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“Who apprenticed you?”
“Consider me a prodigy.”
“What about your speech? Who educated you?”
I sidestepped that as well. “I taught myself how to speak like a patrician. That’s more questions than I got, Highness.”
“Where do you come from?”
I slouched against a tree. “You’ll forgive me if I remain mysterious, Sweet Thorn. Not that I’m the brooding type—men of the like are dull. Mystery tends to compensate for that. Also, it’s sexier. In other words, my history is otherwise unimpressive, and I do prefer to impress.”
She grimaced. “At someone else’s expense.”
Splendid. We were back to criticizing my methods.
I huffed at the fringed branches. “True, I target the bigots, ridicule the hypocrites, and verbally slay the intolerant assholes of this court. As for the rest, the courtiers enjoy themselves. I make fair points and ease the blow with humor, and that brings a measure of understanding—a willing inclination to re-evaluate certain prospects.
“Is that not a noble accomplishment? Are those not the principles you so dearly value? ’Tis my craft to know what people need to hear, what they can handle.” I glanced at her. “Like I’ve said before, I’m a jester. I see everything.”
Unfortunately, the princess had quit listening. Her face blanched, and her eyes widened as they fixated on a spot behind me.
She pointed. “Do you seethat?”
Peeved, I swung around. As I did, a feral growl sheared through the wild. My joints locked at the sight of claws, bared fangs, and a pair of carnivorous, yellow irises.
Oh. Fuck.
10
Poet
Let me explain what we dealt with. ’Twas a leenix. The predatory forest cat was native to Spring, possessed the lethal grace of a panther, and wielded canines born from hell. It had a bottomless appetite and an incomparable agility the likes of which my reflexes had no prayer against.
In short, I’d met my match. I would have seized this opportunity—sightings of them were rare—to observe our predator’s movements if it weren’t planning to maul us.
And so, a violent game began …
*
The feline flashed its tusks and hissed, the noise scratching through the night. Gray fur bristled down the creature’s spine as it brooded on its haunches, itching to spring free off the invisible coils beneath its paws.
With measured steps, I moved in front of the princess. My body shielded her from the leenix whilst I set my hand on the hilt of my blade. I locked gazes with the animal and lowered my voice to a murmur. “Your Highness. If you turn back, you’ll be facing west.”
A second after processing that instruction, Briar’s breath hitched. “No,” she rasped. “You cannot be serious.”
“The second I snap my fingers, I’ll be busy entertaining our distinguished guest. Whilst that’s happening, you’re going to flee. And I do mean,flee. Follow the beaten path that we came from, and when you locate the hunting trap, veer northwest until you hit a narrow lane parallel to the main thoroughfare. It shall conceal you from nightwalkers and other assorted shitheads whilst also guiding you home.”
“Poet, no.”
Although the next few minutes were bound to hurt, I enjoyed the tremble of my name on her lips. “Do not bring back help. If you do, I shall despise you for it. Indeed, my contempt will be legendary.”
She wouldn’t understand that, and she wasn’t going to obey, but I had to try. Hopefully, despite whatever damage this kitty did to me, I’d still be able to crawl another mile or so from here. I didn’t want to be anywhere near this spot when the cavalry arrived. It was too close to what mattered most.
I pictured a little pair of eyes, greener than mine. Soon enough, those eyes would peek outside a window and alight. They would wait for me to arrive, unaware I wasn’t coming.
My fists curled. My shoulders tightened.
The leenix had spotted us long before we’d spotted it. Yet I held the creature’s gaze.
