[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.“Do I disgust you?” he whispered, as I fought the urge to gag.“This is merely a trial, princess, my rite ofpassage.The iron burns away the weak, useless flesh, until I am reborn as one of them.I must merely endurethe pain until I am complete.When the Iron King takes over the Nevernever, I wil be the only one of theoldbloods to withstand the change.”I shook my head, wanting to tell him he was wrong, that there was no rite of passage, that the false king wasmerely using him like all the others.But of course, I couldn’t speak through the ice, and Rowan suddenly pulleda dagger, the onyx blade thin and serrated like the edges of a shark’s tooth.“The Iron King wants to do the honors himself,” he whispered, “but all you have to be is slightly alive when youget there.I think I’ll cut off a few fingers and leave them behind for Ash to find before we go.What do you say, your highness?”He shifted his weight to free one of my arms, grabbed my wrist, and pinned it to the ground despite my wildthrashing.“Oh, keep squirming, princess,” he cooed.“It makes this so erotic.” Picking up the knife, hepositioned it above my hand, choosing a finger.I took a deep breath to calm my panic and tried to think.My sword was close, but I couldn’t move my arm.Using glamour would either exhaust or sicken me, but I had no choice this time.As Rowan prodded myexposed fingers with the tip of the knife, drawing tiny blood drops and extending the torment, I focused on thehilt.Wood is wood.Puck’s voice echoed in my mind.Be it a dead tree, the side of a ship, a wooden crossbow ora simple broom handle, Summer magic can make it come alive again, if only for a moment.Concentrate.A surge of glamour, and gleaming thorns erupted from the hilt, stabbing through the gauntlet and into Rowan’sflesh.The room swirled as dizziness came almost immediately, and I broke the connection as Rowan howled,jerking back and releasing my arm.Exactly as I hoped.With an internal yel , I surged up, ignoring the clingingnausea, and thrust my freed hand under his visor, clawing at his hideous, burned face.This time, Rowan’s scream shook the cloth walls.Dropping the knife, he went to cover his face and I shoved him off with al my might.Scrambling upright, I whirled and drew my sword with one hand, clawing at my frozenface with the other.Ice broke off in chunks, feeling like they took flaps of skin with them.I blinked away tears as Rowan got to his feet, his expression murderous.“You really think you’re going to beat me?” Drawing his sword, which was ice-blue and serrated like the knife,Rowan stepped forward.Blood ran down the side of his face, and one eye was squeezed shut.“Why didn’tyou run, princess?” he mused.“Run to Ash and your father—I can’t chase you through the whole camp.Youshould have run.”I ripped the last of the ice from my lips and spat on the ground between us, tasting blood.“I’m through withrunning,” I said, watching his one good eye narrow.“And I’m not about to let you stab me in the back, either.Iwant you to take a message to the false king.”Rowan smiled, teeth shining like fangs in his ravaged face, and eased closer.I held my ground, sinking into adefensive stance like Ash taught me.I was still afraid, because I’d seen Rowan fight Ash before, and I knewhe was far better than me.But anger overshadowed fear now, and I pointed at Rowan with my sword.“You telthe false king he doesn’t have to send anyone to get me,” I said in the firmest voice I could manage.“I’mcoming for him.I’m coming for him, and when I find him, I’m going to kill him.”With a shock, I realized that I really meant it.It was either him or my family now, both mortal and faery.Foreveryone else to live, the false king had to die.As Grim once prophesized, I had become an assassin of thecourts.Rowan sneered, unimpressed.“I’l be sure to tel him, princess,” he mocked.“But don’t think you’re gettingaway from me unscathed.” He took another step forward, and I eased backward, toward the tent flaps.“I thinkI’l take an ear for a trophy, just to show the king that I didn’t fail him.”He lunged, a blindingly quick move that took me by surprise.I jerked back, sweeping my blade up to parry,managing to deflect his sword, but I wasn’t quite fast enough.The tip grazed my skin, slicing a line of fireacross my cheek.I stumbled back, tripped over something in the doorway, and fel backward out of the tent.Deylin’s lifeless, frozen body stared up at me, his eyes wide with shock.As I watched, the faery’s bodyrippled, then dissolved like an ice cube in the microwave, until nothing was left but a puddle of water in the dirt.Cursing, I scrambled to my feet, backing away from the opening.My cheek burned, and I could feel somethingwarm trickling down my face.“Ash!” I yel ed, gazing around wildly.“Puck! It’s Rowan! Rowan is here!”The camp was dark, silent.Faeries lay passed out on the ground, snoring where they’d fallen, mugs andbottles scattered everywhere.Smoke curled lazily into the air from charred timbers, embers flickering weaklyin the darkness.Rowan exited the tent, pushing aside the flaps and brazenly stepping into the open, sneering all the while.Stilsmiling, he put two fingers to his mouth and blew out a piercing whistle that carried over the trees.“Runningaway now, princess?” he asked, as faeries began to groan and stir, blinking and confused [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]