Something like hurt appeared in his features, but he took a deep breath and it was gone. We continued walking. “You certainly don’t make it easy,” he said, forcing a smile.
“I told you it wouldn’t be.”
“Will you tell me where we’re going? Where we’re really going?”
I took a leap of faith, knowing this was going to have to be a balance of give and take. “I have to find Nealla.”
“What do you mean you have to find her?” Fire shone in his eyes as he jerked to a stop.
“Calm your rage, Prince. It’s the only way to unlock the binding, but she also knows the second half of my prophecy. I don’t have a choice. If I’m to be Alewyn’s Promise, I need to find out what that means.”
He paced in front of me, shaking his head. “What do you even know of her?”
“I have to believe she is good in some way. She did bind the world from talking about me to protect me. I don’t know why, and I know that doesn’t mean she is safe, but it’s all I have to go on.”
“Where exactly does that take us then?”
“Once we leave the forest, we have to get through the Western Gap. After that, we travel through The Mists, and beyond that, I don’t know. No one does.”
“And I’m just supposed to sit back and let you? No one just casually walks through The Mists. They go there to die. To rid the heartache of losing a mate.”
“I’m not asking you to come,” I said sharply.
His sharp jawline tightened. “And I can’t change your mind?”
“No. I have to do this. I need to learn the truth.”
“There’s something I need to tell you, also. Something about Morwena.”
“I already know she is hunting me, though I’m not sure why.”
“That’s what I want to talk about. You gave yourself away to her. Autus is ten times worse than Morwena on her worst day. She is cunning, but he is ruthless. If you break the binding, she will be able to tell him about you, if she hasn’t already found a way, and you’ll be hunted by them both. Autus collects magical fae, and he has a growing army. We have spies in the north, but every day he grows more dangerous.”
“How did I give myself away?”
“The human.” He watched me carefully for a reaction.
“I don’t understand.” I shook my head, trying to recall anything that connected the two.
“Remember when I told you the seer who delivered your prophecy began to talk, and my father had her killed? We believe she went to Morwena with the news, but before she could tell her everything, Nealla bound your secrets. So even though the sea queen knew of your existence, she had no idea who you were. She might have been told you and I were connected somehow, but beyond that, we don’t think she knew anything else. Do you remember the day we met?”
“On the balcony? How could I forget. You were so kind to me. Shoving me out the door and all.”
“Yes.” Distracted, he took a step toward me and then caught himself. “I felt you before I even saw you. I was torn between telling you everything and getting you out of there. Do you remember the human walking through the room?”
“Yes.”
“The human should have been unseen by any other fae there because of her magic. She saw you watching him as he walked back and forth. She set that trap searching for you. Hoping one day you would come, and sure enough, she found you. Only royalty could see through her enchantment. She must have realized Alewyn would have protected its Promised from enchantments also, or at least make you much stronger against it than others. I didn’t realize it until I tried it myself and failed. You’re a threat to her, Ara.”
“Wait. You knew the enchanting didn’t work on me?”
“I guessed it. My enchantment isn’t as strong as my father’s, but I could tell. I didn’t really want to do it, but I had to know if that was her trap. I later learned that she was already pursuing your father to betray Coro and give her the power over the Hunt. Once she put all the pieces together, she begged Coro to have a luncheon you would be required to attend. I tried to keep you far away, by making you sit at the end of the table, but the minute you chased that damn human, she was watching. She locked you in the castle, and Wren helped you escape as soon as we were able to get her in and out without drawing attention to ourselves.”
“I knew she was hunting me. I didn’t know anything else. Did the human die?”
“She let him kill himself as soon as she was done with him.”
A small wound opened in my heart for that poor human. I knew him for only a fraction of a second, but that was my job, wasn’t it? I was supposed to be Alewyn’s Promise. The savior. And I had failed him. I hung my head. “Is she still going after the Hunt?”
