Page 59 of The Prince and His Stolen Throne

“No relation,” Fitz explained. “I think someone used a lazy naming convention, since they both guard trees.”

“How do we ward them off so that they don’t attack us tonight?” I asked.

“Are they fae?” Maximus asked.

Fitz flipped through a few pages before confirming.

“Then we make them an offering.” Maximus poured a large measure of honey into a mug and walked it several feet away from our campsite.When he returned, he explained, “My mother always puts out milk and honey for the fae.”

“Do you have a lot of fae in Gloom?” I asked as I settled onto my own bedroll, propping my head up with one hand.

He shrugged. “I never see them, but the bowls are licked clean in the morning.”

“That sounds more like cats than fae,” Delilah said. She peered into her teacup sadly. “I wish we had some cream.”

“Doesn’t exactly travel well.” My eyes slowly drifted shut. I forced them back open and shook my head to keep myself awake. “Are we doing the same watch schedule as last night?”

“Yes,” Maximus said, his smile soft. “Go ahead and get some sleep.”

I turned over and cushioned my head with my arms. “Mm, alright. Wake me for the next monster attack.”

“Don’t say it like it’s inevitable,” Angelica whined.

I ignored her. The peace wouldn’t last for long, so I planned to enjoy it while I could.

A few hours later, after Delilah woke me for my shift, I sat by the fire, toying with the compact mirror. There were no new messages from Wilde.

Not that I wanted to hear from him.

Alright, so maybe I wanted to brag about how we’d defeated two monsters on our own. Let him know I was surviving without his help. But calling him up to brag seemed petty and like Ineededhis attention.

In the end, I tucked the mirror away without talking to him.

The night passed without any interruptions from monsters or frustrating apprentices.

The next morning, we ate breakfast, packed up, and continued making our way toward Traumstead. Since the city was built near a river, Fitz suggested we follow the stream to the river, then follow the river the rest of the way.

It seemed like a great idea until an hour later when we stumbled across our own campsite.

“Don’t tell me we’ve been walking in acirclethis whole time!” Delilah wailed as she collapsed to her knees.

“I don’t understand,” Fitz said, walking a few feet forward. “We followed the stream the whole time, and there’s no significant bend.”

“Are we sure this is our campsite?” Angelica asked.

Maximus pointed to some markings in the dirt. I squinted at them and realized he’d sketched a little dog, probably while he’d gotten bored during his watch shift.

“We got turned around somewhere,” I said. “This time, we’ll leave a breadcrumb trail, so we know where we’ve been.”

“That’s stupid,” Angelica scoffed. “The birds will just eat it.”

“Mm, birds,” Delilah murmured, licking her lips.

I rolled my eyes. “Fine, then a rock trail or something.” There were plenty of small pebbles in the streambed. I scooped up several and stuffed them into my pockets. After a few seconds, the others followed suit.

This time, as we walked, we dropped a pebble every few inches, leaving a solid trail.

Which turned into a circle an hour later.