him. My amazed gaze remained fixed on his complicated precision until we cleared the lethal expanse.
Once we emerged on the other side, still wracked with nerves, I shrieked at him, “Why did you leave me?”
With the briar expanse at his back and gazing down the rolling hill descending steeply before us, he just shrugged. “I had to know if you could leave this castle, or if you were bound to your body’s location, before I gave you an answer.”
At a loss for words, I spluttered outraged noises until I gathered enough wits to snap, “You could have just asked!”
“No, I couldn’t have. You obviously didn’t know until now.”
“I did know! I left the castle before…” I stopped, since I’d only gotten as far as the front door, and hadn’t even thought I could go that far.
He said exactly what I was thinking, “You clearly didn’t go far, and didn’t think you could, or else you would have left to get help.”
I scowled at him. “Maybe I didn’t leave because I thought no one could see me, anyway.”
“If you thought you could leave, you would have tried, anyway. And then, you are very uncooperative. You still haven’t told me what’s wrong with you, and I didn’t feel like spending another five hours dragging piecemeal information out of you.”
“So you decided to trick me!”
He nodded. “I shot two birds with one arrow.”
“You still did it in a dishonest, not to mention distressing, way.”
“Oh, cry me a waterfall, Ghost Girl. I’m trying to help you, and however I do it doesn’t matter, as long as the deed gets done.”
My irritation with that nickname rose, only to subside as that sentiment resonated with something I’d heard before. From Reynard? I couldn’t recall. My memories of him had been fading since I awoke in this state.
I now wondered if this “end-justifies-the-means” school of thought had been revived by some idle philosopher’s untested theories, and had been infecting the commoners of our generation.
“I suppose you’re right,” I finally said grudgingly.
I needed this shifty brigand’s help, and agreeing with him would be the easiest way of getting him to provide it. This wouldn’t be too different to buttering up cutthroat courtiers, or showering foreign dignitaries with sickly sweet praise.
And then, if he so easily disregarded honesty and the foundations of right and wrong, then I ought to continue deceiving him as well. I would only tell him the truth if all else failed.
“Does this mean I can come with you to Faerie?”
“Depends. What is it that you need there, and is it harder to achieve than my original goal?”
“I don’t know what I need exactly. I already told you I think fairy magic can restore me.”
“And I think you know exactly what you need, but won’t tell me. I already told you I need the specifics.”
“I don’t have any.”
“Well, then, it’s been fun, milady.”
Then he turned on his heel, and started running down the verdant hill.
Stunned, I watched him recede, his cloak almost blending with the greenery surrounding us.
As I finally bolted after him, I appreciated being incorporeal for the first time. The hill was so wet and muddy, I was actually thankful my bare feet didn’t have to squelch like his booted ones did.
As feeling me approaching him, without looking over his shoulder, he said, “I know a girl with your upbringing believes that being difficult is how you get your way. But that won’t work on me.”
“My upbringing?” I echoed nervously.
“I hope you won’t be even more difficult and deny what I surmised about you in the tower.”
Oh, that. But since it was still scarily close to the truth, and to keep him at this conclusion, and no further, I had to resort to more half-truths.
I fell into step with him. “I am from Eglantine, and I did live at court. My mother is a foreigner who married a—high-ranking official. And I did end up this way by falling off my horse.”
“That wouldn’t expel your spirit outside your body. So, what did?”
Only a few people sworn to secrecy knew of the curses Leander and I had been subjected to. Maybe I could tell him this part of the truth, without having it traced back to me.
I finally exhaled. “Fairies.”
“Fairies—what?” I gazed into the opaque depths of his hood and he sighed. “Do I get to finally hear how some fairy made you semi-dead?”
“Do I get to see your face?” I countered.
He wagged his finger at me. “My face isn’t the key to your release, the