Page 19 of Healing Elixirs & Wicked Crows

My skin had become a map of scars, but each one of them reminded me of what I'd been trying to forget.Now, with her so close, she seemed further away than she'd ever been.

We were just kids when we’d met, but she stayed in my thoughts every day.After she turned fourteen, I climbed up the castle wall to her bedroom window, a familiar route during our families' peace negotiations.This time was different; I defied my mother's strict orders not to see Rosemary.I had to tell her it would be our final meeting.

I couldn't go through with it.Standing on the small roof outside her window, I realized she deserved more than the hollow shell I'd become.The wars had shattered me; I was not the same male she first met.Though I had stolen moments over the years to visit, it felt selfish to keep her life on hold.

Like a coward, I left that night without knocking on her window or saying goodbye.I vanished into the night and from her life, offering no explanation.Weeks later, I discovered the fate of her family and kingdom.My mother, unable to leave things alone, separated us by forcing me into her armies, ensuring our permanent divide.When the full truth emerged, I abandoned my own kingdom.My brother went missing, never to be found again.My mother's greed cursed my form, a constant reminder that I didn't deserve happiness.

My heart was wrought with the memories of my past.I couldn't understand how she'd forgotten it all so easily, even with magic involved, but perhaps that was for the best.It didn't have to weigh us both down.I could carry this weight alone.

The sun began its descent, casting golden rays through the dense forest.A dampness hung in the air, its heavy scent promising rain.We would need shelter for the night, or we'd be traveling uncomfortably tomorrow.

As the sun dipped below the horizon, I scanned the dense thicket for any hint of refuge.There, a thick overhang of branches lay like a canopy over a wide branch slightly lower.It would work perfectly.

"We can stop here for the night," I said, the first words spoken in hours as we'd traveled in silence since our disagreement."Come.I will boost you up."

She followed my gaze to the branches above."Why in the tree?"

"You don't want to be dinner for what roams these woods at night, do you?We will need to be off the forest floor and high enough up to lighten our scent."I held my hands together, forming a step that would help her reach the lowest branch.

Rosemary used my hands as a step, swiftly climbing into the tree and disappearing above as small leaves and branches rained down.Ignoring the debris, I quickly cast an illusion spell at the tree's base to make it seem like we’d continued through the forest.With the spell in place, I scrambled up after her.

She had settled on the thick branch I’d indicated, her back against the sturdy trunk.Standing beside her, I unfurled a sheet from my pack and draped it over us.Closing my eyes, I pressed my fingertips to the material, hoping nature would shield us from the night's rain.

Looking down at the far drop below us, Rosemary asked, "What if we roll over in our sleep?"

I sat next to her, our shoulders pressing into each other as I settled in against the trunk.The contact sent warmth spiraling through me.When she relaxed against me, trust implicit in the gesture, something fundamental shifted in my chest.No one had ever trusted me like this.

I pulled some rope from my bag and quickly fastened us both to the branch we had chosen.With that done, I pulled another blanket free of my pack and draped it over us both.Our combined body heat beneath the blanket would keep us warm as the night became cold without the heat of the sun.

She flinched slightly as the night erupted into howling and growling as predators ran freely beneath us.They circled our tree, our scent making them eager for an easy meal, but then they raced off into the distance.My illusionary magic helped hide us.She felt warm against my side, and I watched the stars in silence as my mind turned over this plan of mine.

I needed Rosemary to love me.It was vital.I would need to have her love quickly.The longer I spent by her side, the harder it would be to leave her.And leave her, I must.

Weak in the Knees

ROSEMARY

Everything hurt.

I lay awake most of the night listening to the steady rhythm of his breathing, trying to ignore how safe I felt with him nearby.This was madness.Elias was everything I should hate: arrogant, dangerous, unseelie.Yet when he'd caught me before I could fall yesterday, when he'd looked at me like I was something precious rather than just useful, something inside me had cracked open.

I thought of Briar, trapped in her endless sleep because of unseelie magic.I thought of my parents, killed by unseelie cruelty.Everything logical told me to be wary of him, to keep my distance, to remember what his kind had taken from me.

But when he smiled at me, really smiled and not just that mocking smirk, I forgot to be afraid.When he touched me, even by accident, my skin came alive in ways I'd never experienced.When he called me princess in that rough, tender voice, I almost believed I could be someone worth protecting.And beneath it all, I couldn’t help but feel a familiar pull toward him despite having no memory of him.

This was how people fell.Not all at once, but piece by piece, moment by stolen moment, until they woke up one day and realized they'd handed their heart to their enemy.I was inexplicably falling for him, and it terrified me more than any monster we might face in these woods.

Spending a night in a tree was one of the worst sleeps I'd ever had, even worse than those early banishment nights from the seelie lands.Climbing up had been easy; trying to get comfortable had been impossible.The rough bark had dug into my spine, and every movement had set my tired muscles on fire.I didn't trust Elias's bindings, so each time exhaustion tried to claim me, I’d jerked awake.

Below, Elias moved as if gravity didn't exist, packing our blankets and rope with calm precision.He'd fallen asleep the moment his head had hit the branch, evident from his even breathing.I’d watched his sharp jawline, thin lips, and dark hair brushing his pointed ears, feeling a surge of envy I'd never admit.

He glanced up and offered a rare, crooked smile as I climbed down.It caught me off guard.My boot slipped, and in an instant, I was weightless, nails scraping the bark, heart in my throat, plummeting forty feet toward the hard earth.

My back slammed into the ground, and a rain of broken branches and leaves fell around me.My vision narrowed and darkened, and my pumping blood thudded through my ears in a deafening beat.From one blink to the next, Elias hovered over my prone form, worry creased across his brow as his silver gaze searched mine.His fingers gingerly prodded my legs, my arms, my neck.

"Are you okay?"he asked."Where does it hurt?"

I didn't want to move, but I searched my hip for where my pack should be."My bag?"I mumbled, still struggling to breathe fully.I lifted my other hand to my head, prodding my scalp to check for injury.I sighed in relief when my fingers came away without any hint of spilled blood.