Page 123 of Steel Heart Iron Claws

So, I skirt the cliff’s edge, balancing as best I can as I follow the river upstream. More tangled rhododendrons block my path and require contortion to squeeze between their branches. Roots snag at my socks. Rough bark scrapes my arms. I finally reach the loud, rushing river’s bank, and follow it upstream.

Now that I have some degree of cover, I rack my brain for a way out of this. Artain screwed Basten and me both. Here we thought we were so clever to trick a fae into a bargain, but we should have known all along thatwewere the ones being played.

Take stock of your options, Sabine.

If Basten catches me, I might as well drive an arrow into his skull myself. I don’t doubt for a second that Artain will make good on his threat, no matter how much I beg otherwise. Basten has a king’s blood, but he’s still human. Artain wouldn’t think twice about stamping out his mortal life.

Which leaves letting Artain catch me. It would be easy enough to accomplish. Vallen Forest is filled with creatures who would gladly lead me to Artain’s location once Eighth Hour tolls.

I could simply fall to my knees and surrender.

Basten would live.

But what would happen to me?

A chill settles into my bones as I picture my future as Artain’s nightly plaything. Not just one night, buteverynight. Until now, he’s behaved for my father’s benefit.It’s as if I’ve been living in a grand performance, unaware that the spotlight has only shown on what the fae wanted me to see: the smiling acolytes offering their blood, the hedonistic parties, a doting father.

I never thought to pull back the curtain to see the shadows lurking backstage—until Basten arrived.

And if Artain wins?

I close my hand over my neck, rubbing my thorn-scratched skin as if Artain’s pointed incisors were already closing in on my jugular.

I duck beneath a branch, my feet pounding the earth as I try to put as much space as possible between me and Artain. Initially, I’d dismissed him as a harmless fop, but I see now how wrong I was.

My stomach lurches as I swallow down bile, fighting against the terrible images that fill my mind. How many nights can I fend him off? Ten? Twenty? A hundred? He’ll have me on my back eventually, taking what he wants.

No—Iwon’tlet that happen.

As the ground turns muddier, I stop to tug my boots back on as I try to think my way out of this. Would my father even let Artain carry out either threat? I’m his daughter; he wouldn’t want me reduced to a god’s toy. And letting Artain kill Basten would be political suicide, when the fae need him to deliver Astagnon.

On the other hand, I’m thinking of my father as rational. Fair.Human. When in reality, his fae mind is probably as devious as Artain’s.

Twisting Basten’s ring, I take stock of my surroundings. I’m about two miles from the castle’s southern gate. Maybe less, since it’s slow going to move through the underbrush.

That’s not nearly enough distance for?—

A distant, faint bell clangs through the trees, halting my thoughts.

My stomach drops.

“Oh,hell.”

How has it already been an hour? Immediately, my pulse flares, stoking my dwindled energy until I’m back to running through the woods. Now that Basten and Artain are on the hunt, I have to keep my wits about me more than ever.

Friends. I project my thoughts through the trees.I need your help. Is anyone there?

For a moment, there is only silence, but then, a red-breasted robin swoops down. He flies alongside me from branch to branch, cocking his head in interest.I am here.

Thorns lash at my arms, shredding my shirtsleeves, but I push through them.I need you to gather robins and have them track two huntsmen coming this way. One is fae. The other human. Can you do that?

Hold tight!The robin flits off into the canopy.

Leaves crunch to my left, and I snap my head around to see a doe gliding alongside me, her graceful strides like a whisper through the underbrush.

Why do you run, human?she asks curiously.

I’m being hunted.I pause to climb over a fallen trunk before continuing.Is there somewhere I can hide? Somewhere difficult to track?

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