I stole something from her.”
I frowned. That wasn’t what I’d been expecting. “What did you steal?”
“A magical object that reveals truth. It’s the only thing in the entire realm that can expose Calista’s secrets.”
“What kind of secrets?”
Eira laughed. “That’s another question. Sorry, Theron, but that’s the only secret I’ll share today.”