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THE ROOM KATERINA BOOKED for the night looked like something she’d find in the servant’s corridor back at the castle. A simple cot. A rickety dresser. And a thick taper sitting on the windowsill to allow for light. On second thought, it was more like a room she’d find in the stables.
Nevertheless, she locked the door quickly and sank down into the center of the sagging bed, glad to be away from prying eyes no matter the circumstances. Although she’d only left the fairies a few hours before, and had only left the castle a few days before that, she felt as though she’d been running for as long as she could remember. Running and looking over her shoulder. Terrified as to who might be running after her. Petrified as to who she might see.
With an exhausted sigh, she pulled off her cloak and settled down beneath the threadbare comforter, ignoring the pieces of straw that poked through the mattress. She quickly added the cloak as a secondary blanket, vowing to clean off the blood first thing in the morning.
Can never be too careful in these parts...
Dylan’s words echoed back to her as she lay there in the dark, a chilling reminder that the real world was nothing like her childhood storybooks. That life had grown harder, and the people had hardened with it. There were no heroes or happily-ever-afters. Empathy, optimism, and the belief in miracles had long since died. The most people wanted now was to simply survive.
And she must become one of them.
With another shaky sigh, she blew out the candle and closed her eyes. Praying she wouldn’t dream. Praying she would simply fall asleep.
But it wasn’t meant to be.
* * *
CRASH!
Katerina’s eyes shot open with a gasp as the wooden door to her room was kicked clean off the hinges. The blinding light of a dozen torches came pouring in, and before she could make sense of what was going on—before she could even identify her attackers—she was being lifted straight out of bed and dragged down the stairs. Her bare feet knocked painfully against the steep steps, and by the time she reached the ground floor she finally caught her breath enough to let out a scream.
But a single scream was all she got.
The second she cried out, she was struck over the head with something heavy enough to leave her in a daze. Her eyes fluttered open and shut, and her head dropped weakly to the side as she was carried out of the tavern and into the freezing night.
“What...” she murmured weakly, trying to stay awake. “What’s going on—”
There was a sharp slap, and her world darkened once more. It didn’t come back into focus until she was suddenly dropped onto the wet street. She lay in a daze, staring up at her attackers.
...not that she had to look up too far.
Dwarves?
She couldn’t believe it. As the world blinked slowly back into focus, she found herself face to face with the same group of creatures she’d seen earlier in the tavern. The ones who were greedily eyeing her fancy travelling cloak. At the time, she’d been too preoccupied with far more immediate concerns to give them much thought. But now, it was easy to see that this was their plan all along.
Fortunately, they cared not for her. Only for her money.
“You’ll speak when you’re spoken to!” The same dwarf who had slapped her raised his hand in warning. He did it once, he’d do it again. “Until then—you’ll keep quiet!”
“Yes, but we need her to speak,” another dwarf grumbled under his breath, one hand fiddling nervously with his long beard. “To tell us about her relations.”
There was an awkward beat of silence as everyone froze.
“Yes, I was just getting to that!” the first dwarf snapped defensively, glaring down at the fallen princess as if it was somehow all her fault. “You, girl, tell us about your family!”
My family?
Katerina went pale as ice, kneels curling into her chest as she stared up at the ring of little men circling her. They weren’t much to look at from afar but she knew now that, despite their size, they possessed unnatural strength. And the fact that they were asking about her family—
How could they have possibly guessed? What could they possibly know?
“My...my family?” she stuttered, staring helplessly around the ring. She was on the verge of making a run for it but they had her completely surrounded, and she had the sneaking suspicion the little bastards were a lot faster than they looked. “What do you mean?”
“What do you think he means?” A dwarf with a giant ear-horn spat on the ground as the tiny fellow hovering near his elbow glanced nervously down the street. “Where do your people come from? How many of them are still alive? How are we to get in contact?”
Katerina flinched at from his tone, but she was still at a complete loss. Not only did she have no idea what they were trying to get at, but she was understandably a little distracted by the deadly collection of weapons the gang was wearing on their belts.
A man wielding what looked like a pick-ax was especially intimidating.
