She pressed the knife into my skin harder.
“Fine!” I whispered. She eased back just enough that I could whistle to Rat. I squeaked out a short bird call that I’d used for years to tell him we needed to hide. He squawked one more time right above our heads, and then dove toward the middle of the hedge.
“Are you killing me or taking me hostage?” I asked, hoping to buy time. Maybe someone had seen Rat—
“Killing,” she whispered. “Nothing else would work.”
“Maybe I could help you think of something?” The words rushed out of me. “I did call off my bird.”
I felt her shake her head behind me and tighten her grip. “No. Nothing else will work. Sorry. Sometimes we have to make sacrific—”
A thunderous roar filled the air around us and a giant white bear came crashing through the hedge.
“Bylur,” I breathed.
Eris dropped her knife and squeaked. “Bylur?” In her surprise, she loosened her grip on me, and I darted away from her, rushing to hide behind one of Bylur’s monstrous legs. He swatted at her with a low growl, and she fell backward, landing on her back. She propped herself back up into a sitting position. “Your Highness—”
Bylur growled again, and she rolled over onto her knees. “Please, Your Highness, have mercy!”
His grinding bear voice filled the damaged hedge. “Were you going to show mercy to my wife?”
Eris’s face paled, making a stark white contrast with her dark blue hair. “I didn’t want to. Ihadto—”
He cut her off. “Who?”
“Who?” she choked back.
“Who told you to attack my wife?” Bylur ground back at her.
She took a slow, trembly breath—
And then an arrow plunged through her throat.
I covered my mouth to keep my pastry down and spun my gaze to the tops of the castle walls where the arrow had come from. I barely caught a glimpse of a hooded figure leaping off the wall and disappearing into the castle’s busy-ness.
I winced as I risked a glance back at Eris. She had nearly killed me, but—
I was alive now, and she was not. I ripped my gaze up to Bylur’s big head. “Can you… healthat?”
“No,” he ground out. “I cannot. She is gone. It was very well aimed.”
I studied the wall where the archer had disappeared. “They weren’t close. Are there many fae who can make a shot like that?”
Bylur snorted a blast of air out of his nose. It made a little cloud in the cold air before dissipating. “Any of the nobles could have enchanted the arrow to make up for less-than-perfect aim. And many of my soldiers could have made the shot without magic.”
I stared at him. “Do you think one of your soldiers—”
“No.” He sighed. “I suspect a noble. Whoever sent her to kill you would have wanted to silence her when she failed. But who it was? I do not know. House Fundan is small enough that they work hard to be on good terms with everyone. They are also big enough that most people want to be on good terms with them.”
Rat’s squawking cut through the air with several shouts. “This way!” “Into the hedge!”
“Auria.” Bylur spoke faster than normal, but his harsh grinding voice still slowed his tones. “I want to be your pet in this form.”
My pet? I barely had time to register the words when Dearan, Ivodar, and several other soldiers ran into view. Dearan’s jaw fell as he stared at Bylur. Then he turned to me. “What happened here?”
I straightened up. Bylur wanted to be my pet, which meant I wasn’t supposed to reveal his secret. This was the sort of thing my mouth was born for. I patted his leg and spoke to Dearan. “Lady Eris tried to kill me, but my pet bear crashed through the hedge and saved me. I’m so glad Bylur wanted me to keep him out here.”
I checked on Bylur to make sure the story was acceptable to him. He ducked his head and leaned it toward me like I’d expect a dog a tenth of his size to do. I rubbed between his ears. “Yes, you were a good boy.” My heart tugged me closer to him. He had literallysaved my life. Ignoring Dearan, I dropped my forehead against Bylur’s. “So good,” I murmured, noticing the pounding in my chest for the first time. Dead. I could be as dead now as Eris if Bylur hadn’t stomped through the hedge.
