Page 65 of Into the Heartless Wood
“Take me to my mother!” His voice is wild and high. “All this time I thought she was dead, and now you tell me she’snot.I have to see her. I have to save her, if I can. Can’t you understand that?”
“I cannot take you. It is dangerous. Foolish.”
He drags a hand across his face. “Please, Seren.”
“Your mother is past saving. Even if she were not, she is in the heart of my mother’s court. You could never reach her there.”
“Take me.”
“My mother would kill you.”
“Then protect me.”
“I cannot protect you from her.”
The wood writhes and whispers below the hill.
It watches.
Listens.
“You must go home, Owen. I am sorry.”
His shoulders hunch. He looks away. “If you won’t take me, I’ll go myself.”
“You cannot.”
He wheels on me; his eyes spark fire. “Stop me, then.”
He strides down the hill,
through the remains of my dead trees,
into
the
heartless
wood.
In a moment,
I will follow.
In a moment,
I will reach into his mind
and make him forget everything.
Our hill.
His mother.
Me.
It is the only way to protect him.
