was, he was also luring girls into his misguided cause and dangerous pursuits? Somehow, that didn’t surprise me.
“Every version I heard had a rotating cast of characters dubbed the Merry Men,” I said. “From a priest to a knife-tossing madman, but no mention of any women. It must have been to protect that poor girl’s honor, since you’ve likely ruined it.”
“Trust me, Marian doesn’t need anyone to protect her honor,” he drawled, saying “honor” like it was the funniest thing he’d heard all day.
The way he talked about this girl annoyed me more than anything else, so much so I found myself sneering, “If she’s so capable, why are you playing at being a knight and charging into Faerie to rescue her?”
“Because she was outnumbered and overpowered by fairies, you halfwit.”
Startled by his sudden vehemence, I fell back a few steps.
If only someone who could break my curse had been this desperate to rescue me, then perhaps I would never have fallen asleep to begin with.
“Marian would have held her own against anyone else, but fairies?”
The rage thrumming in Robin’s voice made my breath catch in my throat. “Fairies did this to me as well.”
“Did what exactly? No more evasions, Ghost Girl.”
“Cursed me. But instead of dying, I just…” I threw my hands up limply. “…became this.”
His anger seemed to drain as he started scaling another hill. “So, no flowers, fruits, or spindles?”
“No, just a date for my demise, and a seemingly unattainable solution.”
“So why do you think it’s in Faerie?”
“Because someone I know found a solution to a similar curse there—a fairy, a royal to be specific.”
He whistled softly. “Now, this is getting interesting.”
I got distracted from answering him when we started going up the next hill and a group of people with four horses came into view at the top. And he was clearly heading towards them. Could it be his Merry Men?
Not that they sounded merry. Even from this distance, I heard the distinct notes of discord.
I soon realized only two of them were at each other’s throats, a woman with curly brown hair and a man in a red coat. The other pair, a petite blonde sitting on a pearly white horse, and a man of inconceivable size standing beside the last horse, were watching their companions in silence.
Upon further approach, I had to blink repeatedly to credit the evidence of my eyes. But there was no mistaking it. The two women were…
Agnë and Meira!
I found myself running towards them, babbling their names.
It was Agnë’s mount that turned towards me and launched into a gallop. And it wasn’t just any mare.
It was my unicorn, Amabel!
Elation expanded my chest, and combined with my weightlessness, I felt like I would float up into the sky, gleaming with all shades of relief like a giant soap bubble.
But that bubble popped when Agnë pulled on Amabel’s reins hard, forcing her to stop before Robin as she asked urgently, “Did you happen to find anyone inside the castle?”
As Amabel whinnied her protests, Robin looked from Agnë to me, nonplussed. “What?”
“We’ve been looking for her all over this stupid kingdom!” Meira yelled as she rode nearer. “But now we’ve seen this castle, this is where she must be. Did you search the castle? This—moron…” She flung her hand at the man approaching behind her, the one she’d been arguing with. “…won’t tell us what you were even doing in there.”
“Girls, I’m right here!” I cried out, hoping against hope they might hear me. “Well, part of me is here, the rest is up there.”
Amabel whinnied again, trying to pull against her reins. Agnë held her back as she suggested hopefully, “Maybe this was still the wrong castle?”
“Don’t be stupid. Why else would that sea of thorns be there?” Meira brought her black steed to a stop, and jumped down, curly hair weighed down by the dampness in the air as she stalked towards Robin. Stopping before him, elbow lifting her dark-orange cloak to reveal a masculine ensemble of brown pants, a white shirt rolled up her forearms, and a blue vest, she jabbed an accusing finger into Robin’s chest. “Did you find anyone in there or not?”
After a moment of staring down at Meira, Robin quietly swore and turned to me. “They can’t see you.”
Chapter Eleven
Any excitement I’d felt at seeing familiar faces, and hearing that they had been searching for me, sank harder than a cannonball in a lake.
“I thought when you saw me, that it meant everyone else could now,”