Kill Ash? Betray him to the Summer Court? What was Oberon thinking? As if I could do anything like that, even if it was technically Titania who would strike the fatal blow. And she would, too. Ash might be a prince, but Titania was a queen. You did not screw around with the queens of Faery; at least, you didn’t go toe-to-toe with them, especially in their own court. Even I knew that. And with Oberon conveniently absent, Titania wouldn’t spare the Winter prince. She would utterly destroy him.

I couldn’t do that to ice-boy. Even after all the years of bad blood and fighting between us, even though he probably would try to kill me someday, and actually go through with it, I couldn’t leave him to the mercy of Titania.

But…if I didn’t, Meghan would never love me. My princess, the girl I’d do anything for, would never see me, never look at me the way she did Ash.

What made him so special? What did he have that I did not?

“You’re awfully quiet.”

I blinked and looked up from skinning the hare. Ash knelt a few feet from the fire, bent over his task, his hunting knife working with smooth efficiency. “Wh-what?” I blurted, a little too quickly. Oh, that was brilliant, Goodfellow. Fix it, now. “Me?” I continued, feigning shock. “Why, ice-boy, whatever do you mean? Could it be that you’re actually concerned?”

He didn’t look up as he continued. “You’re hiding something,” Ash said calmly. “If I can hear myself think through your chatter, that means something is up. Or about to go very, very wrong. Anything you want to tell me, Goodfellow?”

Damn, when had ice-boy become able to read me? That was something I was going to have to work on. “Yes,” I answered, forcing a grin. “I think turning you into a squirrel is the easiest way to sneak you into Arcadia. What do you think? Or, if you prefer, I could probably turn you into a mouse. Or a bird. Or a rabbit!” I looked at the skinned carcass in my hands. “Though that might go badly if Titania has her hounds anywhere about…”

“Never mind.” Ash sighed, shaking his head. “I’m sorry I said anything.”

“Ooh, I know!” I snapped my fingers. “A chameleon! That way you can perch on my collar and blend right in. It’s brilliant! And you’d make a very handsome chameleon, don’t you think, ice-boy?”

Ash rolled his eyes and bent lower over his task, tuning me out. I kept talking at him, useless, idle words that neither of us took seriously. It was a shield, a barrier for my real thoughts, which I couldn’t shut away no matter how hard I tried.

Why are you here?