“There she is,” Perry called out and waved.
No backing out now.
Hands clasped, I crossed the hall. “I’m so sorry, I—”
“Shut your pretty little mouth, Katherine Ferrers.” Ella fisted her hands and wrinkled her delicate nose. “Damn it, woman, now I want to hug you even more. You have nothing—nothing to apologise for.”
“But I—”
“I hugged you. I was drunk and for a second I didn’t think of anything except how much I love you.”
That stung my eyes more than if she’d told me off. “I love you, too.”
“Good. Or else you’d be in deep trouble.” She shook a finger at me, then dashed tears from the corners of her eyes. “It was a mistake. No apology owed. Got it?”
“I already gave one,” I muttered. “Not taking it back.”
“I heard that,” she growled as we set off.
We crossed the bridge, which thankfully didn’t get icy even in the coldest weather. Tinkling music that reminded me of frost chimed through the city, and everywhere drifted the scent of roasting nuts and spiced cakes. My stomach growled, reminding me that I’d missed breakfast in my rush, so I bought an icing-topped bun swirled with brown sugar and cinnamon, and ate that on the way to Rose’s house.
Waiting outside, Faolán looked smart in a dark grey coat that matched his steel-coloured hair. He nodded at us.
“Too hot in there with this on, and Rose is dawdling.” He tugged at his lapel before banging on the door. He eyed me, then Ella. “You two all right?”
Ella eyed the giant and nodded, suddenly quiet.
I’d spent so much time around the shapechanger, I’d forgotten that others saw him as this massive, scowling fae. Smothering a laugh, I smiled up at him. “It was a more eventful day than I’d planned, but we’re all right. Thank you.”
Other than that customary scowl, Faolán’s expressions tended to be quite subtle, especially when his beard disguised the movement of his jaw and mouth. But I spotted the corner of his lips rise.
“I knew you’d forget, so I picked these up for you.” He reached inside the door and produced my bow and quiver.
I eyed them, then raised an eyebrow at him. “Do I really need a weapon on the Solstice?”
He canted his head.
“But…” I gestured at my dress and cloak. It wasn’t exactly an outfit for accessorising with a bow.
“Luckily—”
“Don’t say it.” I cleared my throat and lowered my voice, making it gruff like his. “Luckily, enemies are kind enough to only attack when your outfit matches your weapon.”
“Hmm.” His lips pressed together, and from the doorway came a laugh as Rose emerged. But she was wearing a pair of long knives at her belt and Faolán had his, too.
With a sigh, I strapped the bow to my back.
We bought mulled wine and toasted to “surviving the dark,” since it was the shortest day of the year. Wandering the city, we stopped to listen to singers and watch dancers. In one square, a troupe wearing skin-tight shimmering outfits performed with flaming staves and hoops. I stood breathless as they dared to dance with fire, letting it lick their bodies. That was bravery.
In a park in the lower city, we caught the tail end of a play. The Winter King took the Summer Queen to his bed, bringing a long, deep winter to the land, just as he—the villain—had intended. But what he hadn’t counted on was the Summer Queen melting his heart of ice and emerging, pregnant with spring and all the newness of a fresh year. Different from the tale they told in Albion—that one contained less sex but a lot more bloodshed as the Holly King and the Oak King battled for supremacy.
I think I preferred the version with seduction.
“What is it you keep smirking about?” Ella eyed me sidelong as we left the park, caught up in the crowd.
“Smirking?” I touched my mouth—my traitorous mouth—and pushed my expression to something more innocent. “I’m sure I wasn’t smirking.”
Rose ducked in. “You absolutely were.”
“I noticed it, too,” Ariadne murmured.
From ahead, Faolán cleared his throat as he made space for us to pass through the crowd. “She’s been doing it all day.”
Asher had “just happened” to bump into us shortly after we left Rose and Faolán’s house, and he and Perry were off to one side, too wrapped up in their own conversation to join the judgement of my facial expressions.
“See?” Ella widened her eyes at me. “Spill it. I can tell something happened.”
At the shapechanger’s growl, I dawdled to put a bit of distance between us. Even though Bastian and I had only hugged, I had a feeling he wouldn’t approve of it. Just in front of me, Rose and Ari angled their heads in a way that said they were listening.
“He apologised.”
Ella frowned, then dipped her head as though prompting me. “Right. He already apologised though. On your trip. Is your memory all right?”
I huffed out a soft laugh. What a complicated question. “This was different…” I summarised the conversation, the fact he’d taken what I’d said on the road and had thought it through and not simply said the words. He understood exactly what he was apologising for.
The thing that had felt wrong between us. It was gone.
“He what?” Rose spun, eyes wide. “He swore on his magic? He said those words?”
“Is that… bad?”
Ari sucked in a breath. “Not bad, but… they aren’t just pretty words.”
“That vow”—Rose hung back, letting Faolán get several paces ahead of us—“is literal, not metaphorical.”
I blinked from her to Ari. “Meaning?”
Ari cleared her throat and leant in. “If he breaks it, he loses his magic.”
I missed a step. Bastian had tied his magic to his vow. I’d felt power on my skin but hadn’t realised it was that.
Suddenly my eyes burned. Because that wrongness wasn’t just gone, it was…
It was right.
The last crack sealed. The last seed sprouted. The last bit of distance between us closed.
My heart kicked to life like it had been dead until now, filling me with warmth.
I wanted Bastian. Not just to kiss him or fuck him—not the temptation we’d battled since I’d woken in Elfhame—but something bigger.
“I need to find him.” He was due to meet us later—the Serpent might work most of the Solstice but even he was allowed a little time to celebrate. But I couldn’t wait until then. “I’m going to the palace.”
“Yes, you are! Memento mori, my friend.” Ella clasped her hands and gave the widest smile I’d ever seen. “Go get that idiotic Shadow.”
Rose and Ari shooed me away, and Perry and Asher shot me curious glances.
Pulse leaping, I dived into the crowd.
As I wound towards a wider street leading to the city centre, I tried to think of what to say when words seemed pathetic and small compared to how I felt.
That was when the screams began.
47
Kat
Distant at first, I thought the screams were part of a performance. Folk continued milling along the roads, but then they grew louder, closer, more numerous, and the crowd responded. Tension thrummed as people lifted their heads, frowning, listening, turning towards the sounds coming from the city walls.