Frisk sank back on his hind legs, his dark eyes pinned on the forest floor. For a moment, he had nothing to say, and I didn’t want to fill the silence. There was too much to explain, and I couldn’t do it here. Not with Theron close enough to eavesdrop.
It had been risky for me to pull out the mirror. But I had to know. If I was about to die tonight, I needed to prepare myself. By my calculations, I still had a week at least.
But not much longer.
“The apples,” Frisk said suddenly, raising his gaze to meet mine. “That’s why you eat them. To try to cure you.”
“Yes. But it’s not working.”
“Why didn’t you ask the pixies?”
I shook my head. “It’s too far along. It’s been infecting my body for years, Frisk. A simple healing won’t work anymore. Nothing will stop it but my death or a reversal from the one who struck me.”
“And who struck you?”
I laid the mirror on the towel and carefully wrapped it up alongside the iron dagger. “Who do you think?”
“Calista.”
“Yes.” I couldn’t tell him the whole story—that she was Demon Fae, and her poisonous claws had infected me. Truth be told, it was a miracle I wasn’t dead already. That was why I stayed in Knockspur for so long. The farther away from her poison I was, the longer I lived.
“I don’t understand. If she poisoned you, and you’re dying, why does she still want you killed? Why did she send Theron?”
I said nothing. It was too dangerous to say any more. I was grateful Frisk wasn’t asking any questions about the mirror. Calista already wanted me dead for the secrets I knew. I couldn’t implicate anyone else in her deception. I couldn’t risk having her hunt my friends.
I straightened. “We need to get back before the hunter gets suspicious.”
“Too late,” said a voice.
My blood ran cold as a familiar figure stepped into view, arms crossed and expression lethal.
Theron.
Behind him was Mauro, his dark eyes curious as he appraised us. Kendra was perched on his antlers, her head cocked quizzically.
A satisfied smile spread across the hunter’s face. “What is it you’re hiding, princess?”
I hadn’t seen much.The princess had been too careful, constantly checking over her shoulder, so I hadn’t been able to track her as closely as I would have liked.
After Frisk and Kendra caught us cuddled together in the crevice, I’d felt… rattled. Waking up entwined with Eira had felt strangely comforting. As if to open my eyes and see her naked form next to me was completely normal. The most natural thing in the world.
When I’d snapped out of it, I hadn’t felt like myself. I needed to be alone.
Only after I sensed Eira wandering off did I realize she had done the exact same thing. I needed to find out what she was hiding. I saw her pull something out of her pack, but I hadn’t been able to identify what it was.
But in this moment, with her caught red-handed, she didn’t need to know that.
Ihadheard them speaking of the queen. And Eira’s condition.
She was dying.
The thought sent a confusing array of emotions spiraling within me. Relief, for then I would be free of my bargainwith her. Bewilderment, because Frisk was right—why would the queen send me after a dying princess?
And, strangely… sorrow.
If I searched deep within myself, I was full of grief at the thought of Eira dying. And I had no idea why.
She was infuriating. My life would be much less difficult with her dead.
