PART ONE
CHAPTER ONE
THE HOUSE OF THE BONE WITCH
“Oy, ice-boy! You sure you know where you're going?”
I ignored Robin Goodfel ow as we wove through the gray murk of the wyldwood, pushing farther into the soggy swamp known as the Bone Marsh. Mud sucked at my footsteps, and water dripped from twisted green trees so covered in moss they appeared sheathed in slime. Mist coiled around the exposed roots or pooled in sunken areas, hiding what lay beneath, and every so often there was a splash in the stil waters farther out, reminding us that we were not alone. As its name suggested, bones were scattered throughout the marsh, jutting out of the mud, half-hidden in tangles of weeds or shimmering beneath the surface of the water, bleached and white. This was a dangerous part of the wyldwood, more so than most— not because of the catoblepas and the jabberwocks and other monsters that cal ed the dark swamp their home, but because of the resident who lived somewhere deep within the marsh.
The one we were going to see.
Something f lew past my head from behind, barely missing me, and spattered against a trunk a few feet away. Stopping beneath the tree, I turned and glared at my companion, silently daring him to do that again.
“Oh, hey, it lives!” Robin Goodfel ow threw up his muddy hands in mock celebration. “I was afraid it had become a zombie or something.”
He crossed his arms and smirked at me, mud streaking his red hair and speckling his pointed face. “Did you hear me, ice-boy? I've been yel ing at you for some time now.”
“Yes,” I said, repressing a sigh. “I heard you. I think the jabberwocks on the other side of the swamp heard you.”
“Oh, good! Maybe if we fight a couple you'l start paying attention to me!” Puck matched my glare before gesturing around at the swamp.
“This is crazy,” he exclaimed. “How do we even know he's here? The Bone Marsh isn't exactly on my list of favorite vacation getaways, prince. You sure your contact knew what he was talking about? If this turns out to be another false lead I might turn that phouka into a pair of gloves.”
“I thought you wanted an adventure,” I said, just to annoy him. Puck snorted.
“Oh sure, don't get me wrong. I'm all for tromping to all five corners of the Nevernever, getting chased by angry Summer Queens, sneaking into an ogre's basement, fighting giant spiders, playing hide-and-seek with a cranky dragon—good times.” He shook his head, and his eyes gleamed, reliving fond memories. “But this is like the sixth place we've come to look for that wretched cat, and if he isn't here I'm almost afraid of where we're going next.”
“You don't have to be here,” I told him. “Leave if you want. I'm not stopping you.”
“Nice try, prince.” Puck crossed his arms and smiled. “But you're not getting rid of me that easily.”
“Then let's keep moving.” It was getting dark, and his constant chattering was getting on my nerves. Joking aside, I did not want to attract the attention of a hungry jabberwock and have to fight it in the middle of the swamp.
“Oh, fine,” Puck sighed, tromping along behind me. “But if he's not here, I refuse to go to the Spider Queen's palace with you, ice-boy.
That's where I draw the line.”
My name, my ful , True Name, is Ashal ayn'darkmyr Tal yn, and I am the last son of the Unseelie Court.
There were three of us at one time, all princes of Winter, myself and my brothers, Sage and Rowan. I never knew my sire, never cared to know him, nor did my siblings ever speak of him. I wasn't even positive we shared the same sire, but it didn't matter. In the Unseelie Court, Mab was the sole ruler, the one and only queen. Handsome fey and even wayward mortals she might take to her bed, but Mab shared her throne with no one.
We were never close, my brothers and I. As princes of Winter, we grew up in a world of violence and dark politics. Our queen encouraged this, favoring the son who earned her good graces while punishing the others. We used each other, played vicious games against one another, but we were all loyal to our court and our queen. Or so I'd thought.
There is a reason the Winter Court freezes out their emotions, why feelings are considered a weakness and a fol y among the Unseelie fey.
Emotion corrupts the senses, makes them weak, makes them disloyal to kith and court. Jealousy was a dark, dangerous passion that ate at my brother Rowan until he did the unthinkable and turned on his court, betraying us to our enemies. Sage, my eldest sibling, fel to Rowan's treachery, and he was only the first. In a bid for power, Rowan sided with our greatest enemies, the Iron fey, helping their king nearly destroy the Nevernever. I kill ed Rowan in the end, avenging Sage and the rest of my kin, but retribution cannot bring either of them back.
It's only me now. I am the last, the only remaining son of Mab, Queen of the Unseelie Court.
And I'm already dead to her.
Rowan was not the only one to succumb to emotion and passion. My fal began, as many stories do, with a girl. A girl named Meghan Chase, the half-human daughter of our ancient rival, the Summer King. Fate brought us together, and despite everything I did to shield my emotions, despite the laws of our people and the war with the Iron fey and the threat of eternal banishment from my home, I stil found myself fal ing for her. Our paths were woven together, our fates intertwined, and before the last battle I swore I would fol ow her to the end of the world, to protect her from all threats, including my own kin, and to die for her if cal ed to do so. I became her knight, and would have gladly served this girl, this mortal who had captured my heart, until the last breath left my body.