Prim clung to Dante as they followed Vissick and Blukke for an hour, constantly peering over his shoulder to confirm Egan was still in his grasp, seemingly floating along in midair behind them. Eventually, the hawk cast a wing down and dove toward a rocky area dotted with trees that lined a rushing river. Vissick and Blukke landed on opposite sides of the same tree, each branch bending a bit with their weight.

Dante descended slowly, but Prim noticed Egan remained high in the air. She lost sight of him as they lowered further and the foliage of the surrounding tall trees separated the prince from the search party. Dante didn’t come all the way to the ground; instead he hovered, scanning the area, his wings flapping just enough to keep them airborne. Then he jutted his chin out, using it to point.

Prim would never have spotted Sarasha on her own. The fae was tucked between some rock formations by the river that were nearly the same color as her wings, which were wrapped around her, completely ensconcing her. Dante shook his head.

“What?” Prim asked.

He kept his eyes on the fae as he answered. “She’s too close to the river to hear someone approach--the water would drown out any footsteps or wingbeats--and she’s blinded herself with her wings so she can’t see anyone approach.”

That was a good thing; it made it easy to capture her. Prim didn’t understand his melancholic tone. “Okay?”

He shook his head again. “She doesn’t know what she’s doing. She’s never known. She was a shit guard and shit spy. This doesn’t feel right.”

Prim didn’t care. Sarasha still helped Egan order Kallia’s murder. She tried to convince Prim that Roan had killed himself so she’d stop looking for his real murderer, knowing it was Egan the whole time. She fed personal information about the handmaiden to Neros and gods know who else. Being incompetent didn’t excuse any of it.

“Please put me down,” Prim said softly. She was on the rock and dirt terrain a moment later, though Dante remained hovering. “Are her powers incapacitated?” she asked just as quietly and watched as Dante and Blukke shared purposeful looks and the bowerbird fluttered one wing, eliciting a confirmation.

Taking a deep breath, Prim gracefully walked over the uneven land until she was nearly to the fae. Sarasha didn’t stir. The handmaiden took a few more hesitant steps until she was within reach of the woman, but her arms stayed at her side. Prim meant it when she said she wasn’t going to kill her.

Instead, she stretched her leg out, toeing the outside of the woman’s wing.

Sarasha shuddered, but her wings remained around her. “I got you out. My life debt is paid.”

Prim didn’t understand. She turned back to see the birds still in the tree, Dante still hovering. She tilted her head in a request for him to come closer, wanting to know if he’d heard what the fae had claimed.

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She focused again on Sarasha, poking her again with the toe of her boot.

“I owe you nothing, Egan. I never did,” she said forcefully, though her wings tucked around her tighter.

Dante landed next to Prim, mouth tight and arms crossed, staring at Sarasha.

Enough of this. Prim took a step forward, standing over the woman. “Was it just Neros that had you second-guessing your love? Did you really not care at all when he murdered Roan?”

The wings flew back to reveal messy chestnut hair curtaining a bruised face with blue lips and wide eyes. Sarasha immediately launched into the sky, but only raised a few feet before she stiffened and fell back down, Blukke extending his gift to her physical being.

Some of Prim’s anger banked at the sight of the fae’s mottled face. “What happened to you?” she gasped in spite of herself.

Sarasha glanced between Dante and Prim. “I didn’t know he murdered the kern. Not until he saved me.”

“Liar,” Prim hissed, but Dante placed a hand on her shoulder.

“She’s not lying.”

Prim whipped her head to him, only to find his face set in determination. What exactly he was determined to do, however, she couldn’t tell.

Sarasha didn’t blubber or cry as she had the day they interrogated her. Instead, she had a look of pure exhaustion and resignation.

“Would you have turned him in had you known?” Prim asked. She wasn’t sure if the answer changed anything, but she needed to know.

Sarasha swallowed. “I…no. I would have told Neros. Let him decide how to proceed.”

“Why Neros?” Dante asked. “Why not your monarchs?”

The fae’s lip quivered. “Because he was my friend. He was the royal I served.”

Prim looked at Dante, who nodded, confirming the truth of her words. “But you were loyal to Egan. You were in love with Egan. You delivered Egan’s order to kill Kallia to Somanti.”

Disgust crossed Sarasha’s face. “I was not in love with Egan. He was disturbed. He was obsessed with me. He would follow me, leave me gifts--not gifts one would want to receive, trust me. Neros protected me from the worst of it. That’s why he had me deliver his order to have the princess kidnapped--to get me away from Lanham. But when Egan found out, he sent me with that other order and told me to ensure it stayed secret using my gift. I never opened it. I didn’t know what it was. I swear. He only explained everything to me today. He said he did it so that we could take the leftover money if they killed Kallia instead of kidnapping her and use it to make a life together somewhere else with nobody ever knowing. He just wouldn’t accept that I had no interest in him--I never did.”

Again Dante confirmed the truth, and Prim narrowed her eyes. “But you knew what Neros had ordered and still agreed to deliver it?”

Sarasha’s eyes widened and her jaw dropped. “Of course! If I could save a woman from having to spend her life with that psychopath by delivering a letter, I’d do it a thousand times over. A few months on the road with a kind stranger beats the hell out of a lifetime with Egan. And anyone would be lucky to marry Neros. I know he came off like an asshole, but I swear…” Her words trailed off as emotion took over. “Neros was the sweetest once you got to know him,” she finally choked out.

Everything she’d done, she’d done for Kallia’s benefit. Before even meeting the princess, Sarasha had tried to protect her.