Page 32 of The Huntsman's Heart
Raban pats my arm. “No, princess. You are not a monster. Never think that.”
I pull up my hose and expose my skin where the flesh is all knit back together, though the clothing is still in tatters. “But I was dead—torn apart. And now I’m whole. It is not right.”
They’re quiet. Whatever they say, I know the truth. And I’m beginning to suspect who could have done such a thing; the question is why.
“It must have been your huntsman,” says Corvin, echoing my thoughts.
I frown. “He is notmyhuntsman. And why would he perform such magic and then leave me?”
“I have no answer for that,” says Évandre. “Perhaps that means he will return to look for you.”
This makes me smile grimly. “I hope he does. And when he does, I shall kill him.”
Corvin laughs softly. “Vicious princess. He is a fool for getting on your bad side.”
“He is.” Determination fills me, and I tense and release the muscles in my feet experimentally. When that causes no pain, I swing my legs off the mattress and stand gingerly.
Raban holds out his hand to me, but I do not take it. It feels good to stand on my own after my ordeal. “He will regret crossing me.”
“We will make sure of it,” Raban says.
“I thought you said you could not.”
He shrugs. “We cannot go with you, but perhaps we do not need to. Perhaps you are the bait that will lure him in, and then we’ll be ready.”
“And we will make sure you are ready too,” adds Évandre. “If you do not run off into the forest again while we are sleeping.”
I smile ruefully. “I have learned my lesson. I will need your help. I only hope you are right about him. I will make him suffer tenfold for what he has done to me. If I get the chance.”
Corvin whistles. “Be careful, little queen. Now you truly sound like a monster.”
I sneer. “My heart is dead, remember? If I am a monster, then it is him who is to blame. And he who shall reap the rewards.”
Raban
I open my eyes as night falls, and instantly there’s a smile on my face. There is a princess in the castle again. A beautiful, fierce princess, more worthy of the title than any we have served before.
I stretch out my wings and descend to the courtyard, looking around for her. It has been seven nights since she returned to us, and I no longer wake afraid I’ll find her in pieces again. The sight of her poor body ripped to shreds by monsters is one I’ll never forget as long as I’m whole. I think if I had a heart it would have been ripped into pieces right then, but luckily I’m only made of stone.
I catch sight of her sitting atop a crumbling wall, and immediately I spread my wings and leap up to meet her. She looks around and greets me warmly. “Good morning—well goodnight really, I suppose. That will take some getting used to.”
“If you call it morning, then it will be morning. What should we do today?”
“The same thing we do every day. Train me to kill.”
I wish I could smooth out the lines of worry at her brow. Not that they mar her beauty, but I wish I could take away all her cares and leave her only happiness. I cannot, so I concentrate on giving her what she wants instead. “Yes, princess. Come, let me wrap your hands.”
She frowns. “I want to try again without. It makes me cumbersome.”
That worries me. The first few nights she rubbed her fingers raw over and over before she admitted how much they pained her. Since her magic prevents her from forming scars or calluses, she can’t build up the resistance she needs to train with the sword for hours, but that won’t stop her.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
By now I know that glint in her eyes. She will not relent.
I sigh. Standing, I hold out my hand for her, and she places her smaller one in mine. I wrap my other arm around her and lift, gently carrying her down to the ground before releasing her, though I wish I did not need to.
