CHAPTER 6

I'd passed through the Wychwood barrier only a handful of times, and each time was as strange as the one before. It was silly, my reasoning, but I thought that I could go searching for my mother alone. A foolish thought that I'd simply walk blindly into the realm of the fey and find her as though it was fate, or at least, some instinctual family bond that would reunite us.

But I never got more than a few feet into the darkness amongst the forest before turning back. As though I lost all desire to find her the moment I inhaled the air that lingered beyond the Wychwood border.

For all those years, there was nothing stopping her from coming back for me. Yet she'd kept away for a reason. And it was her reasoning that frightened me, not the fear of what I would find. Would she embrace me as I longed she would? Or would she send me back – turn her back on me, just as she had for, well, all my life?

I supposed it was the fear of such raw rejection that always made me return home to Father.

Now the choice had been taken from me, and I was furious. Erix guided us beneath the shadowed canopy of trees. Looking up, entrapped within the hold of his arms, I watched the thick foliage block out any sunlight. The dense green barely let small glitters of light through, but some stubborn beams exposed themselves like stars in a dark sea of green.

The chill of the late-autumn wind stopped as we passed through the trees. But the shiver across my arms didn't cease. Mist danced in waves of silver across the wild bed of the forest. It twisted over giant roots and around moss-covered boulders we passed, fingers of smoke that reached no further than the belly of the stag we rode upon.

"You will be safer in Wychwood," Erix said. Up until now, he had kept quiet, stopping me from pulling free. Beside the apple he'd offered me, likely because my stomach growled like a feral beast, it'd been over an hour since he last uttered a word. There was not an ounce of frustration in his tone but a dash of humour that was impossible to disregard.

"Coming from the man who has kidnapped me!" I'd long given up trying to fight free. Even if I did now, I really had no idea how to get back. Plus, there was something unmoving and hard about Erix's posture. I wasn't weak, but I also knew my limitations, and Erix blew those out of the water. "And if you are suggesting that there is danger returning home, then that is all the more reason for me to go. I can't just leave my father if that's a risk."

Erix released a tempered breath. "That is not a decision for me to make."

"Or me, because I'm your prisoner," I stated, cautious of moving too much because I was pressed so close into Erix's chest. I would've leaned forward to put space between us, but his warmth was welcome against the shadowy cool of the forest. The dirtied and ripped nightshirt was doing very little to keep away the chill.

"You're not a prisoner, but a guest."

"That suggests that you've presented me with an invitation. One that asked for me to come with you. One that I should have the right to decline. The only thing I want is to return home."

"As you have said, ten times now? And I have told you, I am taking you home."

I had to swallow a sudden lump that filled my throat. Now was not the time to show weakness.

"Do you even know where your home is, little bird?"

I wanted to snap at him for calling me by that nickname, but I sensed some hint of knowing as he spoke. And as much as he irritated me, I didn't want to ruin my chances of finding out what information he teased me with.

"I imagine the journey back to it would have been confusing, but yes, I do know where my home is. Grove . Shithole, potholes in the roads, but home none-the-less. Which even a hound without a nose would know that this is the wrong direction."

"You truly believe that?" Erix said, voice piquing with intrigue.

I crossed my arms over my chest, noticing the shift of his body as he closed both of his arms in at my sides, to keep me from slipping off. "Enlighten me, captor." I quipped. "I can tell you want to argue my point."

" Captor … that is not a name or title that's been given to me before," he replied, voice thick with mockery.

"What would you prefer?" I scoffed. "Dickhead–"

"I just can't bloody believe it," a softer voice sounded from behind us. I didn't need to turn to find the speaker, as the trotting of hooves picked up, and a body suddenly rode beside us.

Loose red curls flowed in the breeze, revealing skin covered in marks of black and blue. I imagined the green of her eyes would rival that of any natural gem or stone. I'd last seen her at a distance, body broken. But now she rode, chin held high, as she side-eyed me from her mount.

Althea Cedarfall.

"Returning this fool-mouthed heir is, at least, going to smooth the edge of mother's displeasure when I get home looking like this."

