61

“Draunar has never been a wise king,” Gulde said. He stepped into the back room, and then re-emerged with a bowl of lukewarm soup. I took it gratefully and slurped it down, savoring the meaty broth and tender vegetables. He sat across from me and gazed into the fire. “And you understand your husband does not have the finest diplomatic reputation either. I had assumed these peace negotiations would fall apart due to someone’s ego.” He sighed. “But not to this scale. I never imagined anything of this scale.”

“It’s only going to get worse,” I said. “The Fae queen… She’s been trapped in Draunar’s hoard for a long time. She carries a lot of wrath.”

Gulde hummed thoughtfully, then stood up. “You’re probably right,” he said. “When you say fix this, what do you mean?”

“I mean I’m going to deal with the queen,” I said. “Whatever it takes.”

“Good,” Gulde said. His voice was low and chilly with anger. “That gives me adequate time to leave this wretched city. I wasn’t going to leave without my materials.” He looked around his shop with a definitive nod. “But now I will. Far, far away.”

I swallowed, gazing into the fire as guilt turned my stomach.

“Let me get you something,” Gulde said. He went into his back room again, and then returned with a small, faded piece of parchment. He handed it to me and I unfolded it gingerly in my lap.

“This is the safest place to cross,” he said. The parchment was a map of the southeastern border of Shianga, where it connected with Frasia. A red dash marked part of the boundary leading into Cruora. “Cross into Cruora first, slightly north, and then circle back down toward the old Nightfall pack lands. This is an old smuggling route. I expect the Fae will be keeping a closer eye on the border with Frasia itself. The route opens into a no man’s land. You won’t have any trouble.”

Then he handed me a small pack. “Here’s this, too. Some food for the journey. It shouldn’t take more than a week on foot.” Then he clicked his tongue. “And keep the cloak. You can’t just be showing up to shops bare as the day you were born. You’re a queen.”

“Thank you, Gulde,” I said. I tucked the map into the pack and slung it over my shoulder. “Once Corinne is dealt with, you’ll be rewarded handsomely.”

“Honestly, Your Highness, I hope by that time I’ll be long gone.” He ushered me toward the door.

20

W

hat would’ve taken me a week on my human feet only took a few days in my wolf shape. I traveled only during night, moving through the woods under the moonlight swiftly and quietly, and spending the days curled under the brush of the forest, sleeping in snatches and keeping my attention attuned to any Fae patrols. But as it turned out, Gulde was right. I only saw patrols on my first day of travel. The closer I got to the border with Cruora, the further I was from them. During the night, I carried the pack in my mouth, which was cumbersome at first, but better than wearing a muzzle day and night.

On the third night of travel, I crossed the border into Cruora—or what I assumed was the border. As Gulde had promised, there was no activity in this scrubby part of the country. No Fae, no eagles, no wolves. I made my way east, through the scrubby grass, only stopping to sleep in a small, abandoned den built into a hill when the sun rose. I ate the last of my hard tack in human form, then settled down for sleep as my wolf.

Shifting between the two forms was as easy as breathing now. I barely felt any separation between us at all. It was strange to think of the girl I was before I’d ever met Elias, riding in the carriage from Daybreak to Efra, dreaming of one day seeing the world. I’d never imagined I’d see it like this. I never thought I’d be capable of doing anything like this—traveling on my own, living as my wolf, escaping from the Fae queen’s grasp to find my husband on my own.

I was scared, I was anxious—but more than that, I was determined. I was still the Queen of Frasia, and I was going to prove I could still lead. I was going to fix this. I knew once I found Elias, once I explained everything that happened, we’d be able to figure out what to do. I wasn’t going to let Corrine take Frasia. Not ever.

As soon as the sun set, I kept loping southeast, crossing the border out of Cruora and into Frasia. I paused in a small patch of trees to review the map. Gulde had suggested I move through the old Nightfall pack lands. It was more than a possible route that drew me there, though. My instincts were drawing me there, like my wolf knew where her pack was.

I could only hope she was right. I put the map away, shifted back into my wolf, and continued toward the old pack lands. Throughout the night, I moved through the brush, swiftly and quietly, my nose and ears attuned for any sounds of activity, friendly or otherwise. But the night was quiet. It wasn’t until the sky was turning pink with oncoming dawn that I saw a small, rustic village in the distance, nestled amid the rolling hills.

I approached quietly, loping with head dipped and my tail low, as if to make myself smaller. There wasn’t much to this village. It was surrounded by a dilapidated fence, easy enough to slip through. Only a few buildings were standing, plain wood and stone with thatched roofs, but the dirt roads were still hard-packed and well-trodden. So there had to be people here. In the privacy of a narrow alley between the fence and a building, I shifted back into my human form and quickly pulled the heavy cloak around me.