by W. J. May
The sun rose and fell in the sky but, still, not a single word.
At first, the deafening silence was hard to ignore. But by the time they stopped for the night to pitch the tent and start a fire, Katerina found herself welcoming the quiet. At the very least, it gave her a chance to think. From the second she’d seen the wolf, standing in all his majestic glory, a dozen little things had started clicking into place.
The fact that he was able to hear more than he should. The fact that he was able to see more than he should. The fact that he recognized the pack of wolf shifters down by the wagons.
Everything, right down to that effortless grace with which he carried himself, spoke to being blessed with some otherworldly power. In a way, she was surprised she hadn’t guessed it sooner.
That’s why he hugged me, that day on the road. It wasn’t affection; he was learning my scent.
She remembered it like it was yesterday. The way she’d scampered down the hill, wearing her new dress. The way he’d walked out to meet her, pulling her in for an unexpected embrace. The way his hands lingered on her clothing, his face brushed against her hair...
But why didn’t he tell me? Her mind wandered as she tossed down another handful of kindling for the fire. Why didn’t he just tell me he was a shifter? Why keep it some big secret?
In spite of her best intentions, Alwyn’s final words of warning echoed sharply through her head. ‘Never trust a shifter. They are loyal to the crown.’ Her eyes flickered up to Dylan, settling a moment on his handsome face. Well, he certainly didn’t have any love for the crown, but he was a shifter. And she was trusting him with her very life. What would her old mentor think about that?
“Nice face.”
They were the first words that anyone had said in a while, and Katerina looked up at Cassiel with a start. He was staring at Dylan with a twinkle of mischief in his eyes, tired of his friend’s passive-aggressive campaign. His long legs were stretched out on the ground beside the fire, and the corners of his lips twitched up as he stared across the flames.
Dylan glanced up in surprise as his hand drifted automatically to his face. “...What?”
Cassiel tilted back his head with a smile, the light of the fire dancing off his long white-blonde hair. “You look like you spent the day chewing on half the king’s militia. That’s all.”
Oh, crap. Here we go.
Tanya spat out a mouthful of ale. Katerina paled, and glanced quickly across the flames. Sure enough, the left side of Dylan’s face was still smeared with a generous helping of dried blood. She’d assumed he’d cleaned himself off around the same time he vanished into the woods to retrieve his clothes, but apparently he’d been a bit preoccupied and missed a spot. It was a testament to how fiercely he’d been ignoring her that she hadn’t noticed it until now. And it was a testament to how utterly socially awkward Cassiel was that he’d dare to make a joke.
“It isn’t entirely unflattering,” the fae continued helpfully. “Quite the contrary. I think it brings out the seriousness in your eyes.”
Cass—shut up!
At this point, Tanya was frozen between a gasp and a snicker. Katerina felt as though she was going to be sick. Dylan didn’t say a word. He simply lifted his eyebrows as if to say really? But Cassiel played rough. His beautiful face shone with innocence as he gestured casually across the fire.
“I think you have a piece of bone in your hair.”
THAT’S IT!
Katerina threw down her plate, about to give him a piece of her mind, but at the same time Dylan pushed abruptly to his feet. There wasn’t a shred of emotion on his face as he put on his cloak and headed off into the trees.
“I’ll take first watch,” he called over his shoulder. “The rest of you should get some sleep.”
He vanished into the shadows without another word, moving soundlessly over the soft blanket of leaves. It wasn’t until he was nearly out of sight that he rubbed his face with his sleeve.
“Are you happy now?!” Katerina whipped back around to the fire with a furious hiss. “It wasn’t enough that he had to kill those men, now you’re giving him a hard time about it?!”
Much to her surprise, Cassiel wasn’t at all fazed by the venom in her voice.
He simply leaned back against the rocks with a little smile, helping himself to what was left of Dylan’s ale. “Dylan doesn’t care about diminishing the royal army, Your Highness, and I wasn’t giving him a hard time. I was giving him a new target for all that rage. And I was giving you an opening.”
There was something unbearably sarcastic about the way he said ‘Your Highness,’ but there was something oddly sweet about it as well. As Katerina looked on in shock, he tilted his head gently towards the woods. The same place where Dylan had vanished just moments before.
“Go talk to him. Fix it.”
She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Not socially awkward after all. Surprisingly...insightful.
“Well, would you look at that.” Tanya seemed to be having the same revelation. “It seems there’s more going on in that pretty head of yours than we gave you credit for.”
Cassiel shot her a chilling look, but it melted quickly into a smile. “I just wanted his drink...”
A rush of gratitude welled up in Katerina’s chest, but it would have to wait. Cassiel knew his friend well, and he was right. There had been a chip in the ice. A crack in the impenetrable wall of silence. If there was ever a time to mend fences, this was it.
She leapt to her feet the next moment, forgetting her cloak entirely as she went racing off into the trees. The dark night embraced her, removing every trace as she stumbled blindly across the forest floor. Past one embankment. Down another. The crescent moon provided little light to navigate, let alone search by, but she knew it wouldn’t be a problem. This was Dylan.
