Chapter 20
Ellie
Taran leads me to the northern edge of town, my hand firmly grasped in his. He matches my shorter stride, never tugging uncomfortably on my arm.
It’s as if I’m wandering through a fog. If I let go of him, I’ll get lost, and that would be bad. Everything else blurs at the edges as we pass, nausea swelling within me if I focus on anything but him.
He asks if I’ve ever ridden a horse, and I tell him I haven’t—while we own some, Mom and I have only used them for carriage rides.
Now I’m standing still, engulfed in the stink of manure. There’s an itch at the back of my mind… Something about this… it isn’t right. But the harder I grasp at the thought, the further it slips away.
Taran lets go of my hand as he helps me into a saddle. The world slowly sharpens, but just as my vision clears, the horse beneath me erupts into a gallop. I throw myself forward, clinging to its mane for dear life.
After a few terrifying minutes of not falling, my heart thundering harder than the hooves hit the ground, I peek my eyes open. The sun’s nearly set, and my horse follows behind one galloping through the fields ahead of me. I can’t make out the rider, but it must be Taran.
Every incantation I know flashes through my mind. How do I get out of this? Fire? Ice? But anything like that would frighten the horse, and I’d get thrown. I can barely stay in the saddle as it is.
Frustration and shame boil within me. All my skills, rendered useless by a horse.
After what feels like several bells, we slow to a trot.
The moon hangs high in the sky as Taran dismounts at the edge of a forest, his silhouette approaching in the darkness.
He offers me his hand, and I accept it, only because I need to be off the horse before I can attack.
But the second I pull away, my legs give out as pain sears through my muscles.
“Let go of me!” I snap when he catches me. He doesn’t, so I ignite his arm with a burst of flames.
He yells a curse I don’t recognize and drops me, tearing his coat off and throwing it away from the horses. I hit the ground right as my horse rears, screaming in terror. Taran’s arms grab me roughly around my midsection, hauling me clear of the kicking hooves.
I land hard on my backside a few yards away. Taran speaks soft words I can’t understand, slowly approaching the horse until he rests his hand gently on its side.
My heart rate slows as his calm permeates the air. His coat lies discarded on the ground nearby, still burning; with a thought, it extinguishes, leaving only the moon to offer its faint light. I collapse backward and stare up at it, pain from the saddle radiating through my body.
“Who are you?” I demand. I need him to talk. Get information. Then figure out my escape.
“I told you already. My name’s Taran.”
“Why have you taken me?”
No answer. I push myself up to see him better, the long grass brushing my hands—he’s busy untacking the horses.
“Is it because of my father?”
A scoff. “I couldn’t care less who your father is.”
That’s a first. Perhaps we could’ve been friends if he weren’t in the middle of abducting me.
“Then tell me why you’ve taken me, or I’ll—”
“You’ll what? You’re no killer. Besides, you have no idea where you are or how to ride a horse.”
“I’m sure I could find my way in the morning,” I say, ignoring his first point.
“So you can go back to learning how to fight and kill an enemy you can’t even recognize?”
Finishing his task, he comes over and crouches before me. Even in the darkness, his features are strangely familiar—comforting, even—but his green eyes lock on mine with an intensity that lays me bare.
My voice rasps out of my parched throat. “What are you…”
With a shift in the moonlight, a shadow lifts from his face. His intoxicating eyes brighten as if verdant flames burn within, the angles of his face sharpening. And his ears… narrow to a point at the tips.
“Fae!” I scramble backward on my butt, my heart pounding. I belatedly realize I should lash out with an incantation, freezing or trapping him somehow. Anything to keep him away.
But he shakes his head with a condescending chuckle and walks off, leaving me… even more confused. And slightly ashamed of my pathetic reaction. So I gather myself up and hobble after him, channeling my tangled emotions into anger as pain underscores my every move.
“You said you don’t care about my father,” I say, stopping next to him as he kneels, searching through his bag. “Do you even know who he is?”
