“You’re the only one agitating me. Next time you come across a human holding a weapon of any kind, you run. Understand? Otherwise, you can rescue your brethren on your own if you’re so tough.”
Valorre’s emotions contracted with something Cora couldn’t read. Then he conveyed,You care.
Her irritation softened. She reached for Valorre again, stroked his white fur. “Yes, Valorre, I care. You’re my…friend.” That was what she’d called him when she’d confronted the prince.
Friend. He seemed to take the word and roll it around in his mind before saying it again.Friend.
“Friends keep each other safe, no matter how tough the other thinks they are. So no more unnecessary heroics, all right? Save that for our rescue mission.”
All right.
Cora’s lips curled into a small smile. It had everything to do with Valorre and nothing—absolutely nothing—to do with stray thoughts of the aggravating prince she’d met at knifepoint.
* * *
Teryn,Lex, and Helios rode all afternoon. By the time they slowed their pace, night had fallen. The sky was dark, the forest quiet. The only sounds were swooping bats and the pound of their horses’ hooves. Teryn glanced up at the canopy of trees, trying to spot Berol flying overhead. If Teryn had to guess, the falcon was certainly making a meal out of the buffet of bats currently on display.
Helios made a clicking sound with his tongue, and his horse slowed to a stop. Teryn and Lex halted behind him as well. They’d left the main trail some time ago, and their current path was narrow, allowing only enough room to ride single file. Helios dismounted and crouched in front of his horse. He studied the path for a few silent moments, then snapped his fingers at Lex. “Lamp.”
Lex stared at him. “Seriously?”
“Lamp,” he said again, with more force this time.
With a grumble, Lex dismounted and retrieved the oil lamp from Helios’ saddle. Handing it to him, he said, “You could have done that yourself.”
Helios took it from him wordlessly and continued his study, seeking signs of the hunters they’d been tracking all evening. Teryn had insisted hours ago that they make camp for the night, but Helios refused, stating he had a plan. Like usual, Teryn and Lex were not let in on what exactly this plan entailed. Teryn had only been back at camp for an hour after his encounter with the unicorn girl when Helios returned from scouting. After relentless teasing over Teryn’s bloodied state—which Helios attributed to the hare Teryn had been in the process of skinning—Helios ordered them to mount and ride. He’d found the camp. “They have a unicorn,” he’d said, revealing some of the excitement Teryn had glimpsed when he’d shown them the first hoof print. He’d also mumbled something about another set of prints. Prints that made no sense because—again—they did not follow the others. He’d trailed these strange tracks. Lost them in a stream.
Teryn had nearly spoken the truth then, almost told him what had happened, why he’d had to set his nose and clean wounds on his neck and forearm.
But he hadn’t.
Instead, he’d kept quiet. Not even Lex knew the truth.
Now he smirked at Helios’ back. It felt good to know something Helios didn’t.
After studying the trail a few minutes longer, Helios gestured for Teryn to dismount as well. As soon as Teryn left the saddle, a dark shape swooped down from the trees, startling the horses. Teryn’s horse calmed first, as it was only Berol, coming to perch on Teryn’s saddle horn. Quinne was used to the falcon, but that didn’t mean the palfrey was immune to being startled by Berol from time to time.
“That thing is terrifying,” Lex said, hand clutched to his chest.
“You mean adorable.” Teryn reached up to stroke the falcon’s feathers. Berol nipped affectionately at his fingers, then set to preening.
“Both of you shut up,” Helios muttered.
Lex made a face behind Helios’ back.
They continued on foot at a moderate pace, punctuated by Helios’ observations. Finally, he seemed to find what he’d been looking for. “Stop here.” Helios began to rummage around in one of his saddlebags. As he withdrew his hand from the bag, he held a piece of parchment in his fist.
“Mind telling us what that is?”
Helios faced Teryn and Lex with a smug grin. “We’re going to have dinner with friends.”
* * *
The soundof voices fell upon Teryn’s ears. That was the second clue that told him they were nearing their target. The first had been a plume of smoke wafting over the trees—a campfire. He tightened his grip on his horse’s reins as he walked her through the underbrush, his muscles tensing with every step. Helios seemed fully confident in the plan he’d concocted, but Teryn wasn’t so sure. Helios had told them to follow his lead. Act cordial. Don’t gawk at any captive unicorns as if they’d never seen one before. When Teryn had pressed him to elaborate, Helios said only, “We dine. We sleep. Then in the morning, we take what we came for.”
Lex seemed even less comfortable with what they were about to do. Time and again he tried to catch Teryn’s eye with a pointed look, as if he hoped he’d intervene. But Teryn wouldn’t. He only had a small notion of what it would take to steal the captive unicorn, and he assumed it meant parting camp as friends and returning as foes, perhaps while most of the hunters were off on their hunt. There was no honor in such a ploy, and the prospect made his skin crawl. Still, he wouldn’t stop it. Not when he was so close to getting what he needed to save his kingdom from ruin.
Soon the light of the campfire shone through the trees. The conversation coming from inside the clearing was louder now. But as they closed the distance, the talk cut off. Their approach had been noted.
