33. CHAPTER 33

CHAPTER 33

DANIELLA

The next morning, I woke up in the chamber assigned to me. It seemed as if I’d slept, but I didn’t feel rested at all. I only slid out of bed when our secret knock came at the door. I let Arabis in, who was carrying a tray with tea and what looked like cookies.

“Good morning, my lady,” she said.

I mouthed good morning but only gave an audible grunt. Royals here, and perhaps everywhere, weren’t known by their manners toward their servants.

“One of King Mythorne’s servants said to inform you that he will be occupied most of the day. He said to make yourself comfortable, and that this afternoon you’re invited to join his hunting party in the castle grounds. He said it is a previous engagement with several attendants, which he cannot cancel despite his special guests, but he wishes fervently that you’ll attend.”

Fervently? Really?

I made as if to gag myself. “I see. Well, that is kind of him to invite us. I never imagined he would be so considerate.”

Arabis pressed her lips together to restrain a laugh.

I served myself tea and bit into a cookie. It wasn’t half bad, much better than anything they’d served last night for dinner. I couldn’t place the main flavor, but it was sort of minty.

“What shall we do with our free time?” I mused.

She shrugged.

“I guess I’ll talk to Father. He may have some ideas. Honestly, I wouldn’t mind staying in, reading a book. I’m tired from so much travel.”

“Not a bad idea, my lady.”

I mimed drinking one of Naesala’s potions and pointed at a clock on the wall, trying to indicate that staying in would buy us additional time—not to mention that I would get to stay in my body. She nodded, seeming to understand.

Taking my teacup and another cookie, I gestured toward the door. “I think I’ll propose that to Father.”

Catching on, Arabis went to the door and peeked into the hall. Once she made sure the coast was clear, she waved me ahead, and we slunk to Kalyll’s room. Jeondar was there. He’d brought a similar tray with the same cookies for Kalyll, but he hadn’t touched them. He was pacing, appearing worried.

“We should inform the others of this hunting party,” he said.

Jeondar nodded. “I agree. We might have an opportunity against Mythorne. If he gets separated, we could ambush him.”

“Ambush him? What are you talking about?” I said. “We have a plan. We should stick to it.”

Kalyll frowned. “The longer we stay under Mythorne’s roof, the more likely we are to be discovered.”

“So far he’s buying the ruse. We have enough elixir for another day. Maybe more if we don’t take a new batch until it’s time to meet him later today.”

“I’m worried our plan won’t work,” Kalyll admitted. “He is too distrustful, so if we have an opportunity out there, we will take it. Inform the others to be ready.”

“You don’t trust that I can get it done.” I set my teacup on the untouched tray.

“It isn’t that.”

“You don’t sound so convincing.” I stopped right in front of him and glowered.

He held my gaze.

I narrowed my eyes, unblinking.

“All right,” he broke our staring contest. “I’m worried that if you actually manage to get close, he will hurt you. We don’t know what magical powers he possesses.”

“For all we know he has none.” I threw my hands up in the air, frustrated. “We’ve already been through this.”

“Yes, we have been through this, and we concluded that he’s likely very powerful based on what his son could do. You do remember all the people he killed in Elyndell?”

“Fine! Risk the others, but I will continue trying to get close to him.”

“Daniella, perhaps you should stay here and not risk going hunting.”

“Are you kidding me?”

“Well, you have no idea how to shoot a bow and arrow.”

“And you don’t know how to kill someone with a single touch. I’m going.”

“He’ll expect you to actually hunt.”

“I’ll figure something out.”

“Please.”

“What?” I lifted my chin. “Did you forget your promise?”

“Fine. You keep trying, but the others are coming too.”

Despite his acquiescence, I knew I would pay for contradicting him in front of the others. His eyes had grown dark and his features had acquired Wölfe’s sharp edges. If he intended to scare me, he was mistaken. I loved it anytime his dark side came out to play. Trying to tame him was quickly becoming a fun challenge.

So, in the end, the plan was for Kalyll and me to stay in our chambers in order to save our potion supply, while Jeondar and Arabis went to inform the others of the new developments. I hoped we would accomplish our goal today, but just in case we didn’t, saving our resources was critical. With their constant comings and goings, Jeondar and Arabis were using more of the potion than Kalyll and me, so we needed to be thrifty.

Twenty minutes before we were due to meet Mythorne, I drank the potion and once I endured the transformation, I changed into a comfortable tunic, leggings, and a pair of supple brown boots. I tied Mylendra’s red curls back to keep them away from my face and applied a light layer of makeup.

