“I’ll tell you later. Over here.”
Rafe followed Jeremy to the throne. An incredible piece of art, it appeared to be a living tree with branches twisted to form the arms, back, and seat. Jeremy placed his hand on the back of the throne like he was comforting an old friend. Then he stepped forward and pointed to something on the wall.
“You see that arrow behind the throne?” Jeremy said.
Rafe looked up. An arrow with red fletching was stuck into the wall a few feet above the throne.
“The Bright Boys love trying to scare Skya to death,” Jeremy went on. “They brought a red sleeper spider out of the Ghost Town and let it loose in the throne room. By the time we’d spotted it, it was too late. It was on the wall, only two feet above her head and getting closer. They’re incredibly deadly. They will sting you while you’re standing and you’re dead by the time you hit the ground. And you can’t get near them either. You can’t move a muscle or they’ll jump like lightning and strike. The only way to kill one is from a distance…”
He pointed to the arched entryway.
“We were all hiding there in the doorway, terrified and helpless. We couldn’t take a step into the throne room without risking Skya’s life. The whole time, she sat completely motionless on the throne, knowing if she so much as sneezed, she would die. Aurora, Skya’s pet crow, was going to catch it and eat it. She’s fast enough to do it, but the poison’s so strong, even eating it would kill her. You stopped her, Rafe. You ordered her to stand down. Then you asked her to give you two pinion feathers. You took them and fletched an arrow—”
“No,” Rafe said. “No way.” He shook his head. There was no possible way…
“You had one shot.”
“Not a chance.” His heart hammered in his chest.
“If you missed, the spider would have jumped and stung Skya, and she would have died. So you ordered us to stand back, far back, so none of us would have to see it if you missed—”
“Shut up.”
“And they all did what you said because there was nothing else to do. Except I couldn’t let you see that alone. So I stayed at your side. At least I could help you if you had to cover her body and carry it to the chapel.”
Rafe’s eyes were hot with tears, and he didn’t know why.
“I remember watching you nock your arrow. Your hands didn’t shake. You were a rock because you had to be, because Skya had to be.”
Rafe closed his eyes, begged his mind to give up the memory so he could believe the impossible words Jeremy told him.
“You raised your arrow,” he went on. Rafe opened his eyes. “And then like it was any of the other ten million shots you’d made…” Jeremy snapped his fingers. “Bull’s-eye. You dropped your bow. I can hear it clattering on the floor right now. It’s in my ears.”
Jeremy tilted his head as if hearing an old favorite song playing on some distant radio.
“Skya ran to you and grabbed you and held you. Her eyes were so wide…God, I remember it like it happened five minutes ago. The Valkyries saw her, and they just…they fell onto their knees. But no one said anything. You’d think we’d all shout and scream and dance around, but it wasn’t like that. Joy is quieter than people think it is. Especially the joy of getting back something you thought was lost forever.”
Jeremy took a deep shuddering breath. His voice was almost normal when he spoke again.
“The robin’s wing was broken, Rafe. Wasn’t it?”
“What do you—”
Jeremy said, “You healed the robin.”
“I did?”
“Yes, you healed it because that’s how Aurora thanked you for saving her and Skya. She granted you dominion over birds. Give a bird an order, and it will obey you—in this world or any other.”
Deep in Rafe’s soul, he knew this was true, that when he told the robin not to die, that he must live and fly again, the robin obeyed him.
“I wish you could remember your coronation,” Jeremy said, his voice wistful. “It was two days after you saved Skya. By then the whole kingdom knew. Even the white stags left the forest to stand an honor guard around the palace. No one had ever seen anything like it before. Everyone said it was proof you were a true prince of Shanandoah. Skya never let anyone take the arrow from the wall so no one would ever forget the courage of Prince Rafe, savior of the queen, savior of the kingdom.”
Rafe stared at the arrow in the wall. His arrow?
“Impossible shot,” Jeremy said, raising his hand to touch the fletching of the arrow, like people touched the toes of bronze statues for luck. “For everyone in the world but you. Even your dad. Then again, it was the second time I’d seen you kill the spider. Can you see the legs?”
Rafe could see them. Eight tiny red legs sticking out from the hole the arrow’s tip had left in the wall.
“In our world, you were the prince, and I’m the nobody,” Rafe said.
Jeremy snorted. “Who told you that absolutely idiotic falsehood?”
“You know you were. Fancy house. Rich mom. Piano in the music room. Come on. Your mother even called you her little prince.”
“She also called me a git, a twat, and Ginger Spice. Doesn’t mean anything. You were the one who could hunt, fish, shoot bows and arrows, make art…I was a spoiled brat. You were Robin Hood, Prince of the Woods. When Skya made you the prince of the realm, it was not a surprise to any of us. Least of all me.”
But Rafe was barely listening now. He gazed at the arrow in the wall. He was a prince here. Even the torches in the throne room had recognized him. What would a prince do at a time like this?
“Whatever’s out there, it wants me,” Rafe said. “I can’t let Skya face that thing alone. I have to go—”
From the doorway of the throne room, Winter spoke.
“You’re not allowed to leave. Queen’s orders.”
Rafe looked at her. “Yeah, but the queen’s not here. And I outrank you. Don’t I?”
“Good point,” she said and smiled.
