Chapter 27
The high fae have unusual appetites, each relishing in the indulgence they favor. They will do almost anything to satiate their particular hungers, whether it be for revelry, flesh, or blood.
I’m lounging on a chair in front of the windows in my room after yet another grueling training session with Tristan. It’s like he’s trying to torture me or something.
The fire in the hearth crackles softly, casting faint, dancing shadows across the stone walls of my chamber. Outside, the wind howls, scraping against the castle like a beast at the gates.
While it is well known that the fae loathe lies, they are also masterful tricksters. Be wary of making any deal with the fae, for you are most certainly going to get more than you bargained for. This author advises against making any such …
Bang! Bang! Bang!
I nearly drop the book in my hands. It sounds like someone is trying to knock my door down. A growl works its way out of my chest.
“No, thank you!” I yell toward the door before bringing the book back up in front of my nose.
“I need you to come with me!” Nalina’s unmistakable voice answers.
“Don’t care!”
The banging continues.
“Go away!” I yell.
“No.”
I put the open book over my face and scream into the pages.
My door bursts open and the Wolf from hell walks in, her boots stomping against the floor with the gravitas of a woman on a mission. She strides toward me without a word, her expression grim as she reaches down and rips the book out of my hands.
“Let’s go.”
“Maybe you could try asking nicely.” I say through a grimace.
She grabs my arm in an iron grip. “Or I could just drag you.”
“I can walk myself.” I yank away from her with a sharp twist. “You know, manners would do you a world of good.”
She steps back, her lips pressed together in a thin line. “We don’t worry so much about niceties in Annwyn, Fox. On account of the short lifespans.”
I roll my eyes but don’t argue. She doesn’t expect me to, and frankly, I’m too tired to waste breath on it.
“Come with me.” She doesn’t wait for my reply as she turns on her heel and walks out of the room. I pull my boots on hastily, then grab my red cloak before I step into the hall.
Nalina leads me through the castle. We head toward the castle’s grand entrance, where the cold air presses in from outside.
As we step through the massive doors, I feel the sharp bite of winter.
The snow falls fast, like a thousand needles.
The world beyond the castle walls seems to vanish in a blizzard.
“Where are we going?” I shout over the howling wind.
“The village!” she calls back, her voice barely audible over the shriek of the storm.
I’ve never been to the village. I always thought it was best to keep my distance since most of the locals hate me.
I jog to keep up with Nalina’s long strides as she leads me beyond the castle’s stone wall. She doesn’t seem bothered by the storm, while I’m struggling to shield my eyes. The wind keeps trying to blow the hood of my cloak back, but I hold it tight to protect my face from the stinging snow.
By the time we reach the village, I can’t feel my fingers or my toes.
The small thatched houses are barely visible through the swirling white.
Their windows glow faintly from lit fires within.
I wonder how anyone would rather survive these storms in thatched-roof houses instead of the fortress just beyond the wall.
Then I remember who lives in the castle: the dungeon fae and the Dead Queen. And me, the Fox Heir.
That’s why they keep away. And I can’t say that I blame them.
Nalina walks up to one of the houses and pushes the door open. She turns back to me, her face hard as stone.
“Stop dawdling.”
I’m hardly dawdling. My legs burn with the effort to keep up with her and my face stings from the biting wind.
I say nothing, just step inside and shake off the snow that’s built up on my shoulders.
Nalina shuts the door firmly behind her and I take a look around.
The home is small, no more than three rooms. A crackling fire blazes in the central space.
Before I can register who else is here, a young woman runs up to me and throws her arms around my shoulders.
“Thank the old gods, Sienna. I’m so glad you’re here.” I’d never realized just how thin Elisandra was. Now that her arms are wrapped around me, I see she’s as delicate as a bird.
“Elisandra, what’s going on?”
She pulls away, shooting Nalina a wary glance. “I asked her to bring you. We need your help.” She steps aside to reveal the rest of the room.
A middle-aged man leans heavily on a cane in front of the hearth. At his feet, on a bed of quilts, there’s a boy. His face is deathly pale, and he appears to be asleep. With a start, I recognize him. He’s Tabitha’s grandson.
The old woman walks in from the next room, carrying a wet cloth. When she notices me, she freezes mid-step.
“Get out,” she growls. Her withered face contorts with rage. She points to the door. “I said, ‘Get out!’”
I glance at Nalina, unsure what to do. But the infuriating mountain of a woman just stands there, calm as can be. No doubt she’s been waiting for an opportunity to toss me out into a blizzard.
