I tucked myself away in the darkest corner, and there I waited. It felt like nearly an hour before the inside door that led to the tavern was opened, and light footsteps sounded down the stairs. The man who descended was carrying a torch in his hand, but he strode right to the opposite corner of where I was, and he hadn’t so much as suspected someone else was down here. It was just the man I wanted to see.
In a few swift, silent strides, I crossed the length of the cellar, and from behind I reached around and pressed my dagger to his neck. “Scream and I’ll cut your throat.”
The man gasped, but kept from making any loud noises. He recognized my voice. “The hunter?”
“Didn’t expect to hear from me again?” I asked, pressing the blade harder against him in case he was thinking of trying anything. “You have something that belongs to me. That’s all I want.”
“I-i-it’s already been spent,” he stammered, holding his arms out. “Check for yourself.”
I felt around in his pockets with my free hand, and at finding them empty, I sighed with frustration. There was no honor in me killing him, not in cold blood like this. But he owed me.
“Give me my life, my lady,” the innkeeper pleaded during my thoughtful silence, clearly afraid I was intent on ending him, “and my service is yours.”
“I’ll be back for breakfast,” I told him. “I expect your debt to be paid in meals.”
“I won’t forget this mercy,” he sighed with relieved gratefulness when I removed my knife from his throat. “Thank you, my lady.”
I nodded toward the tavern for him to retreat, and once he was gone, I disappeared through the outside exit. When I got back to the fire I’d made, both Albus and Will-o’ appeared happy to see me. I removed the saddle from Brande’s back to give him some rest of it, and after I set it on the ground near the fire, I spread out my sleeping furs. I brought Maddox closer, letting her resume her normal spot on the horn, and then I collapsed backward onto my sleeping furs, resting my head against the seat of the saddle. Albus put his own large head into my lap, and at the same time, the wisp hovered over my face.
“Were you both worried?” I asked the blue glow. “Don’t fret, I didn’t kill him. I only wanted what was mine. Or… what was the king’s, I should say, since I haven’t found the princess yet.” I put my hands out for the wisp, and brought it down onto my chest for some warmth while I explained in more detail what happened at the inn.
“You know something, Little Will-o’?” I said a minute after I’d finished my explanation. “I’m starting to worry about the princess. I don’t care for the king’s gold, wouldn’t you believe it. I didn’t even want to come looking in the first place.” My tiny friend made a hum of interest. “But when I was at the castle, the princess’s lady-in-waiting, Ellie, she told me the princess thought her life was in danger. Now I’m starting to fear the Ronan Empire’s somehow got a hold of her.” I paused to let out a weary sigh.
“We’re at war, my kingdom and the southern kingdom, Ronan. If the Ronans kidnapped the princess, then they could ransom her to win the war. That’s one of the reasons I have to bring her back to the king, you see.” Will-o’ gave the smallest up-down nod of understanding. “Did I tell you my father was a soldier? And then he was a traitor. He lost his life trying to keep King Hazlitt off the throne. Now maybe I’ll lose mine trying to keep him there. What’s that called, Little Will-o’?” While my mind searched for the word, I stroked the side of the blue orb with the backs of my fingers. “Is that irony?”
I could feel Albus’s warm breaths as he snored against my lap. Even my own eyes were beginning to droop tiredly. “Am I boring you with all this talk?” I asked my tiny friend. “I really should learn to reflect silently.” I inhaled deeply and closed my eyes so as not to keep bothering the wisp, but when I did, it nudged me as though it wanted me to continue talking. “Anyway,” I complied, “I’m not sure the king deserves to keep the throne. The people have been taxed to death. We eat so little. I don’t even know what the war is about anymore. But I’m supposed to bring the princess back, and her lady-in-waiting, Ellie, she made me swear that I’d hear the princess’s side first. Even made me sign a contract.” I patted the pocket of my vest where I still had the note. “But I can’t write, so I made the oath with blood. I’m supposed to give it to the princess if I find her, that way she knows she can trust me.”
I sighed again, and out of remembrance, I reached above my head to pull the crimson-filled vial from my saddlebag. “But I saw the princess’s clothes in the woods, and I don’t know what’s become of her. I thought maybe the witch turned her into a bird, like Maddox here.” I pulled the cork out of the vial, and tilted it until some touched my finger. The fluid disappeared almost instantly into my flesh, but I felt no aftereffect. “The witch gave me this to help me find the princess. Maybe if she’s a bird, it will turn her back.”
Out of curiosity, I glanced at Maddox, who was perched with her face buried in her feathers above my head. I stretched the vial above her, and spilt a couple little drops onto her back. She shook and looked at me like she was irritated I’d woken her, and I sighed that she hadn’t magically transformed back into the princess. Although… Maybe the princess had been transformed, only not into a bird. At that thought, something made me pass a suspicious glance at my tiny friend. Was it coincidence that I’d found Little Will-o’ shortly after finding the princess’s clothing? Or that it took such a liking to Maddox? Or that it knew we wouldn’t find the princess in the cave? Perhaps my Little Will-o’ was the princess.
“May I?” I asked the orb, extending the vial over it. It made no sign of protest or retreat, so I tilted the potion until some poured into its glow. The crimson liquid absorbed into the wisp as rapidly as it did into my own skin, and I held my breath in anticipation. But nothing happened. Will-o’ didn’t turn into the princess either. “Well, I tried,” I mumbled, severely disappointed because I’d thought I had it. Thought it all made perfect sense, and that I’d finally found the princess when she’d been right in front of me all along. I couldn’t keep my eyes open much longer after that, and I fell asleep hugging Little Will-o’ to my chest.
Chapter 3
A long, piercing howl cut through the air, startling me out of sleep and upright. There were no wolves around me, but the sound had been close. It was a familiar sound, too. One I’d heard many times in the forest at home, and one that let me know wolves were on the hunt. I generally didn’t worry about the canines. What with myself, Brande, and Albus, they usually left us alone, except for an occasional brave one that would try to steal my kill. But I couldn’t see Albus or Will-o’, and I was baffled by the fact that one of my sleeping furs was missing.
“Albus!” I called.
The response to my shout was another ear-splitting howl, and then a female voice screaming, “Help!”
Without hesitation, I sprang up, removed my bow and quiver from where they were tied to my saddle, and sprinted toward the noise. My speed was so swift that I hardly made a print in the deep snow, and after only a few paces I could hear the snarling of the pack. I kept running until they came into view. There was no time to react to who the woman was. She was backed against a tree, fending off three wolves with a stick. Albus was there too, clashing with two others.
My feet never stopped as I pulled the first arrow out of my quiver, and I let it fly at one just as it leapt for the woman. Only ten paces from Albus now, I sent the next arrow flying at a second wolf near the girl, and then I tossed my bow aside and equipped my dagger. Albus had the slight advantage of size, but he couldn’t fend off two much longer. So I dove head first into the skirmish to save my hound, plunging my knife into the deep chest of the first wolf.