“Of course I do, Eloise Detura, I just don’t care. It has nothing to do with why we’re here.” He takes a swig from a waterskin, closing his eyes as he swallows.
How is he so casual right now?
“Then… why? What other value do I have?”
Taran sighs, pushing his hands off his knees as he towers above me, my eyes level with his chest. My shoulders tense as I step back.
He could crush me.
“Despite what you may think, I have no qualms with your people,” he says.
“Twenty-one years ago, our queen—the one who led the war against you—was uncrowned and exiled to your lands. I have reason to think that she has returned and stolen the throne. While she was here, we believe she placed a curse on you, and it’s my hope that the reason for that curse makes you”—his brow furrows as if he’s struggling to find the proper words—“well-positioned to help me prevent a war between our realms.”
He nods, clearly satisfied with his explanation.
I am not.
“What does that even mean? I’m not under a fae curse.”
“You are. It has caused you to forget much of the last three weeks.”
“That’s ridiculous!”
“Didn’t they teach you fae can’t lie?” he asks, and I shoot him a glare. “I’m told you attended an equinox ball. Try to remember it.”
I huff, in no mood to humor his nonsense. I turn to walk away, but a spike of pain in my legs stops me after two steps.
“Fine.” He tosses his hands up. “Do what you want. I’m going to collect firewood.”
“No need.” With three simple incantations, I sprout a small bush, dehydrate it, and engulf it in flames.
Taran scowls at the fire, then at me, the flames reflecting the heat in his eyes. He storms to the opposite side of the blaze, hurling his pack to the ground.
Satisfied with my display, I settle down where I am. But try as I might, his words keep sneaking into my mind. I did go to the ball. Alexis and I went together. She met up with Oliver, and I followed her in…
My stomach twists, and my hand shoots to my mouth to cover my reaction. I glance Taran’s way—he’s too busy beating his pack into the shape of a pillow to have noticed.
I don’t actually remember entering the ball. In fact, the more I think about it, I don’t remember anything until the next morning when I was in class with Reid. I don’t even remember walking there.
“Let’s say you’re right about this queen putting a curse on me.”
“I almost certainly am.”
Fortune preserve me, this man…
“Why did she?”
Taran doesn’t respond immediately. It would seem his limitations on lying make him very deliberate about everything he says, but his expression’s unreadable in the darkness.
“I do not believe I could venture a guess without potentially triggering the curse and risking you forgetting this entire conversation. Which I would prefer not to do.”
“Because you want me to help you fight this queen and stop her from invading Landore again?”
“I don’t expect you to fight her.”
The fire pops as I lean closer. “Then how am I of any use? You claim it has nothing to do with my father, but he’s the only thing that’s special about me. And if you think he won’t go to war because you have me as a hostage, I’m afraid you’re sorely mistaken.”
“I’m not sure why you’re questioning my motives. I’ve explained them to you—I can’t lie.”
His tone sends my blood boiling. “But you fae like to twist your words around, speaking technical truths that hide your deceptions.”
At that, he pushes himself up from his relaxed position, the firelight illuminating the harsh curl of his upper lip.
“What would you know? When was the last time you, or anyone you’ve ever met, knowingly spoke to a fae? What do your people actually know of us?” His eyes narrow. “Believe the lies you tell yourself all you like. They’re the only ones you’ve heard tonight.”
He hits his bag forcefully, causing me to flinch, then takes another gulp from his waterskin before lying with his back to me. “Now go to sleep before I make you sleep.”
Considering I have no idea how he forced me to follow him here, I do not want to test that threat.
My bag full of books is nearly impossible to shape into something comfortable for my head, but I try anyway, then give his back one last glare before I curl myself into a tight ball on the cold, hard ground.
My stomach churns at the thought of what morning will bring.
Fae are the enemy, their words riddled with tricks, so I shouldn’t believe anything he said.
More than that, I don’t want to. It would mean that everything I’ve been taught, everything between humans and fae, the wars…
It’s all more complicated than I ever imagined.
And for the first time in my life, there’s no one to tell me what to do next.