Page 36 of Black Hearted
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
She shook her head. “We’re almost there. That means we’ll be parting ways soon, right?”
I wasn’t expecting to feel pain in my chest at her words. A pang of it ripped through my chest. I didn’t want to part ways with the child, but I wasn’t her family. It was best that she be with her aunt.
“We will have all day to ride, but yes. You need to go with your aunt, and I have to rescue Lorelei.”
Her eyes welled with tears, and she turned away from me.
“Nellie.” I reached for her, but she stood, brushing the tears off her cheeks.
“Let’s ride. I can eat on the way,” she snapped, giving me the cold shoulder.
I remembered the wild little girl in the cabin and how far we’d come, and a sad smile came to my face. I would miss her.
I quickly packed up our things and loaded everything into Biscuit’s saddlebags. Once we were on the road again, Nellie was silent for hours.
I tried to engage her in conversation or songs, but she wasn’t biting. The closer we drew to the Spring Palace, the more I dreaded leavingNellie. The kid had grown on me, and I hoped her aunt had the means to take care of her. If not, I’d give her all the gold coins I had left to make sure Nellie was provided for.
Biscuit required little rest and rode beautifully through the day. It wasn’t until the sun hung low in the sky and the Spring Palace appeared far off in the distance that Biscuit began to show signs of fatigue.
“How about an early dinner before we reach the Spring Palace?” I asked Nellie.
“Our last dinner together,” she pouted.
It was. A sad reality, but reality nonetheless. Nellie was a child, and she had no idea that there would be no more dinners at all if I didn’t find Princess Lorelei and end this curse.
Biscuit munched on grass and rested while Nellie and I prepared and ate our dinner.
“I’m glad you found me,” she said softly. “I didn’t have enough supplies to last much longer there before you came along.”
The thought of what might have happened if I hadn’t found her made a knot tighten in my chest.
“I’m glad I found you, too. I didn’t know how much fun life could be with a sassy eleven-year-old in it.”
“I’m twelve,” she yelled, correcting me.
I’d called her eleven on purpose. Bursting into laughter, I rolled onto my side as she jumped on my back and started to playfully pound my ribs with her good hand.
I was just about to throw a weed at her when a twig snapped behind us.
In one swift move, I tucked Nellie beneath me and sprang to my feet, ready to draw on what little magic I still had access to inorder to protect her. But whoever was there was already retreating, a blur of movement through the trees.
“Who was that?” Nellie’s voice trembled with fear.
“I’m not sure. Maybe a scout,” I told her. “Come on. We should go.”
Was it a scout from Buttercup Village? Or someone else?
I’d left Donahue his share of the prize money in the hopes it would deter him from coming after me, but maybe he didn’t care. Maybe the villagers just wanted the very heart that beat in my chest.
I quickly gathered our things, threw Nellie onto Biscuit, and settled behind her. Then we rode fast and hard toward the palace and surrounding city on the horizon.
Tents of what I assumed were refugees from the other courts were scattered about around the main city walls. I understood why this would be, having seen how much of the land here had been ruined by the curse already, but it still made me sad to see so much upheaval for these fae. It also made me feel more resolved to do everything I could to destroy the curse. I steered Biscuit to the south, where there weren’t as many fae loitering about.
The sun was setting, and I feared if we didn’t make it there by dark …
The ground shook with the sound of heavy hoofbeats behind us.
