Still, it was only a game. I might've mimicked the words and gestures of a man in love, but emotion, as the Winter Court taught me, was a weakness. And when the ful moon rose over the trees on the last night of the game, I knew she was mine.
She approached eagerly through the grass under the pale light of the ful moon, so eager in her haste to reach the stream she tripped a few times and went sprawling. She didn't spare any glances back at the vil age, despite the unusual time I'd requested to meet. A few days ago, she might've balked at the thought of meeting a virtual stranger alone in the woods in the dead of night. But now she hurried eagerly forward, no doubts in her mind. She trusted her prince, completely and without reservation. What love will do to a mortal.
I hung back a few minutes, observing her as she reached the stream, gazing around for my shadow. She wouldn't see me, of course, even though I was standing but a few yards across the stream. Glamoured and invisible, just another shadow in the trees, I watched her. Though her eagerness soon turned to concern at my absence, and she began walking up and down the stream, looking for me, her confidence never wavered, never turned to doubt. She was certain her prince would be there, or that something had detained him from coming. Foolish mortal.
Finally, as she hovered on the verge of tears, I shed my glamour and stepped out of the trees. She gasped and brightened instantly, love fil ing her eyes and making them shine, but I didn't cross the stream and go to her. Feigning sorrow, I stood on the opposite bank, with the woods at my back, and gave her a gentle smile.
“Forgive me for being so late,” I said, putting the right amount of remorse in my voice. “But I wanted to see you one last time. I'm afraid this will be our last meeting. I've come to realize we are from two different worlds, and I cannot give you the kind of life you'd want. You are beautiful and kind, and I would only take that away. So, it is best that I leave. After tonight, you will not see me again.”
The result was devastating, as I knew it would be. Her eyes fil ed with tears, and her hands f lew to her face, covering her mouth in horror.
“No!”
She gasped, a thread of panic in her voice. “Oh, no! Please, you can't! What…wil I do…if you are gone?” And she col apsed into shaking sobs.
I hid a smile and crossed the stream, gathering her into my arms.
“Don't cry,” I whispered, stroking her hair. “Truly, it's better this way.
Your people would never accept me—they would drive me away with iron and torches and do their best to kill me. They would do it to protect you. I am only being selfish, meeting you like this.”
Brynna sniff led and gazed up at me, ugly black despair swirling with fierce determination. “I don't care what anyone says! Take me away with you. I'll do anything, anything you want. Just please don't leave. I'll die if you go!”
We embraced, the girl resting against my chest, her glamour aura shimmering around us. Finally, I drew back, gazing into her eyes. “Do you love me, Brynna?”
She nodded without hesitation. “With my whole heart.” “Would you do anything for me?”
“Yes.” She clutched at my shirt. “I would, my love. Ask me. Anything.”
I drew back, beyond the fence, until the shadows of the trees fel over my face. “Come, then,” I murmured, holding out a hand to her. “Come with me.” And I waited. Waited to see if years of upbringing, of fears and cautionary tales and countless warnings about fol owing a beautiful prince into the forest, would be forgotten in a heartbeat.
She didn't hesitate. Without even a backward glance at her vil age, she stepped forward and put her hand in mine, smiling up at me with childlike trust. I smiled back, and led her into the forest.
“Where are we going?” she asked a bit later, stil holding my hand as we hurried through the trees. Shadows clawed at us, and branches reached out, trying to snag her clothes with twiggy talons. They knew a human in the forest didn't belong, but Brynna remained blissful y unaware, only happy to be with her prince even as he dragged her through a dark wood where the very trees took offense at her presence.
“You'l see,” I replied, deftly pul ing her sideways to avoid a thornbush that lurched into her path. And, because I knew she would continue to pester me until I gave in, I added, “It's a surprise.”
A will -o'-the-wisp trailed behind us, bobbing through the trees, attempting to catch her attention. I glared at it and it spun away, faint laughter echoing through the branches. A goblin raised a warty head and glared at us through the bushes, running a black tongue over jagged teeth, but didn't dare approach. Brynna seemed blind to any of this, humming softly as she followed me through the woods.
The forest opened into a tiny, round clearing, where stone pil ars stood in a circle around a marble altar. It was used for many things—dancing, bloodletting, sacrifices—and tonight it would be used for something else. Brynna cast one curious glance at the circle of stone before turning her attention back to me, smiling. She suspected nothing.
Rowan stood nearby, leaning against one of the pil ars with his arms crossed, smirking at me. He was glamoured, invisible to mortal eyes, and the sight of him fil ed me with resolve. I'd come this far. It was time to finish the game.
Gently, I drew Brynna toward the altar, and she followed without hesitation, stil trusting her prince to keep her safe. Lifting her up, I sat her on the altar, taking her hands in mine, gazing into her eyes.
“Do you love me?” I asked again, my voice very, very soft. She nodded breathlessly.
