Page 22 of Mirror of Malice
“I’m going to find my betrothed,” I said. “And together we will fight my stepmother, and I will take my rightful place as queen of Elwen.”
A look of surprise flashed across his face, gone as quick as it had come. “Jasper Farrar, of the fire court? You’re still betrothed?”
“Yes. And he will not be pleased to hear the king of thieves kidnapped his bride to be.”
“Actually, he’ll probably thank me for taking you,” Penn said. “Saved him from having to do it. If he was going to, that is.”
I hated him. So very much. The arrogance, the smugness, the way he acted like I was nothing more than a tool to be used.
“I think I’ll be going back now. I need to get some sleep, since I assume I’ll be training again tomorrow.”
Penn held out the lantern, and I took it from him, the light bright in my eyes.
“If you could just—” I started, then looked up, but Penn had disappeared, melted into the shadows. King of thieves, indeed. Istalked back to the camp, darkness still enveloping the forest. I could get a few hours of sleep, if I was lucky. I hung the lantern back on its post, then lay on the hard, cold ground.
One thing was certain: before I escaped, I needed to get into that tent and find the mirror. It could be the key to eventually defeating my stepmother. And that meant I was going to have to steal from the king of thieves.
Chapter Eleven
Ahand gripped my arm, and I shot up, eyes wild, heart beating hard in my chest. It took a minute for me to remember where I was and who I was with.
I shook my head, eyes heavy and crusty with sleep.
“Time to wake up, Princess,” a gruff voice said.
I looked at the hand clamped tight around my arm, and my gaze trailed up to the face: Hammer.
His bright red hair was wild and curly, freckles stark on his pale skin. My heart sank. So Shadow wouldn’t be training me today, then? As rough as our session was yesterday, I had a feeling I’d prefer it over whatever this man had planned for me.
Hammer stood shorter than me, but he was almost twice as wide, his chest broad, muscles thick, and even if he was missing an arm, I doubted it mattered. He looked fierce enough that nothing would hold him back.
“Let’s go.” Without another word, he dropped my arm and stomped away.
Great. This was going to be just delightful.
I stood and followed him. “Where are we going?”
He didn’t answer as we wove through the trees of the forest, the early morning sun shining down and filtering through theleaves. I raised my face, letting the light wrap around me like a cocoon. I wasn’t sure I’d ever get used to this again after spending so long in the dark. Squirrels ran across the forest floor, scurrying up trees and foraging for nuts nestled in the leaves. There was so much life here, so much vibrancy. I raised my hand to lower a branch for one of the squirrels to jump onto, and a pang struck my chest when I remembered I didn’t have my magic anymore.
“This ain’t a vacation, princess,” Hammer said, snapping me from my wallowing.
He leaned against a tree, glaring at me, and I stomped toward him.
“Believe me, I know that.” I shoved past him. “Let’s get this torture session over with.”
He continued on his way, and soon we came to a marsh, big round lily pads floating on the surface of the murky water. I swallowed, already not liking wherever this was going.
“It’s not torture,” Hammer said quietly from next to me.
I looked at him. “What?”
“This training is a gift. Yer learning skills to survive.” He gestured to his missing arm. “Lost this on my first mission. I was up in the sky court, stealing valuable healing powders from some noble when a guard caught me. I wasn’t prepared, hadn’t listened well enough in these lessons, thought I already knew everything. She cut my arm clean off, and I’d have bled out in that tower if Penn hadn’t come to rescue me, fought off the guard, and got me the bloody earth out of there. Didn’t get the powders we needed, but Penn never scolded me, never reprimanded me. He allowed me time to heal, and then told me we needed to train, that I needed to re-learn how to fight. So I did. That’s why we take this seriously. Because it’s life and death.”
I wanted to shout that I didn’t need this training because I’d be escaping as soon as I figured a way out, but I knew this training would be valuable to me. Still, I felt stubborn and defiant, felt the need to point out that Hammer wouldn’t have gotten injured if he hadn’t been trying to steal something in the first place.
“I’m learning how to be a criminal,” I retorted. “I’ve survived just fine without knowing how to sneak up on someone or disappear into the shadows.”
He scoffed. “Yes, in your fancy tower, surrounded by guards.”
