Chapter 35
Lark
At the approaching footsteps, Mikael stiffens. Johannes and Juani drag Aili and Helkki behind a stump with all the stealth of a karku waking from hibernation. My illusion is fast and large—a continuation of the trees to stretch across the space between us and the approaching trio of figures.
Beron leads the way, with Queen Taynia behind him. Her arms are around Tahto’s neck, and she’s walking like a dream walker, like the guards suspected of Talvie when they discovered the empty pond. Only this time, my illusion doesn’t work.
The footsteps don’t pause.
Beron strides straight through the conjured trees, parting them like fog. Unbothered, he quirks a brow at me standing stunned on the other side. Taynia and Tahto remain beside the pond while he approaches.
A green gemstone on his ring catches the pale dawn light, casting shimmers like ripples across water as he lifts his hand.
“Witch-crafted,” he says. “After your performance on the road, I thought I could use some insurance. Even knowing it was fake that day, I had a hard time telling reality from visions. You’re better than I bargained for, Illusionist.”
Hoping my head stays attached to my neck awhile longer, I offer him a charming smile. “There’s a reason you hired us.”
“You proved a very effective distraction. But I certainly never expected to find Princess Talvie hiding with you afterward. I doubt I paid you enough to shelter her all this time.”
“That’s not what this is.”
“No? She didn’t promise you riches and rewards for hiding her? I assumed it was something big to outweigh the reward offered for her capture.”
Dropping my gaze, I shake my head. “It’s not like that. I never even told her I knew who she was. She still thinks I only know her as Val. And she never asked me for anything; I’m the one who needed her.”
Beron studies me, his brow furrowing. The kids peek their faces out from hiding, finding out at the same time as Beron that I’ve known who Princess Talvie was this whole time. I’ll have to apologize with pies later.
Gathering my courage, I meet the Head Huntsman’s gaze again. “I’m not here for any sort of reward. I’m here for her. Because she deserves better.”
I follow his eyes as they track from me, to Taynia, and down to Talvie wrapped in my blanket. Slowly, he nods. “That she does.” He tilts his head toward the queen, who’s searching the spilled basket for any more apples to feed Tahto. “Taynia seems different. Go on. I hope this works.”
Queen Taynia doesn’t look up as I approach, her attention fixed on smoothing Tahto’s forelock over the crown of his head.
“If I may, Your Majesty,” I say, bowing my head, “he likes the tart ones best.”
“I ran out of apples,” she sighs.
I offer her the crabapple I brought, which she takes and feeds to Tahto with a half-smile. “You like these, my steed?”
The mule crunches, then bobs his head twice before curling his upper lip toward the sky in the most ridiculous equine grin. Taynia laughs, an echo of the bright laughter from before.
After a long pause, she looks at me. “I haven’t laughed like that in three years.”
“So I heard.”
Her fingers stroke the shaggy cheek, and she whispers, “I didn’t think I could anymore. Not without breaking.”
I haven’t let go of my anger, but her words affect me. I’m seeing a glimpse of the woman Talvie remembers. There’s a chance this wild scheme actually worked, chaos and all. The pond may not be the only ice we’ve melted today.
“And yet,” I say, my voice gentle, “you didn’t shatter.”
“I didn’t.”
She doesn’t move from Tahto’s side, but her shoulders lift, standing a little taller.
I’m on the cusp of reaching her; I just don’t know how to take the next step. It’s like balancing on an icicle. One wrong move, and I’ll break this fragile bridge between us.
Talvie would know what to say. My heart clenches, missing her with every strained beat. If only I had the right fancy words, the right connections, the right upbringing to feel like more than the wretch I am before royalty. But I’m just me, with nothing but my wits and illusions to serve me.
Squeak. Oh! I forgot…I’m not alone.
Hugo paws at the inside of my pocket. Reaching past him, my hand closes over the cool stone. When I withdraw it, Hugo clings to the necklace before scrambling to my shoulder where he can observe. “Good thinking, buddy,” I mutter. Then I call, “Lumi?”
The stone glows. Moonlight pools around my hands, shimmering as the weight shifts. It swirls and shines, then gathers until a familiar round shape emerges. The little moon rises above our heads.
