Chapter Twenty-Nine

The following day, after the failed rescue attempt, I stood with Frederik in the courtyard, pretending to be interested in our conversation, which had drifted to the jousting tournament that would wrap up in two days. I smiled at him, my eyes glazing over. It was hard to pay attention when I was trying to come up with a way to free Dorian. If they brought him out during the celebrations, I might be able to take down some guards and rescue him. Then I remembered the mounted heads in the secret room. Would that be our fate, too?

“Would you accompany me horseback riding?” Frederik interrupted my thoughts and caught my hand in his.

The sweet scent of roses clung to the air, and any other day I would’ve enjoyed it. But the late-summer breeze was anything but relaxing. It reminded me how little time I had to succeed in my Mission. Dorian’s time was running out.

“Sure, I’d love to,” I said at last. Guilt settled in my stomach. It sickened me to be near Frederik, knowing that while he courted me, my brother wasted away in his dungeons. To think I’d actually started to find him tolerable.

We walked to the stables, where two men readied a large white stallion for us. “I know how to ride. I can take my own if you’d like.”

“Ah, and take away my chance to be close to you?” Frederik teased.

“Oh, then we shall take one,” I said. My hopes to put some distance between us shattered. I had to keep up the ruse. Just a while longer.

Once saddled, Frederik boosted me up, then climbed on behind me. The guards raised the gates, and we rode across the countryside.

Warm winds blew across the grass, and it swayed like green waves. Trees beckoned us closer, their branches bending like elongated hands. Birds chirped overhead, and beams of sunlight filtered down upon us.

Frederik’s arm nestled me against him, as if he tried to meld us as one.

I shifted uncomfortably, wishing he’d fall off the horse and not be so close to me.

Soon, he slowed the equine, stopping beneath a cluster of weeping willows near the riverbank. He slid off the steed, then turned to lift me down beside him. He unlatched one of the buckles along the saddlebag and pulled out a large blanket. Then, taking my hand in his, he led me toward the river, where he spread the blanket on the ground. I sat down, and he lowered himself beside me.

“It’s beautiful here.” I tilted my head. “So quiet and peaceful.”

Frederik lay back, his head resting in his hands. “This is the one place I can come to escape everything at the castle,” he said.

“And what would you need to escape from?”

His smile looked bitter. “Life, parents, ladies who are only interested in my wealth.”

I frowned, not wanting to feel sorry for him. And yet, I did.

“Well, we’re here now, so try not to think about it.” My fingers rubbed against the hem of my skirt, tracing over the silken ribbon sewn into it.

He propped himself up on an elbow, staring at me. “I’m glad you came here. Ever since you’ve arrived, I’ve been happy. It’s as if I’ve found someone who understands me.” He scooted closer. “And you don’t seem interested at all in my title or wealth.”

Because I wasn’t interested in him. “There are too many other things to worry about,” I said.

“Exactly.” He sat up, moving across the blanket until his arm brushed against mine. “Once the tournament is over, the goblin will be taken care of. And you’ll have nothing to fear ever again.”

I quirked an eyebrow but nodded my head. “And what will you do with him, once you’ve destroyed him?”

My chest constricted, as if I’d wound a rope too tight.

He chuckled. “We’ll have another head on the wall.”

“Oh.” Fear gripped me from the inside out, and I stood, moving away from Frederik to the river’s edge. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to rid my mind of images of Dorian’s head mounted amongst the Hamden trophies.

Footsteps sounded behind me, and then a pair of hands rested on my shoulders.

“Are you okay?” Frederik whispered in my ear.

Swallowing hard, I turned to face him. “Ye—yes. Sorry.”

He took another step closer and leaned down, his face mere inches from mine. “Nothing will ever hurt you, Ivy. I promise to protect you.”

He wrapped his arms around me, lips hovering above mine.

My hands pressed against his chest, and I gave him a shove back. “I’m sorry, but I’m a proper lady. If I allow you to kiss me again, it will ruin my reputation. I already made concessions during the tournament and yesterday in the trophy room, but I don’t want you to get the wrong idea about me.”

“Forgive me.” He met my gaze but kept his distance. “No one has ever made me feel like this before. I want to spend time with you—to never be apart.”

“But you barely know me,” I said.

“It doesn’t matter. These past few days have been perfect. Which is why I approached my father last night and requested he make arrangements with your aunt for a betrothal.”

I stiffened. He couldn’t be serious. But his eyes said it all. I forced a smile, reaching for his hand.

“Frederik, I’m honored.” Then something occurred to me—maybe a way to barter for Dorian’s freedom. “If I agreed to this, would you do something for me?” I moved closer to him again. My hand touched his arm lightly.

“Anything,” he said, his voice huskier.

“Would you free the goblin and send him back to his own realm?”

His eyes widened. “You can’t mean that.”

“I do. The more I think about it, the more the goblin seems too human-like to kill. He stands on two legs, speaks… I—I don’t feel right thinking of it as a beast.”

“I can try, Lady Ivy, but I don’t know if my father will agree.”

“Frederik,” I whispered. “It would mean a lot to me.”

