Page 57 of Song of the Shadow Prince
“How is thatfine?” Maeve yelled again.
“Shh!” I glanced around the tavern and whispered, “You’re drawing attention to us!”
“I don’t care, my lady,” she gritted. “You’re willingly walking into danger. I don’t understand how you canpossiblybe okay with this!”
“Because this is the only way I can get home and possibly bring Lady Arya back to you,” I argued. “Isn’t that what you want?”
She nibbled on her bottom lip. “Yes, but…”
“There are no buts, Maeve. We have no other options. This is our only chance. We have to take it.”
15
CAT
Maeve and I climbed back into the carriage with the warlock and rode up to the border of Faelight Forest. Its entrance was on the west side of the Southern District, just below the Northern District lines. I gaped at the drastic change in scenery as the three worlds seemed to collide: one side that resembled the ritzy suburbs, one side looking like a flea market, and then a dense forest that seemed straight out of a dark fairy tale.
During the carriage ride, we came up with a plan. I would enter the forest and try to find the fae while Garrick and Maeve waited for me outside the border. It was close to two in the afternoon and although the sun was high, its rays didn’t pierce beneath the forest’s dense canopy. Along with all the other rules I had to remember, Garrick gave me another one:
Be back by sunset.
I peered over my shoulder as Maeve paid the carriage driver a little extra to keep our little side quest a secret from Lord Zacharia. We didn’t have much money, but the little bit we did have was dwindling.
“Are you sure about this, my lady?” Garrick asked as he gazed at the eerie woods up ahead.
I nodded and fought the unease that tried to undo my courage. “Hurry and put the protection spell on me.”
Facing me, Garrick raised his first two fingers on each hand and made the sign of a cross, then mumbled a few words I couldn’t make out. A flicker of light exploded from his fingertips and I startled. Pale yellow light covered me and slowly roamed all over me before settling like a cloak. Then Garrick dropped his hands and the light disappeared.
“Done,” he said. “Remember, it’s a one-time use. So if they try anything, get out right away. Do not linger. You won’t be safe.”
Just then, Maeve stepped to my side with something in her hand. “My lady?” she murmured. She’d stopped calling me Lady Arya after learning I wasn’t her. “Here.” She handed me a bangle bracelet. “Put this on.”
“What is this?”
“Iron,” she nonchalantly replied. “It’s cheap; not worth much and not made of the fine material that your family produces, but it might help in a pinch.”
I frowned. “Is this yours?”
She nodded. “I bought it in the Southern District for protection a long time ago,” she admitted. “Maybe it can protect you now.”
I clasped her hand. “Thank you, Maeve.”
“Go, my lady. We’ll wait for you here. If you don’t return by sunset, I will go to Lord Zacharia, but please… don’t make me go to him,” she whispered.
“I won’t,” I agreed. “Wait for me. I’ll return safely.”
She patted my hand and nodded as a tear slipped down her cheek, then turned around so she didn’t have to watch me walk into the forest. That was my cue to leave.
I turned to Garrick. “Take care of her for me, please.”
“Will do, my lady.”
With a deep breath, I turned toward the forest and started my trek. Once I crossed the threshold into Faelight Forest, there was a tangible shift in the atmosphere. The temperature dropped several degrees and a chill skittered over my skin.
Despite the mid-afternoon sun, the forest's dense canopy plunged the environment into a dusky twilight. Shafts of light struggled through the tangle of branches, casting fragmented shadows and creating a tumbling mosaic of light and dark on the forest floor.
The ground was strewn with rocks of iron, their dull metallic glint contrasting sharply against the rich, dark soil. Each step was announced by snapping twigs and dry leaves crunching underfoot. There was no silent walking. I was loud and obvious. I wish I could be as stealthy as Damien, but alas, I wasn’t.