Queen Taynia gives a soft sound of awe. “Is that my Talvie’s moon? Lumi, is that you?”
“It is I,” the moon answers.
I bristle. “How can you call her your Talvie after how you’ve treated her?”
Taynia blinks. Instead of responding, she keeps her attention on Lumi. “Why weren’t you with her, Lumi? You’re supposed to watch over her. And I—I froze you in the pond. How did you escape?”
Lumi rolls once, her light blooming from crescent to a three-quarter moon’s glow, fighting the rising sunlight. “Lumi and Valkie have made good friends here. Folk who care, who help, who love. No longer are Valkie and Lumi alone together in the face of your cruelty.”
The queen blanches. “My cruelty? But I—Oh.”
Tahto nuzzles her shoulder, searching for more apples. She lifts a hand to stroke his neck, resting her face against his fur, inhaling in sharp bursts. “What have I done…?”
There are so many things I want to say. All the stories I’ve heard, all the injustices I’ve seen… But I bite my tongue while she has her epiphany.
When she lifts her face, she’s the composed queen once again. “What did you do to me? Why does my chest ache? Why is everything so much clearer? And why am I hugging this mule?”
“Ah, about that. All we did was help thaw a bit of the ice around your heart. It’s a silly love potion, likely wearing off now that the sun is rising. You, uh…you were supposed to fall for Beron though, not the mule.”
“Beron?” She frowns. “Where is Beron?”
I step aside so she can see him standing with Talvie’s prone body. The kids have gathered close, eavesdropping on our conversation with wide-eyed looks.
The queen’s shoulders remain stiff. “Why did you do this? What was the purpose of that play? The potions, the illusions, these—these emotions? I didn’t ask for this.”
“It wasn’t for you.”
Her gaze sharpens.
“It was for Talvie. She still believes there’s something left of the woman who braided flowers into her hair and stayed up talking with her late into the night. You meant the world to her once. I wanted to give her a chance to have that again. A chance to reach you.”
“She hates me. She must.”
Slowly, I shake my head. “No. She might want to hate you, but I don’t think she’s capable of it. You shut her out, and she hardened her walls in kind, feigned uncaring, but she never stopped loving you.”
Taynia’s face crumples ever so slightly. “She started calling me Ice Queen and ‘her father’s widow’. She stopped calling me ?ti.”
“You hurt her,” I say, not unkindly, but not mincing words. “She didn’t deserve your coldness when she needed warmth, and she certainly didn’t deserve to be chased from her home.”
“No, she didn’t.”
“And she doesn’t deserve to be cursed to endless sleep now.”
Taynia’s brow furrows.
“Help me wake her. There must be a way.”
She tilts her head, letting the words hang between us. “Why do you care?”
Air punches from my lungs. There’s no way this goes well. I’m not worthy of feeling the way I do, but I can’t deny it either. I can’t lie when this moment is so fraught and fragile.
“Tell her,” Lumi urges.
“Because I love her.”
“You?” The queen recoils, looking me over from head to toe as if seeing me for the first time. I stand stiff in the scrutiny, feeling every stitch of my embroidered tunic and every point of my hat weighing on my body. “But…you’re Wilder.”
“I know. And I never meant to fall in love with her, but how could I not? Talvie is the most kind-hearted, generous soul I’ve ever met.
And I know it’s impossible. I know it can never lead to anything, and that she could never feel the same about someone like me.
I know if we save her, it will only be to say goodbye.
Because she has to return to the palace and the people.
Talvie could never belong with someone like me, nor does she belong to you.
She belongs to all the Hinterlands. The world of Havansarr without Talvie in it is not a world I want to live in. Nor should you.”
Her gaze searches me. I’m sure she finds me wanting.
Just when I think she’s about to freeze over again, or possibly order Beron to kill me for daring to fall in love with a princess, she surprises me.
“Beron, take this beast,” she says, holding out Tahto’s lead. “He’s filthy, and he smells of apples.”
Several giggles escape the circle around Talvie, but Beron fights his own smile and says only, “Of course, my Queen,” coming to take the mule from her.
