“Well, technically not, since the princes need to come with me. But you can’t be there, Atlas.”
“Why not?” He crossed his arms over his chest, a stubborn scowl etched onto his handsome face.
“Because as much as I want you to be there, my presence alone is going to stir up enough trouble.”
His jaw worked back and forth, and she hated the hurt she could see flashing in his eyes. “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying that there are times when it would beuseful to have an angry giant barge into a courtroom. When we’re trying to avoid angering a mob who is likely already set on death and bloodshed isn’t one of them.”
“You think I’m frightening.”
“Iknowyou can be terrifying.” Lindy stepped closer, tugging one of his arms loose and sliding her hand down its length until she could slip her fingers between his. “But I also know you’re kind. Patient. Gentle. You wouldn’t hurt a hair on my head.”
He swallowed thickly. “I happen to like your hair.”
“But those people don’t know that,” she pressed on. “They don’t have the privilege of knowing you like I do, and if Haldrick can convince them a sweet girl like Elise deserves to be burned alive, there’s no telling what he would try to do to you. Either a lot of people would get hurt when you protected yourself, or else you would be hurt because you didn’t.”
“You don’t want me to be there?” He tilted his head, looking for confirmation, practically begging for her to tell him otherwise.
She clasped her other hand over the one she held and squeezed. “I want youhere, waiting for me.”
He sighed, tucking her hair behind her ear and brushing the back of his fingers against her cheek. “You promise you’ll come back?”
She looked up into his eyes and nodded, unable to find words in the emotion of the moment.
“Alright.” He sighed again. “I don’t like it, but I promised to respect your wishes. I’ll wait, but you have to come back. I can’t keep you alive if you don’t.”
Lindy gave him a sad, watery smile, then melted asAtlas gently grabbed the back of her head and drew her forward as he leaned down to place a soft, sweet kiss on her forehead. “Be safe, Lindy. Remember—you’re not alone.”
He helped her fashion her cloak into a sling so that she could carry the bag with the finished shirts in it, then stood back, holding his goose and watching as she began making her way along the shore of the lake to where it met the road. She looked over her shoulder one last time to see him lift a hand in a single wave. She raised her knitting needle in response, then strode purposefully on.
Knitting while walking was not exactlyas simple as she had hoped, and after nearly falling on her face for the fourth time, Lindy was thankful for Atlas’s suggestion to take the wide, flat road rather than pick her way through the forest. The swans walked on either side of her, edging her feet whenever she started veering too far in one direction. The picture they must have formed was ridiculous, like feathered sheep leading their shepherd, and if Lindy weren’t so anxious about getting to the castle in time to keep Elise from a horrible, fiery death, she would have been tempted to laugh.
Streaks of light appeared on the horizon, pinks and purples that were far too gorgeous for the violence they preceded. Lindy quickened her pace. She was still at least a mile away, and there was no telling how long Haldrick would allow the trial to go on.
The swans, Corbin especially, were getting anxious.They hissed and snorted, moving forward in hopping, flapping steps that suggested they were just barely refraining from flying. In the distance, chapel bells rang.
“No!” Lindy cried out in panic, hugging the nearly-finished shirt to her chest and hiking up her skirt.
The swans took flight as she ran, guiding the way down the road and through the wide gates of the city. The streets were mostly empty, nearly everyone having gathered in the town square for the trial and execution. Those who were left pointed and whispered as she passed, but Lindy barely even noticed.
The crowd in the square was pressed in thick, standing shoulder to shoulder and watching with rapt, morbid attention as Haldrick presented Elise. Guards were posted on the edges and interspersed among the onlookers, ready to spring into action with their hands on their weapons and intimidating scowls carved onto their faces. A pyre had been constructed in the middle, grim and ominous against the pastel watercolors in the dawning sky. Poles on either side held the burning torches that would carry out Elise’s sentence.
Haldrick stood on a high platform on the far side of the square. His normal guard uniform had been replaced by a fine suit of clothes that looked as if he had pulled it straight from Corbin’s wardrobe. Elise, flanked by armored guards, stood to the side. Her hair was frizzy and bedraggled, and her eyes were rimmed by dark circles in her pale face. Even so, she stood straight and tall, and though her chin wobbled, she held it high.
“Elise Reitzel, you have been charged with conspiracyto commit murder on eight counts, and of aiding and abetting a known criminal to carry out the same.”
Angry rumbles rolled through the crowd. The princes landed at Lindy’s feet, drawing the attention of those around her. Elbows started nudging and whispers traveled as wide eyes took in what Lindy knew must be a rather wild-looking appearance after spending two weeks surviving outdoors.
“With the evidence brought against you, the investigators of these crimes have found you guilty of all charges. You are hereby sentenced to death by fire. May the Almighty have mercy on your soul.”
At his last words, the guards shoved Elise forward, escorting her roughly down the steps of the platform and leading her to the pyre.
The princes took off, flying low over heads with agitated hisses. Lindy started shoving her way through, ignoring the yells of protest and the grabbing hands that tried to hold her back. From the corner of her eyes, she could see the guards posted in the crowd move to converge on her, and she moved faster, pulling her cloak sling around so she could reach the sack of shirts.
The guards dragged Elise up the creaky steps of the pyre and began lashing her to the stake. Despite her earlier attempts at keeping a brave face, she was fighting them now, kicking and screaming. Her eyes met Lindy’s over the remaining distance. “Lindy!”
Her cry drew Haldrick’s attention, and he jumped forward, leaning over the railing of the platform and jabbing a finger in her direction. “It’sthe witch! Seize her!”
