Blood ran down its armor.Redblood, not silver. It looked down at the wound, face going slack with shock. Then it took the spearman’s head off and kept moving.
But everyone had seen it. Human and fae both. Something had changed. The fae bled red now. They were still faster and stronger, still deadly, but they were weakening. Vulnerable in a way they’d never been before.
The battle raged until the sun touched the horizon. By then Therison Vale was more dead than living, with bodies piled sothick in places you couldn’t see grass. The fae pulled back into the forest—what was left of them. Maybe a hundred of the three hundred who started. The humans didn’t pursue them.
In the forest, the Hell-Thorn knelt among the dying, the Nightwild Guard at its back, fingers coated in blood that should have been silver, but stained its skin red. Around it, the survivors huddled in small groups.
“What do we do?” one of them asked. “Where do we go?”
No one answered. They all stared west, toward where Underhill should have been.
The Hell-Thorn stood, armor dented and covered in blood. It looked at the survivors, cataloging who remained of the Nightwild Guard among them.
“We move. Before they regroup.”
“Movewhere?Home is gone.”
“Then we find others and warn them.” The Hell-Thorn sheathed its blades. “And we survive until we find a way to return to Underhill.”
ONE
ALLERIA
Today,I get to hunt a fae.
I’ve been awake for hours, lying here watching the light creep across the ceiling, too restless to sleep any longer. Nella will scold me for the shadows under my eyes, but I don’t care. I’ve waited weeks for this, and now that the day is finally here, I can barely keep still.
I push back the covers and swing my legs out of bed. Clothes have already been laid out for me—leather breeches, a fitted tunic, and boots that have been broken in on a dozen rides through the royal forests.
Practicalclothes for moving through the woods, not the silks and velvets I have to wear at court.
There’s a knock at the door, and Nella slips in before I can answer.
“You’re awake!” She sounds suspicious. “You’reneverawake before dawn.”
“I’m excited.” I can’t hold back my grin.
“You were excited for the summer hunt last year, and I still had to drag you out of bed.” She pulls back the curtains, andgray morning light floods the room. “You must be very excited.”
I am. My sister got a ball for her twenty-first birthday. Three days of dancing and flowers and an endless parade of eligible lords fawning over her. Exactly what Merina wanted, and something that would bore me to tears. Our father knows me better than that.
Today, I get a fae!
I’ve hunted before, of course. Rabbits and pheasants, and once a young buck that wandered too close to our party. But those were small game.Safegame. This is the real thing! The kind of hunt Lord Vessen brags about after enough wine. A chase through the forest, cornering the quarry, and making the kill. Lady Harwick has a set of tusks mounted above her hearth that she claims came from a particularly vicious specimen. Even my father has trophies in his study.
Soon, I’ll have my own.
Nella helps me into my clothes, laughing as I twist and turn, trying to catch my reflection in the long mirror leaning against the wall.
“Hold still.” Nella tugs at the laces of my tunic. “You’re fidgeting.”
“I’mnotfidgeting.”
“You absolutely are.” She finishes with the laces and moves to braid my hair. We’ve known each other since we were eight, when she came to the palace as a kitchen girl and somehow ended up assigned to me. She knows me better than anyone, even Merina, who loves me but has never understood why I’d rather spend my days in the stables than the sewing room. “Are you nervous?”
“A little.” I turn to face her. “It’s bigger than anything I’ve hunted before.”
“It’s afae.” She ties off the braid. “They’re very dangerous.”
