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Araki grinned back, though I couldn’t tell if he was amused or mocking. “True.”
I studied his face, those full lips that I kissed. My stomach fluttered, and I looked away. It was just because I was hungry. I let him take the lead, not wanting to show my back to him anyway. My hand remained resting on my sheathed dagger. Yes, we would go west to Halafarin. Nightshade had a coven tucked in an unknown town on the outskirts of the kingdom—let him lead me right to it. Let him lead me to his death.
Changing the Course of Destiny
Araki
My stomach rumbled, the echo of the assassin’s hunger making it even worse. I had yet to see anything that could be edible. I didn’t trust anything that grew in the forest, and what few creatures I’d seen flitted among the shadows, too quick to tell what they were. The river had taken a few bends, and I had sent my surly companion to the canopy again to check which way was west. She dropped back to the ground, my doublet oversized on her. Her hazel eyes flashed with distrust and annoyance. “The river’s turned south. I can’t tell how far it goes before it heads west again.”
I nodded. If we assumed that the river eventually emptied into the ocean, then we only had to keep following it. However, that sort of assumption was full of faults. We had no better plan, though. We’d soon get lost if we tried to cut through the forest, and there was no knowing when we would find more water if we left the river. More pressing was how we could keep ourselves warm. The night was getting colder. A fire would be a beacon for the creatures of the forest. But if it grew too cold, we might not have a choice. I’d deal with that if it became a problem.
“What’s your name?” I looked at her.
She narrowed her eyes as though working out if it was a trap. Eventually, she replied. “Reilyn.”
She glared at me, gauging my reaction. I kept my expression plain, carefully concealing my confusion. It was a pretty name. Unusual. I was sure if I’d heard it, I would remember. Pursing her lips, she looked away. The promise she made me make not to harm the forest returned to me. Why would she think that I would harm the forest? As for stealingthe magic here… I wasn’t a magic thief. She was the one who had tried to steal mine. I had never once taken magic from another being or place. Such a thing was repulsive to me. There was a cosmic balance to the way magic worked, a higher power distributed it. Who was I to challenge destiny and fate by taking something that didn’t belong to me? I’d been granted tremendous power at birth—a heavy responsibility. Why would I put even more weight on my shoulders?
The only thing I had stolen in my life was the crown. And it was a burden, one I loathed to carry. But the only choice I’d had was between becoming a usurper or…Well, the alternatives no longer mattered. I had changed the course of the kingdom.
Reilyn knelt by the river, scooping handfuls of water to drink from. With her occupied, I took the opportunity to study her. She had washed all her makeup off some time ago. Her face was softer than I’d first thought, her cheeks and chin rounded with a smatter of freckles on her nose. It made her look younger. I had to resist asking her age. Even if she cared to answer, I doubted she would be truthful. I still pegged her to be several years younger than me. Her long curly red hair fell free of the plait she’d put it in. My doublet gaped at the chest, revealing a strip of sable skin along the top of her corset. The cleavage she’d put on display at the ball was hidden, but somehow the glimpse of her sun-kissed skin that was revealed now was all the more tantalizing.
“We should get moving,” Reilyn spoke, straightening abruptly.
I stood and led the way again. Her hostility wafted off her like a physical, dark cloud. There was something about her that I found to be… interesting. Even now, as I marched along the uneven path beside the river, I could sense a dull, throbbingpain in my ankle. It wasn’t an injury from me. Reilyn had twisted her ankle while she climbed the tree. Since I was the one who had cast the Union spell between us, I could sense her more strongly than she could sense me. Her stubbornness was too great to admit that she had been injured. I set a slower pace so as not to strain her. I would’ve offered to fly us, it would’ve been faster except when I had done so earlier, the air in the forest had weighed down my wings and it had taken much of my magic to fly. Even then, there was a strong force pulling me down, threatening to tear my wings. I had to descend quickly lest I lose a wing. The forest of shadows was a dark entity of its own. I heard pull a sharp painful breath even though the sound was faint but my sharp hearing picked upon it. I would have called for a longer break, but the agitation I sensed from her convinced me that wasn’t a good idea. I sensed her emotions cool while we walked, as though the physical exertion helped her to work through things in her mind. Or maybe she just liked to have my back to her. It must be comforting to her, knowing she could put a knife between my shoulders if she so chose. While I could probably stop her before she killed me with her dagger, knowing what she would do before she did it, I understood why it would be comforting for the assassin to imagine killing her target.
The grit and determination that she carried herself in more powerfully than her anger made a smile tug at my lips. As if her physical beauty wasn’t enough, I was outrageously drawn to her stubborn nature. I wasn’t so arrogant as to think I could deny my attraction. While they were annoying and distracting sometimes, they were still there. It was far more distracting to pretend something didn’t exist than to acknowledge and deal with it. I was not immune to sexual desires. I indulged myself occasionally but didn’t make it a habit, especially when so many were out to get my head. If she hadn’t been an assassin, I couldhave been tempted to let things go further back at the castle. I only allowed her to get too close to me because I was after the Nightshade, and she happened to be one of them. If the assassin were any other foe, I would have had her executed right there at the ball and made a great example out of her for all to see. It was unfortunate that her allegiance lay with the Nightshade. She was a costly distraction I didn’t need right now. Especially since I was still sorting through which feelings I felt toward her and which she felt toward me. I had to admit that I was surprised at how personal the echoes of her emotions were. Reilyn didn’t just want me dead. She hated me. I thought I had seen the genuine attraction in her at the ball, but now I wondered if she was just that good of an actress. I would offer to carry her if she was any regular maiden with an injured ankle walking through the forest. However, I knew from giving her my doublet that any offer of help would only make her hate me more. For now, I needed to find a way to make her lose her guard around me. Certainly not because I wanted her to like me but because I had plans that Reilyn would be useful in. Perhaps, I also didn’t relish the idea of being forced to kill her as I should have. Nevertheless, if she remained determined to end my life, I would have no other choice. It would be pitiful, but I never spared my enemies.
