Chapter 97

"Arik?" I snapped, trying to get the insufferable idiot's attention, but he just stared into space, like it was better company. "Arik! Don't you dare ride out. Do you hear me?" But he didn't, his heels digging into his horse's sides as he urged it on. "Arik!"

My voice was as shrill as a fishwife's at market, the sound horrible even to my own ears, but my unseemly display did me no good as he galloped away.

"That idiot!" My hands went to my hips as I spun around to face the two of my so-called guards. "Why on earth would he involve himself in this madness? Hunting a pretty coloured cervine is no method to determine the ruler of a country."

"And letting the next inbred baby boy that slithers out from between the queen's thighs is a better way?" Roan observed with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, it's the way—"

"And this is the way the princes determine who is worthy here," Silas said. "Arik killed the last stag. He'll do it again and more besides, but Arik gave us an order and it's a good one." His eyes searched my face, trying to anticipate my reaction. "This is a perfect time to get free of the capital. Perhaps not a run towards the border, but to the packlands?"

My heart clenched at that idea, almost able to see the serene village, Saffron, Hazel, Fern standing there with a smile along with…

"Creed."

I barely whispered his name so I didn't expect to feel a wrench at the sound of it, but the others both nodded.

"He'll arrive there at some point," Roan assured me. "Whenever he's finished what his beast says he must do." He edged closer. "We can get free of here. The king is distracted by the stag hunt. He's not even noticing that he's about to lose the country to war, let alone you to us. The duke will lend us fresh horses. It'll be a hard run because we'll have to go at speed towards the packlands. We'll have to leave the carriage behind, sleep in ditches, but…"

This was all very sensible. I didn't want to be here if the king returned, something that was quickly reinforced by Giselle. As my eyes scanned the courtyard, she seemed to sense the moment I took her in. She was chatting away with some of the other women who were brought along, laughing and throwing her hands up, right before she turned to me. Those cold eyes of hers glittered, quite another smile spreading across her face. One as sharp and pointed as a wolf's fang, as her finger slid along her throat. The bruises had faded somewhat, but the implication was clear. If the king returned, if he took down the stag, I would die tonight.

That realisation failed to raise a response in me. I'd been forced to face that reality so often I no longer cared, so my lips curved into quite a different smile, one I'd seen on the faces of some of the people facing public execution in my father's kingdom. I'd wondered about it at the time, unable to reconcile their reaction to their fate, but I was beginning to see it. If you feared death not, you were free. I nodded slowly, watching Giselle's expression turn from vicious to thunderous, but she couldn't hold my attention long. I deliberately looked past her at the trees beyond, and that's when I saw her.

Why didn't I turn around? Why did I stare at the trees, not my lovers or my enemy? Why did all sound drop away? I heard the breeze like a sigh that came from within me as she stepped out from behind the trees.

"Jessalyn…?"

It wasn't the waving head of yellow flowers, nor the flash of reflected sunlight off metal. I'd posed them as possible explanations, then discounted as I saw a flash of gold in the undergrowth.

"Jessalyn!" Silas' hand wrapped around my arm, hauling me to a stop which had me blinking. I'd walked most of the way across the courtyard without even realising it, the chatter fading away. "What are you doing, Highness?" He said my title with intent, staring at me meaningfully.

"If we're to go," Roan said in a low, urgent voice, "we need to go now. Trust the commander to get the job done, lass, because he's trusting us to get you safe."

I understood his urgency, a feeling that thrummed inside me, but it didn't take my feet towards the carriage, but to the trees, because standing there in the shadows was a golden doe.

That's what she was, I was sure of it. Not a stag but a doe, and the word golden didn't do enough to describe her colour. She soaked in all the available light, making the whole world seem darker and dingier by comparison. Her legs were impossibly long and slender, ready to carry her far away, her ears twitching as she stared at me with huge brown eyes. I dimly heard my men talking in urgent tones, but I couldn't listen to what they were saying. Instead, I strode towards the beast, the distance between us somehow unbearable, especially when she turned tail and disappeared into the tree line.

And I followed.

As soon as I stepped into the trees' embrace, everything changed. It was as if I'd stepped through a portal into the realm of the fae, the light here all green shade, the sound only that of the wind in the leaves. That and the thud of her hooves. The golden doe paused only for a moment before running deeper into the forest.

"Jessalyn…!"

They'd followed me here, my men, and that wasn't right. They had no business stepping into this place. The Temple of the Women made clear that it was a sacred space for women only, but that was merely a front to create somewhere safe from their influence.

This was different.

They were intruders here, no matter what their intent was, and that had me moving faster.

The golden doe sailed over logs, her hooves barely touching the leaf litter as she ran on, but I was not so free. The long trail of my dress seemed to catch on every bush, every twig, forcing me to tug it free over and over. The sound of fabric ripping didn't stop me, nor did their cries. They shouted warnings but I couldn't hear them. They asked me to slow down or stop, but I couldn't do that either. It was only now that I fully understood what the hunt was.

She was my quarry, I was her pursuer, and it was only now I realised the nature of this relationship. She determined my path, how far I went and where, not me. She was completely in control, and so when she stopped and whirled around, I did the same. My chest heaved, something I hadn't noticed yet, my lungs sucking in air greedily, right before they emerged from the bushes. Twin fawns, as perfect as if they were created by a master jeweller from pure gold, they pressed against their mother's body, one bunting her side, obviously looking to feed. I didn't know what this was, what they were, or why I was here, but in this moment, none of that mattered. Not me, not them as they stumbled closer, only her and her perfect babies. Tears welled in my eyes, my arms shooting out when they tried to get closer, right as Silas' voice cut through the silence.

"Gods above—"

Whatever commentary he might want to make, he would not get the chance, because a great bellow echoed through the forest. The doe and her fawns instantly stiffened, then went bounding off through the trees.

"No…!"

My cry echoed throughout the forest, flocks of birds flying away at the sound of it, but it was nothing compared to that roar. Deep, guttural, and utterly male, it made clear its challenge, its distress. It was a call to action, a demand that we attend and that's what had my body moving. I grabbed my skirts in my hands and then ran forward.