“I would think you a fool if you did.”
“Swear to me you won’t hurt me.”
I almost laughed. It seemed the dragon had learned a thing or two from the Snow Princess. “I swear on my fae blood that I will not hurt you or intentionally put you inharm’s way.” Technically I didn’t need to mention my fae blood at all, but I thought it might mollify her.
Kendra blinked once, then nodded. “All right. But only for a few minutes. We should come back before Mauro wakes.”
“Of course. Hop on.” I leaned in closer, offering my shoulder to her. With a lithe jump, Kendra landed on my shoulder, then burrowed herself into my cloak. Her light talons made the tiniest of pinches along my arm and neck. They tickled, making me suppress a shudder.
“I should be able to track their footprints,” I told her. “Ready?”
She let out a giggle of excitement. “Ready.”
As it turned out, tracking the fox and the princess in the blizzard was trying enough even without the poison spreading through my body. But I had to grit my teeth and endure it. Those two would likely get themselves killed by negotiating with the pixies. I knew how to handle them, but I doubted the feisty princess would be able to behave herself. They’d likely already beheaded her.
Which, I realized, would be in my favor. Our bargain would be nullified with her death.
Even so, I had to know for sure. If the pixieshadkilled her, I would still need to carve out her heart and bring it to the queen.
As I moved forward, I kept having to pause to knit my magic over my wound. It wasn’t much—just an intense burst of glamour to trigger my fae healing—but it allowed the blood to clot momentarily before the poison took over again.
Sooner or later, I would lose this game. Fae magic couldn’t heal a poison like this.
“You’re dying, aren’t you?” came Kendra’s soft voice. Thethird time I had to use my magic, she poked her head out from the fabric of my cloak.
I sighed. There was no use trying to deceive her about this. “Yes. If the pixies don’t heal me soon, I’ll die.”
“Then we should probably hurry up.”
I nodded and pressed onward.
After what felt like an eternity, I found them. The pixie magic gave away their location, creating a kaleidoscope of brilliant colors against the night sky.
I wanted to remind Kendra to be silent, but she had buried herself in my cloak once more. She seemed to know that keeping herself invisible was the best strategy.
When I was a few paces away, I halted and withdrew my knives, laying them on the snow at my feet before I continued onward. To approach pixies with weapons was a criminal offense.
Another reason the princess would likely be killed. Such a shame.
But then I heard her as she declared with a loud voice, “My name is Eira. I am the rightful queen of this court.”
I stilled at the power resonating from those words. Gone was the playful princess who tormented me night and day. Gone was the cheerful optimist whose grin made my blood boil.
These were the words of a queen.
Even the pixies were stunned into silence. Kendra had inched her head out to watch with wide, transfixed eyes.
But the princess wasn’t finished.
“When I take back my throne, I intend to change Calista’s unjust laws against those she callshalf breeds.” She spat the words. “I may not be unseelie, but I am half human. You aren’t the only ones to have been mistreated because of yourheritage. Humans are hunted and tortured for sport. We’ve been banished from our homes, forced to turn over our lands to thesuperior species.” There was venom in her words that made me tremble.
How often had I thought those exact words? That the fae were superior to humans?
Kendra’s head lifted, her eyes shining as she gazed at Eira. “She’s incredible,” she breathed.
“My father intended to change this court for the better,” Eira continued. “He loved a human and saw her for the pure soul that she was. We are different, you and I. I may not have wings or pink skin or glowing magic. But I have a soul, just as you. We are more than just our appearances. We are more than our bloodlines. We are beings with desires and goals, feelings and ambitions, and a whole future of choices and decisions if we only have the freedom to make them. I vow that, as your queen, I will give you that freedom.”
My mouth fell open. If the princess truly couldn’t lie, then she had just made a hefty promise to some of the most savage creatures I’d ever met.
