The Princess
I awoke to a crackling fire and the smell of smoked meat.
With a jolt, I sat up, then patted my tunic in search of the bloody wound that should have killed me.
How was I alive? And where was I?
My gaze flitted about the room. I was lying on a table in a cozy dining room. The opposite end of the room led to a small kitchen where a short, white-haired woman was humming to herself as she cooked meat atop a wood-burning stove.
I swallowed, my mouth dry, as I tried to take stock of the situation. I was in a stranger’s home and somehow miraculously healed. Where was Theron? And Frisk, Mauro, and Kendra? Had the animals survived?
As gingerly as possible, I slid off the table, checking my garments once more for bloodstains. But it seemed this strange woman had dressed me in fresh clothes. I was wearing a blue tunic that was a bit too loose on me, along with baggy trousers.
“Don’t try to sneak away,” the woman called without turning from her cooking. “I already know you’re awake.”
I froze, my eyes wide. For half a second, I considered going invisible and just disappearing. But she already knew I was here, and if I used my magic to get away, it would only make her more suspicious.
Besides, I had to find Theron.
Clearing my throat, I asked, “Who are you?”
“My name is Lavinia. You must mean a lot to Harlan for him to come begging me to heal you.” She shot a curious look over her shoulder, and I caught a glimpse of pointed fae ears under her white hair.
Harlan. Right. Theron’s alias.
I ignored Lavinia’s pointed remark because I couldn’t really explain it myself—Theron had begged her to heal me? Instead, I asked, “Where is he?”
“He’s resting.”
“I’m right here.”
I whirled and found Theron standing in the doorway of the dining room, arms crossed and expression darkened with rage. He, too, had changed. He now wore a leather tunic with holsters for his daggers, along with black trousers that hugged his legs in ways that made my toes curl.
But all heat left my body when I saw the lethal look in his eyes—directed at me.
“We need to leave. Now.” Without another word, he turned and stalked from the room.
Lavinia huffed in exasperation and smoothed her hands along her apron before marching after him. “Before supper? I’m almost finished with the meat.”
I followed both of them into the small sitting room that boasted a long, squashy sofa that Theron no doubt had been resting on.
“We’ve already overstayed our welcome,” Theron said tersely, donning a cloak I hadn’t seen him with before. Without looking at me, he tossed an identical one my way. I caught it and stared at it, fingering the soft fabric uncertainly.
“Where did you get these clothes?” I asked.
Theron didn’t answer. Lavinia turned to me and said, “He keeps a stash of clothes here for when he needs it.”
“That’s enough,” Theron barked. His steely gaze shifted to me. “We’re leaving.”
“And what about the handsome payment you promised me?” Lavinia placed her hands on her hips.
Theron, halfway to the door, paused, his shoulders tightening and his stance rigid. “I left it on your counter.”
Lavinia’s face lit up with glee, and she rubbed her hands together. “Excellent.”
Theron swung open the door, and I hurried after him. Just before we left, Lavinia shouted, “I’ll catch you next time you’re in a dire emergency, foolish boy!”
The door slammed shut as I struggled to match Theron’s brisk pace. When I caught up, I grabbed his shoulder and spun him to face me. His brows pulled together, and he gave me his fiercest scowl.
“Theron,” I said breathlessly. “What happened? How did we end up here?” I glanced around. As far as I could tell, we hadn’t left Tolston. The street and buildings looked the same.
“You were dying. Lavinia healed you. I paid her.” His words were clipped.
“What did you pay her?”
“Ninety gold pieces.”
My jaw dropped. “Theron—”
“We don’t have time to argue about this. We need to move if we’re to make it to the palace before dawn.”
“Before dawn? Why? The queen wants us both dead! We need to re-think our plan.”
“There is no plan,” Theron snapped. “I’ll deliver you to the palace, as promised, and our bargains will be fulfilled. We can be rid of each other at last.”
I tried to ignore how much his words cut. “What are you talking about? Why are you acting like this?”
He met my gaze, his mouth curling into a snarl. “How could you have been so reckless? So stupid?”
