Bolduc dismounted and pulled Issylte brusquely from her saddle. He grabbed her forearm, restraining her at his side. Her legs were shaking so badly she could barely stand. Her heart was in her throat. What were they going to do?
Cian led Luna away from her, tying the mare to a tree. He tethered the other two horses nearby. Bolduc clenched her arm.
Her body quivered. Fear tightened her stomach, and a wave of nausea rose to her throat.
She couldn’t outrun two grown men, nor could she untie Luna and leap onto her back without being captured again. She was at the mercy of these two huntsmen. Perhaps if she screamed, the other guards might hear…
As if sensing her thoughts, Cian barked, “No sense calling for the royal guards, Your Majesty. The queen made sure her own loyal knights would be posted today. We obey her orders.”
The queen replaced the guards? That’s why Liam didn’t come. Dear Goddess, what is happening?
Rustling leaves sounded from the forest behind them. Issylte whirled around, certain that wolves had tracked them.
Bolduc released her arm, then quickly withdrew his bow from his back. In rapid succession, with deadly accuracy, he nocked and fired two lethal arrows.
Issylte sensed the thud as the body of a stag fell to the ground before them. Bolduc’s arrows had found their mark. One wasembedded in the deer’s eye socket and the other in its neck. The magnificent beast lay lifeless at her feet.
The queen’s huntsmen exchanged a meaningful glance. Cian nodded.
Bolduc withdrew his dagger and began to carve up the stag. Bewildered and terrified, Issylte could not comprehend what was happening, nor could she control the tremors in her legs.
The burly, dark Lord Cian removed his hat from his head and placed it across his chest. He knelt before her, his dark eyes filled with regret.
“Your Majesty, we cannot obey. The queen sent us here today with orders to kill you. To make it appear as if there’d been an accident. She told us to say that we’d taken you along the coastline to show you the sea. That your horse had reared—frightened by crumbling rocks along the cliff. That you were thrown from your palfrey, cast into the sea, and despite hours of frantic search, we had been unable to find your body.”
He took hold of Issylte’s ice cold hand and kissed it. Still on his knees, he looked up at her, shaking his head in shame. “The queen demanded that we take you deep into the forest, cut out your heart, and bring it back to her as proof that we’d obeyed. She said your riderless horse would return to the castle, and King Donnchadh would hear of the tragic death of his only child. Soon, word would spread throughout the land that Princess Issylte had perished in a terrible accident.” He kissed her hand again. “But…Your Highness, we cannot obey.”
Issylte collapsed to her knees, her mouth trembling uncontrollably. She turned first to Cian, then to Bolduc, who was still carving the corpse of the deer.
The stark realization hit her like a blow to the stomach.
Her stepmother had ordered her death. They had brought her here to kill her.
To cut out her heart!
Issylte vomited into the decaying leaves. When she finally finished retching, she wiped her mouth with the cloth that Cian offered.
Overcome with emotion, she covered her face with her hands and sobbed.
Cian’s deep voice was soothing. “Your Majesty, we simply cannot kill you, but neither can we return to the queen empty-handed. Bolduc is cutting out the heart of this stag. We’ll offer it to the queen as proof that we obeyed.”
Bolduc strode over, the stag’s heart in his hand. He took a cloth from his pouch, wrapped the heart in it, and placed it in his saddlebag. Issylte was still on her knees, disheveled, shaking, and crying.
“You must never return to the castle, Your Highness. The queen will believe that you are dead, but you must stay hidden, so she will never discover the truth. If she were to learn that yet you live, she would have you hunted down and killed, and execute both Cian and myself.” Bolduc knelt beside Cian, the two huntsmen humbled before her.
Issylte lifted her tear-stained face. “But…what can I do? I can’t return to the castle. Where can I possibly go?”
Cian rose to his feet and extended his hand to help raise Issylte as well. Bolduc stood up beside them.
She smoothed her tangled hair, brushing leaves and twigs off her gown. She wiped her eyes and looked imploringly at Cian. He gestured to a stream which flowed through the forest nearby.
“See this stream, Princess? It leads through the forest to a stone cottage which is well hidden in the woods. An old woman lives there. Some call her a witch; others, the queen of the fairies. She has a good heart and is a gifted healer.” He removed a ring from his finger and unsheathed his dagger. With a tremulous smile, he gave them to Issylte. “Take this ring to the fairy witch. When she greets you at the door, offer it to her as payment foryour shelter. It is solid gold, which she can sell in the local village for the provisions you will need. Tell her how the queen tried to have you killed. The fairy witch will shelter you, not just because she has a kind heart, but because you are the king’s only child. The rightful heir to the throne. There will come a time when you’ll claim your birthright. In the meantime, you must keep your identity hidden. Queen Morag must never learn the truth.”
Issylte strapped Cian’s gifted dagger to her ankle and placed the gold ring in the bodice of her gown. She gazed into the kind eyes of the two noble huntsmen.
“I cannot thank you enough for your courage and kindness. I will never forget your act of bravery, Lords Cian and Bolduc. Someday, somehow, I will find a way to reward you. You have my solemn word.”
Cian and Bolduc each kissed her hand. They placed their right fists over their hearts in fealty and bowed their heads in homage.