“Then, prove it,” I murmured. “I want your body, and your soul and everything you have. I want it all . Tonight.”
She hesitated for a moment, puzzled, but then understanding dawned in her eyes. Without a word, she leaned back and slipped out of her dress, baring young, nak*d skin to the moonlight. Reaching back, she pulled out the tie that held her hair back, letting it fal about her shoulders in a dark cascade. I let my eyes roam down her slim, pale body, so fragile and untainted and stepped up beside her.
Lying back on the cold stone, she welcomed me with open arms, and I took everything she offered, everything she could give, as Rowan stood nearby and watched with a vicious smile.
When it was over, she lay dreaming and spent in my arms. Without waking her, I stood, slipped noiselessly off the altar and into my clothes, pondering what had just happened.
“Well, congratulations, little brother.” Rowan appeared beside me, stil hidden from human senses, grinning like a wolf with a lamb. “You brought down your quarry. The game is almost finished.”
“Almost?” I'd glamoured myself to remain unseen and unheard, as Brynna slept on. “What do you mean, almost? I have her heart. She gave it to me freely and will ingly. She loves me—that was the game.”
“Not quite.” Rowan glanced at the sleeping girl with a sneer. “To truly finish the game, you have to break her. Body and soul. Crush her heart, and make it so she can never find true love again, because nothing will compare to what she had with you.”
“Isn't that a little excessive?” I waved a hand at the mortal on the altar.
“I brought her here. She gave herself to me. It's done. I'll leave her with her vil age and won't see her again. She'l forget, eventual y.”
“Don't be so naïve.” Rowan shook his head. “You know they can't forget us. Not when we've gone through all the trouble of earning their love. If you leave without breaking her heart, she'l be at that stream, looking for you, until the day she dies. She might even venture into the forest in her despair and get eaten by trol s or wolves or something horrible. So, it's actual y a kindness that you set her free.” He crossed his arms and leaned back, giving me a mocking look. “Real y, little brother. Did you think this would have a happilyever-after? Between a mortal and a fey? How did you think this was going to end?” His grin turned faintly savage. “Finish what you started, Ash, unless you'd like me to kill her now, so you won't have to.”
I glared at him. “Very well ,” I snapped. “But you'l stay hidden until it's done. This is my game stil , even now.”
He grinned. “Of course, little brother,” he said, and backed away, gesturing to the altar. “She's all yours.”
I turned back to Brynna, watching her sleep. I didn't care what Rowan said; breaking her was not part of the game. I could easily take her back to the vil age and leave her there, and she would never know what had become of her prince. Breaking a mortal's heart was Rowan's game; something he reveled in, after using humans so completely they were empty husks. I wasn't like Rowan; everything he touched, he made sure to destroy.
Still, perhaps it was better to ensure she never came after me. She was only a mortal, but I'd grown somewhat fond of her in our time together, like a favorite dog or horse. It wouldn't bother me if she got herself hurt or eaten wandering aimlessly through the forest, but it wouldn't please me, either.
I let her sleep until dawn, giving her one last night of peace, her dreams whole and intact. As the moon waned and the stars began to fade from the sky, I covered the altar with a thin sheet of frost, and the cold was enough to wake her.
Blinking, she sat up, shivering and confused, taking in her surroundings. Seeing me standing beside one of the pil ars, she brightened and the sleepiness dropped from her face. Finding her shift, she quickly slipped it on and trotted up, arms open to embrace me.
I didn't smile as she came up, fixing her with a cold glare, fil ing the air with glamour so the air around me turned frigid. She stumbled to a halt a few feet away, a f licker of confusion crossing her face.
“My love?”
Looking down at her, I realized it would be easy. She was so fragile, her heart like a thin glass bal in my fist, fil ed with emotion and hopes and dreams. A few words, that was all it would take, to turn this bright, eager creature into a broken, hol ow shel . What Rowan said came back to me, taunting my ignorance. Did you think this would have a happily ever after? Between a mortal and a fey? How did you think this was going to end?
I met her eyes, smiled coldly and shattered the il usion. “Go home, human.”
She faltered, her lip trembling. “W-what?”
“I'm bored with this.” Crossing my arms, I leaned back and gave her a disdainful look. “You've become boring, all that talk of love and destiny and marriage.”
“But…but, you said…I thought…”
“That, what? We'd get married? Run away together? Have a brood of half-human children?” I sneered, shaking my head, and she wilted even further. “I never intended to marry you, human. This was a game, and the game is over now. Go home. Forget all of this, because I'm going to do the same.”
“I thought…I thought you loved me….”
“I don't know what love is,” I told her truthful y. “Only that it's a weakness, and it should never be all owed to consume you. It will break you in the end.”
She was shaking her head, whether in protest or disbelief, I couldn't tel . Nor did I care. “None of this was real, human. Don't try to find me, because you will not see me again. We played, you lost. Now, say goodbye.”