My chest tightened, and my face heated. “Theron, what’s—”
“We could have escaped, Eira,” he seethed. “Now she knows you’re here—and with me! We are both targets now. Sneaking you into the palace is impossible thanks to your recklessness. But I’m bound by this damn bargain, so I have to get you there somehow. We don’t have any other choice.”
My heart sank like a stone, but indignation rose up inside me. “I get it,” I snapped. “You’re right. This is my fault. But I don’t regret it. Vikros would have killed those children. That blood would have been on my hands.”
“If anyone knows what it’s like to have hands stained with blood, it’s me,” he growled. “Unless you wield the blade, your hands are clean.”
“That’s not how I see it!” I shouted. “You and I are not the same, Theron. We play by different rules. This is a line I will not cross.”
“And Calista knows that. That’s how she’ll trap you, Eira.”
“I am different from her,” I said firmly. “I will not stand by while innocent people are slaughtered, even if they are humans. And I will stand in the path of that blade every time, even if it kills me.”
Sorrow flared in his eyes, and his expression shifted, his ire melting into a look of pure devastation. “That’s what I’m afraid of, Eira. I’m afraid it will kill you.”
“Is that so bad? It’s what you’ve wanted this whole time.”
He huffed a dry laugh and shook his head, running a hand through his hair. “If you think I still want you dead, then you haven’t been paying attention.”
I took in the exhaustion etched into his face, the weary despair and anxiety. The panic he’d endured… because of me. How he’d begged Lavinia to heal me and paid her handsomely for it.
I thought of his tender words as he’d touched my cheek after we’d gotten the children to safety. I couldn’t let you die, Eira.
My heart softened as I realized his words were true. He wasn’t the cold-blooded assassin I’d first met. The man who only looked out for himself. The hunter who followed orders.
He had saved my life and the lives of those children. He had defied the queen in front of dozens of witnesses.
He had stood by me. My actions had angered him, but he’d still stood by me.
“I’m sorry,” I said quietly. “I’m sorry for what my choices have done to you. You… deserve to be free, Theron.”
He closed his eyes with a long sigh. “No, I don’t. I’ve been a fool. I deserve whatever the queen has in store for me.”
“You don’t mean that.”
“Yes, I do. Do you know what my magic did?” He gestured to my chest where my wound had been.
I shook my head, my heart racing in anticipation.
“I’m a necromancer, Eira. A life weaver.
I hold the threads of life and death in my hands.
” He raised his palms and glared at them as if they were directly responsible for our predicament.
“These hands that have only known death… have had the power to preserve lives this entire time. And I only used them to kill.”
A necromancer? My mouth opened, then closed as something clicked into place. “The Demon Fae.”
He frowned. “What?”
“You killed the Demon Fae.”
“Eira, what the hell are you—”
“I slit its throat, but something strange happened just before I struck. You shouted, and the creature just… froze. It started making this odd choking sound, like it was suffocating. At the time, I didn’t think. I just acted while it was distracted. But I think you took its life before I did.”
He said nothing. His dark eyes grew distant as he considered my words. After a long, tense moment, he shook his head and looked at me with interest. “I don’t want to talk about my magic. I want to talk about your magic. How did you vanish like that?”
Panic shot through me, and I backed up a step.
“No, no, you don’t get to withdraw from me like that.” He drew closer, practically pinning me against the brick wall of the house next to us. “I told you about my powers. Now you tell me about yours. How did you do that? Is that how you fought the Demon Fae? By vanishing like that?”
I struggled to breathe evenly. I couldn’t reveal this about myself. Every instinct in me screamed to ignore him, to avoid answering the question.
But he had saved my life. He had risked everything.
I owed him this.
Slowly, I nodded. “That’s my fae magic. Yours is necromancy. Mine is… invisibility.”
His eyes grew wide, and he sucked in a breath. For several heartbeats, we only stared at each other, processing this new information. Then, his voice a soft murmur, he said, “The princess became the very snow on the ground.”
