Raewyn tensed her shoulders and let them fall.
“Or, if she manages to escape the dungeon, she might be able to rescind the cure.”
I bit my lip, chewing it as I tried to decide whether it would do more harm than good to tell Raewyn what I knew—the Earthwife alreadyhadescaped the dungeon.
“Sorcha is far behind us,” I assured her.
“But who knows, her magic might work, even from a distance,” Raewyn said. “I’m afraid for him. She promised that if I failed to carry out… my assignment, things would be even worse than they were before.”
She cast another quick glance back at her family.
“Honestly, they were so bad I can hardly imagine what worse would look like—unless it’s unrelenting agony for my papa.”
There were no Elves with long-lasting battle wounds or chronic pain, not of the physical sort anyway. Our healers were able to repair almost any damage inflicted by violence or injury.
Death was permanent of course, but anything short of it could be healed.
That didn’t help humans like Wyll Hennessey. I could see now how Raewyn could become desperate enough to make an open-ended deal with a witch.
She loved her family as much as I loved mine—two thirds of mine. I couldn’t imagine my father enduring any amount of pain or even inconvenience for his children.
By necessity, our lives had always revolved around his, but I was beginning to lose my tolerance for the way he did things.
As I’d told the girls in response to their inquisition, I was a full-grown man. And whether my father ever found out about my “treason” or not, it was time I manned up and started living my own life.
After getting the Hennessey family settled in a region far from the King’s reach, maybe I wouldn’t return to Seaspire.
Maybe I’d go spend some time farther north at Stormcrest, my own castle by the sea. And maybe, as Stellon had assured me, the right girlwouldcome along for me.
Unfortunately, as Raewyn herself began to doze and eventually to relax back against my body, I was overwhelmed by the gut reaction that the right girl was already here, in my arms.
Chapter14
Murdering Saplings
Raewyn
We rode for weeks, traveling by night and camping during the day in remote areas.
It had been at least a week since we’d seen another living soul, apart from the wildlife and a lone dragon we spotted flying high above.
My family and I slept in the tent while Pharis slept alone, out in the elements. At times it rained, and I worried for him, but he didn’t complain, insisting the weather didn’t bother Elves the way it bothered humans.
The tent wasn’t large enough for all of us anyway. The quarters were tight, more suitable for two than four.
Occasionally, I thought about the fact that Pharis had brought it along in the first place.
At my cottage door that morning, he’d said that he’d come to get me out of there, planning for the two of us to flee the approaching troops.
Apparently he’d intended this small tent to provide shelter for the two of us?
Each morning when we stopped, the girls and I foraged for food to supplement the Elven raff while Papa rested. Unfortunately, his condition had worsened with each passing day.
The pain was increasing, though he steadfastly denied it.
Pharis hunted, bringing back small game to roast over the Auspex fire.
The girls began to treat him like a big brother, climbing all over him when he’d sit down and begging him to play chase and tell them exciting stories about Fae Court life.
