Princess of Thorns

But then, she is Ror. Or Ror is her. Or … something.

Dammit. If only this were less confusing.

“I suppose.” I shrug, nervous for some reason, unsure how to behave with Aurora now that I’m not angry with her or afraid for her life.

“I know.” She smoothes a stray hair away from her forehead, seeming a little nervous herself. “How long have I been ill?”

“Five days. Three here and two and a half on the road, “I say, grateful to put the feeling talk behind us. “Two and a half days chased by every kind of nasty creature the ogre queen could send to haunt our footsteps, but no ogres, thank the gods. She must not have had men close enough to reach us before we hit the border of Beschuttz. If she had …” I don’t finish the thought. Aurora knows what would have happened if we’d encountered an ogre battalion. I’d be dead and she’d be waking up in Ekeeta’s dungeon.

“Still, Ekeeta must know where we are,” Aurora says, worry creeping into her tone. “It’s only a matter of time before she finds this place.”

“No, we’re safe here. Gettel has magical protections set over the valley.” I point out the window where green willow trees wave in the breeze next to the stream behind Gettel’s house. “Ogres can’t see Beschuttz, and even if they could, they couldn’t set foot in it. Gettel’s wards keep strangers—human and ogre—out. If Crimsin hadn’t sent her beast with a warning to look out for us, we never would have found a way in. The village isn’t even on the map.”

“But what about Ekeeta’s creatures?” Aurora pushes her hands into the mattress, sitting up with obvious difficulty.

“Nothing touched by ogre magic can enter the valley.” I cross to the bed, rearranging her pillows before she leans back. “You should have seen the rats that tried to follow me across the river. It was like they hit a wall halfway across.”

“Rats?” Aurora shudders. “I’m glad I missed that. I’m not a lover of rats. Or bugs. Biting beetles in particular.”

“Afraid of bugs. You’re such a girl,” I tease, perching on the mattress beside her and nudging her thigh with mine.

She laughs, a high, sweet sound that makes me smile. “I am. And I’m not sure you should be sitting in my bed.” She prods my leg with a teasing fist. “It isn’t proper.”

“Proper, my ass.” I stretch my legs out on the mattress beside hers. “You’re like my sister. Your virtue is safer with me in your bed. I’ll scare off any boy brave enough to approach the princess while she is convalescing.”

Aurora’s laughter becomes a sigh. “I don’t have time to convalesce. I’ve already wasted nearly a week. Jor doesn’t have much time left.”

I take her slim hand in mine, warming her fingers, hoping the gesture will make it easier to hear what I’m about to say. “There’s no chance you’ll be able to secure an army in time. You’re going to have to let him go.”

“I know it’s too late for an army,” she whispers, surprising me. I wasn’t sure her stubbor

“If you’re caught, then it will be both of you lost.” I squeeze her hand. “Your brother wouldn’t want that. It would be a senseless waste.”

Especially if he’s already dead, I think. There has to be a reason Ekeeta is hunting Aurora. Her brother already dead and Ekeeta in need of a briar-born child for her ritual would explain the queen’s determination to bring Aurora in alive.

“I know it’s dangerous for me to go to the castle.” She pulls her hand away. “But I could hire a champion, an assassin or a—”

“Assassins are skilled in killing people, not breaking them out of dungeons.”

“A knight, then,” she says, clearly frustrated. “Or a soldier or a daredevil or a circus performer who can scale the walls! Surely there has to be someone who will attempt a rescue if enough money is involved.”

“Or if they have nothing left to lose,” I murmur, unable to believe I’ve been so dim. Again. In my defense, I’ve been worried about Aurora, not her brother, but now …

“I could try my hand at it,” I say. “I know my way around the castle. I visited Mercar when I was younger and Father still attended Ekeeta’s midsummer celebration.”

Aurora shifts on the bed. “What do you mean?”

“I could try to free your brother,” I say, pulse speeding. Over the past five days, I’ve begun to reconcile myself to being transformed, but transformed and killed are two different things. Still, for all I know, I’d be better off dead than trapped in a bird’s body, with everything that makes me human stolen away.

My brothers, in their swan skin, didn’t care for me. They flew away the morning of their transformations, taking to the skies without a glance back at the family they left behind. Even when I tracked the swan Usio became to a remote lake near the center of Norvere and found him nesting with nine other birds—ten swans, the exact number of brothers I had lost—he didn’t seem to know me.

None of them did. I was a stranger, a human who sent them flying away with angry honking when I approached their nesting grounds. As far as I can tell, they are completely animal now, creatures without hope or honor or memory or a thought in their head beyond foraging for their next meal.

Wouldn’t I rather die a worthy death than become the same?

“I’ll do it. I’ll free him,” I say, decided. “I’ll at least try.”

“No,” Aurora says, shaking her head. “You’ve already risked your life for me; I won’t let you risk it for my brother. He’s my responsibility. This is my fight.”

“It doesn’t matter,” I say. “I’ll be gone soon anyway.”

“No, you won’t,” she says. “Gettel seems kind. Surely she’ll keep you safe from your father.”

“I’m sure she would, but she can’t keep me safe from his curse.” I pull in a bracing breath, knowing the time has come to tell Aurora the truth. “Come sunrise on my eighteenth birthday, the curse will claim me, no matter where I try to hide.”

Her brow wrinkles. “What do you mean? What curse?”

I tell her the story, watching her eyes widen as I describe the way my older brothers were transformed into swans as the sun rose on their eighteenth birthdays.

“That’s why I needed to marry,” I continue. “A few months ago I found the witch who cursed my family and learned there is a way out. The curse only applies to sons in line to rule Kanvasola. If I had removed myself from the line of succession by marrying a girl named to inherit a kingdom of her own, I would have been free. But now …” I shrug again, trying to feel as carefree as the gesture. “I might as well make good use of the time I have left.”

Aurora blinks and I am shocked to see a tear slip down her cheek. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I don’t think you’re in any position to be asking that question, Ror.” I pat her awkwardly on the knee beneath the covers, flustered by her tears.

She presses her lips together and nods. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”

“I didn’t tell anyone.” I cross my arms at my chest. “I didn’t want a girl to marry me because she felt sorry for me. I wanted to win a wife based on my own merits, but now it’s too late, so—”

“But it’s not too late!” Aurora pulls one of my hands free and shakes it. “You’re so beautiful it’s ridiculous, Niklaas. Really. I thought you were a god when I first saw you.”

“You were out of your mind on Vale Flowers,” I say, shy for the first time in as long as I can remember. I know I’m nice to look at, but hearing it from Aurora is … strange.

“I was mistaken, not out of my mind,” she insists. “You are the most stu

“I don’t know,” I say with a strained laugh. “You seemed to manage just fine.”