The Iron Knight (29 page)

I sheathed the blade, gazing down at the twitching creature, somehow smaller in death than in life. “Too easy,” I muttered, curling a lip in disdain. “These mortal beasts are no challenge at all. It’s no fun hunting something that dies so easily.”

Rowan snickered as I yanked my arrow free and walked back to my horse, leaving the pathetic creature to bleed out in the dirt. “You’re just not hunting the right quarry,” he said as I swung into the saddle. “You keep chasing these animals, hoping they can survive more than an afternoon. If you want a challenge, maybe you need to change tactics.”

“Like what? Talk them to death? I’ll leave that up to you.”

“Oh, har har.” Rowan rolled his eyes. “My little brother is around a few decades and thinks he knows everything. Listen to someone who’s lived a few centuries. If you want a real challenge, you need to stop chasing these animals and pursue a quarry that can actually think.”

“You’re talking about humans,” I muttered as we rode through the forest, back toward the trod that had brought us here. “I’ve hunted them before. They’re less of a challenge than shooting dead goats.”

“Oh, little brother.” Rowan shook his head at me. “You have such a one-track mind. There are other ways to ‘hunt’ humans, other than riding them down and putting an arrow in their skulls. They’re a much more interesting quarry alive than dead. You should try it sometime.”

“You mean how
you
hunt them?” I snorted. “That’s less hunting and more toying with your prey, like a cat.”

“Don’t be so smug, Ash.” Rowan smirked at me, a silent challenge. “Pursuing a mortal’s heart, making her fall for you, slowly entangling her to the point where she would promise you anything, takes much more skill than simply sticking an arrow through someone’s chest. The human heart is the most difficult quarry of all.” His smirk grew wider, turning into a leer. “In fact, I’m not sure you could do it.”

“Who said I’d want to?” I ignored his baiting. “I’ve seen mortals ‘in love’ before. They’re blind and foolish, and their hearts are so fragile. What would I do with such a thing if I had it?”

“Whatever you want, little brother. Whatever you want.” Rowan gave me that smug, superior grin that made me bristle. “But, I understand if you’re afraid. If you don’t think you can do it. I just thought that you’d want a more interesting hunt, but if it’s
too
challenging for you …”

“All right.” I sighed. “You’ll give me no peace otherwise. Point me to a mortal and I’ll make it fall in love with me.”

Rowan laughed. “My little brother is growing up.” He sneered, as we turned our mounts toward the edge of the forest.

Once we were close to our prey, it didn’t take us long to find a likely target. As we approached the crude wooden fence that separated the human’s glade from the rest of the forest, faint, off-key singing suddenly reached our ears, and we pulled our mounts to a halt.

“There.” Rowan pointed. I followed his finger, and my eyebrows rose in surprise.

Beyond the fence and the edge of the trees, a stream babbled its way across a rocky field, where a gathering of thatched huts stood in a loose semicircle around a large fire pit. One of the many small human settlements in the area, this one tempted fate by sitting on the very edge of the forest. They rarely ventured close to the trees, and never left their houses after dark, for good reason. Goblins still considered this their territory, and I knew of more than one phouka that roamed these woods at night. I didn’t know much about these humans except that they were a small druidic tribe, attempting to live in peace with the land and the forest just outside their village walls. It was risky and foolish, as all humans tended to be, but at least they showed the proper respect.

So it was surprising to see one of them alone on the banks of the stream, humming as she picked the wildflowers that grew close to the forest. She was young as humans went, dressed in a simple shift, barefoot and barefaced. Her dark hair gleamed in the sunshine.

Rowan smiled his toothy wolf-smile and turned to me.

“All right, little brother. There’s your target.”

“The girl?”

“No, fool. Haven’t you been listening to me?” My brother rolled his eyes. “Her heart. Her body and mind and soul. Make her love you. Ensure that she gives herself to you completely, that she can think of nothing else but you. If you can do that,
then
you’ll be a hunter among hunters.” He sneered and looked down his nose. “If you’re up to the challenge, that is.”

I looked back to the girl, still humming as she picked handfuls of forget-me-nots, and felt a smile stretching my face. I’d never pursued a mortal heart before; this could be … interesting. “Is there a time in which I have to do this?” I asked.