Kalyll came to my door back in the earl’s shape. He still appeared angry at me, but he had no right. He had promised to let me fight, and I wasn’t going to let him change his mind. If I didn’t stand up for myself, his overprotectiveness would likely lead him to treat me like a porcelain doll, and I didn’t want a future where I was constantly stifled.

We made our way to the same garden Mythorne had shown me last night. In daylight, the many plants looked even stranger than under the moonlight, displaying features that I hadn’t noticed before: shining thorns, leaves with veins that seemed to run with red blood, translucent bark, exposed roots that writhed toward the sun, and more.

Jeondar and Arabis were waiting for us there, ready to guide us to the meeting place the servants had informed them about.

“Did you contact the others?” Kalyll asked them in a low whisper.

They nodded.

“Run into any trouble?”

“Someone tried to follow us, but we shook them off easily.”

“Mythorne’s surely paranoid,” I said.

“And with good reason.” Kalyll squeezed my hand as if to indicate how deadly I could be. He seemed to have come to terms with the fact that I was doing this. “Don’t you think?”

I smiled and had to agree that the Unseelie King had a right to be distrustful.

We tracked down one side of the castle. The path was steep and narrow and flanked by thorny bushes on either side. As we exited through an iron gate, the din of voices filled the air.

In a strip of clear ground, between the imposing wall and the edge of the woods, a large group of people milled about. I hadn’t expected so many guests, including a good number of Mythorne’s personal guards, all dressed in his livery, their suspicious eyes intent on the woods.

Already, this didn’t bode well for Kalyll’s new plan. I raised one eyebrow at him, feeling smug. It seemed the best chance of getting to the Unseelie King still rested with me.

“You exasperate me sometimes, woman,” he hissed in my ear.

“Happy to oblige.” I gave him a cheeky smile.

Jeondar and Arabis slipped away, and I knew they would soon find their way into the woods, where they would hope for an opportunity to attack.

“Ah, here you are,” Mythorne said, pulling away from a group of stuffy-looking males who eyed us suspiciously as if they suspected we’d come to eat their dinner. Not for the first time, I wondered how many others had tried to throw their daughters at the Unseelie King, and yet, he had accepted no one—not officially anyhow. He’d had a son, and it was rumored that he had other offspring. I couldn’t imagine living as long as he had and having no one to share my life with. Or perhaps, it was my shortsighted human perspective that made me look at things that way. Perhaps the thought of being attached to the same person for so long should be a scary thought instead. Would I get tired of Kalyll after a hundred years? Two hundred? More? Something told me I wouldn’t.

“Allow me to introduce you to a few members of my council.” Mythorne proceeded to spew a bunch of names that ran together and I would never remember.

I noted how he didn’t keep his distance from them or anyone else for that matter, though he still was careful to stay far away from Kalyll and me.

While everyone was introduced, I acted meekly as they would expect a female to do, and allowed Kalyll to make niceties with them, something he did flawlessly, all while cataloging every single person he met, an undertaking that was evident in his calculating eyes.

I was watching him closely when his eyes flashed, growing dark and feral, evidence that his shadowdrifter blood was stirring. I followed his gaze to find Cardian joining the group alongside none other than Varamede.

Surreptitiously, I joined Kalyll’s side and wrapped my hand around his wrist, tugging slightly on his life force. My chest tightened as I took in his energy. He blinked and looked down at me.

I got on my tiptoes and whispered in his ear. “Come to your senses. You will ruin everything if you do something stupid now.” I pulled away and laughed, as if I’d made a joke.

He inhaled sharply and forced a laugh to match mine, though his eyes seemed to have trouble focusing as he dealt with the sudden loss of energy.

“Are you going to behave?” I asked, pretending to arrange his already pristine collar.

He managed one nod.

With my hand still around his wrist, I allowed the energy I’d taken to flow back into him. Color returned to his cheeks, and we smiled at each other, acting as if we were just having a cute father-and-daughter moment. When I peeled away from him, however, I noticed Mythorne’s inquisitive dark eyes examining us carefully.

I waved at him coquettishly, all the while trying to hold back a scream and tamping down the urge to run away. Mythorne smiled thinly and returned to his conversation with a tall female dressed in leather armor. Sheesh, what did she think we were hunting? Dragons? No one else was dressed like that.

Kalyll’s gaze kept wandering to Varamede. He could curve his desire for revenge when it came to his brother, but the thunderlord wasn’t that lucky. When I’d been lost in my dark sleep, Kalyll had promised to avenge me, and it seemed he still expected someone to pay for the pain they’d caused me.

“The horses are ready as is everything else,” an attendant announced, gesturing toward a group of horses aligned along the edge of the forest. “The weapons are over there. There are swords, bows and arrows, and spears. Each weapon is spelled to keep count of how many mud-spriggans you kill. The winner will receive a special prize from King Mythorne.”

