Chapter 24

“F irst, we’re going to get your tools.” He turned, and I felt like I could breathe properly again, the intensity between us lessening as soon as I couldn’t see his face.

Frima was waiting at the top of the stairs. The two fae nodded at each other, and then turned off down a hallway.

“Good day to you too,” I muttered to the female’s back as I hurried after them.

She looked over her shoulder at me with an expression that made me wonder instantly if she knew about last night. Svangrior had said he wouldn’t tell the Prince, but he never said anything about the Prince’s warriors.

“It is far from a good day,” she said.

I kept my lips clamped shut. Staying quiet in the Queen’s dining room was easier than biting back retorts to Frima, but I could do with the practice.

The truth was, I was grateful for Frima’s presence. Being alone with the Prince was becoming unnerving for a whole host of reasons other than the fact that he was terrifying.

“Tait is waiting for us,” Frima said to the Prince.

“Good. I could do with the ride.”

She nodded. “Tell me about it. Can she ride?”

I scowled, instantly losing my resolve to keep my mouth shut. “If by she , you mean me, then no. Of course I can’t ride,” I said. “How many thralls do you think are taught to ride?”

Frima sighed, then fell back a step so that she was in line with me. I looked at her sideways, warily. She began to speak slowly and clearly, as though I were a child. “We are going to the stables, and then onto a small town nearby where Maz’s shadow-spinner works. He has many tools in his workshop that Maz tells me you need access to.” Her eyes tightened and her voice dropped. “If you make one move to escape, it will not be you that pays the price. Understand?”

She knew about my escape attempt.

I stared back at her, keeping my chin held high. “I have no intention of trying to escape.”

She snorted. “Forgive me for being inclined not to believe you.”

I shrugged. “What would be the point?” I played on what I knew she would believe. “He would just find me again.” I pointed at the Prince’s back.

“Hmm. Perhaps you’re not as stupid as you’ve been making out,” she said doubtfully.

“You know, I’ve never been called stupid more than I have in the last few days.”

Frima tipped her head. “If enough people are saying it, it must be true.”

I glared at her, then flinched as the Prince’s voice sounded in my head.

“I do not believe for one moment you are stupid. I am watching you, little gildi .”

* * *

I was relieved to discover the stables Frima had referred to were not the same stalls I had found myself in the night before.

They were at the bottom of a long spiral staircase that was very similar, but the door at the end of the corridor was carved with horses instead of bears and reptiles. When we entered, I could smell hay, and the light was welcomingly bright. Large torches high on the stone walls held flames big enough to give a warmth to the space that I had not encountered anywhere else in the palace.

The sound of snickering horses and clopping hooves came from behind many short stable doors separating the animals. The Prince moved purposefully on, until a sturdy-looking human man came hurrying out of one of the stalls.

“Your highness, will you be requiring Jarl?”

“Yes. And Idunn.”

The man I presumed to be the stable hand looked at me. “And a third horse?”

“No.”

“Very good, your highness.” The man hurried off again.

When he came back, he was leading a beautiful horse that had been prepped and saddled. Unsurprisingly, she was black. She had purple streaks through her mane and tail, and a single deep grey diamond on her nose. Bright, intelligent eyes blinked at Frima, and she tossed her head when the fae rubbed her long snout.

The stable hand left again, and Frima put one leg in the stirrup, gripped the saddle, and neatly vaulted herself up onto the horse’s back, which was easily five feet off the ground.

I wasn’t sure I would be able to pull a move like that off, but I would sure as Odin try.

My resolve faltered when the stable hand reappeared, though.

I had never seen a horse like the one he was leading to the Prince. He was breathtaking.

Deep black in color, he had silver bands around the tops of his legs and around his massive, sleek chest. Within the silver strips were runes, hundreds of them, tiny and detailed. The stallion swished his tail, and I noticed silver streaks in the hair, matching the Prince’s braids.

The horse danced impatiently, hooves skipping on the stone. The stable hand passed the reins over to the Prince and then backed up a little nervously.

“He doesn’t look real,” I muttered as the Prince laid a large hand on his flank, and he stilled.

“Oh, he is very, very real. Sometimes a little too real,” the stable hand muttered.

Frima gave him a look. “At least he can be ridden. I heard his sister was the cause of two broken arms just last week?”

The stable hand nodded gravely, and the Prince sighed. “Unless you can bring my mother back from the grave, I fear she will stay untameable.” He looked at me. “Have you ever been on a horse?”

“No.”

“Hold the reins, and do exactly as you’re told.” He narrowed his eyes. “I haven’t got time to fix your body when you fall six feet to the stone. Do as you’re told.”

I gave him a sarcastic smile. “Yes, your highness.”

His face twitched into a scowl, then he moved so quickly I didn’t see it coming. I yelped as he wrapped his hands around my waist and lifted me clean off my feet.

