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Like all dreams, it lacked a beginning and an end.
“Emory told me about you last night,” he said. “He said there was a woman in the castle with black eyes and dark magic.” His smile did not touch his eyes. “The poor boy was too excited. He’s never met anyone else infected before. Anyone besides his brother, that is.”
“But I don’t trust you, Captain. How could I trust a man who hasn’t been forthright with me?” The dance slowed, the final notes near. Ravyn’s hand slid from the small of my back up my spine, slower than it should have. When he leaned in, his jaw scraped against my ear. “I’d call an admission of treason exceptionally forthright for one day, Miss Spindle,” he whispered.
“Pleased to see you, milady. Welcome to our fine collection of ruddy outlaws.”
sharp. But the Spirit was neglected, no matter her plea. The Rowans erased her, as they once did to me. But she keeps her own time, and I keep a long score. The tide that comes next will blot out the shore.
“I never thought I’d be dressed as a highwayman,” I managed. “With the same men who attacked me, no less.” Ravyn sucked in a breath. “Had I known who you were—” “You would have—what? Been a bit nicer?” My nostrils flared. “I was alone on the road. You were awful, the both of you.”
“There are so few of us, Miss Spindle. You are more special than you know. And it pains me to think I might have hurt you. I’m—sorry.” He paused. “Trees, I’m sorry.”
“I resisted,” Ravyn said, “because I haven’t stopped thinking about you since that first night on the forest road. And I realized at Equinox that the closer I let myself get to you, the less I’d want to be the King’s Captain—the less I’d want to pretend. And it’s dangerous for me, for my family, to stop pretending.” He pressed his lips to the shell of my ear, a low, scraping whisper. “It’s not safe to draw too close to me. I’m a liar, Elspeth. A traitor. And someday, there will be a reckoning.” He pulled back, his gray eyes tight with strain. “The highwayman meets the hangman. Always.”
You cannot undo what already begins. He paused, his voice serpentine as it flickered past my ears. You cannot erase the salt from the din. But if you won’t let me out… you must let him in.
The air around me thinned. I blinked, trying to stave off the darkness, like a child fighting sleep. Promise me you’ll help Ravyn. Promise me you’ll save Emory. It’s time, dear one, he purred, lulling me to rest. Promise! He sighed. I promise to help the Yews in all their endeavors.
Relief turned to dread in the pit of Ravyn’s stomach. Elspeth, he called into the blackness. Elspeth! But all was silence. Then, like a snake slithering out beneath rocks, the Shepherd King spoke. She’s quiet now, Ravyn Yew. Let her rest. What the hell have you done? Ravyn cried, probing deeper into the darkness. She set me free, he said, his voice filling Ravyn’s mind like smoke. I’m here to help you.
“The Twin Alders is hidden in a place with no time. A place of great sorrow and bloodshed and crime. Betwixt ancient trees, where the mist cuts bone-deep, the last Card remains, waiting, asleep. The wood knows no road—no path through the snare. Only I can find the Twin Alders… “For it was I who left it there.”
