"He didn't sound like he wanted to play games this time. Something must have happened."
"Let me take a look," Fable offered reluctantly. It occurred to her that Loki might have been setting a trap for them. But why? He was strong and angry enough to kill them both. It didn't make sense.
"Be careful, Fable," Cerené said. Fable rode slowly toward the trees.
"Which reminds me." Fable stopped and turned around. "What happened to me in those last three months?" If she was going to risk checking on Loki now, she preferred to know.
"You know what happened," Cerené said, grimacing. "You're the one who told me the details."
Fable sighed. "Remind me, please."
Cerené looked puzzled. "You want me to tell you all that you told me happened to you? Right now? It's a long story."
It seemed Fable had no choice. Cerené seemed curious already about Fable's behavior. Better turn around and check on Loki.
Fable's horse led her past the dense trees into a darker part of the forest. With her poor eyesight, she felt terrible. But it didn't take long to realize that something was sprawled on the ground. Fable squinted, but all she could see was a silhouette. She kept squinting until the scene made sense. She was looking at Loki's unicorn lying on the ground. Oh my God! It had one of its legs chopped off. Poor thing. Fable's horse stepped back. She held it tighter by the reins while she kept squinting. And she was glad she did. Looking closer, she saw Loki lying unconscious on the floor. Someone had chopped off his unicorn's leg and…killed him?
"Fable!" Cerené called worriedly from afar.
Fable turned back, and rode as fast as she could. If someone or something had killed Loki, she didn't want to confront it.
"Someone cut off his unicorn's leg," she told Cerené, as she rode ahead. "Follow me!"
But Cerené wasn't following.
Damn it, Cerené.
"Come on!" Fable yelled, tilting her head.
Cerené stood paralyzed, pointing at something behind the trees. Fable had to stop and turn around again.
She saw what it was.
A figure, dressed in black, showed partially in the darkness. It must have been who killed Loki. Cerené sat on her horse, pointing at it.
"Let's go," Fable shouted, and slapped her horse as hard as she could. The horse complied and ran.
"Don't look back," Fable panted as they escaped. "We're not going to slow down. We're heading to meet Jack, even if takes us forever in this forest."
Cerené nodded, saying nothing.
But it wasn't too long before Fable's horse tripped on something. She flew into the air, appalled by whatever was going on, then landed on her side on the ground.
Fable's small size privileged her with a sort of agility. It didn't hurt badly when she fell. She mopped her mud-stained head and propelled herself on all fours, looking for her horse. Cerené was lying unconscious next to Fable's three-legged horse.
What? I didn't trip on something? Who chopped off my horse's legs?
Someone had chopped Cerené's horse's leg off, too.
Who was it? Who was the person in black?
Shew came to mind. Fable, still a bit dizzy, crawled to her. She lay a few feet away, sprawled on the ground. Fable crawled and crawled.
What was happening? How is everything falling apart so fast? I'm supposed to save Shew and Loki.
She crawled faster, hoping nothing bad happened to the comatose Shew. But then Fable stopped on all fours. Slowly, she raised herself up. A dark someone was hovering over Shew's body.
47
The Queen's Diary
The fourth and fifth days were the worst. Other than the fact that we were almost starving, Angel and I lived on opposite sides of the raft.
All he could think about, all he wanted and desired, was feeding on my blood.
Angel recited some protecting hymns he had learned from Amalie Hassenpflug, a set of prayers to tone down the beast inside him. They didn't last long, although they helped me relax for a few hours during the day. Then he tried his luck swimming away while the sirens pretended to sleep, only to realize it was an ambush. They awakened and sang while he was in the water. One time, his body stiffened so hard I thought he was going to sink and die. I reached out to help him back on the raft. Once he embarked it, I pulled away to the farthest edge.
This was how we lived inside the whale. We were lovers. We were enemies. We were enchanted. We were unenchanted. We shared a love, but it was forbidden. We shared a raft, but like estranged lovers on separate beds. We were surrounded by mermaids. No, really by vicious sirens. We listened to music, but the kind that wasn't good for the soul. We were young, but felt so old. Basically, we lived a fairy tale, so dark and unfair.
"Come with us, Carmilla," Sirenia said. "We won't hurt you. We will make you queen."
"You could rule the world," another siren offered from behind.
"You could hold the moon in one hand, the sun in the other," a third tempted me. "You could be life."
"You could be Death," a fourth wailed.
"You can live forever," a fifth said.
"You could have anything you want," a sixth said.