The sun was hot as it cut through the canopy and he glanced up occasionally to scour the branches for ravens, but he hadn’t seen a single one since he’d left the city walls behind, hidden on the back of a merchant’s cart. Perhaps the queen’s control over the birds had a physical limit. Still, he didn’t relax. There would be soldiers behind him before long and there was no doubt she’d have doubled the patrols on the borders of the kingdom. Whatever moment they’d shared – and she’d been so cold about it when they were done that he’d almost thought it was a dream – no trust had come with it.

There had been no affection in what they’d done. The strange beauty had kept her eyes closed from start to finish, murmuring words he couldn’t quite make out as he explored her body and took his satisfaction from it. It was the huntsman’s way until true love found them, but this time he was the one who came away feeling awkward afterwards. They had used each other – there was no denying that – but he knew that she had used him more. If she’d had any respect for him beforehand, there was none in evidence when she finally sent him on his way. Maybe he had been foolish, but there had been too much wickedness around him of late and nothing shook that away like the pleasures of the body, whether they be taken with a queen or a serving girl.

He concentrated on the task she’d set him. He was a straightforward man, but he was learning the wiles of the wealthy. It seemed that no matter how much he wished for a quiet life, fate had drawn him into royal games once again, and this one would have a twist in it before it was done. There was still a debt that needed paying and he wouldn’t forget it.

Ahead, just out of sight, a horse whinnied and pawed at the leafy ground. His skin prickled and he edged silently forward, ignoring the tiny insects which hovered and darted around his head in the muggy heat. The air so close to the base of the mountain carried a tang of minerals from the mines, and as he peered through the low branches to the pool beyond, it grew stronger. A thick mist coated the surface of the water, thinning into steam as if the water was warmer than the air. Perhaps it was. There were no mines in his homeland and who knew how the metals in the earth changed its nature.