She wouldn’t have to find him. It would only be a matter of time before he found—
“Making a break for it?”
She heard him before she saw him. That quiet sigh, the same one he’d had as a wolf. Her feet froze on the forest floor, and a second later he walked out from between the trees. Bathed in a faint silver glow from the waning moon. His bright eyes resting gently on her face.
“Oh, you know...” Emboldened by Cassiel’s success, she tried for some light-hearted banter of her own. Walking cautiously towards him all the while. “I thought I might go for a swim. See what mischief I can find...”
He sighed again but didn’t turn away as she joined him by the edge of the trees. The anger that had defined him all day had gentled into something else. Something approachable. Something that gave her the courage to look him in the eyes.
“Dylan...I’m so sorry.”
He looked down at her but said nothing. A virtual war of emotions was battling just behind his eyes. A dozen different feelings, each fighting for supremacy.
“It was stupid,” she continued softly, bowing her head with shame. “You were right. It was stupid, and selfish, and I should have known better—”
“It wasn’t stupid or selfish.”
Her head snapped up, convinced she’d heard him wrong. “...Pardon?”
“It wasn’t stupid or selfish,” he repeated quietly, raking his fingers back through his hair with another quiet sigh. “You thought you saw a kid in trouble. You were trying to help. That isn’t stupid or selfish. Exactly the opposite. And then, for your kindness...you were attacked.”
His voice tightened at the last word, and the two of them lapsed into silence once more. For her part, Katerina had no idea what was going on. A part of her thought he might just be messing with her. Another part felt like maybe she should be making a break for it after all.
“Then,” she lifted her eyes tentatively, trying her best to understand, “then why did you—”
“I couldn’t track you. I couldn’t find you.” He repeated his exact words from before. If Katerina had to guess, she’d say he’d been repeating them in his head every minute since. A
faint tremble shook his body, and without seeming to think about it he reached out and took her hand. “If I hadn’t decided to head west... If I hadn’t heard them talking...”
“I know,” she said quietly.
“You can’t do that to me.” A trace of that same panic shone in his eyes. That frenzied fear from the clearing. “You can’t put me in a position where I’m not able to...”
He trailed off. Uncharacteristically helpless, fighting things beyond his control.
“...where I’m not able to save you.”
His fingers tightened around hers, and Katerina pulled in a sudden breath. All at once, she understood. His day of silent rage. His inability to look her in the eyes. Right down to him lashing out at her in the woods. It was misdirected rage. Cassiel had known it. Now she did, too. She was always a step behind.
Dylan wasn’t blaming her. He was blaming himself.
They stood in silence for a while, each one lost to their thoughts, before she looked up with a tentative smile. “How did you find me now?”
He looked down in surprise, as if she’d called him back from somewhere very far away, then his lips curved up in a crooked grin. “I tracked you.”
“You tracked me?” Katerina repeated in surprise. “But I thought—”
“Something changed. Broke your little spell.”
She considered this for a long moment. On the one hand, she should be terrified that her last bit of magical protection from home had finally disappeared. On the other hand, she was almost pleased to see it go. It was quiet for a moment before she lifted her head, staring deep into his eyes. “Maybe I wanted to be found.”
Then it came without warning—their first kiss.
One second, he was staring down at her in the darkness, frozen perfectly still. The next, he was lifting her into the air. His arms circling around her back as his lips closed over hers, sending little sparks of electricity and heat shooting over her skin.
She barely had time to register what was going on. She barely had time to catch her breath before she was overwhelmed completely. Her eyes closed of their own accord as her fingers knotted clumsily in his hair. Anything to keep him close. Anything to keep the kiss going.
A second later his tongue was in her mouth, and she let out a soft moan.
This can’t be happening. I can’t believe this is happening.
Her legs hitched around his waist, and the kiss deepened. His hands slid down her lower back. They grabbed fistfuls of her dress, aching to rip it off. She didn’t know whether she wanted that to happen or not. She didn’t know if she was ready for any of this to happen, or if it was just the adrenaline, and the night, and the magic of the moon.
“Dylan...”
She whispered his name before she could stop herself. Was it to stop him? Was it to encourage him? She didn’t know. It was so quiet, there was a chance he wouldn’t even hear.
But, of course, he did.
A rush of cold air sprang between them as he pulled away. A second later, her feet landed back on the ground. They burned and tingled as the blood returned to them, and no matter what she did she couldn’t seem to catch her breath. Neither could he. They were both quietly panting.
There was a moment of awkward silence as the two of them stood there, looking anywhere except at each other, then he cocked his head suddenly towards the camp.
“You should get some sleep.” His dark hair spilled into his eyes. Messy—where her fingers had knotted through. “We have a long day tomorrow.”
Her eyes widened as she stared up at him in shock. Had she done something wrong? Was he angry? Upset? Feeling just as confused as she was feeling herself? “Dylan, I—”
A soft finger brushed against her lips. Silencing the words that would never come. “Get some sleep, princess.”
