There she is, caught in the middle of a web of barbs. I can smell her blood everywhere.Why would the forest attack a Wildling ruler?She’s trying to tear herself away. The needles sink deeper, as if set on killing her.
“Stop moving. You’re making it worse,” I say, and she stiffens.
She’s angry at me, at my tone. Good. Because anger means she’s alive. Anger means she’s ready tofight.
And she’s going to have to fight to survive this pain.
Her back is wrecked. Thorns cover her body, stabbing her in dozens of places. I curse, wondering how she’s conscious. “I’m going to have to break them to free you.”
She nods, then screams when I tear the first barb in half with a spark of energy sent from my palm.
I try to be gentle, but the thorns curl into her skin, anchoring deep. They’re actively resisting me, digging further into her flesh with my every effort to free her, as if the forest wants to keep her for itself. She screams again, the sound raking through my bones, and I pause my efforts, realizing I’m making it worse.
“There are ... several.” The warning won’t do much; I know that.
Tears slide down her face, as it twists in agony, and it feels just like a blade, tearing through my chest. It’s as if the barbs are inme, and that doesn’t make any fucking sense.
But all I know is I’ll do anything to make the pain stop.
I pull the barbs from her, as gently as I can, using every shred of focus and skill, and she jerks forward, retching all over herself. All overme. I grimace at the mess but realize I don’t care. I don’t care at all.
I just want this to be over. I want her to be freed from this forest. But I can’t do it alone. She has to help herself. I gently curl her hand into a fist, my fingers sliding over hers. “Find your strength,” I say, paraphrasing words I heard centuries prior from my mother.
She looks up at me. Those green eyes sharpen. The flame within ignites. A sense of pride fills me. There she is. The stubborn, strong Wildling that will survive this. I nod at her.Together, I think.We’re going to get out of this together.
Then I continue.
One by one, I break each curved barb, holding her body still with one hand. And when they’re all out, I take her in my arms, her blood seeping into my shirt, then move her away from the wall of thorns intent on stabbing her again. We’re in the center of the forest, and now I’m beside her, questioning my judgment. She’s asked me to leave several times—stubborn Wildling—yet here I am, on my knees, still by her side.
“How did this happen?” I ask, because it doesn’t make sense. We were searching the same forest together for hours. She walked away for afew damned minutes. I’ve never seen a forest attack a Wildling.
“I tripped,” she says.
Liar. Bitterness soaks my tongue. Anger flares inside of me. How can she not trust me when I’m here on my knees, pulling thorns from her bleeding skin and covered in the contents of her stomach? And why lie about something so simple?
She narrows her eyes, the green of her irises brighter than any emerald I’ve ever seen. “Go, look for whatever the wall is guarding. I’m fine. I can take them out myself.”
Her tone is biting.
I scowl at her. “You’re covered in your own vomit.” I reach toward her back again, and she rears away from me, then groans.
“I said I’ll do it myself,” she snaps, as if I’m the one causing her pain, and nothelping her.
“Are you truly this stubborn?” I demand.
“Are you truly thisoverbearing?” At this, my nostrils flare. “I said no,” she continues. “Now leave.”
I consider it. If she wants me to leave, then fine. Even though everything in me wants to stay, I do as she says. I go back to the forest and look for the heart. I fly past every tree, alert, searching faster than I ever have before.
Then I’m back, crouching next to her.
Her eyes widen—and I must be imagining the flicker in her expression that looks something likerelief.
It’s gone in an instant. “I told you to go look for—”
“I did. No heart.”
Tears roll down her cheeks. Her face flushes from pain and probably also anger.All this for nothing, she must be thinking. Because I’m thinking it too. I have the absurd thought to wipe her tears away.