Elisandra shakes her head. “No.” She grabs my elbow possessively.
Tabitha’s eyes narrow. “I will not have that Fox in my home, Elisandra. You should know better than that.”
“I do.” Elisandra nods. “But we have to at least try.”
My eyes dart to the boy lying on the quilts. Even from a distance, I can sense his fever. I can feel Death calling him. With sudden clarity, I realize what this is about.
“Let me help him.” I shrug off my red cloak, which has grown damp and heavy from melted snow. Elisandra takes it before hanging it on a hook near the door. “Nalina was right to bring me.” I shoot her a glance, but her face reveals nothing. These damn Wolves and their stoic expressions.
I take a step toward the boy.
“Do not touch my grandson!”
I stop.
The man near the fire eyes me with a look of resignation. “Tabitha, it may be the only way.”
She glares at him. “Jona will heal.”
“He will not.” I say it with a certainty that I know deep in my bones. My power already hums inside my sternum. It knows too. I turn to the man. “What happened to him?”
He gives Tabitha a warning look as she takes a breath to protest. “He fell from the roof while he was fixing a hole in the thatching. He hasn’t woken.”
“When did this happen?”
“Yesterday.”
My eyes grow wide with disbelief. “Yesterday?” I look to Nalina. “Why didn’t you summon me sooner?”
She speaks through gritted teeth. “In case you haven’t noticed, Fox. You’re our last resort.”
I try not to take offense.
Tabitha shoots the man a traitorous glare and kneels down next to her grandson. She puts one gnarled hand on the boy’s forehead. His skin is damp with sweat and his cheeks are dangerously pale.
Next to me, Elisandra wrings her hands. Her desperation is obvious. In this land of cold people, she’s the only person who has shown me kindness. I will do anything she asks, I realize. Even if I need to throw Tabitha out into the blizzard myself.
I hold up my hands toward the old woman, pleading. “Tabitha. I know you don’t like me, but I promise I can help.”
“I don’t want your filthy Fox paws on my kin.”
The man speaks up, his voice stronger this time. “And would you rather he die?”
Tabitha’s body stills, her hand on the boy’s cheek.
The man limps toward her, his cane tapping the ground heavily with each step. “Because that’s what’s coming for him. Death. Unless you let the Fox Heir try. You have to make a choice here, Tabitha. Death, or your own damn pride.” He rubs a weary hand over his eyes. “We’ve already lost so much.”
He doesn’t need to remind us what this town has lost. There are no healthy young men or women in Gwyllion anymore.
Only the very young, the injured, and the very old.
It’s a terrible price to pay in the hopes that the survivors can someday live a life without war.
Without the Fox King taking more, and more, and more.
For several moments, no one speaks. We watch the old woman think as the room falls still. Tabitha’s breath catches, and I see pain flash across her face like a dagger. I know that feeling; I've felt it too many times. The agony of loss, the fear of helplessness.
“Fine,” she whispers. “Save him. If you can.” She gets to her feet again, her knees cracking. “But I can’t watch.”
Elisandra gasps in relief. “Thank the old gods …” she whispers under her breath.
The man nods. “I’ll stay with him.”
Tabitha walks into the next room. She slams the door closed.
I rush to the boy’s side and kneel on the ground. One touch of his forehead and I know his fever is dangerously high. I touch his skull tenderly, looking for injury.
“Did he hit his head?” I ask the man.
He lets out a shaky breath. “We’re afraid it’s his spine.”
And they waited a full day to ask for help? I swear under my breath. The injury is far worse than I feared. I hold my hands over his chest, summoning my power. It slinks out through my veins, and I can feel the wound there. His spine is severed in two places. It’s a miracle he lived this long.
I look toward Elisandra where she waits a few paces away. “I don’t know if I can save him.”
Her chin quivers as she says, “Please try.”
Next to her, Nalina narrows her eyes at me, as if daring me to refuse. Not that I would. If she knew anything about me, she’d know that I’d never leave a person to suffer. I’m not as proud as some.
The man kneels beside me with a wince and sets his cane aside. “We’ve heard of your family’s great healing feats; surely you can help one small boy?”
My heart clenches in my chest. “My power has been a little unreliable lately.”
The man puts a shaking hand on my forearm. “Please.” His eyes dart to the closed door where Tabitha just retreated. “She has no one else.”
I know that feeling all too well. I take a shuddering breath and nod.
“Thank you.” He says, with tears in his eyes.