Rowan pondered that question. “Well, the best-laid plans are not conceived in a day,” he mused, watching the girl. “But, it shouldn’t be difficult for you to win a mortal’s affections, especially one as young as that. Let’s say, the next full moon. Get her to follow you to the stone circle and pledge her undying love. I’ll be there, waiting for you both.”

“I’ll be there,” I said quietly, reveling in a worthy challenge, “with the human. Let me show you how it’s done.”

Rowan gave me a mocking salute, turned his horse and vanished into the forest. Dismounting, I approached the human silently, using glamour to mask my presence until I stood at the very edge of the forest, the girl only a stone’s throw away. I didn’t reveal myself to her at first. Like all pursuits, I began by studying my quarry, observing its strengths and weaknesses, learning its habits and patterns. If I just appeared out of the trees, I might spook her and she might not return to the area, so caution was necessary at first.

She was slender and graceful, very deerlike in some ways, which made the hunt all the more intriguing and familiar. Her dark eyes were quite large for a human, giving her a constant startled expression, but she moved from bush to bush with a
general unawareness, as if a bear could come lumbering out of the trees and she wouldn’t even notice.

She swooped down abruptly, plunging her hand into the stream and emerged clutching a smooth turquoise pebble, which she turned over in obvious delight. At once I smiled, watching her drop the stone into her pocket, knowing the bait that would lure my prey to me.

So, you like shiny things, do you, little mortal?
Crouching, I picked up a plain gray pebble and covered it in my fist, drawing a tiny bit of glamour from the air. When I opened my hand, the once dull stone was now a glittering sapphire, and I tossed the glamoured item into the stream.

She found it almost immediately, and pounced with a squeal of delight, holding it up so it sparkled in the sun. I smiled and drew away, walking back to my mount with a feeling of satisfaction, knowing she would be there tomorrow.

I left her a silver chain the next day, watching her coo over it with the same delight the glamoured gem had given her, and the next afternoon she admired the golden ring on her finger for a long, long time, before dropping the treasure into her pocket. I didn’t have any fear of her showing it to anyone else; much like crows and magpies, she didn’t want anyone to steal her treasures, or question where she got them. And the glamour on the items eventually faded, leaving rocks and leaves in their place. I knew she wondered what had become of them; perhaps she told herself that she dropped or misplaced her treasures, choosing to ignore the obvious answer. Perhaps she suspected the truth and knew she should be wary, but I also knew her greed would keep her coming back.

The following day, I didn’t leave her anything, but watched her flounder about in the stream for hours, searching and growing despondent, until evening fell and she left on the
verge of tears. And I smiled to myself, already planning the next stage. It was time to move in for the kill.

The next afternoon, I put a single white rose on a flat rock near the stream, faded into the woods and waited.

She wasn’t long in coming, and when she saw the rose she gasped and picked it up almost reverently, holding it as if it was made of purest crystal. As she straightened and gazed around, eyes shining with hope, I dropped the glamour and stepped out of the trees.

She jumped like a startled deer but, as I had predicted, made no move to run. I let her stare at me, waiting for the shock to fade. Knowing humans found us beautiful, I’d dressed the part of the prince in black-and-silver, my cape falling over one shoulder and my sword at my waist. She gaped at me like a landed fish, her dark eyes wide with fear, but also with a little wonder and excitement.

Very carefully, I let my glamour settle over her, taking away her fear, leaving only the awe behind. Human emotions were fickle things, easy to influence. I could have enchanted her, made her fall completely in love at first sight, but that would be cheating, according to Rowan. That was fabricated love, where the mortal was no more than a fawning, glassy-eyed slave. To completely own her, body and soul, took careful manipulation and time.

Still, there was no reason I couldn’t level the field a bit.

“Forgive me,” I said in a cool, soothing voice as the girl continued to stare. “I didn’t mean to startle you. I’ve been watching you for some time, and I couldn’t stay away any longer. I hope you didn’t find my gifts ill-mannered.”

The girl opened her mouth, but no sounds escaped. I waited two heartbeats, then turned away, bowing my head.

