Page 118 of Into the Heartless Wood
No soul at all. Not even a trace.
His words pierce me, thorns in my heart.
I had hoped.
Despite my brothers’ words, I had hoped that this form was something more. Something deeper.
But I am what I always have been. What I will always be.
No soul at all.
I can feel him, now: the Eater, in the palace somewhere below me. I can sense his power, his soul. I wonder why he has waited so long to act, when my mother spelled out the truth of his death in the stars so many weeks ago.
He will not forget about me. I cannot dwell in the palace any longer in safety—I have to get out. But I will not go alone.
Not even a trace.
I climb to Awela’s rooms. Her nurse greets me at the door, her face creased with worry.
“What is it?”
“I’m to be let go.” Her voice cracks. “I was told to pack my things, that someone will come for the child tonight.”
Dread sprouts inside of me. Whatever he was waiting for, the Eater is acting now. “Has the king been to see her?”
The nurse nods. “How did you know? He came last night, banished me out into the hall. When at last he left and I went back in, the poor child was inconsolable. There was no mark on her—the king did not hurt her, of course.” She says this last bit in a rush, anxious that I not think her to be saying anything ill of the Soul Eater.
“Can I see her?”
“Of course. Come in.”
I step into the nursery. Awela sits on her bed, looking blankly out into the room. She doesn’t seem to have any interest in the books and toys spread about her. I kneel by the bed, take her little hands in mine, and reach, gently, for her soul. It’s still there, bright and intact. The Soul Eater hasn’t swallowed it yet. But he’s prodded it and examined it to assess how he might best go about it. And if he’s banishing the nurse, he’s found it. I reach for his soul, making sure he is still far away from this room. Far away from Awela and the nurse and me.
A leaf falls from my hair onto the floor. The nurse doesn’t notice.
“Do you love this child?” I ask her.
“Of course I do.” Her eyes swim with tears.
“Enough to defy the king?”
“What do you mean?” She strokes Awela’s hair, and the girl whimpers and leans into her.
“You saw the effect he had on her last night. He’s planning something much, much worse. If you don’t take her away right now, he’ll kill her.”
“Kill her?”
“He wants her soul,” I say darkly. “Such a young thing cannot live without one.”
The nurse shudders, her eyes flicking between Awela and me. “What are you?”
“Someone who understands monsters. Someone who means to defeat at least one. Will you take her?”
“Where will I go? How will I hide her?”
I reach underneath my collar and tug out the strand of rowan berries concealed there. Pren gave them to me, before he and my other brothers bid me farewell. I pull it off, and offer it to the nurse. “Take this into the southern woods. Call for my brothers: Pren and Criafol and Cangen. Show them the necklace and tell them my name. They will help you.”
“Call Pren and Criafol and Cangen,” she repeats. “Tell them Bedwyn sent us.”
