10. Swear It #2
Cypress waited until the hare was impaled on the spit, roasting above the flames with herbs crackling and filling the small copse of trees with a heady aroma that made her stomach growl before she probed Torren for more information about the Wylds.
“So, clearly, my knowledge of the creatures and…people of the Wylds is somewhat lacking. Tell me everything I need to know.”
Torren huffed a laugh. “That’s a tall order, Lass.”
Cypress didn’t return the laugh, letting the crackle of the fire fill the silence instead.
“What do you want to know?” Torren asked after glancing at her over the flames.
“Everything. What is the hunt? What’s awakening?
I can guarantee that no one within the keep knows that villages are being raided.
I am in charge of Cade’s guard. If such a threat were out there, I would be the first to know.
So, tell me what’s really happening out here, on the edges of the country. ”
Torren narrowed his storm gray eyes. “I told you. The Wylds whisper that the Old Ones are awakening.”
“Which ones?”
He shook his head. “The things that have been sleeping in the Wylds are far older than any name humans have given them. The Old Ones once commanded the whole of Faerie, holding dominion over all life. The Hunt went on for an age, the winged hounds howled endlessly into the night as another soul was claimed by the Hunt. If the Old One wakes, the king will not be king for much longer.”
“And this scepter… keeps the old ones asleep?”
Torren rolled his neck, then rotated the spit before answering. “It will keep the Wylds safe.”
“That is not necessarily the same thing,” Cypress said, narrowing her eyes at him.
“If I keep the Wylds safe, so shall be the human lands,” Torren replied, the words rolling off his tongue in a practiced, measured cadence.
“How so?” Cypress challenged. “Won’t the Old Ones want to reclaim their rule over all of us? Won’t the hunt cover the entire continent, not just be contained within the Wylds?”
“If I can make the Wylds safe for Faerie, none of the Old Ones will bother with the Humans,” he said, again avoiding directly answering the question.
Cypress let it drop for now, instead attacking a different angle. “Why are the Fair Folk emerging from the Wylds now?”
“Something has already awoken.”
Cypress narrowed her eyes. “What something?”
“Giants, and other things.”
“How am I to know you’re not lying?”
“I’m not the only liar here, Lass.”
“Then swear you’re not lying to me.”
Torren rolled his eyes. “I swear it.”
Cypress shook her head and drew a blade. “No, I mean swear it. I don’t want to keep questioning your words. Swear a blood oath. No more lies.”
“Only if that binding goes both ways.”
Cypress scoffed. “I haven’t lied to you.”
“Sure ye haven’t, Lass.” Torren drawled, head canted to the side as he turned the spit once more.
“Fine,” Cypress gritted. “You swear it, and I will too.”
Torren reached out for the blade, and Cypress nearly handed it to him. At the last moment, though, she yanked the blade back, away from his reach.
“To be clear, you are swearing that you will not lie to me or distort the truth in any capacity.”
“I know what a lie is, Lass,” Torren said, hand still outstretched, palm open for her blade.
“Then make sure your words are crystal clear, Thief.”
The muscle on Torren’s jaw flexed, but he accepted the knife without further comment.
If there was any place for a blood oath to be enacted, Cypress couldn’t imagine it any better place than inside a Faerie ring, where the forest was apparently listening to their every word.
“I hereby swear that no lies or untruths will leave my lips when spoken to the Lady Cypress,” He said, then sliced along the thickest portion of his thumb. When he was done, he held the blade out to Cypress, motioning her to do the same.
“I hereby swear no lie or untruth shall part my lips when spoken to the Thief Prince, Torren Lefey Blackthorne,” Cypress said, then made an identical slice over the thickest portion of her palm.
Then, she and Torren clasped hands over the flames, their blood mixing as it dripped into the fire.
“By the blood of Faerie, it is done.” Torren finished, and suddenly the ring of trees smelled of clear, icy river water, moss, and pine.
The oath settled over Cypress, the fire blazing between them for all of a few moments before Cypress asked, “What has already awoken?”
Torren sighed and said, “I should have known you wouldn’t let that lie for the evening.”
“So then why didn’t you just tell me?”
“Because the forest listens. And saying their name too many times will draw their eye.”
“So… tell me what it is without saying its name.”
He stayed quiet for a few moments, turning the spit, checking the doneness of the meat with his forefinger. “It is… like the scout of the Hunt that has awoken. They are looking for the tomb of the Old One in order to awaken them once more.”
“How come you can say the Old one seemingly without consequence, but not this other thing that is already awake?”
“The two are very different creatures. The Old One that leads the Wyld Hunt is one of many, while… the other seeks out the soul that will kick off the hunt. Fresh blood from a perfect sacrifice. Those deemed unworthy are killed by them, rather than the Hunting party. They suck you dry, absorbing your life, your spark, until nothing is left other than a dry husk. Their name is like a clarion call echoing through the world. Gaining their attention is unwise and to be avoided at all costs.”
Cypress nodded. “What else has already awoken?”
“The winged hounds have been spotted once more.”
“Where?”
“Near the border to the Wylds,” Torren said while quickly removing the spit from its position over the fire.
“And where are we currently headed?”
Torren raised his gaze, staring at her through his lashes. “We’re going to my people.”
“Why to them, rather than straight on to show me this evidence of the old ones reawakening?”
“We need provisions, do we not? Would you like to avail yourself of some of the finer comforts of life before venturing into the deep Wylds?”
Begrudgingly, Cypress nodded.
“That’s what I thought, Lass. After we get a bit of rest at my camp, I’ll take ye to the tomb of Winged Hounds, and you can see for yourself.”