“He hid me from the pixies,” she whispered in astonishment. “He ensured I wouldn’t be seen.”
My frown deepened. Yes, that didn’t make sense to me. What had Theron been playing at? Was he trying to get Kendra on his side? Or did he have some other motive?
“Just stay out of sight,” I muttered, as Brune, the orange-skinned pixie approached me. Obediently, Kendra burrowed herself deeper into my cloak.
“Refreshment for you.” Brune shoved a platter into my hands. Startled, I accepted it, scrutinizing the sizzling meat alongside leafy vegetables and bright purple berries.
“Um,” I said uneasily. “What kind of meat is this?”
Brune flashed his sharp teeth. “Best I not answer that, princess, since I cannot lie.”
I shuddered as he bounded away, then steeled myself and inhaled deeply. Whatever meat it was, it smelled heavenly. I took a tentative bite, and an explosion of flavor caressed mytongue, the spices and seasonings making me groan with pleasure.
“Shivering bones, this is delicious,” I said to no one in particular. I glanced around and found the emerald pixie smirking at me. “This isn’t human flesh, is it?”
She laughed. “No. It’s wyvern. Brune was just trying to scare you.”
“Wyvern? Really?” I looked up as if expecting the dragon-like creature to screech and fly overhead. Kendra uttered a tiny gasp from my shoulder, and I felt her squirming. I couldn’t tell if it was out of curiosity or fear. I wagered she had never met a wyvern before. I certainly hadn’t.
“Oh, yes. They often dwell in mountains like these. The tenderest meat you can find. We wouldn’t dare touch the fae breeds, but the feral ones aren’t smart enough to dodge our traps.”
“I see. And, uh, do you eat… dragon?” I tried to sound nonchalant. Kendra’s trembling intensified.
“Certainly not,” the pixie said haughtily. “Dragons are sentient, majestic creatures. We would never slaughter them for meat.”
“Oh.” I cleared my throat and sat up straighter. Kendra stopped shaking, clearly appeased by this response. “How long have you lived here?”
“A few hundred years,” said the pixie.
I nodded, unperturbed. Though I was half human and wouldn’t have as long a lifespan, I was accustomed to being around immortal creatures. “So do onlysomepixies eat humans, or what?” I took another bite of the wyvern meat and groaned again.
“Some do. But we do not associate with them. We believesentient species should be preserved.” She flashed her teeth in a grin. “Even one as feeble as humans.”
I shrugged one shoulder. “We are pretty feeble.”
The pixie’s eyes widened, and then she laughed before sinking to the log beside me. “I like you, princess. It’s not often we meet humans who surprise us so.”
“Well, I’m only half human, so that’s probably it.”
“Probably.” The pixie crossed one leg over the other, her pale green wings quivering behind her. “My name is Sage.”
“Eira.”
“I know.”
I shrugged again and took another bite.
“I knew your father.”
The meat stuck in my throat, and I choked. After hacking and coughing, I finally spat the piece onto the ground and whirled to stare at Sage. “Youdid?” As far as I knew, pixies were a wild species who didn’t mingle with the seelie or the humans.
Sage nodded, her smile vanishing. “He was a kind person. One of the few seelie who treated me with respect. We were discussing a negotiation between our kind, and I was to be ambassador for the pixies.”
My heart lurched at this revelation. I’d had no idea.
Sage fixed her intense black eyes on me. “I think that’s why my queen believed your claim. Not because of the blood bargain—but because you are your father’s child. If anyone can unite the seelie with the unseelie, it’s you.”
My eyes burned with tears, and a hard lump formed in my throat. Blood and ice, I missed my father. He had done so much for our kingdom.
