“Be sure not to get yourself lost out there or mauled by a wolf.”
Ignoring her taunt, I set off to find the all-important holly trees. Pine, spruce, fir and ash trees emerged from the forest floor like gnarled columns for as far as the eye could see. I even stumbled across the occasional juniper and rowan, but no sign of holly. So, I ventured deeper into the forest and its veil of morning mist.
A knot of guilt tightened in my stomach at the thought of the promise I had made to Tarben not to leave the castle grounds without guards. If he knew what I was doing right now, what would he think? Would he be furious? Or out of his mind with worry? I shook my head—I had to snap out of it. Guilt was a useless emotion and there was no sense in letting my mind travel this path. Not when I had to focus all my attention on finding the holly and not getting lost or mauled by a wolf.
I couldn’t be sure how long I searched, but the further into the forest I trekked, the darker and more silent it became. Eventually, the only sounds I could hear were that of my boots crunching against the underbrush and the occasional chirp of a distant bird. It was… unsettling.
I stopped and leaned against a birch tree to drink from my flask. A prickle traveled down my spine.
Crack.
I stiffened at the sound of a twig snapping. My senses sharpened, homing in on the sound of rustling. My heart rate quickened. The noise was coming from the same direction I had just passed through. Someone or something was following me.
Frantically, I searched for cover, but all the surrounding tree trunks were too lean for me to duck behind. There was nowhere to hide.
Could I climb to safety? There wasn’t a single branch low enough to grip onto. Tilting my head and scanning above, I spotted a raven perched on one of the tree’s many upper branches. It blinked and flexed its wings, seemingly unconcerned by whatever lurked in the thicket.
Without wings of my own, there was no way I was getting up that tree.Flames of Erasure!
“Lost, are we?” The sound of a male voice made me jump.
My muscles loosened and I exhaled a shaky breath at the sight of Filip emerging from the shadows.
“Following me, are we?” I retorted. “How did you even find me?” Something told me I could drop the usual formalities and pleasantries around Filip. He spoke in a way that was so unlike the usual superficial fluff and pretty words of courtiers. It was refreshing. I may even have liked him, if he wasn’t trying to sniff out all of my secrets.
He shrugged nonchalantly. “Your tracks were simple to follow, and you move so slowly that I could catch up to you with little effort.”
“Rude.” I folded my arms and narrowed my eyes at him. “Why are you following me?”
“Because I had a suspicion that you were up to something.” He gestured to the surrounding forest as if to prove his point. “It looks like I was right.”
“There’s no chance of you turning around and going back tothe campsite, is there?” From the determined set of his eyebrows and the firm line of his mouth, I already knew what his answer would be.
“None.”
“Fine,” I exhaled. “I’ve heard rumors of a witch, Basia, living in the deepest part of this forest. I’m looking for the holly trees that will supposedly lead me to her.”
The look he gave me was incredulous. “You’re going into the deepest part of the forest to hunt down a potentially dangerous witch, unarmed and all by yourself?”
I studied my nails. “So what if I am?”
“Do you not see how insane that is?” He shook his head. “If she turns out to be the murderer, how are you planning on defending yourself?”
“Why do you care?”
His jaw ticked. “Like I said the other day, I owe you a debt. Which is why I’m coming with you.” I opened my mouth to argue. “Before you argue, you should know I’ve been coming into this forest since I was a boy, so I can help you find this witch’s home. And you, I am assuming, are not trained in combat or weaponry. If things turn ugly with the witch, I’m your best chance at defending yourself.”
That’s what you think.“If you must,” I said with a dramatic sigh. As much as it pained me to admit it, having him lead the way would be useful. Especially when it came to navigating my way back out of the woods. “But, for the record, I would have been fine. I’m a fast runner.”
He rolled his eyes. “Let’s get going,” he said. “It could take us all day to get there and back, so we need to move quickly.”
Without so much as looking back at me, he started ahead into the trees. Following his lead, my eyes fixated on the two swords sheathed across his uniformed back. He moved swiftly but deliberately, and his posture remained tense. It was clearfrom the way he scanned our surroundings that he was constantly assessing for potential threats.
We had thousands of warriors trained in physical and magical combat in Vantillios, but I had never been taught to fight. My grandmother said there was little point when the curse meant the outside world didn’t pose any threat to us. Besides, she’d say, I had my detail of guards to keep me safe. Too bad for her they couldn’t keep the Crow away.
Some kind of physical combat training would certainly have come in use right about now. As long as Filip was with me, I couldn’t use my powers, which meant that, if Basia was a dark witch, it would be up to him to save us. No offense to Filip, but I didn’t fancy those odds, so I hoped to Vell it didn’t come to that.
“How long have you been a guard?” I asked as I trailed him across the terrain of roots and low-hanging tree branches.
