Page 24

I step farther into the doorway and search again, desperate to find something I missed. Gargoyles stare down from the roofline. Bare vines twist around trellises waiting for spring to reach the mountain. There isn’t a single sign of my father.

“Where is he?”

I turn toward him so quickly that I nearly lose my balance.

“I gave him my horse. She’ll take him into Villeneuve.”

The answer should reassure me.

My father is safe.

He’s going home.

He’s riding back to the village while I’m standing inside a castle I never intended to enter, listening to a stranger explain where my father has gone.

Instead, my stomach turns. I wrap one arm around myself and stare through the open doors. In a single day, I’ve lost everything that matters. My father is gone. My home is gone. The tiny cottage holding every memory I have is suddenly farther away than it’s ever been.

I don’t need him to tell me what comes next.

I already know.

I stare through the doorway toward the forest. Without looking at him, I know I’m never walking back through those doors unless he decides to let me go. The bargain was made in the tower. My father is free because I agreed to stay.

My breathing quickens.

My clothes suddenly feel too heavy against my skin. Despite the cold air pouring inside, sweat dampens the back of my neck. I look toward the enormous staircase curling through the center of the castle. My eyes follow it higher until I think of the tower again.

The cell.

The iron bars.

The narrow cot against the stone wall.

I swallow the sob threatening to escape.

He takes a step toward me. I back away until the edge of the open door presses against my shoulder. My pulse pounds in my ears as I wait for him to grab me.

He doesn’t. Instead, he walks past me and pushes the door shut. The heavy thud rolls through the entrance hall.

“Come.”

His voice is low and rough, worn from disuse.

“I’ll show you to your room.”

I blink. “My room?”

He turns toward me, one dark eyebrow lifting. “You’d prefer the tower?”

I shiver. “No.”

“Then follow me.”

He turns and starts walking without waiting to see whether I’ll obey.

I remain where I am for several seconds, looking toward the door one last time. Beyond it, the forest stretches toward the village hidden somewhere far below the mountain.

For a moment, I consider running.