His fingers traced my cheek. “If I release him, do I have your word you’ll marry me?”

“Yes,” I said, fighting back the urge to run. But I’d do anything to save my brother.

“Then consider it done—even if I have to sneak him out myself.”

I smiled, relief flooding through me. “Thank you.” I hugged him tight, forgetting that only moments ago I’d pushed him away. Frederik would be our savior. For a price, of course, but one I’d pay to see Dorian to safety. But other thoughts reeled in my mind. What would happen if we had children? Would they, too, hold the light green sheen to their skin? Or could I use glamour to hide their appearance until they were old enough to do it themselves? I’d have to figure something out. For now, I would worry about freeing my brother; the other stuff could wait until he was safe.

“We must get back to the castle at once,” I said, tugging him to the horse.

No matter how much Frederik claimed to love me, I knew he hated goblins. And no matter how badly some of them had treated me in the past, they were still a part of me. I mean, sure, Vane and Birdie and their parents were horrible to me. Father and Archer had lied to me my whole life about who I was and where I’d come from. But what about goblins like Pudge? Amos? Dorian? Cook? They weren’t so bad. They loved me no matter what I was. But I realized that if Frederik discovered my true identity, no matter how human it was, my fate would be no different than Dorian’s. I could never let my glamour falter, not with him around. Or I could always run away once I was certain Dorian made it back to Gob Hollow safely, but would that put my aunt in harm’s way at all? I had so many thoughts chasing through my mind. No matter what choices I made, there was a chance someone would get hurt.

…

When we arrived at the castle, a small crowd was gathered at the entrance. Frederik slowed the horse, then brought it to a halt. After he helped me down, we moved forward, and the crowd parted. People stared at us, eyes wide, whispers stirring in the air.

Then I saw him. A familiar man with blondish hair, his face so intense the coldness seemed to seep from him and into my skin. His gaze fell on me, and he stormed toward me. I went still. Oh, Hag. I thought he was out of the country. How was he here?

“There she is. The abomination,” he said.

“Excuse me?” My mouth went dry as I recognized him. My uncle. The man responsible for my mother’s death.

“Don’t play coy with me,” he snarled.

“Uncle, what has gotten into you?” I said.

Madness radiated from him like heat from a fire.

“You have no right to call me that, monster.” His face contorted, and he snarled at me.

Frederik pushed himself between us. “Sir, that is no way to talk to Lady Ivy.”

When had my uncle returned, and why? My legs trembled beneath me, hands fisted at my sides. I needed to get out of here.

Moments later, Margaret pushed through the crowd. Her eyes were wild, hands trembling. “Get away from her. You’ve got no right to treat our niece in this manner.”

“She’s no niece of mine. She’s a beast.”

He lunged at me, dagger in hand. Its point plunged into my skin, searing my side. I screamed in agony and fell to my knees. Hag, my glamour was slipping. He knew the pain would cause me to reveal myself. How did he know so much about our kind?

Squeezing my eyes shut, I concentrated, controlling my magic. But it wavered. Slowly, I watched the glittery sheets of glamour fall away, much like a curtain being drawn back.

“What are you doing?” Frederik shouted.

“Don’t you see it?” My uncle reached for me once more. “Look at her skin. Can’t you see the coloring’s off?”

“She’s probably lost her coloring because she’s in pain,” Frederik said.

My uncle then tugged my hair away from my ears. “That’s what she wants you to believe. But look at her ears—those aren’t normal. They’re pointed. And all these tattoos that line her skin—it’s not Christian. She’s a monster. Or at least half a monster. She bears the markings of a beast.”

The crowd gasped, and when my lids fluttered open, I saw Frederik step away from me, a look of horror on his face.

“You brought this into my house?” the earl erupted, pointing an accusing finger at my aunt.

“No!” I shouted. “She didn’t know. I used glamour.”

“She knew,” my uncle said.

His foot crushed down on my hand. I cried out, trying to jerk away from him.

“She knew a monster was born in our house.”

Hatred formed a giant fist around me, and I raised my eyes to his. “What sickens you most, Uncle? The fact that my mother, your sister, fell in love with a goblin, then gave birth to one, or the fact that you murdered her because you couldn’t stand that she found love?”

The color drained from his face, and his lips curved into a snarl.

I shifted my gaze from him to Frederik, who glared at me from beside the earl.

“You lied to me. You led me on.” He spat in my face. “Is this why you tried to convince me to free the goblin?”

I managed a faint smile, then laughed. “Trust me, I didn’t enjoy a moment of it.”

He reached for his blade, but his father intervened.

“Take her to the dungeons at once,” the earl ordered. “Tomorrow, she and the other one will be made an example of.”

Guards pulled me to my feet; my knife wound throbbed beneath their grasps as they dragged me through the crowd. I turned and stared into Uncle John’s dark gaze. He’d see to it that I was put to death. The same way he made sure Mother was taken care of.

Pain shot through the spot between my shoulder blades. The Hag’s mark.

The Mission was over.

I’d failed.

That could be the only reason for the pain. Had the Hag deserted me when I needed her most?