"We have to go there." Clara took a step forward, breaking our contact with her. The spell faded, and the tunnel went pitch black once again.
Clara gulped back a sob and turned, throwing herself into me and Zucker. Her sadness tasted like wolfsbane, it was so strong and pungent. "I promise, my lady. We four will do everything in our power to help you reclaim your land. But the first step to that is finding the broken crowns."
THE MOUSE CROWN
KONIG
The Nutcrackers thought they could escape me, but the longer I was near her, the connection between Princess Clara grew tighter. I'd been able to use my shifter senses to track her, but the moment I kissed her in the Christmas Tree Forest, I didn't need those anymore. It was as if there was a magical tether between us.
That connection had grown taught when they'd escaped into the Sweet Fae lands. I'd set my ambush at the border of the border of the Land Snowflakes, assuming that's where Nuss would want to take her next. How the fool had simply sat there and watched when the others had joined in the bonding was nothing less than I expected. But I knew what his people had riding on him finding their crown and their subsequent bonding.
I should have set up a contingency plan for the fae borders. They were smart to use the glamour there to deter my army. But Zucker and Tau weren't the only ones with good spy craft. My spies were practically undetectable when they were in mouse form and had discovered the ancient tunnel system beneath SugarPlum castle used as escape routes long ago. I kept that information to myself for when I needed it.
This was exactly where I'd lay my trap. It didn't take much to figure out that this is where they'd go when my army attacked the castle where they celebrated their escape from me.
There was more than one way to catch a princess. I'd much rather have her come to me willingly. That would be much more devastating for the rest of the Guard.
I shifted into my mouse form and pushed my way through the fae glamour. No one took notice of a single mouse scurrying around a party filled with people and food. I watched in awe as Clara danced. Her magic was so much more than any of the rest of them understood. Being here in her presence loosened the binds of not being close to her that felt wrapped around my chest when I couldn't be near her.
All the more reason I needed her to see the atrocities this war had wrought on the Land of Animals. She could never be bound to me in the same way she was to Leb, but that didn't mean I didn't have my ways of making her do what was right.
Before her performance was even finished, I called to the mouse army to begin the attack on the SugarPlum court. Then I scurried into the castle, counting on Zucker and Tau to use them to escape. There would be no other option.
Ah, here they were now. Into the tunnels they went, not for a moment noticing me hiding in the shadows and debris following along. I relished being so close to the princess while I could. Her magic warmed even my cold spirit.
I'd have to be very careful not to fall in love with her. She was a means to an end. That didn't mean I wouldn't enjoy fucking her until she fell in love with me.
The party paused at the junction where the tunnels split off toward the other lands. My army was ready to shift to any of the exits. Except of course the one that led to the land of Spirit and Magic. No one went that way. I waited, holding my breath when Clara had stared down the tunnel toward her lost kingdom. She was drawn to her land just as I knew she would be. I could feel the need rolling through her.
Excellent. I knew exactly what to do with her once I stole her away.
They finally moved down the tunnel leading to the Land of the Flowers. If I hurried, I could not only capture the princess, but I could exact my revenge on the others at the same time. It would be a delicious victory. Far enough away that they wouldn't notice, I shifted again into the form of man and called on my animal speed to get to the cave where the tunnel let out above ground again.
I opened my senses as wide and far as I could, sensing the animals in the area. Some horses would do, but I didn't feel any nearby at all. There were birds, wild boar who were skittish from being hunted, and a den of gentle foxes. I asked them all if they knew where there were any fellow beasts that would carry a band of weary travelers, and they all told me the same thing.
No large animals were to be found in the fae lands. They'd all been hunted for food. I damned my mother for her lazy short-sightedness. The troubles she'd stirred between the fae had the people starving each other out. Hungry fae, even Sweet and Flower would hunt to feed their families.
No docile animal was safe. The bastards. I supposed my people were lucky the fae hadn't come hunting in the Land of Animals.
I stretched my senses even farther and found a small herd of reindeer at the edge of the Christmas Tree Forest.I promise no harm will come to you here if you offer your aid to my friends. They are on a great quest and under the protection of my army. That protection will extend to you. I give you my word.
Only part of that was a lie. I wouldn't let harm come to them. I mentally sent orders to my mice to escort the herd here and gnaw out the eyes of anyone who even looked at them hungrily.
But reindeer weren't suited for riding. What we needed was a sleigh. But it wasn't likely I'd find one out here in the Sugar Fae wilderness. Perhaps I could fashion a basic sledge. Even as fast as I ran, it was unlikely the princess and her Guard were more than an hour or so behind me.
I needed more help. This time I reached toward the icy rivers of the bordering Flower Fae lands. I knew just who to call upon. It didn't take me long to find a family of beavers not far away.Friends, can you help me. I need wood and your best teeth for carving.
The mental image of the sleigh I wanted excited the elder of their family and he then sent the call for help to others of their kind. Within minutes a whirlwind of woodpeckers, squirrels, chipmunks, and finally the beavers gathered around a thick deep brown tree. It smelled of chocolate, but the beavers assured me it was true wood. It seemed many of the plants in the borderlands were hybrids of sugar and nature.
I set them at their task, knowing their industriousness would be my saving grace. The greedy fae only gathered and consumed the resources around them, instead of trying to live as one with the land. Animal’s culture could only add to their bounty, but they refused to see even shifters as little more than stupid servants or pets.
There was one more task to set my trap. My heart beat against my chest faster in anticipation, even though this was going to fucking hurt. If I hadn't been a weak fool, I would have already used the spell.
My weakness wasn't of the flesh, but of the heart. No matter the betrayal, the deep inside, I still believed that the rebellion could defeat the Mouse Queen. I was stupid. They couldn't.
I had to let that dream go.
At the entrance to the cave, I found an arrowhead left from some Flower Fae spy and grabbed it up. It would make a perfect carving tool of my own. In six places, the points of the Christmas Star, I carved the symbol for the Land of Animals into the stone. It was the same mark I wore on my own heart. The one my mother had carved into me the day she discovered I'd joined the Nutcracker Guard in their rebellion.
