He turned to face her, eyes narrowed with suspicion. “What is this about?”
She looked from him to her two friends. Cora returned to walking while keeping a slight distance behind them. Maiya looked over her shoulder with a questioning glance before casting her gaze ahead.
“Gisele told you we were attacked by hunters.”
He nodded.
“They weren’t just any hunters, Roije. They’d captured…” She gulped a few times, gathering the courage to say what she knew would sound crazy to him. “They had a unicorn in an iron cage. It looked starved. I witnessed one of the hunters lash another unicorn with an iron-barbed whip.”
Roije made no outward sign that he was surprised. Or perhaps it was only that he didn’t believe her.
“I’m telling the truth, Roije. You can ask Maiya. We both saw it. We—” She almost confessed they’d ridden the unicorn, but that seemed too unbelievable to admit. “I know it sounds crazy, but we have to do something. We need to stop them. We must tell the elders.”
He halted in place and faced her. “No.” His tone was neither sharp nor unkind. It was more…tired.
“What do you mean, no? This is a matter of the fae. If anyone should care, it’s the Faeryn. The Forest People might no longer be of pure Faeryn blood, but their heritage is fae, just like the unicorns. It’s a matter of magic?—”
“No, Cora,” he said, expression sagging with grief. “While it may involve fae creatures, it is a royal matter, not a Faeryn one.”
Cora took a step back, taking in his posture, his feelings of defeat that began to seep into her. “You already know.”
He nodded. “I spied the hunters on my way to camp. I saw them with their…their prey. I also saw whose sigil they bore on their coat sleeves.”
Ice filled Cora’s blood, battling the heat of her rage that always sparked when she thought of Morkai.
“Duke Morkai is too powerful. Facing him or his agents would be equal to facing the king. You know why we can’t do that.”
Cora swallowed back every argument. She knew he was right. The Forest People served no crown, recognized no king. If King Dimetreus—or anyone loyal to him—learned of the commune’s existence, knew that a group of nomads lived on the king’s soil paying no taxes, no dues…the Forest People would be hunted. Forced into modern society at best. Exterminated at worst. That was the very reason the commune swore never to get involved with royal matters. Never cross paths with agents of the crown. Never engage in anything that could draw the crown’s attention.
“Did you tell anyone?” Cora asked.
“I met with the elders this morning and told them what I’d seen. They won’t directly interfere.”
Tears pricked Cora’s eyes as she remembered the skinny brown unicorn. She could still feel his sorrow. Then there was the white unicorn, who turned his grief into rage, fought against his captors, and risked getting caught just to free one of his kind. Risked his life to save Cora and Maiya. “There must be something we can do.”
He shook his head. “You need to forget what you saw. You more than anyone need to stay away from those hunters.”
It took a few seconds to feel the weight of his words. Echoes of his earlier warning pounded through her head. “What do you mean by that? Why me more than anyone?”
He started walking again. “You know why.”
Cora stared after him. He was halfway back to catching up with the others when Cora tugged his sleeve. “Tell me what you mean.”
He rounded on her and stuffed his hand beneath his coat. When he brought it back out, a crumpled piece of paper was crushed in his fist.
“What is that?”
Without a word, he handed it to her.
Cora felt the blood leave her face as she unfolded the paper. Once she’d smoothed it flat, she squinted at what she beheld. It was hard to make out at first, with the night so dark, but soon her eyes followed the lines of black that formed the sketch. It was a female face. Long hair. Lightly rounded jaw. Almond-shaped eyes.
The paper shook violently in her hands as she stared at her own face, the likeness as accurate as her reflection. Above her head, bold letters spelledWantedwhile the script below the portrait read:For the murders of Queen Linette and Princess Aveline. Reward: 500,000 goldsovas.
Sovaswere the highest form of currency on the continent. The sum was considered a fortune. Her eyes fell on what was written beneath that.Wanted alive and turned over to the crown.
Cora dropped the paper and lurched a step back. “Where did you get that?”
He picked it up and stuffed it back in his coat. “In Kubera. The signs were…everywhere.”