"His name is Robin," Erix added, flashing Althea a look of warning. "He'd prefer we used it."

"Well, Robin." Althea's eyes flashed with what could only be wonder. "My name's–"

"Althea," I answered for her.

Her face was dusted with dirt amongst the bruising. A cut had already begun to heal across her lower lip, but the red curves of her mouth still seemed swollen. I expected far worse after what I had witnessed.

She raised a brow as she regarded me. "How's it fair that you know my name, but I know nothing of you?"

It was as impossible that I was speaking with a fey within the boundaries of their realm as it was that she was royalty. Daughter of Cedarfall, the fey realm of autumn. Besides the light and elegant tone of her voice, there was nothing noticeably regal about her. No crown or neck covered in elaborate jewels. If anything, in her plain brown tunic and formfitting black leggings, she looked much like those I had grown up with in the farming district of Grove.

"I'm starting to think I don't know much about myself either, to be honest." I fisted my hands, burying nails into my palms.

Noticing my change in demeanour, Althea offered kind words as a distraction. "What you did back there, for that child. It was… valiant."

"Thank you, my lady… no, sorry, your highness." I felt heat rise up in my cheeks at my lack of knowledge on decorum.

Althea raised a hand, and I found myself silenced. Then she laughed, silky and smooth like melted caramel that the vendors would serve poured over sliced apple. "Gods, Erix, tell me this is a joke!"

"Far from it," he replied. "He is a fish out of water, quite literally."

"Clearly." Althea clicked her tongue, urging her stag ahead of us slightly. Unlike the one we rode upon, hers matched the auburn tones of her red hair. "Robin, how did you get so far without the need of a collar?" She raised the tips of her nails to her neck and pressed it there for a moment. It dragged a memory of the iron shackle she wore across her neck during her scrap with the Hunters and that of the other fey, those being carted away from camp throughout the day. "They test for those with power, it's what is most valuable to the Hunters. Except they were willing to murder someone so precious to them." Her eyes narrowed, darkening to the point I noticed swirls of honey amongst the green. "That is what I can't wrap my head around the most. Well, that and the fact I am actually looking at… well, you ."

"They said they tested me. But I was not conscious during it." Likely happened once I was knocked out cold before they carted me to the camp . "I don't have power, at least not any I'd been aware of before."

"That much was clear," she replied quickly, lips upturned into a grin that stretched the cut across them. "I have never seen such reckless and uncontrolled use of magic before. Powerful though. We all felt that. And it did the job, I suppose. But if you didn't stop when you did, it would've destroyed the entire camp. Those in the cages, as well as out."

"It was not my intention to hurt anyone." I had to keep my tone in check, but I felt the bubbling need to stand up for myself. "Nor is it my intention to go where he is taking me. But I fear I'd no control in either outcome."

Althea pouted, brows furrowing. "Do not blame Erix, he is only doing what is required." Then her expression changed, softened enough that it almost seemed empathetic. "Unfortunately, it is not possible for you to return to… well, wherever you came from. But if it makes you feel more at ease, we will collect what you require."

Collect what I require? The offer was genuine but only spurred me into a warmer sense of annoyance, solidifying the feeling that I wasn't going back to Grove anytime soon.

To my shock, it was Erix who butted in, silencing me before I could throw the prisoner word around again. "It would seem that Robin holds concern for his… father's wellbeing."

"The human?" Althea laughed but caught my narrowed gaze and swallowed what she was going to say next. Pausing with an exhale, I could almost see the turning of wheels in her brain as she worded her response better. "Robin, you likely have worked out that humans are not welcome beyond Wychwood. It hasn't stopped them from trying to enter before, but most of the time, the Mists of Deyalnar are sure to keep any wandering mortal from getting far. As soon as a human enters, they'll find themselves turning back around without question or thought."

"Unless invited," Erix added, coughing into a closed fist.

Althea rolled her eyes at his comment, telling me that she would not have revealed the option if he had not brought it up. "You should try staying silent like the other loyal guards to my family, Erix. You may find that it gets you further in your career."

"If I did, how would you be kept entertained?" he muttered back.