“Right, then.” Taynia wipes her hands daintily on an embroidered handkerchief. “There is a counterspell, but the ingredients are impossible to gather.”
“I can get whatever we need. Please,” I say.
“Moonflower nectar, dawn dew, captured sunbeams, and a drop of the same belladonna extract used in the curse. Even if you can somehow locate all of those, you’ll never gather the final item.”
I gulp. We found moonflowers by the spring, and sunbeams are easy enough to capture with a shimmer-flask. If we hurry, we could gather dawn dew right now in the glasshouse. But the belladonna extract would have to come from her, and I fear what she’s about to say next.
“The counterspell requires a single tear from the one who cast the original.”
I close my eyes. “So…you.”
“I can’t,” she says flatly. “You may have cracked the ice walls inside me, but my tears froze long ago. Besides, I gave the last of that belladonna to Beron for the spell. There’s none left.”
My heart sinks. Until…
“Actually,” Beron’s voice cuts in. He steps closer. “I altered the original spell. I didn’t use the belladonna extract.”
“Pardon?” Queen Taynia’s voice rises in ire.
“I swapped it,” Beron admits. His face is calmer than mine would be in admitting to betraying the queen’s orders.
“Instead of belladonna, I used Valerian root. Stole it from the illusionist’s supply.
Instead of a deathlike sleep, Talvie is in a dream-state.
She’s not as deep as death, and there’s plenty more Valerian root to put in a counterspell. ”
Taynia glares at him. “You betrayed me.”
“I did, my Queen. I cannot apologize, because I would do it again.”
“Why, Beron? Why would you do this?”
“I did it for you. Because I knew one day, you would come to regret this loss. I couldn’t let you kill the only person you still love in this world.”
Conflict rages across her face, her mouth gaping and closing. “Did I also hear you say you arranged for Talvie’s escape from the carriage on the road that day?”
“Yes, my Queen. And I’ll surrender my axe to you when this is done, if that is your desire. You can do with me as you will, but let me help you save Talvie first. I know you still care for her.”
Silence presses in from all sides as she stares at him, unspeaking. I barely dare to breathe. The kids are still as statues. Hugo freezes on my shoulder in a pool of Lumi’s light.
Finally, Taynia sucks in a long breath, her mouth pursed tight. “We will speak of this later, Beron.”
He nods, his face stony.
“For now, you will help this Wild One gather the ingredients. Also, since you altered the spell, it appears you are now the caster. It will be your tear we will need. See that you provide one. For Talvie.”
I can’t even find offence in the offhanded way the queen insults me, because I’m too busy gleefully staring at the Head Huntsman’s gaping mouth.
“I—I don’t cry,” Beron says.
“‘Course you don’t, big guy.” I pat him on the shoulder. “Come on. I know a gremlin who’ll gladly bite you somewhere sensitive. We’ll bring a tear to your eye yet.”
Helkki howls with delight.
“There’s one more thing,” Taynia says.
“What is it?” My stomach hollows at the tone in her voice. How much worse can the last ingredient be?
Taynia stares at me so long, I’m not sure if I’m supposed to pluck the knowledge directly from her brain.
Then she sighs. “The counterspell potion isn’t given to the cursed.
It won’t be Talvie who drinks it. It has to be drunk by another, and with the potion fresh on their lips, that person can awaken her with true love’s kiss. ”
“What?” My heart sinks like a hot coal through ice. I know what I feel for Talvie is love—fierce and forever.
But true love has to be returned.
“There will only be one chance,” Taynia continues. “The counterspell can only be used once, so we must be sure.”
If she doesn’t feel the same, then my kiss would be nothing but a goodbye. And how could she? I never even told her I know her true identity. Never told her I’m in love with her—wholly and irrevocably. Never said that I feel at home with her more than anywhere I’ve ever roamed.
We might have had fun together, laughed and shared secrets. We worked well together, and there’s no denying our chemistry. I believe she genuinely likes me.
But love?
She belongs with someone worthy.
Someone like Talvie doesn’t fall in love with a penniless outcast like me.