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Unnatural darkness filled the Winterwood and seeped into your pores like a living entity, butthisforest felt sinister in a mental aspect. It wanted to taste what made us tick, what made us cry, what made our souls and then exploit it to a level of madness. If the wood played with us, it would take a tower of mental fortitude to survive.
“Ye can hear it?” Argen asked after we’d eaten dinner, and Sahlyn had gone to the creek to refill our waterskins.
“It’s like it's tasting everything about me.”
His face turned ashen, and he glanced at the dark tower of trees and greenery against the twilight.
After a moment, his eyes returned to me and searched my face. He looked at me with so much assessment that I raised a brow and cocked my head. “Say it, Argen.”
He smiled at my bluntness. “We forge our weapons straight from the heart of Dunvar with the flame of the mountain. All weapons are special, but ones crafted by a pure heart are magical. Pure-hearted dwarves can infuse a tiny shred of their soul, creating magic within the weapon.”
My eyes went wide, but he continued, “Cabro Lightfoot’s legendary blade made with Searian ore, found in only one cave in the Dunvar mountains, is the only weapon in existence that can kill the queen. Her heart is filled with dark magic, encased with stone, making her unkillable.”
My heart skipped a beat. Not fearing the queen, but with what he’d said about the magic that infused the blades.
“The magic in Cabro Lightfoot's blade can only be drawn by a sincere heart.”
When Argen’s eyes swept over me gently, I balked. “I’m not—"
He lifted a bushy red brow, and I glanced away with my heart in my throat. “I never thought of my heart as true.”
“Ye stopped ye journey to help me with the wolves. Ye are a good person, girlie. To the core.”
With a sigh, I conceded. I had done nothing horrible in my life, but I never considered myself to have atrueheart.
“Do ye love ye family?”
“Of course, I do.”
“Do ye love ye kingdom? Ye friends? Sahlyn?”
My heart skipped a beat on the last one. “Yes…” I said tentatively. Despite the things between Sahlyn and me, I cared for him.
Argen smiled knowingly. “Love breaks curses, Autumn. Ye love ye self too. Can see it in the stance ye take when shootin’ ye bow, the commandin’ presence ye have in battle. The way ye want to prove ye self, and the way ye speak ye mind. Ye self-respectin’ and confident, andthatis powerful. Self-love is a glorious thing to possess, girlie.”
“I'm… I…”
“Did ye know ye were born on autumn equinox twenty-five years ago?”
What was he getting at? “Yes.”
“Did ye know that the queen lost a child in autumn equinox twenty-five years ago?”
I shivered as awareness swept through me, but I didn’t grasp his meaning. “What do you mean?”
“Ye parents made a bargain fer a baby, Autumn. They made a deal with a witch. The same witch that cast a curse on Amira.”
“I… My father told me a few months ago about the deal.” Then something clenched in my belly. “I’m not the queen’s child, am I?” Panic seized me with the thought.
“Nah, but the queen’s child was taken so that ye could live. Magic has a price. All bargains ‘ave a price an’ often that price isn’t clear. Sometimes that price is paid nay by the ones makin’ the deal, but by generations after. Sometimes one doesn’t even know they are payin’ it. Magic is volatile an’ wild. It’s not tangible, which is why they both paid the price when the king made a deal with Amira two decades ago. King Renaud lost his wife an’ child. Amira had already lost ‘er husband an’ daughter. They could have come together in the way of understandin’, but Amira turned to dark magic to get what she wanted.”
“What did she want?”
“Power. She thirsted for power and to never be hurt again.She needs to be the one doin’ the hurtin'. We dwarves ‘ave seen this before with Creedell Fang. I think Amira always had magic an’ was a dabblin’ witch before she married ‘er first husband, but he grounded ‘er. He was such a fiercely honorable man that he made ‘er a better person. Losing him catapulted ‘er to despair, then losing her daughterbrokeher.”
I sighed. I didn’t want to understand the queen, but I did—just a little. I also felt sadness for the child taken so that I could live. It was unjust, and my heart clenched with that knowledge.
“I can infuse magic into my weapons.”
