Helios lifted his brows. “Or what?”
Teryn held his gaze. “Or we’ll leave.”
“You won’t.”
“I will. I am tired of being?—”
“Tired.” Helios scoffed. “Of course you’re tired. You’re too soft. Almost as soft as Lexington.”
Lex sat upright. “How many times have I told you not to call me Lexington?”
“I’ll stop calling you Lexington when you stop dressing in silk shirts. We’re hunting. Not dancing.”
Lex’s fingers went to the silk collar of his stained shirt. Over it, he wore a brocade waistcoat that had grown equally filthy in the last week. “I like silk. It feels better on my skin than linen or leather.”
“Who cares about Lex’s wardrobe,” Teryn said before Helios could speak again. “What matters is that this alliance has become a joke, one I’ll no longer be on the receiving end of. If you need our help so badly, then tell us what you know.”
“Why? So the two of you can cut ties with me and run off to finish the Heart’s Hunt on your own?” He huffed a dark laugh. “Do you think I don’t know? You’ve been planning on betraying me from the start. I’ll not give you the fuel to light my pyre.”
Teryn crossed his arms over his chest and watched Helios through slitted lids. He was only partially right. While Teryn hoped he and Lex could eventually outmaneuver Helios, he seemed to think they had a solid plan to do so. “You must give us something,” Teryn said, keeping his tone level. “Give us a reason to trust you and we’ll return the trust in equal measures.”
A tic formed at the corners of Helios’ jaw, but he said nothing.
Teryn shook his head at the prince. “Is it all a front then? Are you keeping silent because in truth you know nothing? Have you truly seen a unicorn before? Hunted one? Or did you buy that pretty ridged blade from a toy shop?” Teryn waved a hand at Lex. “Pack up. Let’s go.”
Lex’s eyes went wide. “Seriously? Oh, thank the seven gods?—”
“Stop.” Helios held out a hand toward Lex, stilling him. Keeping his glower fixed firmly on Teryn, he said, “I’ll tell you some…things. But I will not share all my intel for obvious reasons.”
“Tell us what you can,” Teryn said with a shrug. “If we deem your information worthy, we’ll stay.”
Helios’ jaw continued to tic, his glare darkening with rage as his knuckles went white around the hilt of the knife he’d been sharpening. Teryn’s fingers flinched, his hand ready to lunge for his sword?—
“Very well,” Helios bit out and finally dropped Teryn’s gaze. “I’ll answer three questions.”
Teryn wanted to argue that three questions wouldn’t suit. They needed to know more. Still, at least it was something. “Where are we going?” he asked. “And don’t just say north. You have a destination in mind, otherwise we wouldn’t be traveling at such a pace.”
Helios glared at the fire as he spoke. “My destination isn’t as clear as you think, but we are heading north, for that is the only place we’ll likely find unicorns. I haven’t been surprised that we’ve yet to come across any on our travels, which is why we only hunt briefly before making camp.”
“How do you know there are no unicorns south?”
“Because Duke Morkai has hired hunting parties to keep all unicorns contained in a specific area.”
Teryn blinked a few times, surprised both by what he said and the fact he’d said it. It was the most detail he’d gotten out of Helios yet. Teryn pondered the information. Duke Morkai was said to be the second most powerful man in Khero, the first being King Dimetreus. While Teryn didn’t know the duke personally, he understood that the man had great influence with King Dimetreus. He opened his mouth to ask another question, ask how Helios knew this and what the duke’s intentions were, but Teryn was on his third and final question. He’d have to pick something that couldn’t be answered by his own reasonable deductions. If he had to guess why the duke was herding the unicorns to a specific area, it would be because he sought to gain a monopoly on them. If unicorns were truly alive and flourishing, it made sense he’d try and capitalize on that. So Teryn chose a different question.
“How did you come by that blade?” Teryn nodded at Helios’ hip where the strange dagger was sheathed.
Helios set down his knife and took out the weapon in question. The white blade caught the light of the fire, sending the dagger sparkling. This was only the second time Teryn had seen the dagger, and he wasn’t any less awed than he’d been the first time. It served as a reminder of why he’d been immediately convinced of its authenticity. This simply wasn’t a normal blade.
“A year ago,” Helios said, “my father was gifted a pelt by a hunter claiming it belonged to a unicorn that was found at the southern edge of my kingdom. He claimed he’d tried to gift the horn as well, but it crumbled to ash in his hands when he removed it from the dead creature. Father dismissed the gift as a hoax, but a few months later, our spies learned of rumors about unicorns being spotted in the Kingdom of Vinias. I forged a treaty with the King of Vinias, gaining permission to hunt his lands. The rumors proved true. We caught several of the creatures just north of the border between Vinias and Khero, but like the first hunter had claimed, every attempt at removing the horn rendered it useless. We knew it was possible, for there were unicorn horn items being sold at exorbitant prices by a merchant in eastern Khero. So I sent men to find the merchant, then his supplier, and…ask nicelyfor the information I sought.” His lips curled into a smirk as he shifted the dagger this way and that, sending it glittering again. “I took this from the next unicorn I found. It was, unfortunately, the last unicorn I ever saw for Duke Morkai had taken control over the hunt by then.”
Teryn stared at the white blade, biting back the flurry of questions that sprang to his lips. He was relieved to finally knowsomething, but it still wasn’t enough. “I take it you have no intention of telling us how you finally obtained the horn without it turning to ash.”
Helios gave Teryn a curt nod. “Right you are. You will know after we find our first unicorn.”
Teryn gritted his teeth. “In the meantime, we head north until we hit thisspecific areaand hope we find a unicorn?”
“A unicorn,” Helios said, sheathing the white blade, “or one of the hunting parties.”
