Page 66 of When Roses Burn

I also wouldn’t give him the joy of telling me it was time for me to return. Instead, I kept my back straight as I strode toward the stairs and ascended them like I didn’t have a care in the world. I expected him to get up and follow me, to make sure I returned to my room, but he didn’t.

Instead, I found Bertie and two other sprites in the hall, waiting for me.

“We’ll escort you back,” Bertie said.

I hid my irritation over them being here the whole time, waiting and listening. Instead, I forced a smile. “Thank you.”

CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

Knox

I felt like a bastard as Briar sauntered from the room with all the grace and dignity she’d always possessed. I told the guilty part of me that she would most likely destroy the plants the sprites were fighting to save, and we couldn’t trust her.

I was sure the sprites would appreciate help, but I couldn’t risk further damage to Wildwood. I’d already caused enough destruction here.

Rising from the table, I left the room soon after her. They weren’t servants here, but some of the sprites would clean up. They liked doing things around the castle, probably because they missed having so much more of the woods to care for.

When Wildwood was still a thriving kingdom, I’d spent a lot of time with the sprites. I’d always preferred the solitude of the woods to my father’s castle. Not to mention, I saw the disappointment in his eyes every time he looked at me; I fled from that as often as possible.

Those times when I’d either been too young to venture to No Man’s Land or didn’t have enough time to get there and home, I’d stayed with the sprites. Sometimes, we played pranks, hide-and-seek, tag, or some other childish game together. Other times, they’d show me how they cared for all the trees and plants in the forest by rubbing their fingers over their leaves, whispering to them, and giving them the nourishment only a sprite could.

As their leader, Bertie was often there to greet me. She was the one who taught me the most about their ways. She took me under her wings and was like a second mother to me.

As I grew older and my relationship with Briar deepened, I spent less time with the sprites, but the woods remained my refuge when I needed to escape. It was a shock to discover them in the castle, trying to keep everything alive, when we first returned to Wildwood. They’d never ventured out of the forest before, but once I understood what happened to the kingdom, it made sense for them to be here.

The woods were too big for them to do much, but they could do a lot of good here. If they kept most of the shifters alive and reversed the curse, they would offer the sprites protection, just like they always had.

Plus, this kingdom was as much the sprites’ home as it was the shifters. They may not rule it, but they’d kept the forest thriving. Without the shifters to offer protection, more enemies were moving into the woods.

While they could turn invisible, they could also be hunted. The forest was no longer a haven for them.

As I left the room behind, Bertie turned the corner and flew toward me. “She’s not helping you,” I told her before the queen sprite could say anything.

“Understood.” Bertie turned to fly beside me as we traversed the hall. “But as an unbound caster, she does have a special affinity with nature.”

“And a treacherous heart.”

“Are you sure about that?” When I shot her a look, Bertie held up her hands. “I don’t sense anything malevolent about her.”

“Neither did I; look how well that turned out for all of us.” I waved a hand at a rosebush we walked past.

“Are you sure her mother wasn’t lying to you?”

“She knew things she couldn’t have known unless Briar told her. Believe me, I know, because she often whispered our plans to me. It was her favorite form of torment.”

Bertie winced before she stopped flying to stare out one of the windows. “That never should have happened to you.”

“It shouldn’t happen to anyone in that hellhole.”

“Perhaps something happened that caused her to tell, and maybe she’s changed since then.”

I stopped and turned to face her. “We’ve all changed since then.”

“Yes, but some of us have maintained who we once were; others haven’t.” She gave me a pointed look.

That observation cut deeper than I’d expected. I considered myself toughened to everything by now, but I’d spent a good deal of my childhood with the sprites. There were times when they were more of a family to me than my own. I respected all of them, but especially Bertie.

“I remember the boy who first ventured into the woods very well. You were so lost and lonely. We watched you playing games by yourself, fighting imaginary dragons with stick swords, and climbing trees. No one came for you, and no one called for you, not even when you fell asleep beneath the trees one night. When you woke, you pushed yourself up and trudged back to the castle. No child should have to live all alone like that.”