The seriousness of her declaration hits me like a vow. Apparently, being the Hunter means that promises made to me are as binding as promises I might make. I put my hand over her mouth to still any other words.
“I absolve you of your words,” I tell her. “Do not promise anything until after I share my secret. Please? You may change your mind.”
Isabeau takes my wrist and pulls my hand away. “Never, love. Never.”
I hope she’s honest. I want a future with love in it, and for the first time I think I may be able to have one. Unfortunately, for tonight, I still have a duty that outweighs the rest. “I need to travel home, Isa. My sister and mother have gone ahead with the soldiers. Perhaps I ought to leave now, as you will be resting soon.”
“Because my curse traps me here,” she adds with a sigh. “Go, then, so you do not travel alone.”
“Soon, I will see you, and we will talk of everything, including your curse.” I stretch up and kiss her once more before rolling away from her to dress. “There’s still light enough for me to catch up to the soldiers.”
Again, I am not wholly lying. Iwillcatch up with them, although it might not be until I am inside Brimmond Wood or at Fleuriste Manor.
“That is safer,” Isabeau murmurs. “If I can’t be there to protect you, you should travel with them.”
In the next moment, the duke is a blur of action, helping me into my various layers. I check that the knife and rings are still in my pocket, and in far less time than I can believe, I am redressed and escorted outside by my overprotective lover. I laugh at her intensity in this, too.
“You dress me as eagerly as you undress me,” I tease, brushing my lips across hers.
My kiss is cut short as she steps back. “I feel daylight waning. If you are to catch them, you must go now.”
A part of my heart whispers that this urge to keep me safe will be always at odds with the duty I live to fulfill now. The wood where I will ride is always filled with danger, as are even the late-night paths in the city. I am the thing that stands against that danger.
“I have questions about your curse and a confession to make. I must see you soon, Your Grace.” I smile and add, “And I hope for more kisses then ...”
“Go before my good sense vanishes,” Isabeau demands.
I ride away, repeating my vow that I will tell her my truth when next I see her. Hopefully, by then I will know how to stop the Beast of Brimmond. If all goes well, perhaps I will have already succeeded before I next see her.
Chapter 20
“[The faeries] were believed to dwell inside green sunny hillocks and knolls, beside a river, a stream, or a lake, or by the sea-braes, in gorgeous palaces furnished with everything that was bright and beautiful.”
—The Folk-Lore of the North-East of Scotlandby Walter Gregor [1881]
My heart twinges as I ride from the city to the country, where my family waits. I know that Isabeau is now safe in her home in Regina Centrum, and I have little reason to believe that my mother and sister are at risk. They travel with enough soldiers that the queen herself would be well and safe. In this moment, those I hold most dear are safe. Although the world often seems ominous in the gloaming, tonight my heart is light. Luckily, my steed is also swift, and I am already past Maudite Castle as the bats begin to take flight, carving through the darkening sky in pursuit of insects.
“Night is when we all hunt,” I announce into that symphony of insects and creatures that lend their sounds to the air.
Still, I am not without fear. The sheer force of the blows that have now killed three men, as well as the power of the two attacks on me, make me frightfully aware that the creature I must fight is one that could very well end my life. As the Hunter I may be stronger, but I am inexperienced compared to Father.
I urge the horse a little faster, thundering through the paths that I know as well as the routes I patrol within the city. Under the half circle of the moon, I gallop into the village of Fleuriste. I will seek lodging in the rooms over the Dancing Goose for the night.
After I stable the horse, I cross the courtyard to rap on Maria’s door.
“You aren’t bleeding,” she says in greeting. “Why are you here?”
“I want you to check a cut on my back and a burn on my stomach.”
Once I am on her table, Maria looks first at my back. Her sharp intake of air is the only sound at first. I feel her fingers prodding the holes the beast left in my flesh. The injury is tender, but not as much as it should be considering how recent it was. Becoming the Hunter healed old scars and accelerated my current healing.
“Something ... clawed you?” She frowns.
“Recently.”
“But these are healing already ...” Maria pauses, hand splayed on my spine, and gasps. “The earl? He is gone?”
“I am the Hunter,” I say quietly, turning my head to look at her.
