by W. J. May
“Not far.” The man pointed out into the rain, squinting slightly, as though he could see it even through the trees. “If you keep following the river, it takes a turn about three miles down—”
“What about you, dear one?” Katerina jumped in her skin as another voice entered the conversation. One aimed solely at her. “Are you from the village as well?”
She looked down to see an old woman looking back up at her with a smile. A woman just as old as the man Dylan was talking to. Her first instinct was to protect her eyes, on the off chance she was a hag looking to claim them for shillings, but a second look calmed her nerves. No, this woman was no hag. In fact, everything about her looked reassuring. From her smile to her eyes, right down to the little flowers stuck in her lapel.
“No,” Katerina said quickly, flashing an apologetic smile, “just passing through.”
The woman nodded sagely, gazing out into the trees. “I’m passing through as well. The plan was to head west, to the Festival of Woodland Lights, but the weather has delayed me so much, I fear by the time I arrive the entire celebration will be over.”
Katerina perked up eagerly. It wasn’t often that she stumbled across a shared point of reference in the supernatural world. She was quite delighted to capitalize upon it now.
“The Festival of Woodland Lights?” she asked excitedly. “We were just there. I spent a—”
“—fortune on hotel bills.” There was a gust of air as Cassiel swept suddenly in between them. His bright eyes locked on the woman, and a firm hand locked around Katerina’s arm. “What do you want, witch?”
What the—?!
“Cass, don’t be rude!”
Katerina didn’t know what surprised her more: The cold bluntness from her impeccably-mannered friend, or the protective grip on her arm. But the woman didn’t seem at all perturbed. In fact, she seemed as though she was rather expecting it.
“He wasn’t, dear one.” She stepped back with a twinkling smile. “I am a witch. Gifted with a magic that would be only too obvious to a fae. I salute you, sir. For your instincts.”
Cassiel nodded curtly but didn’t relax his position. There was a natural animosity between those blessed with the magic of man and the magic of the stars. It was a centuries’-old tension, and by the looks of things it was still going strong today.
“What do you want?” he repeated bluntly. “Why are you speaking to her?”
A glimmer of frustration flashed in the witch’s eyes, and Katerina blushed apologetically. But despite the coldness of her reception, she maintained a steady smile.
“I was merely making conversation.” A flash of lightning ripped through the air as she raised her eyes to the storm. “We’re all stuck here for a while, right?”
The lightning flashed again, and the fae relaxed his grip. A second later, Tanya called for his attention and he moved away, casting a final look of warning over his shoulder.
Katerina watched him go before turning back to the old woman. “I’m so sorry,” she said quietly. “It was nothing personal, I promise you. We’ve all been travelling a very long way, and I’m afraid they’re a little on edge—”
“No need to apologize,” the witch dismissed her cheerfully. “I travel up and down this road quite often. A certain level of suspicion is to be expected.” Her eyes flickered back to the fae, returning to Katerina with a smile. “Especially from someone as old as him.”
The princess’ eyes lit with sudden curiosity as she followed the woman’s gaze. While she’d often wondered about the mysterious fourth member of their strange little alliance, she’d always been far too intimidated to ask. But maybe things had changed now. Since that night in the storm.
“At any rate, it’s best you lot stick together,” the witch concluded. “You can never be too careful in these parts.”
The words caught Katerina’s attention and she turned back in surprise. It was the exact same phrase Dylan had said to her back in the first village. The night he rescued her from the dwarves. A rush of warmth stirred in her chest, and she gave the woman a tentative smile.
“So why are you headed to the festival?” she asked politely.
It looked as though the witch had been waiting for her to ask. A look of extreme excitement came over her as she reached into her bag and pulled out a handful of multi-colored stones. The princess stared in open fascination. At a first glance, they didn’t appear at all out of the ordinary. But upon closer inspection, they seemed to have a life of their own. A few were even glowing.
“What are they?” she asked curiously, reaching out a tentative hand. The closer she got, the brighter they glowed. Her eyes fixed on a purple one at the end.
The witch smiled knowingly, rattling them quietly in her hand.
“They’re seeing stones. Drop them into water and they let you see anyone you like, even at a great distance. Only potent enough for two or three tries, but they always go over well at festivals.”
Well, THAT’S certainly handy!
She wondered if they really worked, or if they were just a hoax to scam tourists. She knew what Cassiel would probably say. Either way, they were hypnotically beautiful.
“Here. Take one.” The witch offered out the amethyst stone. The one that had caught Katerina’s eye. It glowed even brighter the closer it got to her skin, and the princess almost took it on the spot.
“Oh, no, I couldn’t,” she said quickly, regretting it all the while. “That’s a very sweet offer, but I don’t have any money to pay you, and...”
...and my new friends would certainly not approve the idea of taking something for nothing.
“Nonsense.” The witch pressed the stone into her hand. “Consider it a good luck gift. If this weather keeps up, we’re going to need all the luck we can get.”
She and Katerina shared a weary laugh but, as if on cue, the sudden downpour just as suddenly stopped. They looked up in wonder at the sky as the evening breeze blew away the last of the storm clouds, and the hint of a golden sunset flickered tentatively through the trees.
