She settled her other hand on my knee. “Of course I forgive you. I hate that you’re here.”
I rubbed my temples. “It feels like you’re a dream,” I said slowly, “and if I blink wrong, your glamour will fade and some horrible fae will be there to mock me.”
Her beautiful smile lifted every corner of her face, making her bright green eyes shine. Or maybe they glistened? Was she about to cry?
She shifted closer to the bars, and I enclosed her hand in both of mine. I nestled it against my chest, as close to my heart as possible, and closed my eyes.
“You don’t have to wake up,” she whispered. “I love you. And I will find a way—”
“No,” I interrupted. If this was real, she had to stop right there. “No, don’t find a way. Let me die with your love on my ears and the knowledge that you are safely away.”
I opened my eyes to make sure she heard. “I am grateful to see you one last time, but I expect to die tomorrow night.” I lifted her hand to my lips and pressed a kiss into her sweet wrist. “Please go home and live.”
She pulled my hand through the bars and kissed the knuckle of my thumb. “I love you Bylur. I think I need to go before the queen comes to check on you…”
My mind jumped to the previous night, and I didn’t hear anything else she said. The queen had come down shortly after the guards changed. We had to be getting close to that time now. I disentangled my fingers from hers and touched her face. “Go. Talk to Parcival. He’ll make sure you have everything you need for the rest of your life. All my wealth is yours. Go before the queen comes.”
She reached through the bars and touched my cheek. I pressed my head into her fingers while cradling her face with my hand. An abundance of strength rose in her, like heat rising from flames. I closed my eyes, soaking in her touch, her love, and her strength. It waseverything. She was everything. More than enough to carry me through whatever lay ahead. I would defy the queen. And I would do it with the joy that came from being loved.
“Oh!” She pulled her hand away, taking her sweet warmth with it, and shoved it into a pocket. “Eat this.” She handed me a peach. “I’m sorry it’s a little smashed, but at least it isn’t enchanted or poisoned like those.” She waved at the spilled goblet and chicken on the floor.
“Thank you.” I took a bite, and then another. In less than a minute, I ate the entire thing. It brought new life into my bones. Where Auria had lit up my heart, her food lit up my mind.
She stuck her hand back into the bars, expectantly. “I don’t want to leave any evidence.”
I set the pit in her fingers. “Now, go,” I repeated.
She pocketed the pit, gripped the bars like she wanted to say something, but ended up just nodding, and walking away. My last view of her was her golden hair as she disappeared down the refuse-ridden corridor.
Chapter 33: Auria
Itried to sleep in the hedge maze, wrapped in Bylur’s magic, but my mind was too busy. If he thought I was going to leave him to die, he was delusional. And the queen’s daughter didn’t think that would actually happen anyway. I needed a plan.
Hours slipped away.
I jolted awake in the early pre-dawn light when a princess dressed like a maid poked my shoulder. I sat up on the bench, trying to figure out what she wanted.
She wrinkled her nose, probably disturbed by how many days had passed since I’d bathed. “Why aren’t you freezing?”
I rolled my shoulders back and looked her in the eye. “Since you can’t help me, I shouldn’t give you any information that would make me more vulnerable than I already am.”
She shrugged. “What’s your plan? Mother’s never been so angry before. I think there’s actually a chance that she might kill him tonight.”
I dropped my head into my hands. “I’ll think of something today.”
But I did not.
More hours passed, and all I did was pace in the maze and reject idea after idea. When the afternoon escaped me enough that both the sun and the moonwere in the sky at the same time, I knew I was out of time. There was nothing left but to face the queen and try to convince her to give Bylur to me.
On my way out of the hedge, the princess appeared again. “Do you have a plan?”
“Yes.”
She raised her brows.
“It’s a terrible plan, but it’s all I have.”
She shook her head. “Well, at least tonight will be more diverting.” She turned to walk away, but I finally realized what she was carrying.
