The Hunter
I stepped forward, alarm pulsing through my veins. “How? Why would soldiers be searching for her if the queen sent me to kill her?”
Eira and Frisk looked at me solemnly, and then I knew.
The queen thought I had failed.
Shit.
I ran a hand along my face, tugging at my beard in frustration. I had never failed an assignment before. Why was she so quick to assume I was unsuccessful?
Unless that had been her plan all along. I had speculated it before—that she had set me up to fail. Because who in their right mind would release a skilled assassin from their employ? Who would relinquish that kind of control?
Calista wouldn’t. Oh, she would certainly pretend I had a fighting chance. But if she sent me on a doomed quest, then she would never have to release me or my blood.
I knew too many of her secrets. And she knew how much I despised my position. I’d become a liability to her. Just like Eira.
“Hunter,” Frisk barked. “I can see that brain of yours working, but right now, we need a plan to get through the village. Any ideas?”
I shook my head, struggling to rid myself of these incessant thoughts. They were getting me nowhere. Right now, it was safest to assume Calista wanted both Eira and me dead.
I turned to the princess. “Can you glamour?”
“Yes,” she said at once.
“Good. We’ll need a pretty convincing disguise. Frisk and Kendra, you stay with us. Mauro will have to wait on the outskirts of the village. He’s too noticeable.”
“Fine by me.” Mauro pawed at the ground. “I’ll meet you at our rendezvous point, Snow.”
Eira dropped her gaze, her expression full of despair. Perhaps she doubted her chances of survival. I certainly did.
“You did well, old friend,” Frisk said, nudging Mauro’s leg with his tail. “You made it down the mountain.”
“It wasn’t that hard,” Mauro said haughtily.
Eira was pulling her cloak on, adjusting the hood so it covered her face. I raised a hand. “Leave it down. The soldiers will be on the lookout for a masked or hooded figure. We’ll have to be as open and unassuming as possible.”
Eira’s brows knitted together, but she lowered her hood, then smoothed her palms along her trousers. “Won’t they recognize you?”
“Not with my glamour. Camouflage is my specialty.” I arched an eyebrow and gave her a devilish grin. To my surprise, a small smile lit Eira’s face. Her eyes gleamed, and uncertainty twisted in my chest. “What?”
“I’ve never seen you smile like that before,” she said with a chuckle. “It’s… quite disarming.”
I leaned closer to her, my grin widening. “Do I unsettle you, princess?” My voice was low and rough.
She laughed loudly and swatted at my arm. “Stop that!”
“Shivering bones, you two are insufferable,” Mauro grumbled.
“Indeed,” said Frisk with a sniff.
“We aren’t even arguing,” Eira pointed out.
“The flirting is worse.” Mauro shifted his dark eyes between me and Eira.
Warmth filled my throat, cutting off my reply. Eira’s cheeks turned pink, and she coughed lightly.
“I love it,” Kendra said from Eira’s shoulder. “Keep going, you two.”
My face heated, and I bit back a curse. This was ridiculous. We had more important things to discuss. I straightened, dropping my hands to my sides. “Let’s see your glamour, princess. I need to know what we’re working with.”
Eira shifted her weight and exchanged an odd look with Frisk, for some reason. “It’s solid,” she said.
I rolled my eyes. “I can’t just take your word for it, Eira. Show me.”
“No.”
My head reared back. “I beg your pardon?”
“Beg all you want, hunter. I’m not showing you my glamour.”
Anger simmered in my blood. “We don’t have time for this, princess. If you want to get through that village alive, you need to work with me on this.”
“I swear on my fae blood that my disguise is flawless,” Eira said firmly. “No one will be able to see or recognize me.”
My nostrils flared. “Eira—” I growled.
“She’s right,” Frisk chimed in. “Her glamour is impeccable. Best I’ve ever seen.”
“It’s true,” Kendra added.
“Agreed,” Mauro chimed in.
I groaned and threw my hands in the air. “You and your damn secrets, princess! What do you think I’ll do, run to the queen and share the secret to your fancy glamour? I’m on her list. She assumes I’ve failed, so I’m as good as dead. I am no longer an ally to the queen.”
“That doesn’t make you my ally,” Eira snapped. “Besides, whatever happened to letting me keep my secrets?”
“I let you keep one secret,” I said, my patience wearing thin. “Besides, keeping stolen treasures in your sack isn’t the same thing as using magic that could kill or save us both. My life is on the line with this secret.”
Eira shrugged, as if this didn’t matter much to her.
The indifference on her face made my rage boil over.
With a roar, I balled my hand into a fist and struck the tree next to me.
