But as they rode toward the coast, across wind-swept prairies and over jagged bluffs, she longed to continue east, toward Midra. The House of Dreams and all its uncertainties frightened her, and the closer they got to the coast, the more worried she became that they would fail the first errand. If the mask wound up in the hands of Kaia Stormblood, no one would find it again.
When the end of the four-day journey was near, the coast a gray smudge in the distance, they stopped for the evening. Avalon built a fire while Hadrian stalked like a wild cat through nearby shrubs, a dagger in hand as he searched for their supper. He returned but a few minutes later, just as Avalon was lightly blowing on the flames, and she couldn’t help but feel mildly surprised at the sight of the plump pheasant dangling in his right hand.
“Got us a juicy one,” he said as he knelt beside her. He pulled open the drawstrings on his bag, revealing a heap of pea pods, bright and green as spring grass. “I also found these. I’ll work on the bird if you’d like to start shelling.”
She was gaping at him. “You were gone for all of five minutes.”
“You say it like you’re surprised,” the captain said, his tone slightly mocking, though his eyes were playful. “Please, Princess. Don’t insult me.”
Raising an eyebrow, she held out her hands. “Give them to me then,” she said, and he surrendered the peas without hesitation. “This could take a while.”
They were both so hungry that it didn’t take long at all, and by the time the sun had crept below the horizon, they were gorging on the hot, juicy pheasant, tearing it apart piece by piece, as if they hadn’t eaten in years. After traveling nearly nonstop for four days to reach the coast, it certainly felt like it. The crunchy peas dis-appeared in handfuls, and neither of them said a word until every pea was gone, every scrap of meat sucked clean from the bone.
Some Fey could not survive solely off what most referred to asmortal food.Some feasted upon the energy—the actual life force—of living creatures, while others were sustained by the spirits of forests, rivers, and mountains. Hadrian was the closest to human the Fairfolk could get, and Avalon was eternally thankful for this. At least their undying love of food assured they would always have something in common.
When Avalon was finished eating, she burped quietly and flopped back onto the grass. “Roll me over and stick an apple in my mouth,” she slurred. “I’m so full.”
Hadrian smiled and tossed a bone into the shrubs. “Get some sleep. I’ll take first watch.”
She cracked one eye open. “You sure about that, Captain? You look a little sleepy.”
“The sooner you shut your pretty mouth and catch some shuteye, the sooner I can.” He winked, and she stuck her tongue out at him, trying her best to ignore the warmth of desire that pooled somewhere deep inside her.
As soon as she climbed into her bedroll and laid her head down to sleep, she was out, like a candle snuffed into nothing.
~
Despite how tired she was and how well she slept, Avalon woke several hours later.
Hadrian was sitting nearby, stoking the fire. Avalon sat up and stretched, her eyes flicking through the sparse trees dotting the field. It felt as though something had its gaze upon their camp.
The captain’s eyes flicked to hers for a moment before returning to the fire. “Awake already?”
“I’ve rested enough,” said Avalon. “It’s your turn.” Pulling her cloak tight around her for protection against the salty breeze sweeping in from the sea, she shuffled closer to the fire.
“I’m not sure I’ll be able to sleep,” Hadrian murmured, his eyelids drooping shut despite his words. But he eased back onto the ground, not bothering to move to his bedroll. It wasn’t long before he was snoring softly, his face smoothed of his guarded expression.
Avalon couldn’t help but marvel at the difference sleep made. The captain was dangerous, his mind always calculating careful deaths and injuries. Seeing him sound asleep reminded her of the boy she’d grown up with. The innocent Hadrian, the person she saw so little of now.
The stark contrast between the man Hadrian used to be and the one he’d become left her heart aching. With a sigh, she shuffled through her saddlebag until she found the mask. After briefly admiring how the silver looked when reflecting the fire, she put it on, for once relishing the feeling of the metal sealing with her skin.
Sable stirred to life quickly, and as soon as she took in their campsite and the dark fields beyond—and Hadrian sleeping beside her—she said,Lonely?
Avalon tucked her knees up to her chin. “Sort of,” she sighed, realizing a moment too late that she’d said it out loud.
When Sable answered, Avalon could hear the smile in her words.How do you thinkI’vefelt? You and your pretty boy are the first people I’ve talked to since I can remember.
I suppose you’ve had it worse than me,the princess answered with a smile they both felt.
Avalon and Sable talked for a long time under the stars. Just as the sky was lightening to a dull gray, and the stars were swallowed by the dawn, Avalon drifted off. She could’ve sworn the warrior fell asleep with her, into a serene oblivion free of nightmares.
~
Avalon and Hadrian were both awake and packed by the time the sun had risen above the hills. Rubbing at her sore eyes, Avalon followed the captain down to the water, their horses snorting as they trotted beside them.
It was by sheer luck that they found an abandoned rowboat in a cove several miles down the coast, bobbing in the jade water. They wasted no time in loading their wares, and when they were finished, they found an area just up the cliff where the foliage was thick enough that they could hide their horses. As long as the wind was in their favor, passerby wouldn’t detect them.
When they began rowing toward the island that was nothing but a mere speck in the blue distance, Avalon became concerned that it wasn’t luck that had led them to the boat, but a plan carefully crafted by none other than Kaia Stormblood. Stories of the enchantress had been whispered at children’s bedsides and over hearths for so many years that few people believed in her anymore. When Avalon had told Clarice that the House of Dreams was fabled, she’d badly wanted her words to be true. But the Clan Hunter dealt with monsters big and small, ugly and beautiful, and if she said Kaia and the House of Dreams existed, exist they did.
