Midnight End

13

“I can’t believe it. I can’t believe I’m really here.” He stared down at me like I was an inscrutable puzzle, and he had been personally challenged to sort through the pieces. Reluctantly, he allowed me to pull away so I could examine the forest outside my prison. Everything looked more or less the same as inside the wall, but somehow, my outlook made everything brighter. The green leaves were the richest emerald I could ever recall seeing, and the small clusters of white moon flowers were an intricately woven layer of lace blanketing the forest floor. “It’s so beautiful,” I whispered. Knight came to stand beside me, still assessing me before looking back toward the trees. “Looks the same to me as it did on the other side.” “I suppose when you want something enough, it changes the way you see it,” I surmised absently. When he didn’t respond, I glanced over to find his features carefully blanked. I gave him a questioning look, but he turned his gaze away and stepped forward, silently refusing an explanation. “I don’t suppose this is the same forest where the mythical Castle Corbenic is located?” he asked with a hint of apprehension. Whatever he’d been thinking when I caught him staring at me had been locked away, which was just as well. I had no need for useless drama or anything that prolonged my search for the cauldron. “That would be entirely too easy,” I said wryly. “Castle Corbenic, where the cauldron is located, is in a forest that lies across the Okeanos Sea. First, we have to find the gatekeeper.” “And how to do we do that?” “We head east as far as the land will take us.” “And what if we’re as far west as we can get?” “Then we’d better get walking.” OceanofPDF.com 6 We traipsed through the woods for a solid half hour before I gave in and started a conversation. It wasn’t normally like me to fill the silence, but I was unnervingly curious about the man who walked beside me. So curious that a voice in my head warned me to shut my mouth for my own good. I gave that bossy b***h a two-handed shove to the back of my mind. “Tell me, why are you called Knight? And is that knight with a ‘k’ or night with an ‘n’?” I asked as I pushed aside a branch and made sure it didn’t fly back to whack him in the chest. He flashed a devilish grin. “Knight with a ‘k’ for being a knight in shining armor.” I gave an exaggerated roll of my eyes. “I should have known.” “That I’m in the habit of saving damsels in distress?” “That anything associated with you would be puerile.” “Careful, I believe you’re included in those associations.” Though I couldn’t see him, I could hear the smirk in his voice. “I am neither a damsel, nor am I in distress,” I corrected. “Right. A beautiful woman locked in a remote cottage in the woods— that doesn’t sound like every fairy tale ever written.” “Damsel implies witless, and distress would indicate I was in need of help. I am neither. I would have found my own way out if you hadn’t come along—it just might have taken a bit longer.” “Sure, princess, keep telling yourself that. As for my nickname, a number of months back, I helped protect a girl named Rebecca—” “You have got to be kidding me,” I exclaimed, cutting him off. “Rebecca, the wench who helped Merlin stop my uprising?” He gripped my arm and whipped me around so fast I almost lost my footing. “Watch who you’re calling a wench,” he growled. “She’s a friend of mine, and she was almost killed when you sent Ronan after her.” “I never sent Ronan after her,” I scoffed. “I just instructed him to get the necklace.” “At what cost?” he snapped, eyes blazing. I yanked my arm from his grip. “I don’t know what you’re implying. I never ordered him to kill Rebecca, although I wouldn’t have mourned her loss. My war against Guin was none of her business—she’s a sniveling child, drunk on heroics and blinded by rose-colored glasses,” I hissed. He made it sound like I had sent assassins to kill small children and burned babies for entertainment. Yes, some Unseelie made it to Earth as I attempted to perfect my ability to open portals. The Hunt would undoubtedly track down each of them. There might have been some causalities, but that was the price of war. Some of the greatest generals in Fae and human history were responsible for massive body counts, but they were regarded as heroes. It was all about perspective. “Oh, that’s rich,” he grumbled under his breath as he resumed walking at a brisk pace. “You start the stone rolling down the hill but refuse to claim responsibility for the landslide—is that how it works? Ronan was psychotic, and you used him like a weapon.” Knight set a bruising pace that had me jogging to keep up. “He was not psychotic! He might have been a little misguided, but that wasn’t his fault. His father abandoned him as a child! You don’t know half of what he went through before he came into my care.” Knight suddenly halted, sending me careening into his back. “Not psychotic?” he spat as he spun around. “He held a centuries-old grudge against Lochlan that was so consuming, he raped a woman and killed another just for vengeance—not exactly the pinnacle of stability. Although, maybe in your twisted mind he was innocent as a choir boy. Not long ago, you were preaching about owning your actions. You were quick to point fingers at Merlin for his shortcomings, but you sure as hell seem blind to your own.” His verbal assault stole my breath. Ronan had raped a woman and killed another? For revenge against Lochlan? I couldn’t reconcile Knight’s words with the image of the young man I had helped raise. Granted, I rarely saw him after he had joined the Hunt centuries ago. It had been too dangerous. They couldn’t find out he was connected to me, nor could he have any knowledge of the motivations behind my actions. The huntsmen were linked by a bond with their leader, the Erlking. If Ronan had known anything, the information might have been discovered.