First Light (39 page)

A half an hour must have passed since we’d left the castle grounds, and so far no one had discovered us here. But I did not expect that could last much longer. The cave might be under some temporary protection, but I hadn’t forgotten that Nadamaris would be able to see us in her woods. All the more reason to get out of them as soon as possible. “Rincoln is much farther,” I protested.

“Then they won’t expect us to go there.” Cristian paused a moment before continuing, his voice lower. “On my way to Baldwinidad, I planted clues in the forest that will make Nadamaris— and anyone searching on her behalf— certain they’re following us back to Canelia. And soon enough they’ll meet up with the gypsies and the Canelian soldiers that were following me.”

“Can you be certain the gypsies are to be trusted?” I wasn’t sure at all.

“I’m here, aren’t I?” Cristian’s mouth curved up in a smile.

I returned it with an uneasy one of my own. He
was
here. So was I. Both of us together— alone— easy prey for anyone wanting to be rid of us. Wouldn’t that make Gemine the hero of the day— capturing us both, returning us to the queen?

“Were it not for your gypsy friends,” Cristian said, “I would not have known—”

“They are
not
my friends.”

“Not even the handsome one?” Cristian teased.

“Especially not him.”

Cristian’s smile grew. “Glad to hear it.” He set a piece of the metal skirt aside. “We’ll wait here until nightfall. It will take Nadamaris’s men at least that long to turn around, if they’re not beaten already.”

“And Nadamaris?” I asked. “She saw Hale and me miles away in the forest. She’s sure to see us, too.”

“The fairies promised to take care of that. Kindra said something about setting a lot of fires. Florence mentioned magical, view-blocking beanstalks, and I believe Zipporah intends to run around the forest distracting Nadamaris.”

“How I love them,” I exclaimed, taking much comfort from his words.

“Still, we should travel by night. We’ll be safer when it’s dark.”

“You don’t completely trust them,” I said.

“I do,” Cristian said, though his tone didn’t sound very convincing. “I want to be cautious is all.”

“Find them,” Nadamaris raged from a tower above, her voice echoing across the treetops.

I shuddered then pressed my lips together to keep from voicing the wish aloud that we were anywhere but here. My fingers closed over the string tied around my neck. Though I had one pearl left, it still did not seem the right time to use it. If we could get out of this on our own, then I might use it to wish Hale to safety.

“Kill the prince, but bring the princess back here. Hurt her if you must; break her legs, rip her hair out, but leave her tongue intact. She’ll need it to speak her vows to my son.”

Or we may yet need that wish ourselves.
Both a chill and relief swept over me. Cristian and I were in imminent danger, but for the moment, Hale was safe. “As long as they cannot find us, she’ll spare him.”

Cristian nodded, giving me a peculiar look as he did so. He wrestled another chunk of the gown away and set it on the ground. “Who is this
Hale
to you?”

I thought it an odd moment for Cristian to show jealousy. “A friend. Nothing more. He cares for Cecilia. At the ball he held her life in his hands— and he spared it.”

Cristian sighed, seemingly upset by this information.

“What?” I asked. “What’s wrong now?”

“Nadamaris
will
kill him. As soon as she knows we are wed. And believe me—” He glanced up at the steady drizzle above us. “She’ll know.”

He was right, of course. Nadamaris had known about our day in Tallinyne, had traced that precious and miraculous rainstorm back to the castle and our orchard. If we did manage to hide here in her forest, where it always rained, we’d face new dangers as soon as we left her land. Cristian and I would have to be very careful not to touch, lest a cloud follow us and give us away.

“What can we do?” I asked. My knees buckled at the thought of setting foot inside that castle again— of facing Nadamaris once more. But I could not let Hale die because of me. I was in love with Cristian, desperately wanted my future to be with him, but how could I do so, knowing it would bring Hale’s death?

Cristian said nothing for some time but continued dismantling the skirt of metal, carefully wedging his knife between the chinks, levering it back and forth to bend the vile contraption away from my body. Finally the task was finished, and the last piece of skirt fell away. He caught it before it could fall to the ground. Placing it with the others, he stood, facing me. “I am not sure what can be done to save your friend.”

“Would you simply let him die?” I said.

“For the good of an entire kingdom— yes.”

“But—” I stared into Cristian’s eyes, the horrors of the past twenty-four hours weighing heavily. I held out an arm, waiting for him to start on the cumbersome sleeve. Instead he stepped closer.

“But I’ll do everything I can to save him.”

“
We’ll
do everything we can.”

“Yes.” Cristian took my face in his hands as he had the night of the ball. This time I offered no resistance but closed my eyes, giving into the bliss of his lips covering mine. This kiss was different than the first we’d shared— more intense, like the experience we’d lived through together since then. I longed to put my arms around Cristian but didn’t for fear of scratching him. Instead, I melted under his touch, my already scant breath all but leaving me as he stole it.

“Adrielle,” he whispered. “We were meant for each other.”

“I can’t breathe,” I whispered back, leaning into him. “You mustn’t kiss me…” I gasped for air. “While I’m— in— this metal bodice.”

As if to confirm my words, lightning flashed above us, and thunder shook the sky directly overhead.

“I mustn’t kiss you at all,” Cristian muttered darkly. “So long as this vile curse is still in place.” Rain made its way through the canopy of leaves overhead, slanting through the opening of the narrow cave and pelting us with ice cold drops. He stepped away from me, took his knife from his boot and began working on my sleeve. When he’d pulled back a big enough piece to grasp with his fingers, he pried it away, face contorted as he put his muscle into bending it. He’d made some headway when his fingers slipped on the wet metal and the jagged edge sliced his hand. Blood bubbled up on the surface of his palm.