"Then invite him," I said, interrupting them sharply. "If that's all it takes, then do it. I will go with you to collect him."

"I hate to be the one to remind you, I really am. But you will be coming with us," Althea retorted. "Returning to Durmain isn't an option."

Heat flooded my cheeks, but for the sake of Father, I kept my composure. Instead, I forced out a word that did not come naturally to me. " Please ."

"As much as I would like to accept your request, it is not my decision to make. We will present the proposal at court for my mother and father to decide," Althea said.

A small shuddering spark of hope lit in my chest, mixing among the cold of the closed box that I now sensed as though it'd always been there.

"Entertain me, Robin. How was it you came to be captured by the Hunters? I am not complaining that they found you, Altar no. They accomplished something our people have long believed impossible. But I have infiltrated camps for months and not once have they bothered with a… well, they usually search for full-blooded fey."

I almost choked on her question as I tried to discern if she meant offence or not. During the hours caged with the others, I'd pondered what had driven James and his accomplice into selling me, and I could only link it to one thing.

Desperation.

"The people who turned me in needed the coin. To them I was no different to a piece of meat sold at the market. Winter is fast approaching, and coin will be what keeps someone alive during the long months, or not."

Althea mulled over what I said for a brief moment before diving further into her questioning. "And you said the Hunters tested you?"

I nodded. "I wasn't aware of when or how. But that's what they said when they brought me into camp."

She was contemplating my reply, gaze lifting to the thick foliage above us as her mind whirled. "You possess an undiluted bloodline of pure power, Robin. I do not believe for a moment that their test simply skimmed over it. Luckily for us, it did, I suppose, otherwise, you would have been shipped off before we arrived. But what I can't explain is how you slipped through their net."

I was likely focusing on the wrong parts of her commentary, which was causing this conversation to flip from topic to topic. "My bloodline? You are talking about my half side… my mother?" My heart skipped a beat as Althea looked back to Erix, who stiffened around me. "Erix said something about the Icethorn Court?"

Althea shot Erix a look of pure fury. "Erix has a habit of opening his mouth far too often. When we arrive at court, you will be subject to a barrage of questioning. I should hold back my own intrigue and wait for it to begin. But I sense that you're genuine about your lack of knowledge regarding your power. I just do not know if that will fill my family with much confidence upon your arrival."

There was concern in her expression. It was so obvious I could almost taste it, like the sour bite of unripe berries. Erix's silence didn't help the matter either. He, like Althea, was a stranger, but even I couldn't deny the familiarity of their shared worry.

"Do you know who my mother is?" I asked, almost a whisper as though I couldn't believe I was saying it aloud. It'd been a long while since Father answered one of my questions. There'd always been a faint shadow of a forbidden nature surrounding the topic of my mother.

Althea bowed her head, so her eyes no longer met mine.

"I deserve to know." I drudged up the name of the court that Erix had mentioned not that long ago. "What've I got to do with the Icethorn Court?"

With a snap of her head, she stared at Erix with glowing eyes. Power gleamed in them as though a blaze had been lit deep within. "That remark I said about your career and keeping quiet? I am contemplating changing it to keeping your life instead of career."

Erix released one hand off the reins and raised it to our side. "I thought he knew."

"Do not expect me to believe that."

"So, it is true?" A new feeling jolted in my chest, booming like thunder. "My mother is in that court?"

Althea answered my question with one of her own. "How old are you, Robin?"

"Uh… twenty-four."

"Interesting." She sucked her tongue against her teeth.

"Is that a bad, thing?"

"No. I'm just shy of my twenty-sixth year. I'm only asking, because your birth date makes a lot of sense. It was around the time she–"

Althea stopped herself, lips practically forging together.

"She what?" I questioned when she trailed off, feeling as though answers were close but were slipping away from me by the second.

Althea raked a hand through her red curls, tugging strands away from her face to expose the point of an ear and glistening, ivory skin. "There is no denying that your power is linked to that of the Icethorn Court. Only those within the bloodline can call upon frozen winds and conjure ice from the very moisture in the air. Some – the most powerful of those in the long lineage – could bring down dreadful storms that brought a time of eternal winter for all who were unlucky enough to cause anger to the family. I suppose you look like her too. Any fey, old or young, who would look into your eyes would not be able to refuse the blizzard that brews within them, dark and cold like the night."

