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“He is a very important priest to the king.” Then she added, “And the prince.”
That only gave me more questions. “I just don’t understand why a shadow fae I’ve never met, or even heard, of would have any interest in me.”
“He will tell you,” she repeated, blinking those large eyes sweetly.
So she wasn’t going to give me any information about how or why I’d come to be here. Perhaps she’d tell me something else.
“How did you and Vallon become friends?”
Her smile widened to reveal a row of white serrated teeth. “That’s a lovely story.” She flew closer and perched on my knee, her talons pricking gently through my skirt. “Actually”—her pale blue brow scrunched into a frown—“it’s a scary and sad story. Can I tell you a scary story?”
I nodded, instantly mesmerized before she said a word.
“My family and I lived in the woods at the foot of the Solgavia Mountains until we were hunted by evil creatures.”
“What kind of creatures?”
“It was a flock of snow hawks.”
“A flock?” I asked, puzzled. “But snow hawks are solitary birds.”
And how could they be evil?
“Yes, they usually are.” She bent her long legs and wrapped her blue wings around herself until only her tiny head peeked out. “But there was something wrong with them. My father and mother used their magick to try and stun them as they attacked.” She shook her head. “But nothing could stop them. I was a mere nestling, but I saw them rip my father to pieces, and one of them carried my mother away in its sharp talons.”
“I am so sorry.” My heart ached for her, for I could see the pain etched in her face.
“I heard the cries of my siblings as I tried to fly away. We all flew from our nest in our home-tree, trying to hide in the woods. But one of the hawks caught me in his big claws.” She sniffed, blinking her eyes sadly, but then her face brightened. “Suddenly, a giant shadow fae was there. He snatched the hawk by the throat and twisted its neck. It dropped me right into the fae’s palm.” She stood again and opened her wings. “The shadow fae was Vallon.”
I had surmised that, but I didn’t let on. “How fortunate he was there to save you.”
“Yes, yes. He is my best friend.” She made a sad chirping sound. “We couldn’t find my siblings. They’d been taken away by the hawks. Vallon said there was a sickness inside of them since they didn’t behave like regular hawks, and I agreed with him. Hawks don’t prey on magickal creatures like wood sprites. But they weren’t just sick. They were evil. I felt it, and I told him so.”
I wondered at that. How could natural creatures be infected or tainted by some kind of evil? I’d never heard of such a thing.
“So you live with Vallon in Gadlizel?” I asked.
“Yes, yes. He is my family now.”
Wood sprites typically lived in small families with other sprites. How curious, and even sweet, that Gwenda had attached herself to Vallon. But I suppose that would be natural if he saved her from certain death.
“You will like living in his villa. It is very beautiful.”
I sat straighter suddenly, which had her puff out her feathers.
“Live with him?” My voice rose with shock. “Why on earth would I live with him?”
She blinked her dark eyes owlishly. “Because you are his to protect.”
I laughed. “I don’t evenknowhim. By the gods, what in the world is going on?”
Then a flapping of giant wings raised my attention above me, his wingspan blocking out the stars as he lowered through the opening.
My breath caught as I took stock of him yet again. He was an extremely large male, his wings making him appear even more imposing. But it was the stark beauty of his face and his glittering red eyes that held me so captive and had my heart skittering faster as he landed on the far side of the coal-fire.
He carried an already skinned rabbit on a skewer and a bundle in his arms. His gaze swept over me as if he were looking for something, like he was ensuring himself I was still in one piece. Gwendazelle flitted to perch on the branch closest to the fire and cocooned herself into her feathers.
He settled the skewer crossways over the coal-fire. It fit perfectly into grooves on either side of the portable pit, obviously made for it.
