Page 33 of Prince of the Northwest Forest
I raise an eyebrow. The unmarred one. “Thank you.” The hummingbird flies off, and I say lowly to Hazel, “I wonder if they’ve found Mats.”
She shakes her head. “Wouldn’t we have heard?”
“I don’t know.”
We hustle back to the hotel and find my parents’ security skunk and mountain lion pacing the hallway. I open the door, and my parents are standing in my room, which feels much too small for their royal presence. I’m not going to question the hotelsecurity. Presumably they figured my parents had permission to see me. Which they do.
Father stands near my bed, while Mother steps forward. “Kalle! Where have you been?”
I take off my cloak and sword and approach them. “I was out looking for Mats, of course. I’ve been stopping any royal or animal I meet, asking if they’ve seen him.”
“Thank you for that,” she says, “but we believe we’ve learned where your brother is.”
I sit down hard on the couch. “Where?”
Mother and Father glance at each other. “We received a note,” she says, holding out a piece of folded paper.
Gingerly, I accept it. “Who sent it?”
“The fae,” my father admits.
I huff. “Like their word is worth anything.”
King Björn and Queen Beatrice,
We have been patient for years, but the deadline is approaching. If you ever want to see your son again, you must pay your debts.
I frown. “What do they mean, ‘debts’? We have plenty of currency. But the fae always want something money can’t buy. Did you enter into a fae bargain?”
“The fae are tricksters,” Mother says, exchanging a look with Father.
“That’s not answering the question,” I point out.
Father sighs. “We think we know what they are talking about, and we think we know how to appease them. Keep reading.”
We will do no harm to your son … for now.
If we do not receive the fire gold payment by the deadline, however, you know what will happen.
The low-level worry I’ve been feeling since I learned he was missing dissipates somewhat—because now I have a fewanswers—and is replaced with anger. Because what the hell? I pinch the bridge of my nose. “At least he’s safe.”
“He may be safe, but the future of the Northwest Forest is uncertain,” my mother says.
“What is this payment they’re referring to? Why do you owe the fae gold from the Fire Realm?”
“It’s an old problem,” Mother admits. “Father and I asked them to do something for us, and we promised them the dowry we would get from Eleanor.”
This floors me. “What in the Underworld? Why would you ever bargain with the fae?” I demand.
“This was three years ago,” Father says.
“And we were desperate to stop the fire queens,” Mother says.
I pinch the bridge of my nose. I’m not happy about it, but I suppose they didn’t have to consult with me. “That makes sense. They say ‘you know what will happen.’ What do they mean? What threat are they making?”
“If we don’t pay them, they will take over our lands. All of them. The forest will become a fae realm.”
Horror fills me, and my mother nods in sympathy. “We were panicking and made a bad deal. Now we absolutely must keep our end of the bargain.”
