THE FIFTEENTH

 

I tried to raise a green-tinted glass of cider to my lips with trembling hands, nearly spilling it on my lap. I left the glass on the tabletop after that, watching as the pine-wrapped woodsmen and woodswomen came to take their places around the feasting table, branch-antlers piercing the night sky. The Evergreen Host stationed themselves in the shadows at the edge of the woods, the evening breeze fluttering their emerald capes as they leaned their weapons—axes, bows, and sheaths of arrows—against the trees.

Even in my lush, fur coat, I shivered. Below the chatter and loud storytelling, I heard the cries of the Patrolmen in my ears like they were around the table with us. I heard Wanda screaming. I heard Kilen shrieking. I heard Mirkra banging on the cell bars.

Zane’s hand crept beneath the table and slid over to take mine.

“I wish you could tell me a story,” I whispered to him, staring at the dark parts of the forest with glassy eyes.

“I’d spend the rest of my timestring telling you stories if it would fix you,” he said. “We’ll slip away tonight, Trite. We’ll go back to the Chocolatiers.”

Eliot stepped into view across the clearing. His silvery coat glittered in the moonlight as he sat with a frown. He stared at the prickly, olive centrepieces.

Candles were lit to begin the feast, cider was poured, and the shouting grew in volume as the folk tried to overpower each other. Drums and the clanging of cutlery echoed through the forest.

Minutes into the feasting, I realized Eliot was looking at me. He hadn’t taken a bite. Neither had I.

His low voice met my ears. “There’s a tree with orange leaves and golden sap, thirty strides that way.” His sapphire eyes flickered to the left. “Make sure you find it first.”

My brows tugged in as Eliot rose from his seat, eyes sinking to dusty turquoise. Lucas rose too, as though wondering if he should follow. Eliot brushed past elves serving platters of fruit skewers, his curls bouncing. He snatched a Host’s bow leaning against a tree, along with a single, emerald-feathered arrow, and he disappeared into the darkness.

“What in the fluffy frostbite is he doing?” Lucas dragged a butter knife toward himself, scanning the trees where Eliot had vanished. One second went by. Then two. Three.

Finally, Lucas sank back to his seat.

“I’ve got a scotchy feeling,” Zane admitted as Lucas hauled a mouthful of pumpkin pudding into his mouth.

“Take it as a victory,” Lucas mumbled past the glob. “Maybe we should go now before he comes back…” But his voice trailed off and his eyes widened.

My gaze snapped to the shadows where a single arrow spiralled through the darkness toward the table. The loud chatter of the Greens faded from my awareness, and my stomach dropped as the arrow pierced the garland of the Queen of the Pines’s crown, ripping the wreath off the queen’s head. Lucas spat his pudding; I watched in awe as the arrow carried the Crown of Pines through the night, disappearing into the trees.

The entire table erupted in shouts. Host soldiers grabbed their weapons and raced into the woods, guessing at the location from which the arrow had come. The Axemen launched from their seats to chase after the crown, batting branches out of their way.

“Find it!” the queen screamed; gray eyes wild.

All at once, everyone at the table stood, tossing napkins, cutlery, and pudding.

…orange leaves and golden sap. Make sure you find it first.

Good grief, Eliot.

We dropped our spoons and escaped the table, jogging into the hazy trees. People rushed past in every direction. Zane’s hand fell onto Lucas’s shoulder as Lucas led us through the dark. The table’s candles faded at our backs.

Lucas detached from us, veering in the direction Eliot had told us. A second later, his whisper sailed through the darkness, “I found orange leaves!”

The silhouettes of tree branches cast black patches over the starry sky. I could vaguely make out Lucas’s form climbing the trunk and reaching into a gap. “Ragnashuck,” he said, pulling something out and hopping down to hold it beneath a patch of moonlight.

I blinked at the Crown of Pines. The emerald-feathered arrow was still lodged into its side.

“How did Eliot get the arrow to carry it?” Kaley whispered.

“Well, darling, it’s a nifty trick I learned in my early seasons—”

“Save it for later, Lucas." Zane tugged him toward the woods, but the wreath’s candles burst to life, jolting us to a halt. We looked at each other. Against the dim night, we glowed. Shouts boomed through the darkness as everything in the woods turned for us.

“Well. Frostbite,” Lucas muttered. “Yes! What a relief! We’ve found it!” he shouted to the half-dozen Evergreen Host soldiers flocking us.

Clattering bells sang through the pines as the queen’s garland dress brushed over the snow. In the glow of the crown’s candles, her gray eyes were liquid bullets. My gaze followed the crown as Lucas passed it to her Axemen.

“The Emissary of the Second King of the East has fled.” Ice layered her words. “I’m inclined to believe he meant to take this from me.” She reached for the crown, holding it up. But her liquid stare fired over to me. “You’re thieves. You meant to take my blessed crown and flee, like your husband.”

“He’s not my…” I quickly realized outing that lie would make the situation worse. I shot Lucas a desperate look, my eyes saying it all—Get Kaley out of here! Lucas glanced at Kaley, seeming to calculate his odds.

“Arrest them. They’ll be tried and executed as traitors of the Green Kingdom.” The queen’s voice sliced through the air, and my gaze fired back to Kaley.

The Queen of the Pines placed her crown upon her head. With one last stone-cold look, she left, and we were seized by the Evergreen Host.