Chapter 35
JACOB
RUINE HOHENURACH
She simply vanished. How is that even possible?
I scour the forest until the first hints of dawn claw across the sky like skeletal fingers.
Finally, I drag my exhausted body to the turret, collapsing alongside the others.
Even Rumpelstiltskin's loud snoring doesn’t bother me.
I’m woken at dawn by someone shaking my body.
I crack my eyes open to see a frazzled prince, red hair sticking up on its ends, a dirt-smeared tunic, and a very black eye.
“Where’s Ella?” the prince asks, grabbing my shirt with both fists. “I haven’t seen her since we were talking on the roof.”
I wipe the sleep from my eyes. “Don’t know,” I say wearily, pushing his hands away. “She left. I looked for her all night. Even tracked her footprints. It’s as if she disappeared.”
“Or Wissen’s men captured her,” he exclaims. “We need to rescue her.”
What he means is I need to rescue her. I join my brother and Rumpelstiltskin in the courtyard. Wilhelm is tending the fire, his body healed, ready to hunt monsters. Meanwhile, Rumpelstiltskin is turning a roasted rabbit on a stick.
“That smells good,” I tell him, and my stomach agrees with a rumble.
“You think you’re going to get a bite of this, tyrant?” he asks me as he rips off a piece and hands it to Wilhelm.
I grin. I deserved that comment.
“You did well last night,” I say, settling on a rock by the flames to warm myself against the cool morning. “We’d have been in trouble if you hadn’t shown up with the horses. Thank you.”
He snorts a huff but remains oddly quiet. Or maybe he’s just too busy licking his fingers from the rabbit juice.
“So the girl is gone, huh?” Wilhelm says.
“We need to return to Wissen’s manor immediately and look for her,” Prince William says, pacing the courtyard. “You saw how dreadful a place that was.”
“Look at you,” Rumpelstiltskin tells the prince. “All doe-eyed over that girl.”
“What do you think?” I ask Wilhelm.
He stares at me with a look that makes my insides itch.
“It’s not what you think,” I tell Wilhelm hotly. “There must be another explanation.”
“Normal people don’t just disappear under a starry night,” Wilhelm says, and starts picking up our few belongings. “I wouldn’t worry too much over the girl, Your Highness. I’m sure she’s made it safely home. The important thing is for you to get back before your ball tonight.”
“The ball! How could I have forgotten?” Prince William fists his hands into his curls, clearly distraught. “Good point. What we should do is return to the castle and arrest Wissen now that we have evidence he was behind the weapons crime.”
My whole body wishes to abandon the prince and race back to Ella’s house to make sure she really is safe. I refuse to believe Wilhelm’s insinuation that she’s a Forbidden. Besides, she can’t be. She doesn’t have a mark.
“You’re completely right, Your Highness,” I say as I prep the horses. “Wilhelm will escort you back to your castle while I pay a visit to Ella von Maier’s manor and see if she found her way home.”
“Really?” Wilhelm shoots me an exasperated look. “Why am I never involved in these decisions?”
“At least he acknowledges your existence,” Rumpelstiltskin points out.
“Excellent idea!” Prince William slaps me on the shoulder as I mount Storm. “I will make this a royal decree. Once you have something to report, alert me as soon as possible.”
“You’re out of your control, Jacob,” Wilhelm warns me. “Watch yourself.”
I refuse to listen to his lectures this morning.
With a quick nod, I flick Storm’s reins and take off, retracing our tracks from last night back to the Echaz River.
Storm must sense my urgency because once we reach the open road, his hooves break into a gallop, never wavering.
I lean low, allowing the wind to wake me as I set my sights on Maier Manor.
When I arrive, I knock on the door, pacing as I wait. When no one answers, I head around the back. Maybe I can sneak in through the kitchen door. It’s hardly appropriate, but the moment I signed the Enchantress’s contract, I forfeited every rule of society.
When I reach the back of the house, my steps falter.
She’s here, standing beneath the hazel tree with her family.
Relief floods over me that she’s safe and unharmed.
It must have taken her all night to walk back without a horse.
It takes every ounce of control not to rush over and speak with her, but my arrival could only make things worse.
Why did she leave? None of it makes sense. Unless she’s afraid of me. A stone settles in my stomach. I never should’ve kissed her.