Curse it all to the river and himself with it.
“Did you tell her she needed to be shot to return to being fairy?” He jumped down and followed the King, who was now in the lead. Flashes of white slipped between the trees. She was racing downhill with his hounds. Even they had sided with Taryn.
“Yes.” Felan didn’t look at him; he just kept moving. “Are you trying to lose her?”
Verden sighted again, but it was a dog—were they deliberately running interference for her? Protecting her?
“I lose either way. So does it matter?”
“It matters why you choose to lose.” Felan scrambled down a rocky bank and swung around a tree.
Verden knew he had to pick up his pace or he would have no chance of winning. If shooting the woman he loved could be called winning.
“I want her to win. I don’t want her to be mine just because of some stupid hunt.”
“It’s a sacred hunt.” Felan glanced at him as he jumped ahead. “But stupid.”
Verden dropped to his knee, arrow notched. She was moving but he had a shot. He tried to breath but couldn’t.
The snap of a bowstring broke the quiet. Not his bowstring. The King had made the shot. Would the arrow fly true? An arrow flew through the air and scored the doe’s flank before embedding in the tree behind her. Blue blossomed on white fur. Then she shimmered, becoming fairy again.
Verden let relief wash over him. The hunt was over. He’d failed, but she was fairy again. He lowered his bow and watched as Felan covered the distance and threw his cloak around her naked body. However, instead of standing and being furious at him like Verden expected, she collapsed.
Verden dropped his bow and ran to her.
“Taryn.” He touched her cheek, kissed her lips, willing her to wake. Nothing and no one would stop him from loving her. “What’s wrong with her?” He clasped her hand, not caring that he’d lost the right to be with her. She was his in his heart, as he was hers. “Love?”
Felan peeled back his cloak. The wound hadn’t healed when she’d changed. It still bled freely, and the edges of the wound were black, as if her flesh were dying. The two men looked at each other. Taryn was dying. The hounds growled and barked the way they had at the weapons store. The arrows.
“You lost, Hunter, get away.” The King had slung his bow over his should and made his way casually down. “Or does your word mean nothing?”
Verden stood. “My word? What have you done? What poison have you tainted her with?” He shoved the King backward.
The King stumbled, his eyes cold. Verden didn’t wait for him to regain his balance. He grabbed the King’s fine clothing, fisting the cloth, and pressed him against the nearest tree. Anger and fear surged in his blood. “What have you done to her?” He didn’t recognize his voice; it was cracked and rough.
“Unhand me.” The King placed his hand over Verden’s. His voice was calm, and his gaze level as if he thought fighting was beneath him. “I have done nothing but use the arrows you supplied.”
“Me? You think I would kill the woman I love?” Verden released him, disgusted that the man he’d once called friend could even think that.
A flicker of something crossed the King’s face. When he didn’t speak, Verden turned to Taryn, now cradled in Felan’s arms.
“She needs to go back to Annwyn. Now. While there is a chance to save her.” Felan stood.
“I’ll take her.” Verden reached for her.
“You won’t be taking her anywhere.” The King put his hand on Verden’s arm.
“She is dying and you want to bicker?” What was wrong with Gwyn?
“You failed to check the weapons. You attacked me. You are remaining here.”
“No.” Verden shrugged off his grip and walked on, following Felan back to the doorway. “Your wife poisoned the arrows.”
“You have no proof, Verden.”
The use of his name stopped him. He faced the King again. “People have been convicted on less. Nothing would please her more than Taryn’s death.”
“Shall I add treason to your charges?” The King crossed his arms. “Shall I get Felan to stop walking so we can argue? I care not if she lives or dies.”
“You bastard.” His hands curled into fists, but he kept them by his side. “Was she ever anything more than a charming distraction to you?”
“Stop, Verden.” Felan turned around, Taryn limp and pale in the Prince’s arms. “The arrow had been dipped in the river of the damned. Knowing my mother, they were all tainted, so no matter who shot her the result would be the same.”
“I’m not leaving her side. I made that mistake once already.” They should never have broken up.
“It’s not your choice right now. The King will not let you cross the veil.”
“I love her.”
“Trust me when I say I understand and that it’s the worst feeling ever to walk away. But if you want her to live and for there to still be a chance, obey.”
Verden clenched his teeth and looked at the Prince. The mask of the gambler he’d worn was gone and he saw the true face of the Prince. All that time spent in the hall playing games he was gathering information and making alliances and deals without anyone realizing what he held in his hand.
“What is it to be, Verden? Will you condemn her with you?” The King crossed his arms.
Verden placed a last kiss on her cool lips. His heart clenched and cracked. He couldn’t breathe. He’d do anything so see her smile…anything to hear her rail at him for ruining everything at the dance. “Save her.” But again, his voice wasn’t his own; it was too fragile and broken. He watched as Felan and Taryn crossed the veil to Annwyn.
Slowly he turned to face the King he’d once served loyally, willingly. Now all he wanted was to be free of the lot of them. “You want me gone, never to set foot in Annwyn again. Fine. I won’t.” He’d do whatever was asked if only she’d live.
The King shook his head. “The damage has been done. You have overstepped and overstepped again. The one person I should’ve have been able to trust betrayed me, attacked me. You can’t be my Hunter.”
“The Queen poisoned Taryn, and you were using her for your own amusement. What would you have me do?”
“Obey me, trust me the way you once did. I will always do what is right for Annwyn.”
None of this was right. Verden drew in a breath heavy with the scent of earth and leaves. Alive in a way Annwyn never could be. That he would never be again if Taryn died. He knew what was coming. If he was no longer the Hunter, Gwyn had to make sure he stayed on this side of the veil. He was damned. “You play right into the Queen’s hands.”
“I have my own game to play. When you danced with Taryn, I couldn’t save you. You weren’t watching the game. You played into her hands.” Gwyn looked disappointed. “I expected more.”
“More? I have nothing left to give. Annwyn has bled me dry. Just get it over with and free me.”
The King stepped closer. “What happened to the man who climbed so high so fast and was so full of ambition?”
“He got to the top and realized the view wasn’t worth it.” He could slit the King’s throat and be done with it. But that would plunge the Court into turmoil, Annwyn into a long winter as the throne was fought for, and doom the mortal world that was already struggling as death broke free of the river. He stayed his hand. There was more at stake than his wounded heart.
Gwyn gave a brief smile that held no joy. “Try sitting up there day after day after day. You are right about my wife. I will deal with her. But I’m going to need a new Hunter to ruin her game. Who can I give that role to when the end of my rule is so close?”
“Why not let me finish the job?” It was a long shot but it made sense. No one else would want the job when the end of Gwyn’s rule was so close.