He swung me up onto the horse, my legs flailing. I grabbed the reins, gripping the horse’s huge back between my thighs. “Some warning would have been nice,” I said through gritted teeth, then yelped again as the huge beast moved. “I’m not even in the saddle!” I was in front of the saddle, up by the horse’s massive shoulder blades.

In another lightning swift movement, the Prince vaulted into the saddle behind me. His hands were on my waist again, and then I was lifted backward.

Into his lap.

I froze.

“I’ll take those,” he said, his chest rumbling against my back before his arms moved either side of my body and took the reins from my hands. At a small clicking noise from the Prince, the horse began to trot forward. I moved my hands instinctively to the stiff leather of the saddle front, holding on and trying to stop the shake that threatened to take my limbs.

My whole body pressed against his. And it felt… good .

Better than good.

I could feel the flex of the muscles in his huge chest as we moved on the horse, feel his powerful thighs around mine. Every part of me wanted to press back, see what else I could feel.

I gave myself the hardest mental slap I was capable of. This is his power, he's fae royalty. Of course he's attractive!

But, I hadn't felt a man against me in a long time, and my body was reacting without my permission. And even when I had been this physically close to a man, I couldn't recall feeling so…ignited. I felt like someone was holding a torch under my skin, creating bolts of tingling heat that travelled straight to my core.

"Relax. If you stay this stiff, then you'll fall." The Prince's quiet voice made me start.

"I can't relax. I'm in your lap," I hissed back.

I felt him move back a little and I slid down him, my backside meeting the leather of the saddle. My heart hammered in my chest. Had I just felt what I thought I'd felt?

I was pinned between him and the saddle front, and every inch of his body was still pressed against mine.

"Better?" he asked.

"No," I said, and my voice was a breathy croak.

"Well, I'm comfortable."His arms closed around me as he moved the reins, and he made another clicking sound. I gasped as the horse took off, cantering out of the stables.

I gaped around, clinging to the saddle as I bounced against the Prince. We were in a forest, trees stretching high into the gloomy sky. They were formed out of the strangest shapes I had ever seen. One looked like it was made of people, all of them twisted together in agony and another looked like it had been struck by lightning, its branches a tangle of its charred remains.

We picked up speed, making it harder to see anything clearly. The wind blowing through my hair was cool, and welcome on my hot face, and I tried to let myself feel the movement of the horse instead of the Prince behind me. The more ground we covered, hooves hammering the hard soil, the easier it became to fall into a rhythm. By the time we burst out of the trees, the stiffness had left my limbs, and I only realized when we slowed down that I had begun moving against the Prince with the gait of the horse.

I had never imagined the feeling of sheer freedom being on the back of the beast would give, and my cheeks were flushed with exhilaration, rather than embarrassment. Was riding always like this?

“He likes you.”

I almost turned at the Prince’s unexpected words, but Frima called out. “I’ll go ahead.”

She galloped off, along the stone cobbled path we had reached. Ahead of us were buildings, all made from dark wood or grey stone. Light filled every window, and I could see why the towns sparkled from a distance. Everything looked warmer and somehow more inviting than such a dark place should.

“This looks friendlier than the forest,” I said, as the horse ambled slowly along the path and into the town. I tried to ignore the way my backside was rocking into the Prince.

“The forests surrounding the palace are not safe,” he said.

“And the towns are?”

“Not for you.”

I was about to ask about raids, but the sight of an alehouse made me pause. There was uproarious laughter coming from inside and singing. Golden light streamed from the windows, and a wave of something that might have been jealousy washed over me.

To live a normal life. It was beyond anything I could ever hope for.

“My shadow-spinner should have the tools you need. Be quick in gathering them.” The Prince drew my attention back to him.

“Why does he have tools? Surely spinning shadows doesn't need equipment?”

I felt a rumble in the prince’s chest. “Wrong. Shadow spinning requires its own tools. And he is somewhat eccentric.”

“Why doesn't he live in the palace?”

“Because he lives here.”

“That’s not an answer. I meant, why don’t you keep him in the palace where you can keep him safe? Especially if the palace only has two of them.”

“He is safe here.”

We turned down a small alleyway, and I saw Frima’s horse tied up outside a large stone building with a massive chimney on one side.

We dismounted, the Prince lifting me from the saddle. For a beat, I felt unsteady and reached out without thinking, laying my hand on the horse’s massive flank to right myself.

The horse snorted loudly, and flicked his tail.

“Easy, Jarl,” the Prince soothed, before sliding gracefully out of the saddle.

I took a slow step back, hands held up submissively as I stared at the horse. “Thanks for the ride,” I whispered. “It was amazing.” Jarl’s black eye found mine, and his tail stopped swishing.

The door to the building flew open, and a small, human man with a shock of grey hair beamed at us. “Your highness,” he said to the Prince, then nodded at me. “Welcome to the workshop.”