I surprised myself by knowing the answer to his question. “A specialized, small team. A surprise attack. The Huntsman is designed to be smart. He’ll know an attack is coming if we just march to him. And he can take a lot of people at once, so strength isn’t the way to defeat him.”
“Cunning is,” Brains said, eyes flashing.
“Yes,” I confirmed.
“Okay.” Penn tapped the map with a finger, and it took a minute for me to realize where the Huntsman had been spotted.
I’d been standing here for nearly an hour talking logistics with these people and hadn’t even realized what I had before me: a way out. Mosswood Forest was huge, and I had no idea where we were—until now. The village was clearly labeled, as was theHuntsman’s location: near the border of the forest—and then it was a short crossing across Elwen to Gilraeth.
The fire court. Jasper’s home.
Excitement built, thrumming inside me. This could work. This could work well. I just had to convince Penn to let me come along.
Penn clapped his hands together. “Good work, everyone. Brains, Wayfinder, and I will work on the logistics of our plan. We leave early tomorrow morning.”
That sent a shock through me. I’d have to find a way to steal the mirror tonight.
Everyone started shuffling out of the tent, Arrow pausing next to Penn and stroking his arm with her long, red nails. I looked at my own dirt-caked ones, missing my ladies’ maids and all the pampering I got as a princess.
She left the tent, flap closing behind her, only two of us remaining.
Penn turned to see me still standing there. “Don’t you have more training to do? Or gossiping about your love life with Hammer?”
“We were not”—I balled my fists—“you know what? Never mind. Think what you want. I don’t care.”
“Whatever you say, Lilypad.” He turned toward his chest, clearly dismissing me.
A lump formed in my throat, and I willed my voice to stay steady. “I want to go on this mission. To find the Huntsman.”
Penn stopped, those massive shoulders of his hunching. “No. Absolutely not. You’re not ready. You can’t even climb a vine, and without your magic?—”
“I don’t need my magic to be useful.” I took a step forward. “You forget that I know the Huntsman, spent years watching him and learning how he dismantled his opponents. I watchedmy father make him from earth and tree and vine. I know his weaknesses. I can be helpful.”
Penn studied me. “Why do you want to help so badly?”
“Because the Huntsman killed my father.”
Penn’s eyes widened, and he swore softly.
“I want vengeance. You have no idea how badly I want it.”
Now that I’d said the words, I realized they were true. Yes, I wanted to escape, but I also wanted to see the Huntsman pay after how he’d so effortlessly taken away everything from me.
My heart lurched, and I had to swallow back the tears threatening to spill down my cheeks at the memories flooding me, the way my stepmother had described my father’s death. I hadn’t seen the Huntsman kill him, but she’d had no problem spilling every gruesome detail: the crunching bones, the squirting blood, the screaming.
“I do know.” Penn walked to the table and studied the map. “My parents were killed when I was young. Everyone in the academy is an orphan. So you have more in common with these thieves than you thought.”
I hadn’t realized—in all our weeks of training together, no one had mentioned anything about their pasts. Though I hadn’t exactly asked.
Penn placed his hand flat on the table. “None of us have gotten any kind of closure after we lost our parents.”
“I’m sorry,” I said quietly. “It’s not easy, being all alone in the world.”
“I’m not alone, and neither are you.” He swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “You have your friends, the ones who were locked in the tower with you?”
“Right.” For one idiotic moment, I’d thought he was saying I had the academy, him and the seven thieves. That was silly. I clearly didn’t belong here, didn’t want to belong here. Yes, Shadow was kind and fun to talk to, and Wayfinder had thismagical ability to make me smile, and Hammer, for all his gruff posturing, was actually just a big softy. Charming was, well, very charming. But they were still criminals. So no, I’d never belong. Not with them.
“Okay,” Penn said finally. “You can come. But I will leave you behind if necessary. I keep a grueling pace on our missions.”
