The forest opened into a tiny, round clearing, where stone pill ars stood in a circle around a marble altar. It was used for many 269/387
things—dancing, bloodletting, sacrifices—and tonight it would be used for something else. Brynna cast one curious glance at the circle of stone before turning her attention back to me, smiling. She suspected nothing.
Rowan stood nearby, leaning against one of the pill ars with his arms crossed, smirking at me. He was glamoured, invisible to mortal eyes, and the sight of him filled me with resolve. I’d come this far. It was time to finish the game.
Gently, I drew Brynna toward the altar, and she followed without hesitation, still trusting her prince to keep her safe. Lifting her up, I sat her on the altar, taking her hands in mine, gazing into her eyes.
“Do you love me?” I asked again, my voice very, very soft. She nodded breathlessly.
“Then, prove it,” I murmured. “I want your body, and your soul and everything you have. I want it all. Tonight.” She hesitated for a moment, puzzled, but then understanding dawned in her eyes. Without a word, she leaned back and slipped out of her dress, baring young, naked skin to the moonlight. Reaching back, she pulled out the tie that held her hair back, letting it fall about her shoulders in a dark cascade. I let my eyes roam down her slim, pale body, so fragile and untainted and stepped up beside her.
Lying back on the cold stone, she welcomed me with open arms, and I took everything she offered, everything she could give, as Rowan stood nearby and watched with a vicious smile.
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When it was over, she lay dreaming and spent in my arms. Without waking her, I stood, slipped noiselessly off the altar and into my clothes, pondering what had just happened.
“Well, congratulations, little brother.” Rowan appeared beside me, still hidden from human senses, grinning like a wolf with a lamb. “You brought down your quarry. The game is almost finished.”
“Almost?” I’d glamoured myself to remain unseen and unheard, as Brynna slept on. “What do you mean, almost? I have her heart. She gave it to me freely and willingly. She loves me—that was the game.”
“Not quite.” Rowan glanced at the sleeping girl with a sneer. “To truly finish the game, you have to break her. Body and soul. Crush her heart, and make it so she can never find true love again, because nothing will compare to what she had with you.”
“Isn’t that a little excessive?” I waved a hand at the mortal on the altar.
“I brought her here. She gave herself to me. It’s done. I’ll leave her with her village and won’t see her again. She’ll forget, eventually.”
“Don’t be so na?ve.” Rowan shook his head. “You know they can’t forget us. Not when we’ve gone through all the trouble of earning their love. If you leave without breaking her heart, she’ll be at that stream, looking for you, until the day she dies. She might even venture into the forest in her despair and get eaten by trolls or wolves or something horrible. So, it’s actually a kindness that you set her free.” He crossed his arms and leaned back, giving me a mocking look. “Really, little brother. Did you think this would have a happilyever-after? Between a mortal and a fey? How did you think this was going to end?” His grin turned faintly savage. “Finish what you started, Ash, unless you’d like me to kill her now, so you won’t have to.” 271/387
I glared at him. “Very well,” I snapped. “But you’ll stay hidden until it’s done. This is my game still, even now.” He grinned. “Of course, little brother,” he said, and backed away, gesturing to the altar. “She’s all yours.” I turned back to Brynna, watching her sleep. I didn’t care what Rowan said; breaking her was not part of the game. I could easily take her back to the village and leave her there, and she would never know what had become of her prince. Breaking a mortal’s heart was Rowan’s game; something he reveled in, after using humans so completely they were empty husks. I wasn’t like Rowan; everything he touched, he made sure to destroy.
Still, perhaps it was better to ensure she never came after me. She was only a mortal, but I’d grown somewhat fond of her in our time together, like a favorite dog or horse. It wouldn’t bother me if she got herself hurt or eaten wandering aimlessly through the forest, but it wouldn’t please me, either.
I let her sleep until dawn, giving her one last night of peace, her dreams whole and intact. As the moon waned and the stars began to fade from the sky, I covered the altar with a thin sheet of frost, and the cold was enough to wake her.
Blinking, she sat up, shivering and confused, taking in her surroundings. Seeing me standing beside one of the pill ars, she brightened and the sleepiness dropped from her face. Finding her shift, she quickly slipped it on and trotted up, arms open to embrace me.
I didn’t smile as she came up, fixing her with a cold glare, filling the air with glamour so the air around me turned frigid. She stumbled to a halt a few feet away, a f licker of confusion crossing her face.