He was awake and talking. I looked around for Shadow, to call for her, but I saw no signs of her and didn’t want to yell too loudly given we were technically in unfamiliar territory—and I was traveling with a well-known criminal. He might not be recognizable on sight, but the people of the fire court wouldn’t just let strangers from the earth court wander freely without asking questions, getting personal. I couldn’t risk that kind of attention, especially not with Penn injured.
I grabbed water and he lifted his head to drink.
“Tell me about the tree,” I said, hoping I could keep him awake and talking until Shadow returned.
“I was supposed to be home,” he rasped. “Hiding in our cellar. Instead, I followed my parents to the warfront.”
“This happened during the Great War?” I asked.
He nodded and closed his eyes for a moment, breaths still shallow. “I hid, watching as my parents fought, using their magic to upend trees, send grass flying like daggers, to bring up barriers. But they weren’t watching closely enough. A tree-like monster came out of nowhere, towering over them.”
I didn’t make a sound, listening to his story, the slow way he spoke each word.
“It swiped at them, knocking them back. That’s when I ran out, using my magic to try and stop the tree. But I was young, my magic not yet strong. I could only pause the tree in its pursuit of my parents, but it wasn’t enough. The tree picked me up, sliced me with its thorns, beat me with branches and threw me, knocking me unconscious. When I awoke, my parents were dead, and the border had been closed.”
It felt so natural to hate the people of Mosswood Forest from afar, but I’d spent a few weeks with them, and for the most part, many of them reminded me of my own people in Elwen. Damn the false king and queen. Damn my father for letting the conflict between them get so bad.
Then I paused, a realization hitting me.
“Penn,” I said slowly. That story he’d just told. It sounded so familiar, and suddenly I remembered the painting, the false king and queen holding the hand of the little boy. The story Penn told about how they died. Except ... he never said the boy died. I’d just assumed.
“Were the false king and queen your parents?”
His eyes fluttered. “They were good parents.”
“You’re the false prince,” I whispered. Which meant he was the king of Mosswood Forest. It made sense. Of course it did. That’s why Penn was so determined to take care of his people, to go to the lengths he did to protect them.
My brows furrowed. “But if you’re alive and well, why is a council ruling?”
He coughed, the sound raspy and throttled. I immediately gave him a drink of water.
“They rule while I’m away... which is a lot of the time. My people need stability. I can’t... give that to them right now.”
Once upon a time, this information would have made me even angrier, knowing that Penn was a product of the people who betrayed my father and the rest of Elwen, but now I couldn’t find it in me to be upset. Penn hadn’t done anything wrong. He was just a boy, this role forced upon him. He was doing the best he could with a shitty situation. I knew how that felt, all too well.
“I’m sorry I got you into this mess,” I said when Penn had gone silent, his eyes closed again. They fluttered when I spoke, and I wondered if he heard me or if he’d fallen back asleep. “I know I blamed you, and to be fair, I do think this is partly your fault for kidnapping me in the first place, but I shouldn’t have run away like that, left you to fight my battle. Sometimes, I don’t think I’m cut out to be a queen at all.” I looked out over the horizon, to the beige and tawny sand that stretched for miles in all directions. “I trained at your academy for weeks, and I might as well have learned nothing. I couldn’t even defend myself against a dragon, didn’t properly plan for my escape. I heard your voice, you know. Constantly in my ear, telling me everything I was doing wrong. Lilypad, indeed.”
“You know why I gave you the nickname Lilypad?” Penn asked, and I jumped.
Oh, blood and earth. He had been listening, and I’d been far more vulnerable than I’d meant to be.
“Yes, I know why. Because I showed how weak, how inadequate, how entirely unprepared I am to be a thief when I trained with Hammer on those lily pads.”
He shook his head, whispering, “No.” A grimace overtook his features as he opened his eyes. “Did you know that lily pads strengthen their environment?” He winced, his hand going to his wound. “They help everything around them to thrive.”
The words took me aback. “N-no, I didn’t know that.”
“That’s why I nicknamed you Lilypad,” he said. “Because from everything you’ve shown me, told me, it seems like that’s the kind of queen you want to be... for Elwen.”
“Oh.” My voice was small. “Okay.”
He turned his head slowly, looking at me, the green of his eyes bright and vibrant under the warm sun. I leaned in closer, heart beating hard in my chest.
“Penn, I?—”
“Stop right there,” a voice said. “In the name of Princess Seraphina of the fire court, state your business.”
I stilled, rooted to the spot. I didn’t even have to turn to know who was speaking. I’d recognize that voice anywhere. Had heard it in my dreams so many times over the last few years.
