He released her so suddenly that had she not been winged, she’d have fallen against the floor.
Without speaking to her, he walked slowly toward the body on the floor that she’d been weeping over on his arrival. A beautiful blue roan with a star that had once highlighted a bright golden horn.
Only now that beautiful spiral horn was gone.
And so was her life.
It’d taken almost all of Halla’s powers to get Renata here on her own, without being seen by anyone. Now, she was so tired that all she could do was weep for the loss.
Reverently, Ryper sank to his knees and put his hand on the princess’s lifeless body. “What happened?”
“Someone killed her for her horn. She ran away last night, and His Majesty went after her. By the time he found her…” She choked on another sob as she gestured toward the body. “I promised him that I’d bring her home while he went after the one who killed her.”
Ryper cursed under his breath. “This is bad, Halla.”
“I know.”
“No, you don’t.” Balling his hand in Renata’s mane, he sucked his breath in as if something shocked him. There was only one reason to take a horn… someone knew it could be used as a magick wand. And no wand would be more powerful than Renata’s. “Does anyone else know that she’s dead?”
“No. King Dash told Kronnel at dawn that he was going to fetch his sister home and to let no one know that he’d left the palace. After we found her, he told me to bring her body here and make sure no one knew until his return.”
“Thank God he still has half a brain.”
She didn’t comment on something that only Ryper could get away with saying.
He looked up and pinned her with that scalding blue-eyed stare. “We need that horn, Halla. It must be found.”
“That’s what King Dash said, and it’s what he’s off doing.”
Ryper shook his head. “I know him. He’s not thinking clearly while he’s grieving her. Where’s he headed?”
“The brownie said that her killer was going to Auderley.”
He scowled. “What brownie?”
Halla scratched at her neck as she remembered the tiny creature sitting beside the princess’s body. “She was with Princess Renata when we found her. Said she saw the human man what killed the princess for her horn.”
Ryper’s eyes began to glow in the dim light. “Are you sure it was a brownie?”
Oh no! She widened her eyes as she realized what she might have done. “It looked like a brownie.”
He gave her an agitated stare. “Of all beings, you should know that things aren’t always what they appear.”
Halla cursed the fact he was right. As a shape-shifter herself, she was more than aware of how many forms she could take. Hobgoblins seldom appeared in their natural bodies to others. “Well, it wasn’t a hobgoblin. That I would have known.”
Ryper counted to ten in his head. He wouldn’t fault Halla for not being more suspicious. Unlike them, she’d been lucky enough to have a life that afforded her that luxury. She didn’t have to doubt everyone who came near her.
To her, a brownie was a brownie.
To them, a brownie might be a brownie, a traitor or an assassin, or anything else they hadn’t thought of. While none of them liked living the way they did, life had taught them to be on high alert at all times for the most unexpected catastrophe.
Too bad Renata hadn’t been more cautious as well. It would have saved them all endless grief.
And regrets.
Rising, he let out a tired breath. “Get to Dash as fast as you can.”
“And?”
