Page 12 of Kingdom of Briars and Roses (Cursed Fae Courts #1)
Chapter Twelve
Rydian
W ind whipped at my cloak as I watched the princess slip away. When she was out of sight, I started slowly forward. Her scent would be easy to follow; there was no point hurrying. A moment later, Slade emerged from the trees and fell into step beside me. I felt his eyes on me.
“Amanti was right,” he said finally, which wasn’t a question.
“I never doubted her.”
“But you didn’t tell the princess about the Aine we rescued.”
“She didn’t ask,” I tossed back.
“And she killed that Obsidian without magic,” he said. “Even though she has plenty of it.”
I didn’t bother commenting.
“Those flames in her hands were something else.”
I gritted my teeth. I’d seen them. She’d refused to use them though. On me or the creature. Despite my attempt to bait her into it. Doing so was a violation of the vow I’d made but hopefully a gray area. And if it prompted her to admit what she was—to finally make her own choice—all the better.
“Aren’t you going to say something?” he demanded.
“You weren’t asking a question,” I told him.
“Do you think she’s the Chosen One now?” he asked in a wry voice.
I shot him a look, but Slade wasn’t intimidated. Not by me. Not anymore.
“She smells like one of us,” he said, and even though he wasn’t wrong, I snarled.
“She’s hiding,” I said through gritted teeth. “I want nothing to do with a coward, chosen or not.”
“I don’t recall you having a choice in the matter.” Slade was way too fucking cheerful for words that provoked me so close to violence.
“Bastard,” I muttered.
“Aren’t we all?” Again with the cheery tone.
I considered smashing my fist into his face. One look at his smirk, and I knew he’d seen my intention.
“It wouldn’t make you feel any better,” he said.
“I disagree,” I said.
Slade laughed darkly, and we trudged on. An hour later, we slowed when we nearly overtook her progress. Masking our presence with my shadows, Slade and I watched as the princess released a rabbit from a trap and slit its throat with a short blade she pulled from her boot. She bled it then cleaned her weapon. She didn’t bother to skin the animal before tossing it over her shoulder and resuming her trek.
Slade and I followed, still wrapped in shadows as we closed the distance. Her scent hung thicker here, making it harder to follow from a distance, so I kept her in sight. It was the only reason I knew she’d crossed a ward line—there one second and gone the next .
“What the fuck?” Slade said as we both stopped.
“Wards,” I reminded him quietly, unsure if they muted sight and sound. We’d scouted these borders too many times to count over the years. The fact that there were wards here had become obvious. How to get through them less so. Some said they contained a layer of poison that would kill anyone who tried.
A few years ago, Slade and I had camped in what was once the neighboring city of Rosewood for a week. We’d sent all sorts of small game scurrying to the ward line, only for every one of them to be shoved back or turned away. Not even birds had been able to penetrate what was apparently a completely enclosed bubble of protection over the entire castle grounds.
“How the Hel did she get through them?” Slade wondered.
“They’re clearly spelled to allow her access.”
“No way she created them herself. They’re too powerful. I can’t even feel them,” he said.
“They’re made from strong magic,” I said, my senses straining to find the invisible ward line where iron-clad magic guarded whatever was on the other side. But even with my shadows cast out, I couldn’t recognize the signature.
I’d never been able to get anywhere with them.
It was frustrating as Hel.
Whoever had created them had to be powerful. Even Heliconia hadn’t been able to breach them. Nor had any of her Obsidians. But if Amanti had known the princess lived, something told me the Aine herself had ventured to the other side of these wards. She’d been too injured to tell me anything when we’d found her and handed her off to healers. Now, I wondered if we should have stayed nearby long enough for her to offer some answers.
“They’re clearly made with something not from this world,” Slade said .
“The Aine,” I said with certainty.
I’d always suspected it. The memory of Amanti and her friends barreling through Heliconia’s smokescreen seven years ago came to mind.
Protecting her, I realized now.
Somehow, Amanti and the other Aine had saved the princess from that killing blow. And then they’d cast these wards to keep the world out.
“It makes sense.” Slade turned back to the spot where the princess had vanished. “You think she’s been right here all this time?”
Anger rose inside me, and I nodded. “Like I said, a coward.”
“What do you think will happen if I try to go through?” Slade took a step forward then another.
He slammed into an invisible wall, his forehead taking the brunt of it. He stumbled back, rubbing his face and wincing. “Well, shit,” he grumbled. “I guess I have my answer.”
“Come on,” I said, shaking my head. “We need to meet Daegel and the others.”
We headed back the way we’d come, careful not to leave tracks.
Slade was quiet for once, and I knew we were both thinking over everything we’d witnessed. The princess I’d seen today was nothing like the one I’d met on that rooftop. That girl had been na?ve. Clever but completely unaware of who and what she was. This one was secretive and ruthless. This one had power and wasn’t afraid to use it.
The way she’d taken out that Obsidian, demanding answers, was proof of how far she’d come. And those answers had stung more than I cared to admit. Her destiny remained tied to Callan’s. It was a bitter truth, knowing my spoiled half-brother remained the key to saving the realm. Or that she would end up at his side before it was done. But who she chose for a mate wasn’t my concern. Nor did I have any interest in such things for myself.
I had a job to do. A blood vow to fulfill. And a kingdom to inherit. So why did I care so much about one long-lost princess—even if she did haunt my dreams to this very day?