“Like I said,” the woman clapped her on the shoulder with a jovial smile, and gathered up her things, “good luck.”
“Yeah,” Katerina murmured, turning the stone over in her hand, “must be.”
Before she could say anything else, Dylan tapped her on the shoulder and cocked his head towards the trail. The rest of the people who had been gathered under the rocks had already begun to disperse, and Cassiel and Tanya were waiting on the forest path.
“Yeah, just a second.” She slipped the stone into her pocket and turned quickly back to the friendly witch. “Well, it was nice meeting you, and thank you so much—”
But the woman was already gone. Lost in the bustle of the departing crowd. Katerina scanned around for a second, hoping to catch a glimpse of her threadbare dress or the greying, grizzled hair, but then Dylan called to her again and she headed out with the others.
The mood was significantly lighter now that the sun had returned. Between that, and the fact that they were soon going to turn in for the night, everyone’s spirits were running very high.
So why did Katerina have a nagging feeling in the pit of her stomach? Why the strange hesitation gnawing away at her?
She smiled along with the others, laughing robotically at a random joke, but a second before they rounded the corner she turned and looked back at the rain-soaked little cave one last time.
The witch wasn’t there. Not that she’d really expected her to be. All that remained was a pitch-black raven, perched upon a rock. The bird cocked its head the moment it saw her, watching her closely out of one eye. At the same time an inexplicable shiver rippled up the princess’ arms, and she tightened her cloak instinctively around her.
A second later, the bird took flight. Katerina rounded the corner. The laughter continued as she and her friends tried to find a place dry enough that they could camp.
But she couldn’t seem to shake that feeling. It followed her far into the
night.
Chapter 9
Whenever the gang kept watch during the night, Katerina was always suspiciously left out of the rotation. It wasn’t so much that they didn’t trust her to spot danger, it was the question of what would happen if she did. The girl was sweet, but she didn’t know how to fight. She was observant but hadn’t been trained to know what to look for. And while her safety was the entire point of their little consortium, it didn’t make much sense to let the others sleep while she kept a lookout.
In the beginning, she’d felt embarrassed to be left behind. Their second night together, when Cassiel had fought off a prowling cougar, she’d felt intensely relieved to have been safe in her bed the entire time. That night, she was beginning to feel restless, but it didn’t have anything to do with not being chosen to keep watch. It was that same feeling again. The instinctual unease that had come over her the second she saw the raven.
She gazed up at the canopy of trees. Every now and then, between the branches, you were able to see the light of a star. A little speck of diamond dust, sprinkled across a shadowy blanket. She stared at each one in turn, breathing softly.
Back at the castle, it had been hard to see the stars. A steady rotation of guards, armed with blades and torches, constantly patrolled the perimeter, often stationing themselves directly below her window. The fire lit the night sky and made it difficult to see what might be shining above.
But it wasn’t like that out here. Out here there wasn’t a single ray of light, save for the dying embers of the fire and the silver of the moon. In the beginning, it had frightened her. Now, it was like a soothing balm. A peaceful sedative; one she found herself looking up at many times.
A slender arm flung suddenly across her neck, and she glanced down with a grin. Tanya wasn’t the easiest sleeping companion but, despite her endless array of elbows and kicks, Katerina wouldn’t have traded it for the world. Unlike the friends she’d had back at home, unlike even her beloved ladies—sworn to forever serve her—these people sleeping with her beneath the stars were different. They had the potential to become something more. To become family.
Tanya flipped again, striking the princess carelessly across the face.
...even if they leave a few scars along the way.
She grinned again and pushed herself up onto her elbows, letting her eyes slowly adjust to the darkness of the night. Another hand tightened automatically upon the edge of her cloak, and she glanced down to see that Cassiel had kept a careful grip on her, even in his sleep.
She pondered this as she gazed at his lovely face, flickering in the light of the dying fire.
He was a difficult person to figure out. When she’d first met him she’d written him off as nothing more than a frivolous playboy, too pretty for his own good. When he’d thrown that first punch at Dylan, she’d wondered at their history. When he’d walked away from his luxurious life without a second thought, to commit himself to their cause, she’d wondered at his character. And when he’d instinctively grabbed her, pulling her protectively away from a person he deemed a threat, she wondered what had changed.
Dylan had said he was one of the High Born. The closest thing the fae had to royalty. What she knew of the High Born was both tragic and brief. Dylan had also said he had a strong sense of honor, buried beneath that hard shell. It was something that was getting easier and easier to believe. The more time they spent together. The more those walls began to chip away.
She eased carefully out of his grip. Slow enough not to wake him. Tanya was a lot easier to evade, and a second later the princess was standing on her own two feet. There was one person missing from their party. But she had a pretty good idea how to find him.
“I’M RUNNING AWAY...”
The campfire was long behind her as she made her way through the woods. Hardly noticing which way she was moving as she twisted and turned through the dark trees.
“Back to the castle to face the music...”