“Oh, Cristian. I’m so sorry.” Instinctively I glanced around, searching for any of the healing plants I knew.

“Good thing the curse didn’t predict that I’d slice my hand and die.”

“That isn’t funny.” I watched the blood trickling down Cristian’s wrist, and my heart

seized with worry. I could not be the cause of Hale’s death
or
Cristian’s. Especially Cristian’s.

And it wasn’t the saving of a kingdom I was thinking of at this particular moment. I thought only

of myself. Of the reality of the words Cristian had spoken inside the castle. Of the hope that filled my heart when I thought of being with him always. Nothing must prevent that from happening. Especially a curse. “I thought you didn’t believe in such things anyway.”

“There are times I don’t know what I believe anymore. But you, this—” He touched the metal sleeve “— is real. Adrielle, we are meant to be together. And the woman inside that castle is going to try her best to stop us.”

“She won’t,” I said, still thinking only of myself, of Cristian’s beautiful eyes staring at me, of the warmth spreading through my body at his touch.

“She won’t,” Cristian echoed. He gave me a fleeting smile. “Since that first day I met you and you rapped my fingers with that spoon, I’ve wanted nothing more than to be with you.”

“Me, too,” I said, feeling my eyes tear up.

“And when you threw that apple at my head, I knew I was in love. Here is a woman, I said, who will keep me in line and keep me entertained throughout all my days.”

“I liked you then—
a lot
,” I added. “But I didn’t realize I was in love with you until the day we spent in Tallinyne.”

“My fine driving skills finally won you over?” Cristian asked as he wrapped his hand in a strip of fabric torn from the bottom of his shirt.

“No.” I stared at his cut, willing it to be the last of Cristian’s blood ever spilt for me. But no longer was I naive enough to think that wish would be granted. My soul suddenly felt as bleak and dark as the sky overhead. We had so far to travel. So much evil to overcome.

“If not my expertise with a team of horses, then what?” Cristian continued his attempt at levity as he returned to the task of freeing me from my metal trap.

“It was watching you,” I said, remembering. “It was seeing you discover your purpose and rise to fulfill it so grandly. You were kind, wise, charming— everything a prince should be. Except mine.”

“If only we had known.” Cristian’s eyes met mine for a brief moment; then he began working feverishly on the remaining pieces of metal. I stood, tense and alert, listening to the sounds of the forest. At least an hour more passed before he finally helped me from the last of the bodice. Florence’s fancy dress beneath no longer seemed restrictive at all. My lungs expanded gratefully, and I sucked in a breath of frosty air.

“Is it my imagination, or is—”

“It’s growing colder,” Cristian said, confirming my fear. “Nadamaris must be hoping to freeze us to death.”

“She wants me to start a fire.”

“I could start one.” Cristian wrapped his arms around me. I returned his embrace, leaning my head against his chest. His heartbeat was steady and reassuring. Above us the rain turned to hail.

“Your fire might not be enchanted, but it’s one more thing that could lead her to us.” With a sigh, I stepped away. We were destined to be together, but to fulfill that destiny we would have to stay apart.

Traveling under cover of darkness proved both a blessing and a trial. Moving helped us stay warm, but it was difficult going through the unfamiliar woods. I led the way, my gift of being swift and sure-footed guiding me on a clear path, as if I was choosing it by sight. Though I held Cristian’s hand and tugged him along behind me, he was not so fortunate. Stones seemed to spring up in his way, and twice he stumbled, falling into a ditch I had somehow avoided. I feared for him, for both of us, lest he seriously injure a leg. It seemed terribly unfair that I had extraordinary gifts to help me, whereas— by his own admission— he had only years of training with the most skilled swordsmen and his own strength and wit to rely on.

“You needed those gifts,” he said when I voiced my frustration about the unfairness of it all. “You grew up away from your parents and in constant battle for survival. The… fairies…” He stumbled on the word again. “They knew that all I would need was prompting toward my destiny.”

“And have you been prompted” I asked, pushing aside the thought that my parents, my
real
parents, were alive and well, while those I’d known and loved hadn’t really belonged to me at all. It was too much to comprehend right now.

“Oh, yes,” he said. “Though it wasn’t, as I’ve explained, through a desire to help, but a desire to be with you.”

“And do you believe in destiny now? In Nadamaris? In fairies? Magic?”

We walked on in silence as he contemplated my question. “I do, but I also think we make our own destiny through our choices. What if I’d listened to Henrie and stayed away from you?”

I shrugged, that thought too depressing to consider.

“Nadamaris is most assuredly real,” Cristian continued. “And she certainly has many powers outside the norm of a Queen. Fairies… are not what I’d imagined— you know, smallish sort of people with wings.”

I suppressed a smile, though it was dark and he wouldn’t have seen. But he’d answered my question. He didn’t believe yet— at least not completely.

“And magic?” Cristian said. “That is what happens between us when—”

He broke off, stopping suddenly. I stood for several seconds frozen— quite literally almost, as the temperature had plummeted even more since we’d started out. Traveling by night was possibly the only thing, save a telltale fire, that would keep us alive through the long, dark hours. Even standing still this short time, I felt my circulation slowing.
I wish I was in a nice, warm bed with a roaring fire in the room, and a cup of hot ale in my hand.
Again I pressed my lips together, careful not to voice the wish in my head.