Chapter 23 #2
He takes a deep breath and nods. “I wish I’d asked her more questions.
I wish I’d been there for her. Instead, I was too concerned with becoming a King’s Guard.
I suppose on some level I was embarrassed.
My cousin was the King’s mistress.” He closes his eyes and shakes his head angrily.
“Now I know there was more to it than that. But I was too blind to see it.”
“The moth ring?”
He nods. “The ring.”
I hesitate, not sure this is the right time to bring it up, but there’s no such thing as perfect timing.
“Hunter, when we found you on the beach. In your pocket, you had a book.” I level my eyes with his.
“My book, as it happens.” I take the little green book out of the pocket of my red cloak.
The silver moth on the cover flashes in the dim light.
He takes a deep, relieved breath, then coughs. “I was afraid I’d lost it.”
“How did you find it?”
He gives me a sheepish grin. “Do you really think I’d forget the place you used to hide sweets in when we were kids?”
My mouth drops open. “You snuck into the palace? Into my room?” I stare at him wide-eyed. “Hunter, you could have been caught!”
He shrugs. “I figured if you had any useful information, you’d hide it beneath the floorboards.”
It’s so ridiculous, I laugh. “And here I thought it was the perfect hiding spot.”
He waggles his head back and forth. “It is, but you keep forgetting how well I know you.”
A relieved smile tugs at my lips. I am so glad to see him again. “Still, you shouldn’t have gone back there. It wasn’t worth it.”
“I had to. I couldn’t ignore what was happening.
Not after everything we went through.” He takes a deep breath, like he’s bracing himself to tell me the worst. “There’s something you need to know.
The increased soldiers at the borderlands, it’s a renewed effort to ‘protect Llwyn from the invading corpse armies.’”
I scowl. “Even though we are, in fact, the true invaders. It was never Annwyn.”
He pinches the space between his eyes. “Yeah, about that.”
I raise my eyebrows, suspicious.
Hunter takes a deep breath and gives it to me straight. “Your father is using your disappearance as an excuse to send renewed forces into Annwyn. To take revenge for your kidnapping.”
I blanch. “My … what?”
“You know your father. He will spin anything to his advantage.”
“And what of Fennec, the new heir?”
Hunter shrugs. “He’s just a footnote in the king’s new tale. The Dead Queen and her Wolf stole you, the heir to the Fox Throne. He’s out for blood.” He scrunches his face. “More than usual, at any rate.”
I pause, thinking. “None of this makes any sense. He hates me. He tried to kill me. He made Fennec his heir.”
Hunter shakes his head. “Maybe in writing, but few people know that. All the Llwyn people know is the Wolf stole you away on the eve of our wedding. And your father will murder every last person in Annwyn to get you back.”
My brain is humming with adrenaline. “But he doesn’t want me back. Not really.”
“No. But he does want to kill the Dead Queen. I don’t think any of us truly knows why.”
I might, but I’m not sure it’s the right time to tell Hunter this. Nothing could be more humiliating to my father than a woman outfoxing the Fox King. This fight has little to do with me. My father will stop at nothing to get revenge.
My stomach roils just thinking of all the Llwyn soldiers dying on the borderlands. I’ve seen enough of them to last a lifetime, and yet my father sends more. It’s too much to think about right now.
I turn the conversation back to Hunter. “None of that explains why you presumably stole a ship and sailed north in the middle of winter.”
“The Spires are impassable this time of year. The sea was my only shot.”
“And the men? The ship?”
“Let’s just say I knew a few people who owed me favors from my time on the King’s Guard.”
“Sailors?”
“Pirates.”
“Ah.”
He looks toward the window, at a rising storm that has finally made its way past the enchanted border.
“But, why did you think I needed saving to begin with?” I ask. “I went into Annwyn willingly. You were there, you know that.”
He drags his gaze away from the window reluctantly, landing on mine. His warm brown eyes are sad. “I didn’t come here to save you from the Wolf, Sienna. I came here to warn you.”
“Warn me?”
“Your father’s men are camped at the foot of the Spires. Ready to march here the second the roads are passable. He knows where you are, Sienna.”
I shake my head. “It doesn’t matter. They won’t get past the border. The Annwyn people have been protecting the border for centuries—”
“And losing territory by the year.”
“They won’t get past the Spires.”
Hunter levels his brown eyes on me. “This time, they will. He brought the Fox Army, Sienna. All of it.”
The news settles on my shoulders, cold and heavy. As isolated as I’ve been out here in Gwyllion, I actually managed to feel safe this far out of my father’s reach. I should have known better. Nowhere is safe from the Fox King.
Behind us, the door opens. Instinctively, I stuff the little green book into the pocket of my red cloak, to keep it out of sight. I don’t know why, but something tells me this isn’t the sort of book that should be left out for anyone to see.
We both turn to see Nalina step in, her face grave. Her brown leathers are dusty and her blond braid is frizzy. I wonder if she’s been in the training yard, hitting things.
“Good. You’re awake,” she says. She doesn’t sound glad.
I stiffen.
Hunter sits up. “Yes. Thank you for your hospitality.”
Nalina gives him a suspicious look. “I had nothing to do with it. If things went my way, I wouldn’t tolerate southerners here in Annwyn.” Her eyes shoot toward me.
Hunter nods. “I understand.”
“Do you?” she asks sharply.
I feel the words slice through the air as surely as a dagger. “None of this is his fault, Nalina.”
“No, you’re right.” She turns to me slowly. “It’s yours.”
I stare at her for a long moment. “Did you need something? Or are you just here out of morbid curiosity?”
“The queen wants to see him.”
I shake my head. “No. It’s too soon. He only just woke up.”
Nalina holds the door open wider. “Oh, I’m sorry. Were you expecting tea first?”
I roll my eyes and turn to Hunter. “There’s a lot I need to tell you. Meeting the queen won’t be what you expect.”
Hunter moves the blankets off his legs and shifts to step out of the bed. “It’s fine. I saw her before, in Ellyll.” His knees tremble when he stands.
I rush to help him, but he waves me off. “No, I don’t mean that she’s frightening. There’s more to it than that.”
Hunter locates a pair of boots by the hearth and steps over the cold floor to retrieve them. “Sienna, I can handle it.” He bends to tie his laces. “I’m not an invalid. I’m just tired. Do me the decency of allowing me to make up my own mind about the Dead Queen.”
“Hunter, I need you to sit down, to listen to me—”
He holds up a hand, irritation clear on his face. “Please stop.” He gives me a level look. “I don’t need you to protect me.”
My lips snap shut. All I can do is follow a step behind him as he trails Nalina through the cold, dark halls of Gwyllion Castle. Toward the throne room.
Toward Grandmother.