A few times the wet stone caused a slip along the vines, but she always managed to catch herself. She was no stranger to climbing, and once she was close enough to the ground for her liking, she leaped, finally feeling the earth beneath her feet.
By the lightning’s fleeting illumination, Caramyn studied the great courtyard in which she found herself. A long path of those gleaming opal stones stretched out between rows of unkempt hedges and shrubs. What looked to be a grand fountain or sculpture formed a silhouette in the distance, but she couldn't be sure in the darkness. It would make sense that the Vaerwynd Queen’s room overlooked a rose garden. Asterious’ mother. The lost queen whose bedding and clothes she had just strung together to make her escape.
But she would never have had to do it if he hadn’t brought her here to begin with…
She paused to lean against a pillar beneath a decorative archway as the rain beat down, her thoughts swarming. "What has that arrogant ass done to me?"
She didn’t understand why the thought of leaving this castle—of leavinghim—made her hesitate. Perhaps it was the way he’d contradicted everything she thought she knew of the Lightborn King’s death, insisting it hadn’t been a Shadowblood who startedit all. Or perhaps because he’d talked about Shadow magic as though he knew its secrets, even while calling it wretched…
He was the wretched one, and yet she couldn’t ignore the pull of him, the uneasy hope he had kindled that he might hold answers to questions she’d been asking her entire life. Or she could be entirely wrong about everything. And the consequences of staying and being wrong were far greater than if she just left this all behind and accepted that she may never be meant to know the secrets of her impossible magic heritage…because the alternative was that he discovered her mark and killed her for it.
Her stomach twisted her stomach into knots. If she left, perhaps she could find a new refuge somewhere deep in those towering snowy mountains. Or she could stow away on a ship docked at Magoth. If the map she carried in her head was correct, the trading port should be just a day’s journey to the north. Or she could answer the call that kept beckoning her and return to those Woods to live out her days in darkness and isolation, never knowing who she truly was. Always wondering if she was meant for more…
She looked down at the sopping ground pooling around her feet, the reality setting in. She could be free. Free from all the tangled emotions the prince made her feel. Free from the burdens of being the Witch of the Shadow Woods. Free to step out from the weight of two conflicting destinies that should never have been hers to bear. If she’d just forget it all and leave…
Leave.
She squinted through the rain, looking for the stables to try her luck at stealing a horse. She thought perhaps a new horse that didn't recognize her wouldn't be so stubbornly loyal to the prince and would be willing to carry her away from here. It was worth a shot. Ignoring the wet chill seeping through her skin, she thought back to their arrival at the castle. A boy had emerged and led the horses away at the entrance gate.
That meant the stables were somewhere to the right of the castle’s entrance. Caramyn turned on her heels in the cover of night, darting around the side of the castle. The growling thunder and deafening rainfall left no room for her senses to listen for the sound of Nocthar following close behind, but she knew he'd manage to stay near, as always.
A small, subtle glow directed her attention to an opening in a structure she hadn't noticed upon arriving. The rain let up just enough as she made the glow out to be a lantern over a wheelbarrow and pitchfork tucked away beneath an overhang jutting out from the castle. It appeared that the stables were built into the side of the castle itself, not separately like she had expected. A twinge of discouragement stabbed at her heart.
The wall. Even if she could steal a horse, how would she get through it? The only exit was guarded and locked by those massive gates. The only way to get out of here undetected was up and over. And that meant she only had her own two feet.
So she disregarded any hope for a mount and stepped up to the ivy-covered wall that encompassed the palace. After one last glance back, she climbed, the wet stone gritty against her fingertips. When she reached the top, she perched herself there to catch her breath and looked out. Nothing but a landscape of night veiled by rain, sloping into a dark forest below.
You've survived this long. You've always survived. You will survive again.
But was surviving enough anymore? She asked herself as she began her descent down the other side. She brushed her uncertainty aside, and let herself drop to the ground below, landing on her feet with a splash that sent mud spattering. The storm had strengthened again. But she was on the other side of the wall now. Completely free.
Before she could take a step forward, a desperate raven's cry pierced through the howling wind and rain. It meant danger, orthat she'd been detected. She didn’t take the time to ask which. She sprinted forward, down the hill, headed for the cover of the forest below.
She only made it about ten strides before she felt the presence of…something. It loomed, somewhere in the shadows she couldn't see, but close enough that she could feel. It was trailing her. Stalking. The footfalls were heavy, menacing, and getting closer.
A crack of lightning split the dark, and in its glare, she saw it—a wolfish horror fit to prowl the underworld. It charged straight for her, jaws parted around saber-length fangs, solid eyes gleaming like cold moonlight. Even on all fours it stood taller than a horse, its massive paws armed with scythe-curved claws.
It ran with speed far swifter than any ordinary wolf, icy rain rolling down its stone-black fur as it came for her. She ran, nearly slipping in the mud, but the beast leapt in front of her with a vicious snarl that chilled Caramyn to the marrow. It swiped at her, and she twisted aside to dodge the blow, but the tip of its claws still caught the edge of her shoulder.
She winced at the burning sensation of torn flesh. Blood surfaced quickly in the pattern of four bright red streaks across her shoulder. Nocthar dove down, flying into the creature's face as it growled and snapped its jaws, buying Caramyn a moment to flee. She ran as fast as her legs could carry her, back toward the wall of the castle, though she expected this beast could easily scale the wall, too, and likely faster than she could.
Just as she reached the base, she heard the padded footfalls of the wolf-beast approaching, howling as it neared. The sound of her own thudding heart roared through her chest as she realized there were no vines to climb on this side of the wall, and she scrambled to find a foothold amongst the crumbling stone. She clawed her way up, her fingers bleeding as she dug her nails into the rock wall in desperation. Nocthar had held the creature offas long as possible, and now it was coming for her. There was no escape. This vicious creature was going to tear her to shreds right here, far from where her Shadow Woods could protect her.
It lunged for her, but she ducked and rolled away, sending the beast crashing into the wall, demolishing it like it was made of twigs. As the creature shook off the rubble, she used the chance to dart through the break in the wall. But she wasn't fast enough, especially as her soaked dress clung to her legs. The creature roared and took off again after her.
A yelp cut the beast's cries short. From somewhere Caramyn couldn't determine, an arrow fired into the beast's shoulder. It did little to injure it, but was enough to distract it before the distinct sound of hoofbeats broke through its angry snarls. A saddled horse galloped towards her, and she readied herself to leap onto it. The horse slowed to a trot in front of her, and she lunged forward, latching onto the saddle. Before she could hoist herself all the way up, the horse burst back into full speed and circled back around to the side of the castle, halting at the stables where a cloaked figure awaited her.
14
Terrin
Caramyn
Ahand reached out from underneath the cloak. A grip like cold steel seized her arm, pulling her off the horse and guiding her into the stable entrance. The horse followed, and the figure quickly pulled the large doors shut behind them.
The warmth of the stable surrounded Caramyn and fought off the chill in her bones. She breathed in the scent of hay, manure, and horse, taking in the sight around her. A long cobblestone hallway lay before her, with a dozen stalls on either side, each housing magnificent horses that watched her with curious perked ears. The rainstorm was now no more than a clatter ofsound beating down outside, as a trickle of water snaked along the floor beneath the doorway.
Caramyn's gaze followed the cloaked figure as they unstrung the longbow she presumed was used to shoot the beast. Watching carefully, she made a note of where they placed it in the corner by the door, beside the stack of hay bales towering to the ceiling—just in case she saw the chance to steal it later. Then she turned her attention to the cloaked stranger. "Who are you?"
