He blinked at me. “You don’t?”
“I haven’t yet.”
“Well, that’s not right.” He stopped scooping grains and dusted off his hands as he came closer. “Take a horse. You’ll be back by this evening. I’ll cover for you.”
I waved him off. “Oh, no, I don’t want to risk anyone else here. I’ll ask… Is it Lars who’d let me have time off?”
Sarosh gave me the wickedest grin I’d ever seen. “You could try, but why ask for permission when you can ask for forgiveness?”
I snorted a laugh. “Because I don’t want to lose my position?”
“Nah. Now you’re taking a cart and you can tell anyone who asks that you’re getting unicorn grass for Silver Sparkle.” The unicorn in question stuck her head over her stall door as if summoned, and Sarosh cooed at her as he petted her nose.
“I… Grass? Hold on.” I knew the unicorn ate a special diet, but I’d never fetched it before.
“Nope, this is perfect.” Sarosh rubbed his hands together like a cartoon villain. “You’ll take the road straight to the barrier, tell anyone there you’ve come for grass, and you can do what you need to do with the barrier while you wait for them to fill the cart. Drive back, no one questions more grass coming in, ta-da!” He literally did jazz hands at me.
I opened my mouth to dispute his plan, but… Well, it sounded like a good one. Someone had to get the grass, so why couldn’t it be me?
“Okay, let’s do this.”
We harnessed a horse named Mason that Sarosh assured me was a good trotter, and I wasn’t sure if I should mention that I’dnever driven a horse and cart before. I’d ridden plenty of times because it had been my therapy back after my parents had died and I’d stopped talking for a while. Maybe it wouldn’t be too different?
Once I got up on the two-wheeled cart, reins in hand, I actually didn’t need to do much at all. Mason was eager to get going and did indeed trot right on down the road. I waved to Sarosh, hoped his plan would work, and off Mason and I went.
It was a long drive with literally nothing to do but think. And the only thing I could think about was what I would do for the rest of my life if I really was trapped here in the Spring Court.
I had the basics covered, of course, with a job, roof over my head, and three meals a day. Did I want to stay at the palace?
Part of me wanted to stay because I had some friends there and I liked Hydris. Of course, being his friend was probably going to get us both in trouble eventually. I wasn’t sure he had it in him to fight for us, and I had no idea how far Mannix might go to stop me from spending time with the prince.
If I left, I felt like I had some skills that might be worth something toward getting another job. Maybe at a farm. Maybe a ranch. I was getting used to the early hours and hard labor. I could probably do pretty well for myself. If being a laborer was all I wanted out of life.
There was a village around the palace, so were there more farther out? Maybe I could learn a trade as an apprentice. I could check out this place I was heading to, see what being a grass-grower was like.
After stopping on the side of the road for lunch—mine was portable, but I figured Mason could use a rest and nibble, too—I realized the shiny thing I could see up ahead had to be the barrier. It looked like a pane of glass that was so big, I couldn’t fully perceive it. Clouds and birds passed through it, and the other side was definitely a winter wonderland.
There were people up ahead and… Was something going on?
I jumped out of the cart and went over to some people gathered around a man sitting on the ground. There was a lake between us and the barrier, and in Winter there was another group of people buzzing around someone laying on the ground.
“What happened?” I asked anyone who’d listen.
A woman looked at me with wide, scared eyes. “The lake tried to kill Humphrey here and the human who tried to cross over from Winter.”
“A human?”
I went up to the water’s edge, my heart pounding, but I couldn’t tell if the guy on the ground was someone I knew. He wasn’t moving, and someone small who looked like living ice seemed to be clinging to him and barking orders. Everyone else over there was scrambling to light fires and erect a big tent.
The weirdest sensation on my foot had me looking down to see water wrapping around my ankle. I exclaimed and hopped back, kicking out to free myself. And then the water released me and splashed back into the rest of the lake like someone had thrown it away.
Behind me, someone asked, “Prince Hydris?”
I turned around, and there was Hydris giving me a little wave.
Chapter 5
Bridge, you should step away from the water,” Hydris said as one of his little fingers pointed down at my feet.
