“Oh, gods,” said Archie with a groan as he opened his eyes in a squint. “Is it always like that for you?”
No, said Damaris with some amusement. Then, somewhat apologetically, I forget you are not used to magic.
“I’m sure I’ll get used to it,” said Archie weakly. “I didn’t mean to disturb you. There was no emergency. I was just trying to see if I could reach you.”
It is good practice. It becomes more important you can still speak with me when I am not here.
“I wanted to see if you knew about the Midwinter Hunt. It escaped my mind because I don’t usually participate, but I’ve been invited by my cousin, Prince Jasper.”
You are royalty?Damaris sounded puzzled.
“I suppose, but not in any way that matters. The king is my father’s cousin so we’re second cousins. Between my aunts and uncles and their children, I think I’m around twenty-second in line for the throne, but if it came down to our branch I’d much rather Ollie or Estelle had it.”
You do not call Ixthan ‘cousin’.
“The demon princes are forbidden from being considered for the line of succession. But he is cousin through his father as much as Jasper, I suppose,” said Archie. There was a thought to consider.
To prevent any demon queens laying a claim on your lands.Damaris was quick to understand.What is the Midwinter Hunt?
“The King organizes an annual hunt to coincide with the outbreak of demon activity at midwinter. They tend to possess animals, so they can be hunted with bows and arrows the usual way. I’ve never been, but I’ve seen some of the trophies and they’re grotesque. Last year there was a rabbit the size of a horse with red bleeding eyes, and the year before there was a deer with bird beaks and six ears. Now that I know more about demons, I wonder if it’s the demon trying to regain its natural form.”
Damaris laughed, a rich sound that vibrated all the way down Archie’s throat.An outbreak? That is a fiction. Those must be demons are summoned by your mages.
“What!” Archie had been puttering around his room, getting ready for bed early, and had to freeze with that news. He flicked a glance at the door, and lowered his voice. “There’s no demon outbreak?”
It requires a great deal of power to break through the walls between the worlds. Even I, at the height of my power, was reduced to thoughts and shadows for months when I made it through. Weak demons would destroy themselves, they simply fizzle out of existence if they do not have enough substance to pass. Some may make it across but lose all semblance of self, like wild animals. There are none, bar the demon queens, who could cross at midwinter and be powerful enough still to be a threat. The only way would be if your mages summoned demons directly into animals.
Archie pondered this for a moment. “You know, I’ve never thought about how strange it must be to have half-demon sons and also hunt demons every year. So, it’s a deliberate ploy? Why, what purpose would that serve?”
I have heard of the hearsay that the demon queens have some way of banishing their captured enemies. This will be interesting.Damaris sounded almost admiring. He didn’t sound disgusted at all by the idea of attending an event that was hunting down his fellow demon, which was what Archie had been concerned about. Things like political machinations and secrets the King was keeping were beyond him to think about, and he put them firmly out of mind.
More within his wheelhouse was responding to Jasper's invitation. Archie scribed a delighted acceptance in his best handwriting, and then went to stare at his wardrobe. He was going to have to ask Father for new riding clothes, a prospect that made him wince now he knew they were in poor financial shape, or beg Charlie to lend his. Gods, he was going to have to borrow a horse too, since Charlie would likely want Thunder, the single riding horse they kept in town, to attend himself.
The Hunt was a great opportunity for those more athletically inclined. Young men who had been cooped up indoors in the bad weather with their usual hunting prey all hibernating would turn up with great cheer. There would follow a week of riding, camping (or, more often, returning home for creature comforts), and hunting, with great fuss being made of the demonic trophies. Whatever strange, eerie mutations the demon host gave the poor animal lived on in ghost tales for the rest of that year until the next Hunt.
Charlie had managed to get a bird once, small with bat wings, that he’d had stuffed and kept on display in his rooms at home, and talked about it for years. Archie, on the other hand, had adequate horsemanship and shooting skills, as were expected of any noble's son, but since living in the city he hadn't participated in anything more strenuous than a gentle ride around the park in years.
Eventually, Midwinter arrived. The delicate frost of the mornings solidified into a crust of ice that rimmed the ground, making walking anywhere a treacherous state. Along with the sheet of cloud in the sky, the city was a pale gray as far as the eye could see. Near the palace, servants scrubbed the paths clean of ice for everyone, but as Archie rode further out towards themeeting point, the roads turned into mud and slush. The brisk wind whipped at his face, the only part of him exposed.
It was Ollie who had lent him a set of riding leathers in the end, a plain brown that hid the way the leather was comfortably worn and cracked. They certainly suited him better than Charlie's, which were a dusty pink trimmed with gold this season. Ollie was broader than him in almost every aspect, but that was barely noticeable with the outfit completed with his own boots, gloves and a heavy cloak that kept him warm enough.
But it turned out that Archie had little space to worry about his wardrobe, because Damian had received a separate invitation from Prince Jasper and that was thoroughly more concerning. It wasn't the only invitation Damian had received, since Damaris was turning up at more and more gatherings to cement Earl Lymond as a real person in people's minds, but it seemed suspicious nevertheless. They’d expected a conflicting invite from Ixthan, but nothing materialized there so at least Archie didn’t have to worry about being seen taking sides.
"Will you ride? Or, you know..." Archie had asked, trying to get his mind around the unsettling idea of Damaris forming his shadows into the shape of Damian-on-a-horse but all together. The image of that merged Damian-on-a-horse must have leaked out to Damaris, for he laughed hard at it, Damian dissipating in a burst of shadows as he lost control over his form.
If you are inclined, I could take that shape to ride you.
"No!" Archie had nearly shouted, his face instantly aflame.
They'd got distracted after that, and Archie had forgotten to follow up so he was pleasantly surprised when, coming up to the edge of the city, he came across Damian on a what seemed to be a real horse. It was a blue-black, so impossibly dark that Archie wondered for a moment if it was another demon, and larger than Archie's dappled gray by at least a couple of hands. Damian saluted Archie lazily as he nudged the horse to match their step.
"Where did you get him?" asked Archie, taking the opportunity to admire not just the horse but the sight of Damian astride him. His leathers matched the deep brown of his hair and fit him so snugly that Archie had to remind himself that it was not real.
"Borrowed from Ixthan’s stables. He has good eye for horseflesh and I guessed his horses would be familiar with the smell of demons and magic," said Damian as they made their way out of the city gates. "I suppose I shall have to repay him a favor at some point."
They were one of those first to arrive at Prince Jasper's camp. Nobles generally weren't early risers, especially in the dim mornings of winter, but Jasper himself was already there and apparently in good spirits. They had time to observe him as they rode up the long clearing to where the tents were stationed.
The Crown Prince was a sturdy man of almost thirty, a fact lamented by his mother that he still had not wed yet at this great age. His hair was tinged with the slight rust of his mother's and threatened to curl like his father's though he kept it trimmed short enough to be barely noticeable. His beard was cropped neatly and, to Archie's relief, he was also wearingsensible practical hunting gear. The last two years, Jasper had emerged from the woods with several trophies from the Hunt, so Archie had taken a gamble that he took the hunting portion more seriously than the festivities, and it looked like he had been correct.
