Jeryn followed, the hem of his fur coat slicing over the carpet. Threading his fingers with Flare’s, the king inclined his head while passing me, and his lady cupped my arm in sympathy. Eliot, Cadence, Posy, and Vale offered conciliatory expressions before splitting up to continue their hunt.
A hoarse breath expelled from my chest as I marched after them. Poet and Briar would peel back every layer of Autumn soil to find their son. After briefing the troops, I seizedupon my own search, mindful of the ribbons Nicu used to navigate the halls.
Earlier, I had been searching for him near the servant’s wing. Halting my stallion there, I’d sensed a presence, yet the link had been muddled and unfamiliar. A glaring contrast to Nicu’s aura.
Presently, I retraced that path. Tracking an orange garland down one of the corridors, foreboding mounted. Under the torchlight, the strand led back to the servants’ entrance on the fortress’s north side, where my horse continued to graze.
On the threshold, I canvassed the landscape. Amid vegetable plots, indentations materialized in the soil. Someone had crawled on all fours here. Slender but toned in stature, with a lightness of foot, and a bit indirect in their trajectory. In retrospect, I failed to notice this before.
Ripping a broadsword from my scabbard, I stalked toward a hay bale where the indentations ended. Spinning the blade, I tapped its point against the pile of straw. The mound shook, emitting the fragrance of cedarwood.
That was why I hadn’t discerned Nicu’s scent until now. The other unknown presence had overpowered it like a blockade, impossible to penetrate.
Aspen.
A snarl blasted from my lungs. Pivoting, I barreled toward the stallion, my cloak a veritable storm around my limbs. The warhorse lifted his muzzle from the undergrowth, heeding my arrival. As I swung onto the male’s back, the equine took flight, his hooves kicking up a funnel of russet leaves, the environment reducing to an abstraction on either side.
Brazen. Fucking. Creature.
So help me, when I found her…
When I got my hands on her…
Fisting the reins, I rode hard and vaulted from the castle.
15
Aspen
Nicu’s fingers clamped onto mine as we sprinted down the brick lane. Yet instead of continuing that way, he strayed toward the maze of bristling wheat silhouettes.
I stalled, the soles of my boots nailing to the ground. “Not in there.”
Nicu whipped toward me. “It’s safe. Mama taught me the fields will hide us.”
“Except for the part where I stole something from the castle. If I’m with you, the fields could trap us inside.”
“But I didn’t steal anything, and I’m an angel. So if I’m with you, they’ll guide us like ribbons.” Despite the hood, Nicu recognized the mayhem crowding my face. “Don’t worry, Aspen. You’re a warrior of the earth and trees. The fields aren’t going to punish you.”
“I won’t risk it,” I stressed, clutching the sides of his face. “I won’t riskyou.”
“I can take care of myself. And the wheat stalks are listening. They hear that you don’t mean to hurt anyone.”
My throat bobbed. “But I already have.”
Nicu frowned in contemplation. “Then the fields will forgive you.” Resolute, he encircled my wrists. “Your tongue lies. But your heart is honest.”
“I don’t know if that’s true.”
“I do. I know.” His thumbs traced leaf vines coiling across my skin. “They’ll protect me, and I’ll protect you.”
Like his mother, Nicu spoke with grit and his own form of resilience. The kind that inspired nations.
The alarm horn bellowed. Stomping hooves and overlapping shouts rang across the landscape.
Licking my chapped lips, I inspected the shrouded entrance. By comparison, the underground tunnels had been ideal for entering the castle. Not so much for leaving.
Once the clan exhausted all potential whereabouts for Nicu indoors, they would move on to external alternatives. With Jeryn’s logic, Flare’s prowess at locating hidden things, Briar’s wisdom, Poet’s cunning, and Aire’s intuition, they would leave no stone unturned. However, the fellowship also wouldn’t bank on The Wandering Fields immediately, since anyone intending to endanger Nicu would avoid this path.