“What?”
“There are whispers about you, Eira. Rumors that you can disappear and become the snow. That’s why you’re called the Snow Princess. That’s why no one can find you.”
I chuckled. “Is that what they say? Well, I’m flattered.”
“Is that how you escaped the queen?”
My smile fell. “Yes.”
His jaw ticked back and forth, and he nodded. “It’s starting to make sense now. But why hasn’t Calista told everyone about your gift?”
“I only used it once. My guess is she didn’t know for sure what I’d done. Perhaps she thought it was just an effective glamour, or a trick of the light.”
Theron frowned in contemplation. “True. There are all sorts of fae gifts out there. But what I still don’t understand is what this has to do with anything.” From his satchel, he withdrew Calista’s enchanted hand mirror.
My heart lurched in my throat, and I reached for it before I could stop myself. Theron held it high above his head, his eyebrows lifting expectantly. “It’s important, isn’t it?”
“Give that back!” I hissed, jumping to try to snatch it. I knew I looked ridiculous, but I didn’t care. I had to get it back.
Theron only smirked. “I’m not giving this back until you answer my question. Why is it important?”
“Theron, I’m warning you!”
“What are you warning me of, princess?”
With an angry growl, I drew my dagger and aimed it at his throat. “Give. It. Back.”
His smirk only widened. Still holding the mirror above his head, he wrapped his free arm around me, twisting me so my back was against his chest. Somehow, he yanked the dagger from my grasp, letting it clatter to the ground.
Gasping for breath, I shoved against him, but his grip was solid as steel. He wasn’t yielding.
“You were saying?” His breath was warm against my ear, and despite my predicament, I found my insides churning from the sound of his voice, low and rumbling. I could feel it resonating from his chest against my back.
Blood and ice, it was the most delicious sound.
“Theron, you don’t know what you’re dealing with,” I whispered.
“Then tell me.” His voice was a caress against my ear.
My mouth went dry. My invisibility was one thing, but this mirror? No one knew about it, not even Stella. How could I share that secret with him?
“I—I stole it from Calista,” I said.
“Hmm, I figured as much. Why? What’s so special about it?”
“It’s enchanted.”
Theron waited. When I said nothing, he chuckled, his chest humming from the sound. “You’re going to have to do better than that, princess.”
My eyes shut against the warning pulsing through me. Don’t do it. Don’t do it.
But I had to. Theron would keep me in this alley all night if I didn’t talk.
Shivering bones, I couldn’t believe I was about to tell him this.
“Do you remember me telling you about stealing a magical object that reveals truth? It’s this mirror. This is what I stole. Calista didn’t banish me because of my human bloodline. She banished me because of the mirror. It’s the only thing in the entire realm that will reveal who she really is.”
“And who is she really?”
I forced myself to take a slow, steadying breath before I said. “She’s a Demon Fae.”
Theron went rigid behind me. I yearned to turn and look at him, to gauge his reaction, but he still had my back pressed to his chest. I felt his heartbeat quicken from my words.
“That can’t be true,” he breathed.
“It is. I can’t lie. I saw it with my own eyes. She transformed in front of me.”
His pulse fluttered, and I felt him swallow. “You must have been mistaken.”
I gritted my teeth. “Don’t patronize me, Theron. This is the truth.”
He released me, and I whirled to face him, eyes wide. My chest twisted with anxiety, and I realized with a jolt of awareness just how desperately I needed him to believe me.
I needed him on my side.
Please believe me, Theron.
His dark eyes were narrowed, his brows knitted together. A muscle worked in his jaw, and his nostrils flared.
Slowly, he shook his head, and my heart dropped down to my stomach.
He doesn’t believe me.
The wave of disappointment that crashed over me was enough to douse any heat I’d felt from earlier. I felt myself drawing a step away from him.
He opened his mouth to speak, but a shout from down the alley drew our attention.
“There they are!” A guardsman pointed to us, and three other soldiers appeared behind him. They each drew their swords and stormed toward us. “Stop where you are, in the name of the queen!”