“I cursed the princes. I turned them into swans. You should probably keep your distance, or who knows what will happen to you.”
He narrowed his eyes, trying to make out her features in the pale moonlight. Her words, though threatening, were spoken without any real malice. Rather, she sounded…tired.
Broken.
She reminded him of an injured animal, baring its teeth in pain but really just wanting to be left in peace.
“Why?”
“Why what?”
Now that he was looking for it, he recognized her sarcasm for what it was—a defense mechanism.
“Why did you do it? You said the person who cast the curse wanted them to suffer.”
She laughed, the sound hollow and brittle. “I wanted them to feel the same pain that I did.”
He shook his head slowly. “But why go to the effort of breaking it, then?”
“Because I didn’t mean to curse them. I was hurt, yes, and for a moment I wanted them to know what it was like, but I didn’t actually want to turn them into swans. I’m not that fond of birds.”
“Can’t you just explain that? If it was a mistake, surely they’ll take that into account.”
“Oh, that mountain must be nice.” Lindy’s words were steeped in false sweetness. “You really haven’t heard anything about me, have you? No. No one in court is going to believe that I didn’t mean for this to happen. My reputation took care of that.”
“What reputation?” He walked to the tree line in search of wood for a fire, both to give his body something to do and because he was tired of guessing what Lindy’s face was saying. “Are you saying you make a habit out of cursing princes?”
“Doing something twice hardly makes it a habit,” she answered drily. “But you curse one prince and suddenly everyone’s calling you a witch and then accusing you of regicide when their king dies—never mind, of course, the fact that he was nearly 80 years old.”
Atlas nearly dropped the armful of kindling he had collected. “You married an 80-year-old man?”
“I didn’t exactly have a lot of say in the matter.”
There was a weight to her words that indicated there was a lot she wasn’t saying now, as well.
“Anyway,” she continued, “the point is that if I wantto be able to fix things, I can’t go back. I’m here until I either break the curse or die trying. What are you doing?”
He let the wood fall to the ground and crouched as he arranged it for a fire. “Doing my part to keep you from dying.” He pulled out a knife and flint from his pocket. It took a few tries, but soon a tiny flame was burning its way valiantly through the kindling.
“Why?” Her face, lines sharpened by the shadows cast by the firelight, twisted in confusion. “I just admitted to voluntarily cursing someone. As far as the kingdom is concerned, I’m a criminal on the run. Those boys,” she tossed her chin in the direction of the lake. “Will probably have me arrested and tried for treason as soon as they don’t have feathers covering their bodies. You could be labeled an accomplice, and then what would happen to poor Phoebe?”
He shifted so that he was sitting and stretched his long legs out to the side. “I don’t think they could fit me in a prison cell.”
A bark of laughter escaped her, and she looked just as surprised by the sound as he was. “You probably get out of a lot of trouble by being bigger than the other guy, don’t you?”
“I get out of a lot of trouble by keeping to myself and staying far away from it,” he corrected her. “Until the trouble comes to me, that is.”
Lindy was quiet for a moment, and Atlas wished he could know what the emotions that flashed behind her cool and collected facade meant. “I’m sorry about your goose,” she finally whispered. “If I knew how to helpyou, I would.”
For some reason, he believed her. “I can knit,” he offered.
Her eyes widened as they met his over the fire, which was now a respectable, comfortable size. “You can?”
“Fiber arts aren’t exclusive to women. My mother taught me to make my own socks and gloves when I was eight. If I want anything to be the right size, I have to make it myself.” It was foolish to feel as proud of the fact as he did, but there was something about the gleam of impressed consideration in her eyes that made him want to puff out his chest and sit up even taller.
“Huh. I would never have guessed.”
“If you think that’s impressive, wait until I tell you about how I can sew on all my own buttons.”
