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“I am honored.” Dipping a slight curtsey in his direction, I offered him a smile.
He groaned and stalked toward me. “I need at least one of you to cooperate.”
I quickly backed around the willow’s trunk, putting more space between us. “How so?”
“Take care of yourself,” he said from behind me. I had forgotten about his wraithwalking ability. He braced his hand on the trunk, trapping me between him and the tree and the hedge on the other side. “Are you willing to promise me that you will at least try?”
“Will you teach me Elvish?” I asked, hyperaware of his closeness. He stood so near I could feel his breath on my ear as he bent his head.
“Dawn is coming.” Sadness tinged his deep voice. “Please, Kate, promise you will try.”
I turned, glimpsing the lightening sky behind his dark head. Out of the shadows of his face, his pale eyes shone intensely blue.
“I will try.” No sooner had I spoken the words than I was standing in the center of my bedchamber, still clutching his book.
A scream dashed any sense of delight at my souvenir. I whirled around to find a maid standing next to my fireplace with her soot-marred hands clapped over her mouth. Above them, her eyes were wide and stricken.
So much for keeping my disappearances a secret.
~~~~~
Emrys
Kate worried me. As I pored over my advisor’s reports, my mind wandered to the way her hands had caressed the pages of my book. When I paused for a meal, I wondered if she enjoyed walking in the summer sun or preferred a midnight stroll. That afternoon, a letter from Illeron, my spymaster, arrived.
We have narrowed the possible origin of the curse to a magus in the far south near the land controlled by the warlord named Killowrew. The magus was very active up until a month after the curse was cast. Since then, he has appeared to keep to himself. There have been reports of a young female captive within his fortress. We have no way to verify her identity yet, but we will continue to watch and plan. My brother knows how to infiltrate his defenses. I will keep you abreast of developments.
Has the new princess of Solderland appeared among your uninvited guests? Word is her brother is a strong and decisive personality. Should he discover the situation, he might be more inclined toward foolishness than caution. Take care.
The rest of the letter contained updates on activities, concerns about an increase in activity along the Unseelie border, and a long list of data that had been collected and collated. I dropped the pages on my desk before leaning forward and thrusting my fingers through my hair.
Around me, my attendants fluttered and fussed. I ignored them. What had I sent Kate back to?
~~~~~
Kate
“What am I going to do with you?” My brother, Laurence, the king of Solderland, appeared very unkinglike as he leaned over his desk onto his fisted hands. His graying hair stood out from his head where he had raked his hands through it at the news of my nighttime adventures.
“It isn’t my fault that the elf king was cursed. It wasn’t his fault, either. We are all caught in the same web.”
“And what a web.” Laurence groaned and threw himself back in his chair, sagging down into a slouch. With his gut pushed out, every year of the age difference between us was obvious. “The warlords demand support, the gargoyles want assurances, and my court stands divided. And now the elf king wants a part of me and mine too.”
“Emrys desires freedom from the curse, speech returned to his people, and the return of his sister. Of the two of us, I am the only one who can help him with any of those, and he hasn’t even hinted that he would ever request that of me.” Somehow, I instinctively suspected Emrys would never ask that of me or any of the other princesses.
“Emrys, is he?” My brother glared at me.
“He is a friend,” I protested.
He snorted. “We both know what that means, Kate. You can’t afford male friends. You need a husband, and the sooner the better. I need an heir. Something I won’t get if you associate with an elf. You know the popular trend in court is against those of mixed blood. It is why I have the throne in the first place. I am the only male heir of pure human blood of our line. We need a male heir.”
“No,” I responded. “You need an heir.”
He tensed. Anger flickered across his features. “I don’t think you understand your position, Kate. If you don’t produce the next heir, the country will descend into civil war when I die. Do you really want to live through that? Marry, and soon, for all our sakes. Choose someone eligible and acceptable, not an elf.”
A servant appeared at the door. My brother straightened in his seat. Smoothing his hair, he motioned for the visitor to be announced. It was his chief advisor, Lord LaRue, one of the many men vying for my favor.
I watched silently as my brother rose to greet him, suddenly the perfect model of a monarch. When had it all gone wrong?
