by May Sage
She closed her eyes obediently. After ten minutes, a sigh escaped her lips and she opened them again, catching him in the act. He'd been looking at her.
“I can't sleep. The ground is hard, the water is noisy, and the wind is making this damn tree move too much.”
“Spoiled little princess. Would it be your first night without a roof over your head?”
She glared at him. “Well, you obviously can't sleep either.”
“I'm cold,” he said. A truth. Only it wasn't why he couldn't sleep.
Truth was, he'd been thinking. Of the war to come, of the days that had passed, of Devin, the soft and apparently friendly king whose arrival in the court of night had started it all. And above all, of Devi, and the schemes his mother had entangled her in. Then, rather than letting those notions weight on his mind, he'd started to look at her.
“If you can prevent yourself from acting like a jerk, there's plenty of room under my cape. My body heat does tend to be higher than most.”
He hadn't seen that offer coming. Before he'd found anything to say, she was withdrawing it.
“Never mind. Dumb idea.”
“The best idea you may have this night. Come closer.”
He inched forward, dragging his pillow-bag along, and when he was close enough, he pulled her forward. Devi parted her cape in the middle and wrapped the long span of fabric around them.
She was right. It was delightfully, impossibly warm next to her, despite the snow. Warm and fragrant, and soft. Before long, his mind was void of troubling thoughts, and he fell into a restful, dreamless sleep.
Twenty
A Little Elf
She dreamed that morning. An actual joyful dream she could not recall by the time her eyes opened. One thing was sure, it hadn't involved her drowning or lashing out at anything.
Opening her eyes, she found that she'd set her head in the crook of Vale's neck, and that his arm was wrapped around her waist, holding her so very close. And she also found that she was reluctant to move.
He smelled so very good, damn him. She was sure her scent resembled eau de sweat, but Vale's was woodsy, spicy and enticing.
He stirred shortly after she'd awoken.
“Good day,” he mumbled, a low whisper that resonated in her mind.
“Good day?” she repeated. "Are we not still running from enemies and clueless as to what is actually occurring around us."
“Indeed. No better cause to wish you a good day, little elf.”
Vale pulled back her cape and got up, calling the horses. She sighed. A morning person. Looking at him was enough to make her yawn.
Reluctantly sitting up and then getting to her feet, Devi blushed when an ungodly noise came out of her.
Vale turned sharply. “Was that your stomach?”
“Not a word.”
“I don't think mountain lions growl quite so loud.
“Not. A. Word,” she repeated, fetching the parcel of food he'd packed for her from the inner pocket of her cape. She devoured the lot in a few bites, then wanted more.
But of course, they had to ration what they had until they were closer to reaching the end of their journey. She sighed, grabbing their bag from the ground and bringing them to the horses.
Valerius was waiting for her with two small sandwiches in his hand. He handed her one and bit into the other.
Devi watched him suspiciously. “Are we eating more than we ought to?”
“We should reach Daryn by nightfall. If the lords of the dark woods don't opt for killing us on sight, they'll feed us.”
She happily finished the food, then helped loading the horses. Her limbs were, if possible, heavier than they had been the previous night. She was aching everywhere, but she hid it well.
Or so she thought.
“After a week or two, your body will be used to the exercise,” Vale told her. “The first few days are the worst.”
She admitted, “I feel so damn useless. I'm stronger than that.”
“You’re extremely strong, that much is obvious. But riding at this speed would be taxing to any novice.”
“Am I delaying you?” she asked.
He shrugged. “Perhaps. By no more than an hour or two.”
Devi opened her mouth.
“If you're about to suggest we part ways, you may as well stop talking now. It was my mother's wish that we should travel together, and so we shall.”
That shut her up.
They rode for two hours before arriving at the end of the Valley of Doom. Again there was a wasteland for a few miles, and then they were back on the road they’d left behind, a good ten miles closer to the Graywoods.
Devi had relaxed now that their destination was in view. They were very close to the borders now.
Then her attention snapped to the east and she frowned, wondering why her body and mind were telling her to stay on alert when her eyes couldn't see more than a flock of birds passing by.
“Devira, bows.”
Valerius slowed his horse and had his weapon in hand, aiming toward the approaching animals.
She grabbed hers and aimed as well. As they got nearer, her eyes took in their formidable size. The birds might have been as large as her horse, and their form wasn't birdlike at all. They had long tails, hirsute at the ends, sharp-clawed paws, and the body of a feline.
“Griffins,” she said in awe and wonder.
So, what now?
The griffins were friends to those who knew their secrets, and redoubtable enemies to the rest of the world. There was no way of knowing which clan they were facing yet.
“With or against us?”
“I don't know.”
Fuck. If they waited until they were upon them, it would be too late; they had very little chance against the half-dozen beasts. If they shot now, the beasts would certainly be their enemies, even if they hadn't meant to be at first. Could they risk it?
“If we can't shoot, we can't stay here. The forest is seven miles away.”
Would they make it before the griffins got to them?
“You're the one with a crown. Your call.”
