Snow Bites

Chapter Five

A week had passed since the incident in the courtyard. To say Heldie was in a panic would be an understatement. The smack of her shoes against the stone floors had echoed off the castle walls for days. It was lucky they had no staff to worry with her anxious pacing.

Eirwen had been confined to her room the entire time. She'd been lectured for days on what happened. The truth of what she was nearly escaped Heldie's tight lips. It would have explained every confused look the princess gave her. It pained Heldie to see her fumble for answers about why she'd attacked the young man. There was no way for her to know it was natural for her kind.

Her kind.

Heldie stopped in the middle of the room to press her hands to her head. Fourteen years old and she'd shown no sign of being one of the dangerous night terrors her mother had been. They'd been so close to a normal life. If she could have only had one more try at the cure she could have solved it all.

The mirror across the way shimmered in tune with her crazed emotions. It had been diligently keeping an eye on Ezekiel, who was wisely keeping his distance. So far, he hadn't run to tell anyone about his encounter with the savage princess. Heldie could keep things quiet for now. It was only a matter of time before someone came for either one of them.

Killing the boy had been an option for half a second, until she realized others would notice his disappearance. Every move she made to protect Eirwen meant exposing them both. Now that she knew without a doubt that she was one of the blutsauger, there was only one path to take. Heldie slowly sank to her knees and allowed herself a few tears.

Aside from her promise to the king so long ago, Heldie had grown to care for her as if she were her own. She'd kept her hidden from other hunters all this time out of more than duty. Loving Eirwen would be the death of her if she allowed it to cloud her judgment further.

The door creaked open and Ryker slipped inside. He took one look at Heldie's tear stained face and shook his head vehemently. "You can't do it, not the little princess."

"What choice do I have?" Heldie shouted. "Either it's by my hand, quick and painless, or someone else will get ahold of her and make sure she suffers."

Ryker knelt on one knee beside her. He smelled like a sunny day in the forest. The three of them had taken walks in that forest when Eirwen was younger. That was before she'd started questioning where all the people were. Before that, Heldie had been able to keep her close without much trouble. She should have tried better.

"What about the cure? You said you were close this time. Try again, find the answer," he begged.

Heldie shoved him and he fell back, catching himself on his hands. "Don't you think I've tried looking? I've gone through every book I have but it's not enough!" She clambered to her feet and gestured at the small table piled high with dusty tomes. Their spines were nearly worn through with how often she perused the pages.

Her own library was a sad comparison to the one her family had spent generations cultivating. Who knew what information they had there? Heldie had left so long ago. Her training had barely begun at that point. To go back now would be admitting defeat and opening the door for questions about Eirwen.

None of them would ever be interested in a cure of any kind. It was taught to every one of them from the moment they could walk that the only way to deal with a blutsauger, was to obliterate it. Even if the answer hid somewhere in their vault of knowledge, it wouldn't be more than surface information. Heldie had considered going back anyway. She'd thought about telling Eirwen everything, from her mother's necessary death to her attempt to free her from the same curse.

"There is no cure," she sobbed. "Not one that I can find in time. Eirwen will know the truth before long if she continues to give herself over to those dark thoughts. I will not allow her soul to be tainted by them."

The knife was still gleaming as if it had been polished only minutes before. It was cold in her hand as she lifted it.

Ryker put himself between her and the door. "I cannot let you do this. I know you care for the girl as much as I do. This will tear you apart and there will be no putting you back together this time. It won't be like when you killed the king. Please, reconsider, Heldie." He held out a hand for the knife.

Heldie remained unmoving. "Move, or I will make you move," she ordered. Though her shoulders were firm as a tree, the knife shook in her hand. The way he stared at her as if looking at a stranger sent a pang of sadness through her. The knife clattered to the floor and she collapsed into him. "What are we going to do?"

"We can start by explaining everything to her. We should have done it years ago," he advised. They left the knife where it had fallen and moved to sit on a low bench by the window. Ryker kept an arm around her shoulders while she sobbed into her hands. "She's a good child, you know she is. This curse doesn't mean she'll become a monster."

"But..." Heldie started, sniffling as she tried to catch her breath.

"But nothing. We've made it this far haven't we?"

They waited until her tears had dried before hiding the knife away again. Heldie sighed as she locked it up and stored the key back in an inner pocket of her dress. It was one of the few things she considered a true valuable worthy of protection. Not even her jewels received such protection. Those were easily replaced if she chose to.

"Shall we, my lady?" Ryker offered her his arm and swept his cloak back.

Heldie rolled her eyes and shuffled past him into the hall. "You can stop the antics, I have more control over my emotions than you think." The idea of being truly vulnerable had never been something Heldie enjoyed. Perhaps it was the way her parents treated their children as just a part of their great cause rather than family to be loved. She could hardly remember affection being shown even between the two of them. Seeing the way the king and queen doted on each other and Eirwen had been some of the first looks at what a family could be.

Ryker was right, killing Eirwen would rip her very soul to shreds. It was the last thing she wanted to do. If there was any chance of avoiding it she would gladly take it. It would mean doing the second most difficult thing she'd never considered doing. Who knew how Eirwen would take the truth.

The door to the princess's room was closed and locked from the outside just as Heldie had left it. It felt silly now to lock her away. There was nowhere for Eirwen to run to. She hadn't been out of the castle since before her father died. Even if she could remember the way through the woods, there was no one in town that would recognize her now.

Heldie knocked with the back of her knuckles and called out to her softly. There was no answer. "Snow apple, please don't be upset with me. I only scolded you so harshly because... because I care about you so much." Still, not a sound came from the other side of the door. "Look, there is something important I must tell you. Afterwards you are free to never speak to me again. Snow apple?"

The door swung open and Hedlie's breath caught in her throat. Eirwen's room was a mess. Clothes were strewn across the room haphazardly. A makeshift rope was tied around one of the legs of the bed and trailed out the window. Heldie followed it over the edge and looked down at the empty courtyard bathed in midday sun.