Page 50 of The Dark Prince
Isadora.
A chill and a rush of adrenaline raced through my veins. I lurched forward, the beast within me trying to change and race after her. This was his territory and she was in.
No! Stop.
I straightened, my mind racing. Why was Isadora here in the woods? She was supposed to be entertaining Aella. The staff knew she wasn’t to go anywhere near the woods!
It was a trick of the witch.That had to be it,I told my racing heart. Isadora was safe in the castle.… The witch was just trying to make me lose my mind. Again.
My twitching must have been more noticeable than I thought because Maddeus was at my side in an instant frowning. “It’s bothering you that much?”
I grit my teeth in frustration. “It’s been difficult to control lately. I used to change all the time when I was young, but I thought I’d grown out of it. Since Isadora though, the beast had been more insistent and harder to control.”
Maddeus’s brow furrowed. “You are stressed. Your father being here doesn’t help that. Go ahead and give in. It’s as safe as it could be.”
Safe in the knowledge that Isadora was safe at the castle, I gave into the shift, welcoming the pain as my bones cracked and fur sprouted up from beneath my skin. I gave a moan and a bark, smelling Isadora and Maddeus and momentarily confused. Which one should I attack?
Don’t attack! They’re friends!
The beast had no friends.
TWACK!
I hissed in pain as an arrow grazed the side of my face, landing in my paw. I pulled it out with my teeth and shattered it in my mouth, seeing red as Maddeus’s profile stood out at the other end of the woods.
“It’s been a while since we’ve had a decent chase,” he called out, but the words made little sense to me. The cocky, swaggering tone boiled my blood.
With a growl, I leaped forward and raced towards him.
Twenty Five
ISADORA
One step magically became ten, and before I thought physically possible, I was right at the door of the dilapidated cottage. I raised my hand to knock, but the door creaked inwards ominously, offering only a slivered glimpse into darkness.
“Hello?” I asked, pushing it open far enough to fit through. The cottage looked abandoned. Or at least it did as far as I could tell. Junk and debris were piled up into every corner, a hoard of nothing that was as overwhelming as the scent cloyed and stuck in my throat. I couldn’t take more than a few steps inside if I wanted to. Rotted mushrooms and herbs hung in globs from the ceiling, and broken jars littered the one table in the corner. Something black was oozing out of the one, dripping onto the floor and sizzling every time it hit the dirt.
Musty and moldy.
“Tea?”
I screamed and whipped around, but a gnarled, bony hand caught my wrist. The woman’s hair was white and brittle, surrounding her gaunt face like straw. Warts and protrusions marred her face worse than Tyr’s, and she smelled like decay and mildew. I tried to draw away and couldn’t. I breathed through my mouth and tried to remember my purpose.
“P-please, I’ve come to ask about Tyr, and the town. I’m his wife. I’m new. I—”
“Oh.”
The hag vanished, replaced in an instant by a middle-aged woman who was quite beautiful, wrapped in purple and red velvet. Her dark hair piled on top of her head in a riot of curls, her lips dyed red with rouge. Dark eyes took me in with great delight, and the long nails on her fingers looked more like dark claws than anything else.
I stared. Then I sneezed.
“Ach! My apologies.” The witch snapped her fingers, and the mess disappeared. In a flurry of dust and smoke, the cottage brightened and changed, sending away the debris and junk, and disappearing into nothingness. A fire burst to life in the hearth, and fresh herbs and flowers hung from the rafters in bunches, upside down as they dried. Tea sat steaming in small cups on a small table, and two armchairs covered in quilts sat before the hearth. In moments, the cottage had morphed into a cozy, welcoming, little home that reminded me of the village. Except the air was still musty and cloying.
I wondered about that and sneezed with all the dust.
The witch took a seat by the fireplace and waved me over. “Please forgive the dramatics. If I didn’t, my house would be set upon by every barren woman and lust-driven boy in the entire north wanting a potion or some such nonsense. I’m one witch and can’t possibly help them all.”
I thought this odd, given how hard the forest had worked to keep me away. I doubted every maiden and boy could simply find her.
