Page 92 of Midwinter Wiles & Valerian Dreams
Talvie
The trees thin ahead. I haven’t been able to feel my feet since Beron called me Princess, but I’m still stumbling forward under his relentless pressure.
I tried to run.
He stopped me before I could take a step. “We tried that already, Princess.”
I tried to plead.
“We have no choice,” is all he said.
There’s nothing left to try.
Water shimmers between low branches, and I recognize the clearing. The reflecting pond. The same place I saw my new disguise, where I hated it so much I thought it was the end of everything, but it turned out to be a whole new beginning.
It’s the pool where I saw Lark’s face beside mine, a glimpse of my future.
What would I see now?
My face, wilder than it used to be, but also fierce and sure. A woman with more confidence than I’ve felt in years. A fae who has experienced loss and heartache, who fought to find a place in a new world, and who found more than she ever bargained for. Someone awake and aware of the world for the first time, with so much more still to learn. Someone who has found joy and friendship and family. Who has felt love.
And my future? I can only assume it will be the black watery nothingness of the Deep, because standing beside the pond, her icy stare locked on me, is Taynia.
Her mouth curls into a cruel twist. “Ah, Beron, darling. I knew the interest of a hunter could only be captured by one thing—prey.” She turns her gaze to me. “Now what do we have here?”
Long manicured fingers reach for my neck. In one snatch, she grabs my pendant and yanks. The cheap chain bites my neck for an instant before it snaps, and she wrenches Lumi’s moonstone away from me.
“No!”
My cry is useless. Without hesitating, Taynia encases the necklace in a block of solid ice and tosses it into the pond. Between one heartbeat and the next, the tresses cascading over my shoulder go from midnight blue to dazzling white, and my reaching hands darken to the rich-brown skin I so missed when Lumi first disguised me. Her reflections are all gone now. My dark fingers shake as I reach for my ears, feeling tall points protruding through my hair.
I drop to my knees. The basket of apples topples onto the snow.
“Ah, Talvie, there you are.” Queen Taynia bends over and grabs my face.
A tiny gasp comes from beyond the branches.
A flash of color. Cabbage purple.
My eyes fly wide.
“Yes. You found me!” I shout, drawing the attention of the few huntsmen standing across the pond. Anything to distract them.
Why, oh why, did Aili follow me? If the queen spots a little Wilder girl spying, she’ll kill her along with me just to avoid a witness. She won’t ask questions or spare an innocent life.
Not unless I can unfreeze her heart.
I can’t wait for the play. It has to be now.
I have to do this!
“R-remember the time you wove flowers into my braids?” It’s the first memory I latch onto. I let emotion flood the words, trying to reach her. “You were so patient, saying a princess should wield beauty like power. They all fell out and left a trail of blossoms all the way to dinner, and we were laughing so hard,Isäasked if we’d been drugged. You just pressed a finger to your lips like it was our special secret.”
Taynia stands back with a hand on her hip, not reacting.
“You must remember the snowball fight.” I try again. “I was seven. You roped the entire palace staff into participating, saying it was for training my aim. Then you aligned us all against Beron and youpeltedhim in the face with snowballs.” I let the image breathe, absurd and bright in the frozen air. Taynia is silent, but Beron ducks his face and coughs. “You laughed so hard you cried. I think I peed myself.”
Still no reaction, so I rise to my feet.