“I’m sorry...get in contact?” She looked from one to the next in a panic, trying desperately to understand. “Why would you want to—”
“Do you not get what this is, lady?!” The dwarf who’d spat on the ground before took an angry step forward, waving his little arms. “We intend to ransom you! Clothes like this means you obviously come from money, and since you’re travelling alone I’m willing to bet that whoever lost you would be willing to pay a lot of money to get you back! Honestly, are you stupid?!”
He hit the side of his head so hard that the ear-horn popped right out.
The rest of the dwarves stared down at it, but said nothing. Katerina stared up at her abductors, but had no idea where to start. Should she just make up a family? Should she say that they’d all died? What province should she say they hailed from?
...shouldn’t someone pick up that poor man’s ear-horn?
“Actually,” she began hesitantly, “I lost my family. Just a few weeks ago. My village supported me for as long as they could, and when that stopped I set out on my own.”
A profound silence followed this remark. She couldn’t tell whether it was a good or a bad thing. Resisting the urge to over-embellish with details, as was her custom, she lowered her eyes to the ground, praying for someone to venture onto the street and see her there.
Not that I should expect any help...
“You lost your family, eh?” The tallest of the dwarves stepped forward, a man with a ginger beard that trailed all the way down to the street. “And how did that conveniently ill-timed tragedy come about?”
Katerina was almost offended. If she really had lost her family, that would have been an incredibly insensitive thing to say. Then again, she supposed the whole ‘kidnap with the intent to ransom’ thing was insensitive enough.
“They died in a fire,” she murmured in a low voice, hoping like hell the tears in her eyes would be misconstrued as grief. “It destroyed our entire farm. I was away at a friend’s. By the time I got back in the morning, everything was gone.”
The dwarf’s eyes flashed knowingly as he took a step forward, leaving his ring of companions behind. Up close, it was even easier to see that dwarves were clearly built for the mining that had made them so famous in the time before the rebellion, that had made them so valuable to the crown. That is, until the crown felt threatened like it always did and decided to decimate their entire race. The little fellow might have been small, but he was nothing but pure muscle.
And right now, all of it was directed straight at Katerina.
“A fire,” he repeated softly, staring deep into her eyes. “And it destroyed your entire farm.”
She’d thought it was a good excuse at the time, but suddenly it couldn’t sound less believable. Her face flushed as he came even closer, towering over her as she huddled on the street.
“Pray tell, good lady...where was this farm?”
Game over.
A sudden chill swept over the princess as she realized she was out of cards. Yes, she’d studied the different provinces as a child back at the castle, but she couldn’t remember any of their names let alone which ones were cities versus agricultural centers.
What was worse, she suspected the ginger dwarf knew it all along.
“It was...” She cringed as his eyes flashed with rage. “It was near...”
There was a ghastly profanity as the dwarf raised his hand once more.
Katerina braced for the impact, but just before he could strike several things happened at once.
A streak of light flashed through the darkness. The dwarf fell backwards with a gasp of surprise. And Katerina was lifted to her feet, a strong arm wrapped protectively around her waist. She pulled in a silent breath, staring up at a familiar head of dark hair as a surge of relief warmed her body. But just as quickly as it had come, that relief melted away into the cold night.
“Dylan?”
The arm disappeared. Along with the warmth that came with it.
“Craston?”
The dwarf who’d been about to strike her let out a burst of laughter as Dylan took a step away from Katerina, staring in surprise. One by one, the rest of the deadly gang relaxed their positions, bustling cheerfully forward to shake his hand.
“It’s been ages!” The ginger dwarf clapped him cheerfully on the shoulder. Well, he tried. It ended up being more in the center of his back. “Not since that smuggling operation in Kail! You know, the one where you so graciously decided to distract the magistrate’s daughter.”
The tops of Dylan’s cheeks flushed pink as he gave the man a playful shove. “I thought we agreed never to talk about that again.”
Katerina stared between them in complete dismay. One second, her rescue had seemed almost inevitable. But now? She’d be surprised if they didn’t all decide to go out for drinks!
No, no, no! Don’t LIKE him! FIGHT him!
The dwarf straightened the back of Dylan’s coat, and she closed her eyes with a grimace.
“Well, what brings you up to these parts?” Dylan finally had the sense to ask, bending down at the same time to return the stray ear-horn. “What’re you doing here?”
Yeah, anyone remember me?! The girl in the process of being kidnapped?!
