“I suppose you’re eager to get to the castle,” Thane said with a lazy smile. “I daresay you will be impressed. Of all the castles I have seen in Tir Na Nog, it is by far the most spectacular.”
Eislyn wrapped her arms around her knees and gazed into the fire. “Will it be dangerous?”
Reyna stiffened. So did Thane.
The Prince turned toward her. “Why would you ask if it will be dangerous?”
He didn’t say no, Reyna noted.
“We are your sworn enemy,” Eislyn said frankly. “Regardless of the alliance, there will be some who do not want us there.”
Thane shifted uncomfortably, no longer as relaxed as he had been the moment before. “Princess Reyna is my betrothed, and you are her sister. You are under my protection.”
He still did not say it wasn’t dangerous.
“But enough of all this doom and gloom,” Thane declared. “Lorcan, do give us a tale. The princesses were hoping to hear a bard tonight at the inn. Regale us with a story of one of your countryside antics instead.”
Countryside antics? Reyna shifted slightly to get a better view of Lorcan in the orange glow of the fire. He was such a stark contrast to the prince. Where Thane was lean, Lorcan wore muscles as if they were a natural part of his leather armor. Where Thane lounged with relaxed superiority, Lorcan had an alert air about him that suggested he was prepared to jump onto his feet at any given moment.
Reyna had met many low fae who lived in the small villages dotted throughout the ice realm’s countryside, and she had never met one quite like Lorcan. There was a hard edge to him, and his eyes held a glint that suggested he had seen far more than even she.
“Oh yes.” Eislyn clapped. “Do you have any tales of monsters?”
“Lorcan has many tales of monsters.” Thane turned to his head guard. “Do you not, old friend?”
Lorcan scowled but began to speak. “In the grasslands of the Air Court, there are whispers of a thing called the Wild Hunt.”
Eislyn’s eyes widened. She leaned forward, her face lit up by the glowing flames. “We’ve heard of the Wild Hunt. Is it real? Do they really carry a boar’s head around and drop it at the feet of those they plan to kill?”
Thane grinned and leaned back against his rock, tipping another dose of wine into his open mouth.
“It is a thing that must be only spoken about in hushed voices,” Lorcan pointed out before nodding at the trees that provided slim shelter from the wind. “As a child, I worked in the fields day and night. The more grain we produced, the richer our Beltane feasts would be each year.”
Reyna nodded. It was the same for the ice fae. They mined for ice glass and spun silk from hoarfrost worms. The more they yielded each year, the better their celebrations. Reyna had often wondered if there could be a better way, one that didn’t drive the low fae to utter exhaustion.
“Once,” Lorcan continued, “I stayed far too late in the fields. The crops had been short that year. Wind and dust had stripped away far too many stalks during the continent-wide storm that hits our lands every six years. I was desperate to help my family.” He shook his head. “I had paid no notice to the darkening sky when suddenly I was all alone with nothing but the whistling wind to keep me company. That is when I saw them.”
Reyna shivered. The Wild Hunt was nothing more than a children’s tale, she reminded herself. Most fae lore was. And, if the Wild Hunt had ever truly existed, it no longer would now. The wildest of the creatures and the most monstrous of the powers had vanished along with the fae’s own magic. Lorcan could not lie, but he had only been a boy. An overactive imagination was the best explanation for his words.
“They were unlike anything I had ever seen,” he said in a low voice.
Overhead, the sky cracked. Reyna glanced up, her eyes searching the sky above the trees. The brilliance of the stars had vanished. Now, nothing remained but a blanket of darkness. She shivered again, pressing up from the ground. A strange hum pulsed beneath her feet. Fear tumbled through her. Her guards were by her side in an instant.
“We need to ride,” she said sharply. “Now.”
“What in Dagda’s name for?” Thane frowned up at her, his eyes half-lidded from his drink. “Lorcan was just getting to the juicy part of his story.”
She pointed at the sky, her hand trembling. “The Ruin is coming. I can feel it in my bones. We must leave now, or we will get hit by it.”
Reyna’s heart had begun to race as Thane made no effort to move from his spot. She turned toward Lorcan, pleading with her eyes. Thane might not understand the horrors of her world, but somehow, she knew Lorcan would.
Lorcan tipped back his head and frowned at the sky. “How can you be certain?”
“I’ve been in the middle of it, far more times than I wish to count,” she said fiercely. “Youmust trust me. It is coming, and we need to leave.”
Lorcan stared into her eyes. After a moment, he jumped to his feet.
Thane shook his head and laughed. “Surely you’re not listening to the princess. The Ruin has never struck the Air Court. Why in Dagda’s name would it choose to turn south now?”
