Besotted (The Fairest Maidens #3) - Jody Hedlund Page 0,68

of Aunt Elspeth’s thick thread and sliced a long piece, which he fastened to the door. “While I do this, you and Jorg collect bait.”

“What kind?”

“Whatever you can catch. Weasels will eat almost any kind of meat. But you’ll have the most luck finding badgers.”

Jorg was outside tending to our horses. I helped him finish, and then we hiked out into the thickest part of the woods, searching for setts—the mounds of excavated soil that indicated underground tunnels were nearby. We kept the trees and shadows behind us to blend in and stayed downwind so our scent wouldn’t alert any badgers to our presence.

We had the waning moon to aid our hunting. Once our eyes adjusted, we could see well enough, especially since only a smattering of leaves remained on the branches. Without a bow and arrow, we relied upon our knife and axe-throwing skills to make our kills—something we’d become experts at over the past months.

By the time we returned to the cottage with the game, Chester had fixed the traps so they were in working order. We butchered the meat and placed bloody pieces into each trap, then carried them out to the areas most populated by weasels.

As we sat in the dark and waited, I couldn’t keep from thinking again of the kisses I’d shared with Aurora here in the woods. Now that I knew the future laid out for us both, I realized just how forbidden our kisses had been. Even though part of me wished I’d never met her and brought her this trouble, another part of me cherished the memory of every second I’d spent with her.

By the break of dawn, we’d captured a dozen weasels. When they were separated into three of the boxes, we each held one upon our mounts and started on our way. We had no thought of slumber, only of traveling as rapidly as possible.

We rode hard, although we had no hope of catching up to the others. By the end of the day, we stopped to rest our mounts and sleep for a few hours. The scent of roasting game awoke me, and I sat up to find that Chester had started a fire and was cooking a hare he’d caught.

“We need our strength.” He slowly turned the meat that he’d thrust onto the end of his spear. “We’ll eat and then ride through the night.” Though the danger of stumbling across a basilisk was greater in the darkness, we rode with torches, and so far our vigilance had kept us safe.

Jorg still slumbered, the firelight reflecting the weariness in his thin face. I had no doubt my face was just as weary. Even so, I was anxious to resume our journey. Every minute of our delay could mean the difference between Aurora’s life and death.

Chester stared into the fire, his eyes sparking with their usual intensity. “When we arrive at Boarshead, we must have a plan of attack.”

“We’ll release the weasels and wait for them to destroy the basilisks.” I held out my hands toward the flames to warm them from the chill of the night.

“Aye, but after that, we must have a strategy for getting to Rory with all haste.”

“Pearl will give us directions to the places inside the lodge where the queen is most likely to hold her.”

He drew his spear from the fire and used his knife to test the readiness of the meat before he stretched it over the flames once more. “You’ll need to create a diversion to pull the majority of the guards away from Rory so my men and I can go in and rescue her.”

“I shall be the one to enter and rescue her.”

“No, ’twill be too perilous crossing the basilisk pit—”

“I’ll do whatever it takes to free her.”

“Then you will stay with your brothers and cause a diversion.”

“I’m going in for her, Chester, and there’s naught you can say or do to convince me otherwise.”

He stared at the roasting hare, his expression a stony mask. Now that he knew I was a prince, he was using a measure of restraint that hadn’t been present when I’d been a guest at the cottage. I rather preferred the honesty of our previous interactions.

“I’m to blame for her capture.” I focused on the dancing flames. “And now I must atone for my mistakes.”

I could feel his attention shift to me, his keen gaze searching and testing me. “If anyone is to blame, ’tis I.” I shook my head, but he continued