Vale hesitated half a second before retracting his bow. “Let's go. As fast as you can, Devira.”
On that note, Midnight shot out like an arrow, so fast he and his rider were far ahead within an instant, showing them all just why he was worth dozens of his peers. So she had really slowed him down.
“About that deal of ours? Catch up with him and you can get as much sugar as you want, got it?”
Alarik tried, at least, hurrying at her urging. Getting the healing charm Beck had entrusted her with out of the pouch at her belt, she helped her steed along using healing magic, making his aches and tiredness fade as he rode. She wished she’d remembered the object sooner; she might have used it on her poor limbs.
Despite the help, Alarik wasn't fast enough. The griffins neared and charged at her, claws extended, crying high.
Vale, already in the shades of the woods, shot at the beasts. Some of his arrows did hit their marks, but none were lethal, only serving to enrage them. In any other circumstance, she might have relished in the fact that she'd finally found something the dark prince didn't excel at. Better yet, something she was quite good at.
“Just in case you haven't noticed,” she yelled to the prince, lifting her bow, “they definitely aren't friendly.”
Devi aimed and released an arrow that hit the closest beast in the right eye socket. She frowned. She'd aimed for the left one. Her aim was off because of the motion. Hitting a moving target was one thing; hitting one while moving herself, in an unstable way as her horse galloped, was considerably harder.
They'd aimed for her because they were too wise to go close to the woods. She had two choices: reach the borders of the Graywoods, which meant going faster, something she wasn’t capable of, or she had to keep those beasts at bay.
“Here goes nothing,” she muttered before leaping up to her feet, standing balanced on the saddle. This w
as better. Her knees could move with the dyrmount, granting him some stability.
“You remember our deal, Alarik. Don't let me fall.”
And then she pulled an arrow, aimed, and released it. The weapon hit the closest griffin right in the heart and the graceful creature fell. Its peers’ eyes landed on him, and silence followed. As one, they redirected their eyes on her, and with a frightful cry, they rushed her.
She didn’t even think, her arms repeating the same action five times at high speed. The whole thing took perhaps one minute; four of the arrows killed their marks on contact. The fifth lodged itself in one of the creature’s wings as it veered just in time to dodge it.
Devi swore under her breath, pulling another arrow out of her quiver. She was too late; the cruel, sharp talons of the griffin hooked on her shoulder, lacerating the cloth of her cloak and some of her shoulder with it, as the other four griffins hit the ground.
At least he didn’t manage to knock her off her horse.
“Fuck!” she yelled, attempting to pull the sword at her side.
The damn bird was smart, though; its talons still digging in, he used his pointed beak to hit her, again and again, aiming for her ribs, and then her neck. Its hinged legs were just as vicious, their clawed paws scratched at her viciously, however much she pushed against it. If the beast had been hooked to her the other way around, it would probably have gone for the heart. She had to get rid of it before it found a way to get to rip something essential from her body.
Over the brouhaha of the screeching bird, Devi could hear hooves approaching; Vale was coming to the rescue, of course. Dammit. He’d never let her live it down.
Devi stopped fumbling with her belt, or pointlessly attempting to keep the creature at bay. Instead, she focused, concentrating, calming down. She forced herself to imagine a peaceful room, bare and white. A room where she was in control. A second later, she opened her eyes. One of her hands reached out.
One little taste. One instant. One simple, short second, and then, she’d rein it in again.
A smile curved at the corner of her mouth as she let go, for the first time in decades. A strand of silver-white and blue energy flew out of her hand and hit the griffin. She immediately closed the lid back on herself, caging her own power in, as the beautiful creature froze in motion.
It fell and broke into a thousand shimmery shards, like an incredibly realistic and delicate ice statue.
A meter away, his sword in hand, Vale was staring at her, eyes wide.
Devi resumed a seated position. She hesitated briefly before turning her horse away from the border of the forest and heading toward the griffins' corpses.
No sense in wasting perfectly good arrows.
Twenty-One
Whispers and Secrets
Vale felt strange. He had the instant his horse entered the woods. As if there were things observing him now, watching him closely. Dangerous things he couldn’t smell, hear, or see around him.
A part of him wanted to tell Devi to stay out of the shadows of Graywoods, but it was hardly safer out there.
“You just shot six moving targets while racing at full speed on a galloping horse,” he stated when the female joined him, spelling it out just in case she’d failed to notice.
Devi just shrugged. “Not my fault if you tend to shoot first, aim later.”
He had to let her win this round, because she wasn’t wrong, and mostly because he didn’t feel comfortable talking in the still, silent woods.
There was room enough for the horses to go, but they needed to advance one by one. He took the lead, watching to the left and right, and opening his mind up to scan everything around him.
Nothing. Nothing but the sound of the dyrmounts’ steps on the mossy ground and the wind blowing gently through the thick fog of twisted branches above their heads.
“Something is blocking me,” he said.
“Yep.”
“I feel like there’s a cocoon around me, and I can’t hear a thing. Not even a thought.”