“We should try to make weapons,” I spoke over my shoulder. “Our blades won’t do much good in hunting.”
Reilyn grunted.
“We should also try to set a camp. We’ll need to rest soon, and we need to find food.” I came to a stop and turned to her. “What do you think?”
The suspicion on her face worked a cunning grin on my face. She was a paranoid one, wasn’t she?
“I think—” Reilyn frowned. She withdrew her dagger and darted swiftly to crouch behind a wide-leafed plant. Instinctively, I followed behind. My eyes scanned the forest, searching for what had spooked her. As I crouched next to her, I found it. A Cupiditas. A chill ran down my spine. The body was that of what could once have been a dog. Its hair had fallen out, leaving it with scabbed, putrid skin. The pitiful creature was the colour of a corpse, its skin sunk against its bones. It wore nothing but a strip of cloth around its waist, the hollow concave of its torso showing each rib. Reilyn studied the creature, her hand tight on her dagger. Her green eyes narrowed, her midnight blue hair almost indigo in the fading light of the fungi about us. Her lips were pulled together, no doubt considering the situation. It was a strange beast, half-physical, half-spirit.
A knife could work against it to an extent, but it had no feeling left in its body. Nothing but that aching hunger that could never be satisfied. I touched Reilyn’s shoulder and nodded toward the trail. The best we could do was move on before the Cupiditas caught our scent. If it knew we were here, there were three options. Either kill it, or it killed us and feasted on our bodies, temporarily satisfying its hunger, or it discarded the corpse it had chosen to inhabit and took one of our bodies. With the spell binding us, if it took one of us, it’d take both of us. I had no desire to be the physical host of the tormented spirit. I didn’t have to know Reilyn well to know she didn’t want such a thing.
While the body was that of a recently deceased creature, the spirit inside had once been human. A person so greedy in life they couldn’t pass to the After. Instead, they were forced to fill their insatiable appetite for life by feeding on corpses. They would inhabit those bodies and devour everything they could until the body fell apart, and then they would search for a new host. Some spells could either trap the Cupiditas or free it fromits eternal torment, but with the forest twisting the laws of magic, I dared not attempt it. Reilyn glanced at the trail, then back at the Cupiditas. Something shifted in her eyes, and across the bond, I felt… pity.
I looked at Reilyn, and again, she managed to stir my interest. The creature was pitiful, suffering endlessly in death that you wouldn’t wish for on your worst enemy. I didn’t think an assassin trained by Nightshade to be coldhearted, cruel, and ruthless would feel such emotion. And yet, as I looked at her, I saw a yearning to help. Doubt filled me. Was she putting on an act for me? Trying to make me lower my guard? Or did she genuinely wish to do something to help this creature’s tragic existence?
We started to move away, keeping down and quiet. The Cupiditas chewed on the bones of some poor creature—a brownie. A breeze lifted, rustling the leaves around us and taking our scent straight to the Cupiditas. Its canine head shot up, nostrils quivering. Reilyn and I both froze. I grasped the hilt of my sword, praying that the Cupiditas would return to eating its meal.
No such luck.
It growled low in its throat and lurched toward us. Golden flames, burning hot, glowed where its eyes should have been. Its eyes trained on us, seeing us despite the foliage. With a howl, it charged. I shoved Reilyn out of the way. The Cupiditas bolted between us, its fangs snapping at the air. The smell of rotten flesh overwhelmed my lungs. I drew my sword, facing off with the creature. Its golden-flame eyes grew brighter, the physical form it inhabited quivering as it rounded back toward me. It leapt at me, and I swung the sword at it, driving it back. From my peripheral, I saw Reilyn scramble to her feet. Her hand flashedout, and the dagger flew through the air. It struck the beast in the centre of its forehead. The Cupiditas staggered, a mournful sound erupting from its throat.
I bit back a curse as I leapt forward. Gold-and-red flames of the Cupiditas’ spirit rose into the air as the dog’s body crumbled to dust. A wailing noise made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on edge as I slashed at it. A beam of light erupted from the tip of my sword, extending my reach by several feet. The light cut through the spirit. The wailing ceased at once. The flames hovered briefly, then fell in a shower of sparks. The sparks took the form of a woman with long brown hair. Her eyes, the cool blue of the base of a candle’s flame, looked up at me. Her lips moved, and I thought she whispered thank you. The breeze blew through the forest again, and the spirit blew away, disappearing quickly from sight.
I dropped my head, murmuring a prayer for the soul to find peace in the after. I let my eyes close as I stood there, finishing my prayer. My shoulders felt heavy, the golden circlet I’d put on my belt weighing more than it had any right to.
“What… how did you do that?” Reilyn asked, her voice shaky. Upset.
Inhaling to settle my own emotions, I turned back to her. “My sword is enchanted with a spell of Light,” I explained, sheathing my blade. “It’s specially created to be effective against malicious spirits.”
I retrieved Reilyn’s dagger and returned it to her. Reilyn took the dagger when I offered it and stared at my hand, still held out to her.
