“Are you going to tell me why you’re following me, or just skulk behind that bush?”
Oh.
Blushing furiously, I stepped sideways, pressing my lips into a thin smile and raising my hand in an awkward greeting. “Hi.”
He studied me from beneath his floppy, dark hair. “Care to explain why you’re stalking me?”
“Why are you sneaking off again?” I countered.
“An answer for an answer.”
I narrowed my eyes but said nothing. He shrugged, hopping down from the rock, and continued walking, his long legs making short work of the slope.
“Oi, wait!”
I stumbled after him, my ankle aching with the effort of my climb. Idris ignored me, neither waiting nor slowing, but he hadn’t told me to go back, so that was something. My knees were shaking, and my skin was hot by the time the dirt track levelled out. To my immense surprise, Idris was waiting for me, his arms folded in a haughty show of impatience. He was as cool and flawless as ever, completely unruffled by the climb that had almost finished me off, even if shadows still hung beneath his eyes.
“There better be something good at the end of this walk,” I panted, clutching a stitch in my side.
His lips twitched, the only sign he gave of having heard me. Cranky old bastard.
It was alright for him, with his immortal legs and lungs, but I was winded and aching in places I hadn’t even known I had. Days of hiking and climbing billions of stairs, and now this?
When I straightened, he was staring at me from beneath a frown. “I thought making it to Nairsgarth would afford me a little privacy.”
“Nope.” I managed a brief smile between breaths. “I’m determined to be a thorn in your side until I find out what you’re up to.”
His lip curled in distaste. “Fine. Just remember, mortal, you asked for this.”
“Asked for what?”
I caught the briefest glimpse of a venomous smirk before he seized my hand. In an instant, the castle, the sky, the sea, everything vanished, replaced by a crushing darkness I knew all too well. The weight of the universe crushed against me, and my bones threatened to buckle under the intense pressure.
I spilled back into the world like a newborn giraffe, sprawling over the ground with a thud.
That bastard.
Rising on trembling arms, I fought down the wave of nausea that swelled in my throat. Idris stood nearby, adjusting his jacket and staring around without a shred of concern for my well-being.
Nairsgarth was gone. Instead, we’d arrived in a woodland horribly similar to that we’d escaped the night before, only the ground was blanketed in fallen leaves, and the canopies were a rainbow of reds, oranges and yellow-green. A distinct autumnal chill lingered in the air.
“Where—” I broke into a fit of breathless coughs.
“Tir o Hydref,” Idris answered my unfinished question, the strange words rolling off his tongue like music. He drew a deep breath in through the nose and his entire demeanour softened on the exhale.
I hadn’t heard much about the other courts, but I did remember that Tir o Gaeaf was the only friendly one. Was he a traitor after all? Was he planning to hand me over to Maelgwyn?
“Why?” I gasped.
He finally spared me a glance, and something like irritation passed briefly over his face at the sight of my kneeling in the dirt. “Get up. We’re here because I want to be, and because you can’t keep your nose out of other people’s affairs.”
I’d well and truly learnt my lesson. From now on, I was going to mind my own business and not give in to curiosity. It only ever led to trouble. Still, I was in this mess now, and I wouldn’t get out of it by shivering on the ground. I forced myself to my feet, dusting bits of decaying nature off my bare legs.
“And why, Idris, do you want to be here? Isn’t this enemy territory?”
He snorted. “Technically, it’s my brother’s territory, which makes it mine by extension.”
The same could be said of Tir o Haf, and we both knew how that had ended. With a sharp stab of guilt, I realised that Pansy was probably still at her mother’s side.
“Come on,” Idris prompted. “You’re wasting my time.”
Like he didn’t have enough of it. The fae set off as though he fully intended to abandon me if I failed to keep up, so I pulled my jacket tighter and stumbled after him, swallowing down the lump in my throat.
“At least it’s not raining here,” I offered in a feeble attempt to strike up a civil conversation. “It looked like it was going to pour down back at Nairsgarth. I hate the rain.”
The prince threw me a sharp look. Had I offended his almightiness with my opinions on the weather, or was it only my presence that did that? But his scowl faded as he looked away from me and said in an uncharacteristically soft voice, “Me too.”
He didn’t elaborate further.
We walked in silence for a while, and in the absence of Idris’ disdain, my thoughts returned to the beach.
“Idris?” I hurried to catch up, veering alongside him. He closed his eyes, drawing a deep breath in through the nose, as though searching deep within for a scrap of patience. “What will happen with Hyacinth’s body now? I’ve never been to a witch’s funeral before.”
There had been no burial, after all. No hint of a cremation. Poor Meadow’s body had been left behind altogether.
“Do I look like a witch?”
I raised an eyebrow. He certainly had the attitude of something that rhymed.
