The unicorns. The mother. The child.
She knew Teryn wanted her to warn his father, but how could she hope to convince a king of anything? Now that she’d run away, Morkai would not be spreading tales of the princess who’d returned from the dead. That meant she was once again a fugitive. Still, that didn’t mean she could do nothing. Her meager existence had been such a threat to Morkai’s plans that he’d intervened with her fate. She didn’t know much about prophecies, but the faerytales had always insisted upon their persistence. Maybe her role wasn’t over yet. Maybe it had only changed.
It was a daunting thought. A terror. A burden.
But she’d faced terrors and she’d carried burdens. She could carry this one too.
She gripped Valorre’s mane tighter, her blood burning with resolve. “It’s time for me to go home.”
42
Teryn had no concept of day or night in his cell, but he knew the sun had risen when he heard footsteps marching down the hall. They were too swift to be a guard’s. Too confident to belong to anyone but Duke Morkai.
He rose to his feet as his cell door opened. Morkai strode in, a smug smile stretched across his face. It fell when he found only Teryn inside. Morkai’s gaze rested on Cora’s discarded gown. In a flash, the duke surged toward Teryn, bringing his cane against Teryn’s throat. “Where is she?”
Teryn fought to keep his composure despite his constricted airways. Even if he’d wanted to answer, the duke’s cane made it impossible.
Morkai seemed to come to the same conclusion and shoved away from him. His pale eyes flashed with rage. “Tell me.”
Teryn rubbed his throat, taking in heavy gulps of air. He shot the duke a smirk. “You said only one of us could remain alive by sunrise.”
Morkai took another step back, a vein pulsing in his temple. “She isn’t dead.”
“She could be,” Teryn said with a halfhearted shrug. It took all his effort to hide the truth of his feelings—the emptiness he felt at not knowing how Cora fared after her escape. His only consolation was that Morkai had no clue where she was. Which meant shehadescaped.
“What. Happened.” The duke said each word through his teeth.
“She walked straight through the wall and left me behind.”
Morkai froze.
“Oh, did you not know she’s a witch?”
“She’s more than a witch,” the duke ground out.
“Then did you underestimate her powers?”
Morkai lifted his chin, jaw clenched tight, but Teryn could see the hint of fear in his eyes. Hehadunderestimated her. The duke had expected to enter the cell and find them sitting at opposite ends, not daring to trust one another in light of Morkai’s bargain. Or perhaps he’d thought to find them huddled together, cowering with fear over what the duke would do to them come morning. Not once had Morkai considered Cora would use her magic to break herself out. The fact was written plainly across his face.
The realization filled Teryn with such satisfaction, he couldn’t stop the grin that spread over his lips. Teryn had never underestimated her. Had never seen her as anything but what he’d called her before she’d left.
Formidable.
She was a force to be reckoned with, a storm wind, an inferno. She was a wind-tossed sea and a snow-capped mountain. Beautiful like the edge of a blade.
Morkai didn’t see that, but Teryn did.
“Don’t look so smug, prince,” Morkai said. “Like you said, she left you behind.”
Teryn shrugged.
Returning to his carefully curated composure, Morkai planted his cane before him and folded his hands over the crystal. “Never mind the princess. I will find her again, have no doubts. My business is with you. Have you reconsidered my offer?”
“A night in the dungeon has done nothing to convince me to ally with you.”
“Are you certain? This is your final chance. I will send out my summons this morning. Ally with me, send a letter for your father, and I’ll award you with a personal guarantee that I’ll let you live even if your father refuses to surrender.”
“Can my letter say anything I choose?” Teryn already knew the answer but he couldn’t help baiting the duke with his own words.
