But she did love him. Despite everything, or perhaps because of everything, she loved this cruel, complex creature who'd shown her tenderness he didn't understand. Who'd made her a crown because he couldn't name his feelings. Who was destroying her now because she'd wounded him in the one way he didn’t believe he could forgive.
He turned his back on her, addressing the court. "She is no one. She is nothing. Come dawn, she's prey for any who can catch her."
The vines released her at last, retreating back into the floor. She knelt there in her beautiful dress, surrounded by predators, as Eliam walked towards his throne without so much as a backwards glance. Every step he took away from her felt like another piece of her soul being torn away.
"Run," he said at last, pausing but still not turning to look at her directly. "Run far and fast, little thief. Because when the sun rises, even I won't be able to save you from what follows."
The court parted as she struggled to her feet. She waited, hoping for... something. Mercy. Forgiveness. A sign that what they'd shared had meant anything.
But Eliam settled back on his throne, staring straight ahead, as if she'd already ceased to exist.
So she did as he commanded.
She ran.
Through the ballroom doors, past shocked servants, her beautiful garnet dress catching and tearing on corners as she fled. The crystal thorns that had been her armor shattered and fell like dark stars in her wake. Behind her, she could hear the court's laughter rising to follow her. Their excited planning. Someone was already taking bets on who would catch her first.
Dawn would come too soon.
And when it did, she would be hunted by every fae in the realm. By creatures who saw her as sport, as entertainment, as meat.
The warmth in her chest pulsed wildly, reaching back toward the throne room, toward him. But there was no answer. No reciprocal pull. Whatever connection they'd shared was severed as completely as the circlet he'd crushed.
Just the cold knowledge that she had destroyed everything.
And now she would pay the price.
Chapter thirty-three
The sun rose, and with it came the hunting horns.
Briar pressed herself deeper into the hollow log, trying to still her ragged breathing. Her beautiful garnet dress was in ruins, torn by thorns, muddied from falls, the careful embroidery pulled apart by grasping branches. Blood seeped from dozens of small cuts on her arms and feet. She'd lost the delicate shoes hours ago.
The hunting horn sounded again, closer this time. They weren't even trying to be subtle about it.
She could hear voices carrying through the morning mist, excited and eager. Someone laughed, high and bright, and she recognized Lady Rosewing from court. The same fae who'd curtsied to her just last night was now hunting her for sport.
Move, she told herself.Youhave to keep moving.
But her body wouldn't cooperate. She'd been running all night, using every trick she'd learned in her short time at court. Crossing streams to break her scent trail. Climbing trees only to drop down and double back. But she was human, and they were fae. It was only a matter of time.
The warmth in her chest pulsed steadily, still reaching back toward the castle. Toward him. Even now, even after everything, it pulled toward Eliam with desperate intensity. She pressed her hand against it, trying to quiet the sensation.
“I'm sorry,” she whispered to the connection that would die with her in these woods.
Another horn, from a different direction. They were spreading out, creating a net. The fae were smart, patient creatures. They had three days to find her, after all.
She thought of Eliam on his throne, cold and remote as he'd cast her out. Wondered if he was out here too, hunting with the rest. Or if he'd stayed behind, washing his hands of her entirely.
The thought hurt worse than all her physical wounds combined.
Something rustled in the underbrush nearby. Too deliberate to be the wind, but too careful to be an animal.
Briar held her breath, pressing herself smaller into the hollow log.Please, she prayed to any gods that might listen to a human in fae lands.Please just let it pass by.
“I smell fear,” a voice sing-songed. "Fear and blood andhumanity. What a delicious combination."
Footsteps circled her hiding spot. They were unhurried, whoever it was knew she was there.