I zoned out, my mind and body numbing as Althea spoke. Years of wanting answers seemed to come all at once in the form of someone I didn't know. Part of me expected this information from Father himself. But I'd question if he even knew her. Was that why he didn't tell me details of Mother and his time with her? No. I couldn't believe that. Because his face scrunched beneath the phantom lingering pain of heartbreak whenever I'd brought her up. A person's eyes didn't dull, nor would their body hunch over, at the mention of someone they didn't care deeply about.

I looked down at my hands, wiggling my fingers slightly as though they were freshly sharpened knives that required the handle of care. The red burn marks around my wrists had already faded, far greater than any cut or wound I had experienced before; only the faint pink band was left in the place where Mother's bracelet should have been sitting. I lifted a hand to the wound over my brow, but felt nothing but fresh, unmarked skin.

Odd.

Something clicked in my head as my mind contemplated the missing piece of jewellery. I looked up to Althea, who waited patiently, with peaked brows, for me to break the silence. "Why did the Hunters place a collar around your throat when they left me and the others without?"

Althea hadn't been the only one wearing the uncaring collar.

"To nullify my abilities. It is fey blood which is potent with magic we have learned the Hunters are looking for. Iron is the only way they can keep us… unthreatening."

I cupped my empty, naked wrist. The bracelet had been iron – the one Mother had left for me. And at some point, it'd gone missing, likely in the sticky hands of the reedy man who had threatened to take it. Perhaps it'd been removed after my testing? A sloppy mistake the Hunter had clearly made.

I couldn't wrap my head around it. Not entirely. The bracelet hadn't left my wrist for years, not since it was presented to me. And if I'd taken it off, it had only been for short moments. Having it on made me feel close to her. To Mother. That was why I kept it around my wrist all these years.

"Before I was taken, I wore something that my… my mother had left for me. It was a bracelet made from iron. When I woke in the back of the caged cart, I no longer had it on me. Could that have prevented me from passing whatever test the Hunters did on me?"

Althea's lips parted, but then they turned up into a brimming smile. One that raised more on one side than the other. The kind of smile I expected a cat to present after it scratched you for no reason.

"How devious," she cooed. "Keeping you smothered for all these years."

I took that as a yes to my question.

She'd confirmed my suspicions with her somewhat vague reply.

Althea's face had cleared of all emotion. "I am going to ride ahead, warn them of our arrival. Keep him close and well watched until you get to us. If the other courts catch word of his return, we will likely be put on the back foot. You know what I need of you?"

"I do." Erix's arm walled in closer to my sides. "I'll consider him my most precious possession."

There were few things I liked less than being talked about as though I wasn't there. It irked me, irritating me beyond comprehension.

"Robin, you are in good hands. We will speak further on this matter soon, but I assure you I will petition for your father's invitation." With that, Althea nodded, clicking her tongue in signal and digging her heels into the side of the stag.

Like wind, she blurred forward, hair rushing behind her in waves of blood as she rode off into the distance. In her wake, I was left with more questions than I had before, all of them filling my mouth and threatening to choke me.

Erix leaned in, armoured chest pressing into my back. His lips dusted so close to my ear that I froze in one spot, just like the executioner had beneath my foreign power. "Where were we… little bird?"

Unable to hold my tongue anymore, I bit back. "Call me that one more time, and I will… I will push you off."

My threat was pathetic, I knew that. Erix seemed to think so too, evident as his smoky laugh sounded back. "If I go down, you come with me. And did you not hear what I said to Althea? You are my most precious possessi–"

"Okay, I get it!" I rolled my eyes, huffing out a shuddering breath of annoyance. "And did you not hear what she said about staying silent? I suggest you give it a go, for both your life's and career's sake."

Erix leaned back, and I was suddenly aware of the lack of warmth. With the tug of the reins, the stag beneath us jolted forward again, all without him uttering another word. I quickly discovered that his silence was far more irritating than his voice.