Pain bloomed along my knuckles, spearing through my body with a jolt.
The tree shook, and a pile of snow plopped onto my head.
Panting, I inspected my bleeding hand. The wound throbbed, breaking through my haze of fury.
“You finished?” Eira asked calmly.
“Careful, or I’ll punch you next,” I muttered. “Bargain be damned.”
“Maybe I should ask to see your glamour.” Eira crossed her arms. “Maybe it’s not as good as you think.”
Frustration prickled to life inside me, but the spark in her eyes told me she was doing this on purpose. She knew exactly how to irritate me. I heaved a deep breath, trying to clear my head.
This was why I worked alone.
“I have a contact in Tolston,” Eira said. “If we can get to their dwelling, we can hide there until the area is clear.”
I snorted. “Please tell me it’s not the farm boy who’s still in love with you.”
Eira made a noise somewhere between a cough and a laugh. “What?”
“He means Denton,” Mauro said.
Now her face was beet-red. “I know,” she hissed. “I just—how did you—”
“How did I know?” Seeing her flustered only made me smirk at her. Finally, I had the upper hand. “His overprotective nature, the way he talked down at you like he owned you, his defensive stance when he stands alongside you… Shall I go on?”
“Please don’t,” Eira muttered, covering her face with her hands.
“He is overprotective,” Kendra said.
Mauro grunted in agreement. Frisk snickered and ducked his head.
“You’re not helping, Kendra,” Eira snapped. She dropped her hands with an angry huff, but her face was still crimson. “It’s not Denton. It’s Stella.”
I frowned. “Which one was Stella?” Then, just to irritate her further, I added, “It’s hard to tell you humans apart.”
“That is such a snobbishly fae thing to say. Besides, I’m only half human.”
I shrugged as if this didn’t matter, mimicking her motion from earlier.
Eira sighed. “Stella is the one who’s good with knives. She threatened to chop off your balls.”
“She has blonde hair,” Frisk added. “Her eyes look just like Snow’s. She’s the human noble of the Bloxham Province.”
The human noble? So, Eira wasn’t just rallying ordinary humans to her side, but human nobility. I had to admit, I was impressed.
“Frisk!” Eira chided, aiming a kick at the fox, who easily dodged it.
“What? Was that a secret?” Frisk chuckled again.
I vaguely remembered the petite human with the impeccably good aim back in Knockspur. “I don’t think I’ll be very well received by a human.”
“For good reason,” Eira said, shooting me a sharp look. “Just how many humans have you killed, anyway?”
“None,” I said, lifting my chin. “We don’t often trouble ourselves with the affairs of humans.”
“By we, do you mean Calista and I?” Eira said, her voice full of venom.
My mouth opened, then shut again. Damn, did I really say that? I mentally ran through the words I’d just spoken. Shame trickled down my chest, making my heart sink like a stone.
Not only had I belittled humans, but I’d spoken as if the queen and I were affiliated. As if our decisions were collective.
The thought repulsed me.
“I’m sorry,” I murmured. “I don’t know why I said that.”
It was, in fact, snobbish of me. Eira was right.
She glared at me, her jaw ticking back and forth. Clearly, my apology wasn’t sufficient.
“Look.” I spread my hands apologetically.
“I was raised to believe humans were no better than slaves. In my youth, I knew that was wrong, but I didn’t do anything about it.
Then, with my position with the queen, I was too bitter about my own problems to bother with the humans.
” I paused, realizing I was rambling. But with my admission came a moment of clarity.
I was a hypocrite.
I’d spent my adult life resenting my father for enslaving himself to the queen, and, by association, enslaving me as well. But how many humans endured the same treatment? My father had believed in exterminating all creatures who weren’t full-blooded seelie fae.
And I’d done nothing.
A hard lump formed in my throat, and I swallowed. I no longer saw the princess and the fae beasts before me. Instead, I saw generations of humans, tormented and enslaved, cast out of their homes, spit upon and persecuted all because of their bloodlines.
It had never bothered me before now. Why would I concern myself with the woes of humans?
But now, in my mind’s eye, I saw Eira enslaved. Eira beaten. Eira imprisoned. That beautifully stubborn spark of light in her eyes completely snuffed out.
I couldn’t stand it.
For so long, my life had never been my own. I never had the freedom to choose my own path. I was only a blade for the queen to wield.
But now that Calista was hunting me, I started to wonder—with the barest glimmer of hope—if there was another path for me. Another way out.
The tiniest thought appeared in my mind: What if Eira’s plan worked?
What if Calista was de-throned? Imprisoned? What if she was prevented from ever controlling people again?