Page 142 of The Witch Queen

“Is this really all you’re packing?”

Verity rummages through my sack, frowning as she withdraws a pair of stockings. They, along with the skirts and bodice, are the plainest things I’ve ever worn. They should be, seeing as I stole them from the servants’ wardrobe.

“I can’t exactly fit a trunk on the back of a horse,” I remind her.

Which is what Gavin and I will be taking tomorrow night. I can almost feel the time counting down, my nerves buzzing.

“You could at least bringsomethingnice,” Verity says. “Or less…drab.”

“I can’t be recognized. It’s a long way to Gavin’s estate.”

“That’s right. A whole week, didn’t he say? Think of all that time together…riding through forests. Sleeping under the stars.”

She waggles her eyebrows and I splash some water at her from the fountain.

“It’s not like that.”

“Yet,” she replies with that sly grin. “But I imagine it could be. If…that’s what you want? Or are you still determined to avoid love?”

“No one said anything about love,” I reply, cursing the heat in my cheeks.

Verity merely laughs. “Oh, of course not. I’m sure Gavin has plenty of other reasons for whisking you off to his estate.”

“I’m not beingwhisked,” I say, rolling my eyes. “And he does have other reasons—as do I. This is strategy. We’re mustering an army.”

“Mustering an army, falling in love,” Verity replies, waving a hand. “It’s all the same to me. I see the way he looks at you.”

An image of Gavin’s smile, the dimples in his cheeks, surfaces in my mind. Even I can admit that he isn’t who I assumed he was. But does that mean I couldlovehim?

A meow interrupts my thoughts. Nettle bursts from behind the fronds of a fern, snatches the stockings from my hands, and darts off with them.

“Wait!” I call after her. “Give those back!”

But the cat has vanished. I huff an irritated breath. Now I have to steal another pair.

“What’s gotten into her?” Verity asks.

“She’s been like this since I started packing.”

“Maybe she’s already missing you,” Verity suggests.

I frown at that. Surly as the cat can be, I’ll miss her as well. And not just Nettle. Something skitters near my feet and I look down to find Crumbs. I scoop the hedgehog into my cupped hands, his tiny nose quivering. My attention drifts to the other parts of the menagerie—the family of rabbits and my tortoise, Lucille. It’s strange to be leaving this place behind, especially when I’m not sure when—or if—I’ll return.

“Will you take care of everything here?” I ask Verity. “Make sure it’s being kept up?”

“Of course,” she assures me. “But don’t worry. You’ll be back before you know it and then we’ll havelotsof celebrating to do.”

Maybe. But a crow calls overhead, its shadow skimming over themenagerie. I recall the bird who flew at my window before the first trial. The blood has long since washed away, but there’s a small fissure where its beak punctured the glass.

It was looking for you,that voice whispers.

Just like the princess.

Chapter Forty-Three

Ayleth

You should not go alone, my queen,Shade rasps.