And then the dark form of the Wolf leaped from the blanket of fog, hurtling over the river. He landed next to the ferry with a splash, spraying everyone with water, causing Grimalkin to hiss and f lee under the benches. Surfacing, the Wolf lunged out of the water, hooked his huge paws over the railing and pulled himself, dripping and panting, onto the deck.
I winced as he shook himself, sending river water f lying, soaking us all once more. Yawning, he ignored Puck’s indignant yell and turned to me, gold-green eyes narrowing.
“That is the second time I saved your lives, prince. Be sure to remember that part of the story when you pass it along.” He yawned again, showing off enormous canines, and padded toward the aft deck, weaving lightly through the aisles of narrow benches.
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Curling up near the back, he laid his head on his paws, watching us all before his eyes closed and he appeared to fall asleep.
I shook water out of my clothes and took a deep breath, watching the dock slowly vanish behind us in the fog. The ferry slid noiselessly through the River of Dreams, leaving the town far behind. Already, I had forgotten its name. The people, their voices, everything I’d seen and heard, slipping from memory. I struggled to remember something a thin man had told me, something important. Something about Ariel a… and myself…
The ferry abruptly broke from the mist, punching through it like a wal
, revealing the vast river before us and the night sky above. I blinked and looked around. Puck was standing at the bow of the boat, gazing over the water, and Ariel a was asleep on a bench.
I frowned, feeling like I was missing something. I remembered we had been looking for the ferry, walking along the riverbank searching for it, but the memory of us actually boarding was hazy. Had something been chasing us? I vaguely recalled a dock, and carrying Ariel a aboard, but beyond that…nothing. I felt groggy and disoriented, as if I’d just woken up from a dream—
The dream. My stomach turned, and I clutched the railing to remain steady on my feet. I remembered the dream. Killing Mab. Ruling Winter. Waging war. Blood and death and violence, the hollow, raven-ous void that threatened to drag me down and swallow me whole.
Fighting the Iron Queen. Dying by her hand.
In a daze, I walked to the bench in front of Ariel a and sat down, watching her. After a few minutes, her eyelids f lickered, and she opened her eyes, blinking at me looming above her.
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“Ash?”
“Was it real?” I asked, my voice sounding hoarse and dry in my ears.
She frowned and sat up to face me, brushing her hair from her eyes.
“What do you mean?”
“What I saw.” I leaned forward, and she drew back, a wary shadow crossing her face. “That was you, wasn’t it? Showing me the future. Killing Mab.
Making myself the Winter King. Going to war with the other courts—” I stumbled to a halt, not wanting to remember beyond that, to see the look on the Iron Queen’s face as she killed me.
Ariel a went pale. “You saw…? Oh, Ash. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean for you to see…” She stopped. Took a deep breath. “It must have been the hobyah venom. It made you hypersensitive to dreams and dreamwalk-ing. If you were asleep, you probably—”
“Ari.” My voice was soft, and she blinked at me. I raked a hand through my damp hair, fighting to stay calm, to ignore the darkness clawing at my feet, trying to drag me down. “What I saw. Is this…the future? My future? Am…am I destined to become…that? The destroyer of the courts, slaughtering everything, everyone I know?” Ariel a was silent, and I reached out to take her hand, squeezing as if it were a lifeline, holding me to sanity. “Tell me,” I said, forcing out the words. “Tell me, is that what I become?”
“I don’t know, Ash.” Her voice was a whisper, on the verge of tears.
“It’s a future, one of several. Probably the worst, but not the most unlikely. You…
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you have so much darkness in you, so much anger and grief. Not even I could reach you if you gave in to despair, if you broke your promise.” She took a deep breath. “Your essence…when it’s gone you’ll forget everything that makes you…you. Most Promise-breakers just fade away, never to be seen again. But a few, especially those who are strong, become something else entirely.”
“This is what will happen,” I whispered, “if I fail.” Silence for a moment. The ferry glided steadily through the night, the only sounds the splash of water against the sides and the Wolf ’s deep breathing.