crossed the orderly-who-wasn’t-really-an-orderly’s face as he stood taller. I resisted the urge to shake out my knuckles, which smarted from hitting the muscle beneath his coat. I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction.
“You took me away from everything and everyone I know. Gee, thanks so much.”
Sarcasm was always my first line of defense. And I was out of my depth, here in the middle of the woods, with this boy who I did not know. And who acted as if he knew so much about me.
“You came under your own speed,” he attested, as if the distinction were important. “I can see that you’re upset, Princess. I just wonder if all that anger is for me…”
“Where is he? Where is Bale? What did you do with him?” I yelled.
His face poorly hid a smirk. “If I could take Bale, then why wouldn’t I have just taken you?”
He made a certain amount of sense, but I wasn’t ready to trust him yet.
Relenting slightly, he leaned toward me and said, “I will tell you where Bale is, and I’ll even help you get him back. But first you have to do something for us.”
“‘Us’ who?”
“Not here. We have to get home first.” He pulled a vial filled with a yellow liquid out of his satchel. “If you drink this—”
I smacked the vial out of his hand and it smashed against a tree, the contents dripping down the sides.
“Zads!” The boy looked genuinely exasperated. “That was my last one for home.”
“This isn’t my home! Now you better explain how you’re going to help me, or I’m out of here.”
The boy sighed with a little too much exaggeration. “Okay, look. I told you it’s not safe to talk here. We’ll help you with your man and tell you about the prophecies, but we need to leave first. And now that you just smashed the quickest way home, we need to walk. So follow me.”
“Prophecies plural?”
“Both involve the King. And both involve you.”
I digested the information. He took my silence as agreement and started to walk again.
“Do you really think I’m going anywhere with you?”
The boy was maddeningly confident, which was alluring and annoying at the same time.
“I do,” he said simply. Unfortunately he was right this time. I didn’t have any choice. So leaving the pieces of the Tree in our wake, we began to move.
“My name is Jagger, by the way,” he said with a flourish and a bow.
“I didn’t ask,” I snapped. The name sounded as slippery as the boy it belonged to.
He laughed. “Yes, I noticed that.” A village cropped up in front of us. I felt some part of me relax at the sight of houses. Iwas no longer alone with this guy. And some other part of me hoped that maybe Bale would be in one of those houses.
Each house in the city was a different color, but they were also translucent. Light seemed to dance through them, though I couldn’t make out the shapes inside. I walked by them, looking around for signs of life and skimming my fingers along the surfaces—all freezing cold and smooth. Ice.
“Where is everyone?”
“It’s been a hard winter. It’s lasted so much longer than anyone ever anticipated,” he said quietly.
“How long?”
“Since the day you and your mother left Algid.”
He kept moving as he talked. I followed the information he gave me like bread crumbs.
“This is how you live?” I asked, looking at the glorified igloos. They were nothing like Hamilton, the town closest to Whittaker.
“You haven’t seen anything yet. Wait till you see mine,” he said proudly, as if he had completely forgotten why I had agreed to come.
“Is that where you’re keeping Bale?” I demanded. “Is that where you’re taking me?”
He said nothing, continuing our walk in silence. If I wasn’t so cold and hungry, I would have stormed off. Instead I swallowed my growing frustration and followed him.
After another ten minutes or so of silent walking, we spotted a man sitting on a bench. He was wearing a coat made out ofsomething slick and black
“You took me away from everything and everyone I know. Gee, thanks so much.”
Sarcasm was always my first line of defense. And I was out of my depth, here in the middle of the woods, with this boy who I did not know. And who acted as if he knew so much about me.
“You came under your own speed,” he attested, as if the distinction were important. “I can see that you’re upset, Princess. I just wonder if all that anger is for me…”
“Where is he? Where is Bale? What did you do with him?” I yelled.
His face poorly hid a smirk. “If I could take Bale, then why wouldn’t I have just taken you?”
He made a certain amount of sense, but I wasn’t ready to trust him yet.
Relenting slightly, he leaned toward me and said, “I will tell you where Bale is, and I’ll even help you get him back. But first you have to do something for us.”
“‘Us’ who?”
“Not here. We have to get home first.” He pulled a vial filled with a yellow liquid out of his satchel. “If you drink this—”
I smacked the vial out of his hand and it smashed against a tree, the contents dripping down the sides.
“Zads!” The boy looked genuinely exasperated. “That was my last one for home.”
“This isn’t my home! Now you better explain how you’re going to help me, or I’m out of here.”
The boy sighed with a little too much exaggeration. “Okay, look. I told you it’s not safe to talk here. We’ll help you with your man and tell you about the prophecies, but we need to leave first. And now that you just smashed the quickest way home, we need to walk. So follow me.”
“Prophecies plural?”
“Both involve the King. And both involve you.”
I digested the information. He took my silence as agreement and started to walk again.
“Do you really think I’m going anywhere with you?”
The boy was maddeningly confident, which was alluring and annoying at the same time.
“I do,” he said simply. Unfortunately he was right this time. I didn’t have any choice. So leaving the pieces of the Tree in our wake, we began to move.
“My name is Jagger, by the way,” he said with a flourish and a bow.
“I didn’t ask,” I snapped. The name sounded as slippery as the boy it belonged to.
He laughed. “Yes, I noticed that.” A village cropped up in front of us. I felt some part of me relax at the sight of houses. Iwas no longer alone with this guy. And some other part of me hoped that maybe Bale would be in one of those houses.
Each house in the city was a different color, but they were also translucent. Light seemed to dance through them, though I couldn’t make out the shapes inside. I walked by them, looking around for signs of life and skimming my fingers along the surfaces—all freezing cold and smooth. Ice.
“Where is everyone?”
“It’s been a hard winter. It’s lasted so much longer than anyone ever anticipated,” he said quietly.
“How long?”
“Since the day you and your mother left Algid.”
He kept moving as he talked. I followed the information he gave me like bread crumbs.
“This is how you live?” I asked, looking at the glorified igloos. They were nothing like Hamilton, the town closest to Whittaker.
“You haven’t seen anything yet. Wait till you see mine,” he said proudly, as if he had completely forgotten why I had agreed to come.
“Is that where you’re keeping Bale?” I demanded. “Is that where you’re taking me?”
He said nothing, continuing our walk in silence. If I wasn’t so cold and hungry, I would have stormed off. Instead I swallowed my growing frustration and followed him.
After another ten minutes or so of silent walking, we spotted a man sitting on a bench. He was wearing a coat made out ofsomething slick and black
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