He left without another word. Left her standing alone in the forest. Gazing helplessly after him in the dark. Her hands touching her mouth as the warmth of the kiss faded quickly from her lips.
Chapter 2
They say that people dream as a way of sorting out their feelings. That dreams are the mind’s subconscious method of making sense of the world. Of coming to terms with things that have happened. Of coming to terms with things yet to come.
Katerina dreamt that she was back in the palace library, perched atop a mountain of books, trying to find a recipe for stew, while a giant duck quacked orders at her from the veranda.
Riddle me that.
When she opened her eyes what felt like a very short time later, the tent was empty. The men were already long gone, scouting ahead the day’s journey. And judging by the smell of smoke and burnt meat, Tanya was obviously in the middle of some failed breakfast preparation.
The princess sat up slowly. Letting her eyes adjust to the morning light. Letting one hand drift slowly to her lips as she replayed it again and again. Wondering if it really happened.
There should really be a manual for these sorts of things. Midnight kisses in the woods. And for men! There should really be a manual for men!
She hardly even remembered getting back to the tent last night. Her mind had been so preoccupied with other things, it was a wonder she had made it to the campsite at all.
Had he been angry with her for stopping things? Had she stopped things, or had the whisper been one of encouragement, urging him quietly forward? If she didn’t know herself, what could he possibly be thinking? And on that note—
HOLY HOUND DOGS! HE KISSED ME!
On that point, at least, she was perfectly clear. The rest of the night might be foggy, but the kiss itself she didn’t think she’d ever be able to forget. The strength of his hands as he lifted her clear off the ground. The smell of his hair as it brushed against her face. The taste of his mouth as his tongue eased hers open, as forceful as he was gentle. As tender as he was strong.
“You never forget your first kiss.”
It was something her governess had told her. Helene Vansprout. A woman with a face like an ox, but the heart of the mother the princess never had. Considering her charge was six years old at the time, she’d offered very little advice about men. But those words, Katerina never forgot.
“You never forget your first kiss.”
The princess smiled to herself, her face warming with the light of the sun. No matter how confusing it had been. No matter how sudden, she knew she’d never want to. Then the smile faded to a worried frown. She could only speak for herself. The question was...did Dylan feel the same?
“Son of a harpy!”
Katerina’s inner contemplation screeched to a halt as she gazed out the tent flap with a fond grin. Tanya may have pulled off a truly spectacular stew—one that had more to do with her entry into the gang than either Dylan or Katerina was prepared to admit—but those skills vanished completely when it came to breakfast. Chances were, the men had long since finished scouting and were simply keeping their distance until the smoke and the vile fumes had cleared.
Katerina pulled in a huge breath of air and coughed it back out. She didn’t blame them.
“Kat, is that you?” Tanya’s voice sounded as relieved as it was panicked. “You awake?”
It was one of Katerina’s favorite things about the shifter. Her unwavering ability to go with the flow. Despite the royal revelation in the woods, Tanya carried on as if nothing extraordinary had happened. She was still Tanya. The princess was still Kat.
“Seriously, if you’re awake, get your butt out here! This whole place is about to blow!”
Katerina stifled a giggle, and quickly shimmied into her clothes. It was a tight fit. With four bodies and four different packs crammed into one little tent, things were significantly more crowded than when it had just been her and Dylan.
Then again, last night might have gone very differently if it had just been her and Dylan.
“Katerina!”
Right. “I’m coming!”
She laced up the back of her dress, pulled on her boots, and shook out her fiery
hair as she ducked under the flap and made her way into the clearing. Sure enough, the breakfast debacle was well under way. Aside from the noxious fumes, a thin layer of what looked like greenish fog had started streaming over the sides of the caldron hanging atop the fire. It crept over the ground like a hellish mist, contaminating everything in its path. Katerina could swear some of the flowers on the edge of the campsite had started to wilt.
“Smells good.”
Tanya shot her an acidic look. She was perched upon a rock overlooking the caldron. A weapon in one hand, and a flask in the other. It was unclear as to which she needed more. “Laugh all you want. When Dylan and Cass get back, I’m telling them you did it.”
Katerina grinned and fished around in her pack, pulling out a tin of biscuits and tossing one to the shifter. Tanya caught it on the edge of her knife and took a reluctant bite. When the caldron started emitting a low-pitched whine, she jumped down with a sigh and kicked dirt over the fire.
“Another one bites the dust.”
Katerina sat down as far away from the mess as was polite, chewing thoughtfully on a biscuit of her own. “What’s with the knife?”
Tanya’s eyes drifted from the blade to the caldron, narrowing into a petulant sulk. “At one point, I thought there was a chance it had come to life...”
Wisely steering the conversation past the disastrous breakfast, Katerina patted the rock beside her and Tanya sat down. The two girls ate in silence for a while, casting occasional looks at the withering flames as the pot shuddered and creaked its death throes. Finally, after enough time had passed, Tanya cast the princess a sideways glance.
“So, what ended up happening last night?”