There wasn’t a sound in the forest around her. Just the occasional coo of a sleeping bird, or the rustle of leaves as a lingering breeze danced through the branches.
“Maybe I’ll stop and see Bernie along the way. See if I can get some more of that soup—”
A hand flashed out of nowhere, spinning her around in her tracks.
“You think you’re so clever, don’t you?”
Her face warmed with an automatic smile as he stepped out of the trees. A smile that was reflected back at her tenfold. But they only ever lasted a moment. A second later, she twisted out of his grasp with a coy grin, swishing her dress back and forth as she pretended to consider. “Yes, I’d have to say that I am. I figured out that you’re a shifter, didn’t I?”
He pursed his lips. “You figured it out after I changed into a giant wolf...but, yeah. We’ll say you’re clever.”
Without another word, he cocked his head to the side and she followed him to the place where he’d been standing, a little bluff overlooking the campsite and the woods. He dropped down to the rock with a grace that still shocked her and patted the place beside him. She sat down as well.
For a while, the two of them merely sat there. Staring up at the stars.
The lightning might have stopped, but the freakish weather continued. Streams that were supposed to be bubbling over were frozen still. Katerina’s breath billowed out in a frosty cloud, yet a sprinkling of summer flowers was still blanketing the ground.
If it stuck her as strange, she could only imagine what Dylan was thinking. A ranger. A man who’d dedicated his life to living off the land. As they’d wound their way over the mountains and across the hills, she’d seen little flickers of it in his eyes. A lingering glance here. A trace of a frown there. Every day, weighted down with that same silent confusion.
“Couldn’t sleep?” he finally asked.
She jerked out of her introspective trance and pulled in a deep breath. “After the second time Tanya smacked my nose, I figured I’d better walk it off.”
Dylan laughed quietly, having suffered his fair share of late-night injuries himself. “Yeah, that girl’s a menace.” But his smile was soon to fade as he shifted towards her in the dark. “Speaking of injuries...how’s your wrist?”
Katerina clutched it instinctively closer, as the pain she’d been trying to deliberately ignore pounded suddenly to the forefront of her mind. In truth, she didn’t really know. She’d never had a broken bone before, so it was impossible to rank it on a scale. Shortly after the downpour had ended, Tanya had spotted a cluster of white flowers and tore off a few petals. After rinsing them with some rainwater, she handed them to Katerina and instructed her to chew them for a while before spitting them out. They’d help with the pain—she’d said.
Hyper-aware that the whole thing might be a prank the princess had followed her advice anyway, and much to her delight the pain did indeed subside. But the power of those petals was long gone, and little sparks of pain were shooting up her arm once more.
“It’s fine,” she said quickly. A little too quickly to be casual.
Dylan stared at her for a beat before his lips curved up with the faintest grin. “You know, you don’t really lie well enough to be a politician.”
She considered it for a moment, then nodded thoughtfully. “...that’s probably why they chased me out of the castle.”
There was a beat of silence, then Dylan burst out laughing again. It was such a warm sound, it literally seemed to brighten the forest around him. Katerina watched out of the corner of her eye, mesmerized, until he quieted down once more. Around the same time, his eyes fell upon her wrist.
“I really am sorry...” he started to say, then stopped himself with a quiet sigh. She’d already reprimanded him once for apologizing. He wasn’t about to try it again. But he wasn’t able to just let it go either. Like the princess, ever since it had happened he’d been playing it over and over again in his mind. “You know what’s strange? You didn’t even scream.”
She turned to
him in surprise, her long hair trailing down the side of her face. “What?”
“When you fell,” he said again, staring deep into her eyes, “you didn’t scream.”
Yes, in hindsight, that was rather strange. Except that, to Katerina, it was the most natural thing in the world. She flashed a quick smile, looking back at the stars. “Of course, I didn’t scream. I knew you’d catch me.”
He stared at her a second more, unsure what to say, before he averted his eyes quickly and turned back to the forest. Some sort of nocturnal bird was singing a lonely song. A sad, haunting melody that lingered for a moment in the crisp air, fading quickly into the night.
“What’s wrong?”
This time, it was Dylan’s turn to be surprised. He glanced at her, unable to entirely hide the look of worry from his face. “Nothing. Why would you think something’s wrong?”
She studied his face for a moment, flashing a sarcastic grin. “You know, you don’t really lie well enough to be a ranger.”
He chuckled softly. “Touché.”
For a moment, it was quiet. He waited—hoping the question would simply pass. She also waited—silently pressing for an answer. In the end, it was he who caved.
“It’s...this.” His eyes roved over the shadowy landscape, growing more and more troubled with each pass. “I know this land. I’ve been here before. But this?” His lips thinned into a hard line, and he shook his head. “...this doesn’t feel right.”
Even a girl who had grown up in a castle could sense it, too. That same feeling of unease stirred again in Katerina’s stomach as she hugged her knees, pulling them to her chest.
They’d done an incredible job thus far of evading the people who were after her. They’d beaten unspeakable odds just staying alive. Every decision had been carefully thought out, and every move was meticulously planned five steps in advance.
