Page 98 of Not Another Happily Ever After

Two souls in passing exit stage right

One toward the living,

One toward the light.

Chapter

31

I have never questioned whether I would give my life for her.

Only whether my life would be enough.

Inearly collide with a juggler keeping a cluster of fire-lit balls aloft. I breathe an apology over my shoulder, barely meeting the man’s gaze when a flicker of blue catches my eye, guiding his trembling hands.

I blink, and it’s gone.

“Princess!” Myrrdin calls.

I don’t stop.

Music crashes over me from every corner of the town’s main road—soft and slow, loud and quick—until it all blurs into a single deafening roar.

Do I know his name?

Yes.

One word. One impossible word. It rips through reality as though it were only parchment.

“Miss!”

An artist cuts into my path, a paintbrush clenched in her fist.

“I would love to bring your beauty to paper?—”

“No. I’m sorry,” I pant, ducking past her before she can finish.

I run between houses, their balconies turned to stages.

“A dance for the lady?” a drummer calls from above, his eyes half-closed though his arms never stop playing.

I don’t answer.

I push deeper into the crowd.

And then I see him. Just ahead, Frog is arguing with someone.

Wolfe.

I take a steadying breath as I decide my next move.

Do I confront him outright? Do I trick him into telling me the truth? I could mention the spool of red ribbon…what if he denies it?

My pulse pounds against my throat, but I’m determined to get an answer one way or another.

Until the soft cry of a child brings my feet to a halt.

Reluctantly, I turn away from the knight heading in the opposite direction and search the shifting crowd for the small voice.