“What am I saying?” I continued before she could respond. “Here I am, acting like an uncivilized barbarian, stalking you
from the woods. Of course, you don’t want to see me like this—I should go.”

“No, wait!” the girl cried, just as I had planned. I turned back with a “dare I hope” expression, and she smiled at me across the water. “I don’t mind,” she said, suddenly bashful and coy, twisting her hands behind her back. “You can stay … if you want.”

I hid my smile.
Easier than I thought.

The girl’s name, she told me, was Brynna, and she was the daughter of the druid priestess who led the village. Her grandmother was a very powerful shaman, and very strict, forbidding anyone to go into the forest or even near its borders, for fear of the Good Neighbors that lurked within the trees. But the flowers that grew along the edge of the forest were the most beautiful, and Brynna loved beautiful things, so she waited until her grandmother was napping before she slipped out of the village and down to the stream.

“And why does your grandmother hate the Good Neighbors so?” I asked, smiling at the mortals’ odd name for us, which they used because, supposedly, voicing our real names might draw our attention. I smiled at the girl, feigning curiosity while tinting the air with glamour, subduing any fears she might have.

“She … she doesn’t hate them,” Brynna went on, nervously pushing her hair back. “She fears them. She’s afraid of what they might do—kill our livestock, steal our children, make the women unfertile.”

“And, are you afraid of them?” I asked in a low voice, closing the final few feet between us. Very gently, I reached for her rough, work-callused hands, holding them to my chest. “Are you afraid of me?”

She gazed up at my face, dark eyes shining with foolish trust, and shook her head.

“I’m glad.” I smiled and kissed the back of her hand. “May I see you again tomorrow?”

I knew the answer even before she nodded.

I
T WAS EASY
after that, though I took my time with her, wanting to play the game right. Every afternoon, right before twilight, I met her at the stream. Sometimes with trinkets, sometimes with flowers, always with some sort of gift that would keep her returning to me. I showered her with compliments and tender kisses, playing the smitten fool, smiling as she melted under my touch. I never pushed too far, being sure to end each meeting before it got out of hand. When I eventually took her, at the stone circle on the night of the full moon, I wanted there to be no doubts in her mind.

As the game progressed, I even found myself enjoying these little encounters. Humans, I discovered, loved so passionately, without reservation, and the stronger the emotion the brighter their glamour became. The glamour aura of a mortal in love outshone anything I’d ever seen before, so pure and intense it was almost addictive. I could see why the Summer Court pursued these emotions with such passion; there was nothing like them in any of the courts.

Still, it was only a game. I might’ve mimicked the words and gestures of a man in love, but emotion, as the Winter Court taught me, was a weakness. And when the full moon rose over the trees on the last night of the game, I knew she was mine.

She approached eagerly through the grass under the pale light of the full moon, so eager in her haste to reach the stream she tripped a few times and went sprawling. She didn’t spare any glances back at the village, despite the unusual time I’d requested to meet. A few days ago, she might’ve balked at the thought of meeting a virtual stranger alone in the woods
in the dead of night. But now she hurried eagerly forward, no doubts in her mind. She trusted her prince, completely and without reservation. What love will do to a mortal.

I hung back a few minutes, observing her as she reached the stream, gazing around for my shadow. She wouldn’t see me, of course, even though I was standing but a few yards across the stream. Glamoured and invisible, just another shadow in the trees, I watched her. Though her eagerness soon turned to concern at my absence, and she began walking up and down the stream, looking for me, her confidence never wavered, never turned to doubt. She was certain her prince would be there, or that something had detained him from coming. Foolish mortal.

Finally, as she hovered on the verge of tears, I shed my glamour and stepped out of the trees. She gasped and brightened instantly, love filling her eyes and making them shine, but I didn’t cross the stream and go to her. Feigning sorrow, I stood on the opposite bank, with the woods at my back, and gave her a gentle smile.

“Forgive me for being so late,” I said, putting the right amount of remorse in my voice. “But I wanted to see you one last time. I’m afraid this will be our last meeting. I’ve come to realize we are from two different worlds, and I cannot give you the kind of life you’d want. You are beautiful and kind, and I would only take that away. So, it is best that I leave. After tonight, you will not see me again.”