Page 76 of The Fox Heir

“We have the Heir to the North.”

Silence.

My heart is racing in my chest. I’m not the Heir to the North. Tristan told me as much. I stand to inherit the Fox Throne in the south. I’m not even sure I believe in this mythical human heir that comes from a lineage older than the reigns of the Dead Queens. That story is steeped in legend, not fact.

Hunter shakes his head in disbelief. “The Heir to the North is nothing but a fairy tale mixed with nostalgia for the past.” Hunter narrows his eyes at the Dead Queen. “A past when humans sat upon that throne, not Dead Queens.”

The queen doesn’t look bothered by this confrontation, but Nalina does. She looks angry enough to take the greatsword off her back and kill something. Or someone.

“That is for me to worry about,” the queen says. “Right now, you must decide. Will you protect the heir to the Fox Throne?”

Hunter watches the queen for a long moment before he gives her a curt nod. “Of course, but not for you. I swore an oath to protect her.”

“Your motives do not matter to me, as long as you do it.” From beneath her veil, the Dead Queen gives him a long, assessing look. “You know, you haven’t changed much since you were a child, running around the palace with her.” She nods in my direction.

Dread fills my veins. For a moment, I actually allowed myself to believe she wouldn’t tell him.

Hunter takes a step backward. “How would you know that?”

“Hunter—” I start to intervene, but the Dead Queen talks right over me.

“I wonder if you remember me.”

Hunter’s face melts into confusion. “How could I forget? You saved us in Ellyll.”

“No, from before. From the palace in Caerwen.”

I reach toward Hunter, suddenly desperate to steal his attention back from the queen and the horror I know is coming. “Please, let me tell him.”

Hunter shakes my hand from his arm. “No. What are you trying to hide?” His words are sharp and accusatory when he looks at me.

I bite my lip, willing tears not to fall. I will not cry in front of this horrible queen. I will not let her get under my skin.

He turns back to the queen. “I never met you before Ellyll. I’d remember.”

The queen laughs darkly. “We’ll see about that.”

The Dead Queen rises from her throne, her bones popping with each movement. She walks down the dais, graceful as a shadow, and stops before us. I know it’s coming, and my heart breaks for Hunter in this moment of revelation.

The Dead Queen raises her veil, revealing the rotted, destroyed face of a woman we both loved.

Hunter’s face crumbles into horror as recognition takes hold. “No.” He shakes his head, backing into the crate of copper armor. “No, it can’t be.” His eyes dart between her massacred face and the silver moth necklace hanging at her breast.

The Dead Queen stares, her pearlescent eyes revealing no emotion.

Hunter turns to me, disbelieving. “You knew?!”

I shake my head, reaching out for him again. He scrambles away from me like I’m made of hot iron, fresh from the forge.

“I had no idea, Hunter, I swear it. Not until I got here.”

“All those years trying to discover who killed your grandmother, and she wasn’t even dead?”

I look pointedly at the splitting, pale flesh on the queen’s face. “She is dead, Hunter. Like the corpse wolves.”

“But she isn’t dead, is she?”

I huff in frustration. “It’ll take time. You’ll come to understand.”