She crouched before him, green eyes not quite meeting his. Instead, her gaze seemed fixed on something near him. Close, yet not quite him.
‘You ought to be more careful,’ she muttered, the words lilting like a breeze over a blade, as she idly turned a sharp dagger between her fingers.
Kage’s eyes flicked upward, noting the small antlers nestled in her hair. Modest in height, their size betraying her youth.
A sudden blast of green magic shrieked through the air, hurtling straight for the girl. With no sign of alarm, she raised her arm in defence. Kage’s eyes caught the glint of the vambraces she wore, crafted from elbow to wrist, and the moment the witch’s spell collided with them, the leather flared with a golden shimmer. The shield didn’t merely deflect the magic, it absorbed it entirely. But before Kage could further study the marvel, the girl had already turned in one fluid motion and sent her dagger flying.
It struck its mark with a merciless thud, buried deep in thewitch’s forehead.
Kage said nothing as the body crumpled to the ground, lifeless and soundless.
‘Rio!’ a voice cried out from behind.
The girl exhaled, clearly exasperated, and rose just as a small party of Fae appeared, Arden striding at their head. He rushed to Kage’s side, gripping his arm to help him upright.
‘Are you hurt?’ he asked.
Kage shook his head, still breathless. Then Arden’s attention snapped to the girl. He paused for a moment, his expression softening with something between awe and reverence. He stepped forward, took her hand gently, pressed a kiss to her knuckles, and then laid her fingers against his brow. Kage recognised the gesture from his readings. A sacred Fae custom, the highest form of respect: a kiss of loyalty followed by a mark of honour upon one’s own forehead.
Arden turned and gave Kage a look. ‘Introduce yourself.’
‘Why?’ Kage muttered.
‘Don’t be rude,’ Arden mumbled playfully beneath his breath.
The girl—Rio—paid them no attention whatsoever.
‘Have all the witches been dealt with?’ she asked, her tone sharp as a drawn blade.
‘Yes, your highness,’ one of the Fae soldiers replied with a bow.
Kage took a moment to properly study her. He had only ever met King Florian’s three eldest daughters during his visit to the drakonian court. The youngest two, however, had remained behind in the Fae lands. And now, standing before him in all her quiet might, was the fourth-born child of the king.
Rio Hawthorne.
‘Kage Blackburn,’ he said, inclininghis head with a respectful bow. ‘House of Shadows.’
But even as the words left his mouth, he caught the wary glances exchanged among the Fae. Their silence was not one of indifference, but of judgement, of suspicion poorly veiled.
The girl made no reply. She didn’t so much as look at him. Instead, she turned on her heel and began to stride away, pausing only to lift her chin and breathe in the wind.
‘We must make haste,’ she declared, her voice as crisp as the air that stirred her dreadlocks. ‘The winds are shifting. By dawn, this entire place will be ash. We return to the survivors.’
‘Yes, your highness,’ one of the Fae murmured, already moving.
Just before she vanished entirely into the descending walkways of the tree, she stopped once more and said, without turning her head, ‘Bring the Black Lotus and the wyverian with us.’
And then she was gone, slipping into the branches and shadows like smoke on the wind.
…
The moment Kage and Arden descended and passed beneath the twin wooden columns that marked the threshold of the Forest of Endless Trees, they were guided between the trees where they were met with the sight of a makeshift camp, hurriedly constructed, as though summoned by desperation rather than design. The wounded lay scattered on rough pallets, their soft moans rising like the murmurs of ghosts beneath the boughs, while healers moved swiftly between them, offering balm and comfort where they could.
‘We had already begun our retreat,’ the princess explained, her tone brisk as they wove through the chaos, ‘but we returnedfor one final sweep when we heard the commotion.’ She exhaled sharply, the sound heavy with regret. ‘The witches struck two days past. My mother and sister escaped in time. My father… did not.’ A pause. ‘I was returning from Velunthar when it happened.’
‘And the queen?’ Arden asked. ‘Is she here?’
Rio stopped, turning just enough for her antlers to catch the light. ‘She is safe. That is all you need know.’
