Page 124 of Kingdom of Briars and Roses

Manipulation.

I had to get away from it, even if it meant fighting for survival on my own. But I couldn’t do that until I found a way to stop the donations.

“Does this lead to the Osphiris?” I asked as we finally made it to the bottom of the hillside.

Just ahead, the riverbed, though wide, had dried up so that nothing but mud and rock remained. The banks on either side were lined with dead grass and rotted brush. My nose wrinkled at the smell of dead fish.

“Yes, it’s a tributary— Seven Hels,” Rydian breathed.

He pressed his heels into his horse’s sides, closing the distance. I hung back, watching as he dismounted and ventured all the way to the edge of the healthy grass. Hestopped just short of the dead patches and bent to one knee, studying the ground.

“What is it?” I asked.

He rose and looked toward the forest in the north. “The curse,” he said grimly. “It’s spread to this side of the river.”

“This is a new development?”

He nodded then swung back onto his horse. “Come on. We shouldn’t be out this far.”

He scanned the trees again, and the hairs on my neck prickled with unease. Then he turned his horse back the way we’d come. I followed reluctantly. So much for finding an escape route. At our backs, the wind felt like an invisible hand trying to grab me before I rode out of reach.

“What will the king do?” I asked, keeping an eye on the distant woods as if an Obsidian army might pour from it at any moment.

Rydian glanced at me but said nothing.

My stomach tightened as the answer dawned on me. “He’ll up the donations, won’t he?”

“Your engagement party is in a few days,” he said grimly. “He’ll want Grey Oak to look pristine for his guests. So, yes. He’ll up the donations.”

“Duron has to be stopped,” I said, gripping the reins as we began to ascend the hillside.

“On that, we agree.”

Something about the way he said it suggested an outrage that went much deeper than even my own. And for the briefest moment, I finally felt as if Rydian and I were on the same side.

“It’s a shame your future husband won’t allow your opinion to matter.”

Or not.

I glared at him, but he didn’t even bother to notice. Anger simmered inside me for the rest of the ride.

When we reached the stables, Rydian headed for the castle alongside me.

“You don’t have to walk me,” I snapped. “I can find my way.”

“I need to speak with Callan,” he said.

Of course. “You’re going to tell him what we saw.”

He cut me a look that probably would’ve made a lesser fae cringe. “Yes.”

“You don’t have to,” I pressed, refusing to back down. “You could fail to mention it or at least wait until after the party?—”

“Duron will find out,” he said. “Do you really think it’s worth looking like some kind of traitor over information that will come out anyway?”

“I think it’s worth it to the fae you’d be protecting,” I said.

I bit my lip, hoping my words would sink past that stone encasing his heart—if he even had one at all. But he merely scowled and began stalking toward the castle once again. When we reached the doors, Rydian began to veer off without as much as a goodbye.

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