“That’s one part of it.” Wayfinder’s voice was cautious, as if he were treading into dangerous territory. “You don’t need to involve Princess Liliath. At the very least, tell her what you’re getting her into.”
“You know the rules,” Penn said. “I won’t disclose the details of the mission, not until it’s necessary.”
“That’s not what I’m talking about,” Wayfinder said, “and you know it.”
“The mirror’s true power is too dangerous to disclose to anyone. Think about what her stepmother has been able to accomplish with that mirror. She has decimated an entire court.In the wrong hands, that mirror could bring down the continent of Arathia.”
His words floored me. I knew the mirror was powerful, knew my stepmother had used it to help her destroy Elwen, but I hadn’t realized just how much power it held.
All the more reason why I needed to flee, with or without the mirror. Whatever Penn wanted me to do had even given Wayfinder pause. I couldn’t risk my life for the mirror. I’d be no good to my people if I was dead.
“We need to sleep,” Penn finally said after a beat. “We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow.”
I heard Wayfinder’s footsteps as he left the tent, and I slumped down against the tree, staring at Penn’s shadow as he blew out the candle in his tent and lay down. I stayed there, sitting against the tree, staring into the darkness as I tried to make sense of everything I’d heard. One thing was certain: tomorrow I would finally be free and on my way to my betrothed.
Chapter Twenty-One
We left before the sun rose, sky still dark, splashed with lilac. Penn refused to give me a horse, despite Hammer, Shadow, and Wayfinder pleading my case.
So here I sat, on Penn’s horse, which Penn had insisted on. Because of course he had. It was as if he didn’t trust anyone else with me, that he thought if he took his eyes off me for a second, I would do something stupid.
Technically, I was planning to do something stupid, but it didn’t make me any less grumpy about it.
His arms wrapped around me as he held onto the reins, his chest a hard wall against my back. I sat straight, refusing to let myself sink into him and get too comfortable. What I’d heard last night was just another reminder that he was using me to get something he wanted. He saw me as nothing more than a disposable tool, and he didn’t even have the decency to tell me what he was using me for.
Our route had been mapped out based on where the Huntsman had been seen in Mosswood Forest, and Penn hadsaid it would be a few hours’ ride to the east, right by the border. From there I could sneak off, and it would only be a few hours’ trek across Elwen and to the fire court. Once I was in Jasper’s territory, I’d be safe.
I was disappointed I hadn’t gotten the mirror last night, but Jasper would help me. Once I told him how powerful it was, surely the fire court would want to help retrieve it. They definitely wouldn’t want to see it in the king of thieves’s hands. No one on the continent would.
I’d spent hours last night thinking about what Penn and Wayfinder had said about my father creating the border.
Everyone in Elwen believed the mountain dwellers had closed our border to end the Great War after their false king and queen died—because that’s what my father had told us. I couldn’t understand why he’d lie about something like that, but he must have had his reasons, must’ve known something dangerous that the rest of us didn’t. The mountain dwellers had been a threat to us, so he’d had to make a difficult choice, one he knew people might not understand. Mosswood Forest had been a valuable resource to Elwen. It was another reason I wished he’d been willing to hear other voices, other points of view. He might’ve realized there were other options than erecting that awful border. Just another reason why I had to learn from the mistakes of my father.
I couldn’t imagine the amount of power he’d had to use to make something so huge, so monstrous. I’d always imagined hundreds of mountains dwellers working together, using their collective magic to create it, but it had just been my father. He’d spent weeks sleeping after the border had been made, and I thought it was because of my mother’s death, that he’d been so grief-stricken. But now it all made sense—he’d drained his power, all his energy, by using that much magic at once. We didn’t have magic in endless reserves, and my father had used amassive amount, which had left him bedridden for four weeks. Magic always demanded a price.
He'd also been grieving, of course.
My thoughts turned to my mother, how sick she’d gotten shortly before the border was created. The ragnose leaves needed to save her sat just beyond our reach, in the forest. We tried everything, but even with our earth magic, we couldn’t get ragnose to grow in our territory. So we watched my mother fade away to nothing. It wasn’t my father’s fault. He couldn’t have known she would get so sick with fever, that the best fever-reducing plant would be stuck in Mosswood Forest, unreachable.
I wiped away the tears forming at the memory. I needed to focus, to keep it together. I couldn’t fall apart now.
Instead, my mind wandered to the other things I’d heard last night. Questions rolled through my mind like endless waves. More questions than answers. I didn’t want Penn to know I’d listened in on his conversation with Wayfinder, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t still get answers. I just needed to ask the right questions.
I cleared my throat. “You know, my stepmother probably isn’t just coming after me. She’s going to have her Huntsman find that mirror.”
“After today, the Huntsman won’t be a problem,” Penn said, shifting behind me.
We passed a tree with a low-hanging branch, and both of us ducked as the horse clopped underneath it.
“Someone is feeling cocky,” I said.
“I’m not cocky. I’m prepared.” Penn’s voice was terse.
“Someone is also grumpy,” I grumbled.
If anyone should be grumpy, it should be the princess being forced to ride with the brute who’d kidnapped her.
“Well, if you’re not careful,” I said, keeping my voice light, “the mirror might find its owner.”
