Page 75 of Into the Heartless Wood
His face is
creased with worry,
drenched with rain.
He says again: “Will she kill you?”
“I do not know. Perhaps. Does that change your mind?”
He blinks water from his eyes. “I have to see my mother. But I don’t want it to mean your death.”
“Death will come for me, whether you see your mother or not.”
His jaw clenches. “I will kill the Gwydden if she touches you.”
Pain splinters through my heart.
He would not say such things to me
if he knew
what I have done.
I tug him through the trees,
close to the heart of the wood.
We stop at a weathered oak.
I say: “The heartless tree is just beyond, on the bank of the river. You will find your mother there. Say your farewells and then—”
Almost, the pain is too great to bear.
When these moments are past,
he will
revile me.
When these moments are past,
I will be again
a monster.
“When you have said your farewells, run into the wood. As fast as you can. I will find you, if I am able, but if not—if not, I will ask the wood to guide you, to protect you all the way back to your wall.”
I can only hope
the wood
will obey me.
I breathe him in. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
Longing and fear and grief pour out of him.
