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Tomorrow came faster than I imagined it would. One moment, I was staring into Henry’s eyes, studying the flecks of green speckling the grey background of his irises as the light faded from the sky. And the next, the bright sunlight pierced through the hidden glen where we’d slept while birds chirped their morning songs above.
Henry lay curled up next to me, still wrapped in slumber. His dark lashes rested on his high cheek bones. Whatever tension had filled him last night, keeping his jaw tight, was not present in sleep. I sighed at the beauty of my handsome prince.
I moved to get up, but the debilitating agony gripping my back froze me in place. The hiss from between my lips snapped Henry’s eyes open. His entire body tensed, he sat up next to me, and his gaze darted all around us.
“It’s just me,” I said through clenched teeth. I pushed myself up on my hands and knees.
He hopped to his feet before I was able to get to mine, and he gripped my elbow, helping me to stand.
The chill in the air caressed my skin, leaving goose flesh in its wake. I shivered and glanced at my clothing for the first time. I only had a thin undergarment on. One that I reserved for those hot summer nights when I needed something light. It was one of Henry’s favorites with an open back and a low neckline.
Henry stared at my back. His eyebrows drew together, creating a wave of worry lines around his eyes before his gaze traveled to mine.
“What is it?”
Henry swallowed, and his brow smoothed out. He shook his head. “Nothing.” He smiled, but it was one of those placating grins that I knew so well.
He opened his mouth to speak again, but before he spoke, I tilted my head, giving him a sideways glare. I didn’t even have to say a thing. My stare told him he better not tell me another lie.
His lips pressed together, and his cheeks bloomed red like I had caught him eating the last piece of apple pie. He swiveled his gaze to the surrounding area, looking at just about everything but me.
“Henry.”
He glanced at me. “I don’t think they got rid of all the poison.” His voice cracked with the dread reflected in his grey-green eyes.
I turned my head, but I couldn’t see the wound blazing on my back. I closed my eyes, clenched my fists, and reached for my magic. I centered myself, feeling the growing orb in the middle of my body. I sent pulses directly toward the pain, but my magic recoiled like it had encountered a viper.
I gasped. Whatever poisoned me was seeded with magic so dark that my pure enchantments couldn’t combat it.
My eyelids flew open and I met Henry’s gaze. Hot tears stung the corner of my eyes. “I can’t stop it.”
His brow furrowed. “You tried magic?”
I nodded.
He went into action, grabbing everything on the ground in one arm, and with the other, he grabbed my hand. “The queen can track magic.”
His words scraped across my skin, leaving an itchy residue that made me want to scratch myself raw. I had just put all of us in danger.
“We need to move. Fast,” Henry barked at the dwarves guarding the exit path. He threw the blankets and honey salve into the back of the cart and helped me up and into the tight space between the hay bales.
I was nearly shoved to the floor by the dwarves as they got into the cart and covered me back up. We lurched forward, and one of the little men fell onto my legs.
“Sorry, Maggie.” Blackie’s deep voice pierced the dark surrounding us.
Another blanket was folded under my head to keep me from banging it on the wooden planks. The ride was rougher today, and several times the cart hit bumps that lifted us all in the air.
“Where are we going?” I asked loud enough that I hoped Henry could hear.
“Hobgoblin Caverns,” Henry answered.
I clenched. Hobgoblin Caverns. Where the trolls ruled. Witches were a delicacy to them, and no magical being in their right mind would enter their dwellings. Even the queen wouldn’t dare enter their home.
“They will kill us!”
“The troll king owes me a favor,” Blackie said, placing his hand on my arm. “They will not kill the only mage left that can destroy the queen.”
I let out a high-pitched laugh. “I cannot even beat her new army of the dead. How in the world do you expect me to beat the queen?”
“It is your destiny,” Blackie said.
I nearly choked, and it wasn’t from the stale scent of morning breath clustered under the blanket. My destiny. I didn’t believe in destiny. I just knew if I faced her before my back healed, I would fall, and the world would be forever cloaked in darkness.