A time or two in his youth, when striving to shut out the thoughts all around him got tiring, he had wished that his power was taken away from him, if only for a moment, so he could rest. Careful what you wish for, they said. He’d long ago learned to purposefully stop hearing thoughts, but now he was trying, and not a whisper came to him from anything but the female trotting behind him. His old wish had been belatedly granted, and he’d never been so helpless.
Devi wasn’t as anxious as he, but now that he was paying attention to the energy around him, he could tell something was making her uncomfortable. Offering words of comfort, or at least distracting her with some teasing, was tempting, but he had to keep his focus on this strange place that made no sense.
“Valerius?” Devi called from behind.
“Hmm?”
“There are twelve arrows pointed at you, and if you go much farther, they’ll probably shoot. Unfortunately, these guys will aim better than you.”
He didn’t ask how she knew this. He’d almost forgotten for a minute that Devi had a parent from these parts of the world. It might prove useful.
Vale removed the hood of his cape and called out loud, “I’m Valerius Blackthorn, heir to one of the fae realms. I request an audience with your king in the north, Elden of Wyhmur.”
There was nothing but silence. “Did that work?” he asked Devi, keeping his voice low.
“Can’t tell yet. They’re whispering, talking amongst themselves.”
He had to admit to feeling a little irked, as he heard no whispers at all.
“How come I can’t hear a thing?”
“You can. You just don’t know it for what it is.”
Vale frowned and listened again. There was nothing except the wind.
He frowned. Yes, he heard wind, and yet the leaves around him didn’t move at all.
“Ah. Neat trick. Air magic?”
“It’s common among elves. And useful, particularly against unseelie.”
He didn’t question that; some seelie fae might be blessed with an air affinity, but every elemental mage of the Unseelie Court was an earth user, to his knowledge.
Sensing a stronger wind, he asked, “What now?”
“Now they’re asking that I present myself.”
She sighed before also removing her hood.
The forest stilled suddenly—no more whisper, no more wind. No one in the vicinity was paying him any mind, entirely focused on Devi.
“Look, I’m not supposed to be here, but we’ve had a long night and a longer day yet. We really, really could use a little break. Let us pass. No drama. We’ll head to Daryn, take the portal to Wyhmur, he’ll say his piece to Elden, and I’ll be out of the Graywoods in no time, I promise.”
Each of her words was a plea. Devi had never sounded more nervous. Since they’d met, he’d seen a strong female who didn't care about any shit like rank, status, or caste. He'd treated her like just another piece of ass for all of two seconds, and she hadn't hesitated one instant before showing him what she was made of.
Seeing her like this was very unpleasant. Her sudden lack of self-confidence, self-worth, and her doubt pissed him the hell off.
The elves didn't answer with more whispers in the mists. No, twelve shadows appeared from either side of the road, walking slowly, like the predators they were.
Vale had seen elves of the Graywoods in his younger days, during the war and right after, when they'd gathered to swear to uphold to their peace treaties. They'd struck him as strange, other, but he would have been hard-pressed to explain how, because like high fae, they were tall and long-eared with handsome features. It was perhaps that they were colder, seemed older, and more versed in the arts of killing. The few elves who lived in Carvenstone were softer, more fae-like.
These dozen were all Graywoods, all slow, purposeful movements and wild demeanors.
Three came from their right flank and another three from the left. The elves wore shining armor entirely mad
e of silver, which shimmered in the dim light now that they'd pulled their dark capes over their shoulders. Their bows were hooked on their backs, and their swords were in their sheaths, until they pulled them all out as one.
Vale had his hand on his own blade, eyes narrowed. Then he watched them all thrust their swords deep in the ground and kneel, heads bent.
“Your Highness,” an elf said, lifting his head first. “We did not expect to see you here. Pardon our impudence.”
Such words were generally addressed to him, but it was Devi they were paying their respect to.
Devi Star….
A humorless chuckle escaped him. “Devi Star Rivers,” he said out loud, turning to her with one brow crooked. “Were you planning to tell me you’re the daughter of Elden Star, king of all elves, and lord of Elvendale, before or after we'd reached the winter court?”
She was entirely unapologetic. “Well, you didn't exactly ask.” To the elf, she said, “I wouldn't be here if I had a choice. The court of night was attacked, and the queen told me to head to Daryn. May we go forth?”
She was visibly relieved when the elf replied that they could.
“Of course. And with your permission, I will escort you through the path so you may not be obstructed again.”
The elf ordered his companions to remain at their post and started to walk with them, holding on to Alarik’s reins.
“Thanks. Appreciated,” Devi said, sweet and charming. “What am I to call you?”
Flirting again. She'd done that with Kallan too; that made two males in as many nights.
Vale had a lot to think about right now. A war, everything his mother had told him the previous night, the fact that he was the son of some sort of god, Kallan potentially pursued in his place, everyone in Carvenstone in danger. But nothing seemed quite as important as the fact that he'd realized she'd never flirted with him. Insulted him? Certainly. Held on to him while he was kissing the fuck out of her? Definitely. But she'd never softened her voice, played with her hair, or smiled that way with him.
