He seemed to be hanging onto the edge of something and couldn’t bear to look down. He took a deep sip of his drink, his gaze on the fire.

“I’ve been trapped in this forest for almost three hundred years,” he said softly.

My brow furrowed as I watched him, studying his profile, the red and orange of the flames reflecting off the edge of his straight nose and the planes of his high cheekbones. He looked at me then, shadows of pain clouding his eyes.

“Why?”

“A witch cursed me to spend eternity within these trees. That’s what these are.” He gestured to the markings that covered his skin, and I had the strongest desire to touch them. I curled my hand into a fist as he continued. “To break the curse, I need an ogre’s heart. She chose this spot near their nest to taunt me. They’re notoriously hard to catch. I’ve tried and tried for centuries and though I’ve come close so many times, I’ve never managed it. But they aren’t immortal, and they’ve been slowly dying out and now there is only one left. If it dies, I’ll be imprisoned here forever.”

As he spoke, I felt the shattered pieces of heartbreak in his voice. His tale seemed to take on a life of its own as it wove through the room, wrapping around my arms and my legs and drawing me closer. Before I knew it, we were sitting together, my knees resting against his thigh, his arm casually thrown over them.

“Why did she curse you?”

He took in a deep breath. “We were lovers for a time. She ended up leaving me for my younger brother, who had his eye on the crown I was set to inherit. He was always more ruthless, and they were a better match. They colluded to get rid of me, the witch cursing me and banishing me to this place.”

“That’s terrible,” I said, my heart squeezing as I imagined how that kind of betrayal must have left the caustic taint of venom in his veins.

“I’ve done some things I’m not proud of,” he said. “You aren’t the first girl I brought here, hoping to lure an ogre.” Both our gazes drifted to the cage. “It never worked, though, and I let them all go. Eventually, I stopped trying to catch them that way.”

“It didn’t work? Ever?”

“No.” He sipped his drink.

“Then why did you need me?”

“Not many wander to this place, but a few years ago, a wizard happened to pass by. He asked for shelter for the night, and I shared my tale. He told me only the blood of a princess would bait an ogre. That they wouldn’t be able to resist its lure. It would put them in a trance, and it would be the only thing they could focus on. Then I could strike it down.”

My mouth popped open as he gave me a wary look.

“It wasn’t long after that I heard about the princess who would soon be of age and that I could win her in the Hunt. So instead of chasing ogres, I spent the last three years learning to bring down the biggest and fiercest stags in the forest.”

He fell silent then, his arm still draped over my legs. I wasn’t sure how to feel. Part of me understood how desperate he had become after all this time, but he had still planned to take my life for his happiness.

“I’m sorry,” he said, reading my mind. “It was a selfish, terrible thing to do. After the last girl, I swore I’d never do that to anyone again. But then that wizard offered me what felt like a lifeline, and I was thinking only of myself. I had no idea you’d be so...well, you aren’t what I expected.”

“What did you expect?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know exactly...I didn’t expect to like you.”

I snorted at that. “You like me?”

“You’re a pain in the ass, Princess, but yeah, I do.”

I tried not to feel good about his words, nor look too closely at why they made me feel that way.

He had still planned to bring me here to kill me. His story, while tragic, didn’t absolve him of that. I backed away, moving his arm off my legs, not sure I wanted to be anywhere near him right now. The wind kicked up, rattling the panes. The snow was falling heavily now, white streaking across the window and blocking everything out.

“You took me from my family. You took me from the man I was supposed to marry. My friends and my home and my life, all so you could free yourself.”

“I know,” he said. “I promise I’ll take you home tomorrow. I release you of any tie you have to me. You’re free to go home and live the life you were supposed to.”

I nodded slowly, not sure what to say. Not exactly sure how his words made me feel.

“Your brother?” I asked, the pieces clicking together. “He’s the one responsible for the decree?”

Wicked nodded. “He’s responsible for everything your kingdom has endured, Princess. For all the misery and control they hold over you.”

“So if you had been their king...”

Wicked raked me over with a thoughtful look. “I can’t pretend to know if I would have made a better ruler, but I wouldn’t have done this.” He swept out a hand as if to encompass some fractured dream he’d been clinging to for three hundred years.

“Why don’t you look like the others?”

He shook his head, his gaze casting skyward. “They don’t look like that, either. Those are glamors they wear to interact with humans to convince them to kneel. They think it makes them seem more godlike. More omnipotent.”

I considered that, canting my head. “Well, it works.”

Wicked huffed out a derisive note. “Indeed.”

“I think I want to go to sleep now,” I said, my hands pressed to my stomach.

“You take the bed,” he said. “No chain, of course. Fuck, Rowan, I’m sorry. You have no idea how sorry.”

“Yeah, okay.” I stood to walk over to the bed and then stopped and turned back.

“Who lived in this castle?” I asked. “Why is it out here?”

“No one. I built it over the years, hoping one day people would fill its halls.” Wicked paused, his eyes drifting over the room as if creating the life he’d envisioned but had run out of paint. “But when it was done, and I was still alone, I realized it was too depressing to live in it all by myself, so I closed it off and moved into this room where I’ve stayed ever since.”

“You built the entire thing alone?”

He rolled his shoulders as though the memory was a painful one and met my gaze with one full of remorse and yearning. “I had nothing else to do, Rowan.”

I nodded, digging up the seeds of my empathy for what it must have been like to be so lonely for so long. Climbing into the bed, I slid under the covers and fell asleep to the howling of the wind.

OceanofPDF.com

Chapter Fifteen

The wind still whistled when I awoke the next morning. The fire roared in the hearth and snow whipped against the windowpanes. I sat up, shivering. The blankets had kept me warm, but the fire wasn’t enough to stave off the chill in the room.

I looked around, frowning. Wicked was nowhere to be seen. I stood up and peered out of the window, only to be greeted by a wall of white. Where had he gone? Perhaps outside to use the latrine? I shuddered, trying to ignore my own pressing bladder. Traipsing out there had been miserable enough when the weather was mild. How I missed my palatial bathroom in the palace with its hot running water and its giant tub. I hadn’t had a proper bath in weeks, having to settle for cleaning myself with a sponge and a bucket when Wicked went outside.

If he’d gone to see to his needs, then he’d be back soon. I didn’t enjoy being here alone without him in this storm. I also didn’t know if I could find my way to the outhouse without him in this snow.

Diving back under the covers to stay warm, I waited. I estimated when an hour had passed and then another. Where was he?

My stomach rumbled, and I decided the least I could do was fend for myself as I tried not to think about all manner of unpleasant possibilities. I was out here alone with minimal food and no real idea of how to make it back to the castle. For the first time in a while, I prayed that Ellis, or anyone, was out looking for me.