“We were just about to ransom this foreigner,” the dwarf replied cheerfully. “And you?”
For the first time, Dylan glanced over his shoulder at Katerina. She was still standing exactly where he’d left her. Arms folded tightly across her thin nightgown. Their eyes met ever so briefly before he turned back to the dwarves—a portrait of ease.
“Actually, I was about to do the same myself.”
He...what?! Is he serious?! Not only is he refusing to help me, he’s going to ransom me instead?!
Her first instinct was to smack him upside the back of the head. Her second instinct was to kick him once he’d fallen. But something about the look they’d shared made her hold back. There was something more going on beneath the surface. She wouldn’t call him an enemy just yet.
“You were?” The ginger dwarf was equal parts surprised and dismayed. “But I thought you were still up north doing—”
“I was,” Dylan cut him off quickly. “But that’s when I ran into our little friend over here. I saw she came from a wealthy family and was setting out on her own, so I followed her down south.”
At which point my farm burned to the ground, taking my imaginary family along with it.
The dwarf’s eyes flickered between them. First once. Then twice.
“Well...that’s a real shame.”
The words sent chills down Katerina’s spine, and Dylan quickly lowered his gaze.
“I know,” he said apologetically, his eyes flickering surreptitiously around the little circle. “I almost feel bad insisting. But times are hard.”
The obvious deference aside, Katerina noticed he slipped into a slightly different accent when he was talking to them. Something that sounded more like their own.
If only it would work.
The dwarf he’d been speaking with frowned deeply, the lines crinkling up the side of his face. While he clearly had the superior numbers, and could most likely win if it came to a fight, he and Dylan obviously had a history. Possibly even a distant friendship.
Katerina held her breath, and unless she was mistaken she could have sworn Dylan’s hand drifted ever so casually to the blade by his side.
But a moment later the frown disappeared, and the dwarf’s face melted into a friendly smile.
“They most certainly are.” He again clapped Dylan on the back, inadvertently buckling the young man’s knees. “We’ll leave you to it. Sorry about the prior claim.”
Prior claim?! Like I’m some kind of property! First come, first serve!
“That’s quite all right,” Dylan said graciously, taking Katerina by the arm and pulling her back to his side. At a glance, the motion looked very rough indeed, but in reality he couldn’t have been more delicate. “Say hi to Bruella for me.”
The dwarf nodded in acknowledgement then, one by one, the entire gang disappeared into the night, waving farewell as they went.
Katerina and Dylan stared after them for a long time. A very long time. Neither one could think what to do. Neither one could think what to say. Then, finally, Katerina asked a question.
“Who’s Bruella?”
Dylan glanced down at her in surprise, almost as if he’d forgotten she was there. “His wife.”
There were a million things to say. A million questions she wanted answered. But at that moment, she couldn’t seem to do anything but nod.
“Oh.”
They lapsed into silence again, staring out at the cold night. It wasn’t until she suddenly shivered that Dylan glanced down at her, his eyes sweeping up and down her thin nightgown. He opened his mouth to say something, but before he could Katerina beat him to the punch.
“So what are you doing here?” she repeated the dwarf’s question, casting him a sly glance from the corner of her eye. “Unless you really did come to ransom me.”
His lips twitched up in the hint of a smile. It was gone before she could see it. “I changed my mind. Decided to come back.” It looked like there were several more things he wanted to say, but he shut down instead, suddenly brisk. “And it’s a good thing I did. It looks like you can’t go more than a few hours without getting into trouble.”
Those warm sentiments melted away, and she glared in disbelief. “Are you serious? You actually think this was my fault—”
“Come on, we’ll get a different room for the night. Set out in the morning.”
He walked off before she could stop him, heading in the opposite direction of the tavern. At this rate, it was for the best. They’d probably demand that she pay to replace the broken door. She picked up her cloak that one of the men must have grabbed and was about to follow, when she saw a crumpled piece of paper on the ground. It had fallen out of his pocket when he charged into the fight. He hadn’t noticed it himself.
She cast a quick glance up the street, making sure he wasn’t looking, before she scooped it up—reading it in the flickering light of the moon.
I remember a little boy who once needed some help himself...
Katerina’s lips parted in surprise, then curved up into the faintest smile as she stared after him in the dark. It seemed the fairies might have been right after all...