A wave of questions went over the crowd as they all wondered what the prize could be. For my part, I was trying to remember if I’d ever heard of mud-spriggans. Whatever they were, judging by Kalyll’s reaction at their mention, it wasn’t the type of creature he would use for sport. I wanted to ask him about them, but people had clustered together, and I was afraid of being overheard.

Everyone hurried to retrieve a weapon from the set of wooden racks that held them. Kalyll chose a sword, and as he weighed it in his hand with a glint in his eyes, my mouth went dry. I really hoped it hadn’t occurred to him to do something heroic. I quickly chose a spear. It made the most sense considering that I didn’t know how to hold a sword or a bow and arrow properly.

“A spear?” Mythorne asked. “I thought you would choose a bow and arrow.”

“I would like a challenge today.” I shifted my attention to him and smiled. “What is your weapon of choice?”

He stepped in front of the rack, examined the swords, then pulled one out. He sliced it in the air, making it sing and demonstrating his skill as he twirled it and cut at the air.

“A king shall always choose a sword,” he declared, giving Kalyll a sidelong glance.

“Rightly so.” I tried to look at him with admiration, but I feared I was coming up short.

“Will you ride with me, Lady Mylendra?” Mythorne moved toward the remaining horses. We were the stragglers, and the rest were already scattering on horseback, weaving their way through the thick woods in search of mud-spriggans.

“I will be delighted.” My heart beat faster. Perhaps it wasn’t such a bad idea that the others were here. The thought of Jeondar, Cylea, Kryn, Silver, and Arabis hiding somewhere in the forest gave me a modicum of confidence that set my mind at ease. Besides Kalyll was here, he would be riding with us too.

“Earl Qierlan.” Cardian rode from the side on a dappled steed. “It would be my honor if you join me. There are a few war-related issues I would like to discuss with you.”

Kalyll froze, looking up at his brother, then at me. “Perhaps we can talk later. I want to accompany my daughter.”

Mythorne stepped forward. “Earl, didn’t we go over this last night? I promise your daughter is safe with me.”

It was clear in Kalyll’s expression that he didn’t want to let me go alone with the Unseelie King but refusing would be an outright insult at this point. Besides, discussing the war should be one of the earl’s priorities.

“I’ll be all right, Father,” I said. “I assure you, King Mythorne was a complete gentleman last night.”

Kalyll grunted as if he didn’t believe that for a second. Tension crackled in the air, especially when Varamede trotted closer.

“Very well, King Cardian,” Kalyll said, “my daughter has a spear after all, and I am very interested in hearing about the role the Seelie Court will play in the war.”

I walked to one of the three remaining horses, a brown gelding that appeared diminutive next to the black stallion that stood next to it. A page boy held the stallion’s reins, which was clearly meant for Mythorne.

As I reached my horse, I tried to catch Kalyll’s eyes, but he never looked my way. A seed of fear embedded itself deep in my gut. What if he tried to attack Varamede? If he did, could he take him? God, this wasn’t how things were supposed to go.

My horse was beautiful with a blond mane and tail. I wondered briefly if Mylendra would be able to mount while holding the spear, then decided it didn’t matter because there was no way I could do it.

“Hold this for me.” I thrust the spear toward the page boy. He took it, eyes cast to the ground. Once I mounted, I took the spear back, resisting the urge to try different grips to find the most comfortable one. Instead, I tried to look as if I knew what the hell I was doing.

Mythorne got on his horse in one swift motion, looking just as capable as Kalyll in the saddle, which was saying a lot. He pulled the reins left, the opposite direction Kalyll was going. I took my time, glancing through the trees to my right, where Kalyll’s figure retreated. I had wanted to prove myself. Well, here was my chance.

I spurred my horse forward, following the path Mythorne’s stallion was carving. Something moved in my hair, and I nearly swatted at it, thinking it was a bug until I heard a familiar voice.

“You won’t be alone, Dani,” Larina whispered.

“What are you doing here?!” I hissed.

“You didn’t think I was going to stay at the inn while everyone else came to help, did you?”

“That was the plan.”

Mythorne glanced over his shoulder, frowning.

I leaned forward and padded the horse’s neck. “You’re so soft and pretty,” I said in a whisper.

His upper lip twitched, and he faced forward again, his expression signaling that he thought I was foolish for talking to a horse.

“Stay hidden no matter what, Larina. Okay?” I didn’t want her to get hurt.

She didn’t reply.

“Please don’t do anything stupid.”

“I won’t.”

She was so tiny and fragile and could get hurt so easily. Then again, she was a pro at going unnoticed.