As the first light broke over the horizon, we were almost ready to leave. We had packed some provisions, weapons, and gear, gathered our courage, and were now saying our goodbyes. The journey to the Dark Forest was perilous, and we knew that the chances of survival were slim. However, we also knew that we had no other choice.

  Thalia and I were by the horses while Alistair spoke to Old Man Harlan in the cave.

  It was a cold morning. The sun was just peeking above the horizon, its rays only just fanning out over the land. Crows cawed overhead and the horses misted drips of warm breath into the cool air.

  "Can't believe we can't take them," Thalia said, petting Winnie, her horse. "This is going to take ten times as long on foot."

  "The Dark Forest is supposed to spook beasts," I said as I finished unloading what I needed from my own horse. "We wouldn't want to deal with a scared horse too. Stuart has dealt with enough."

  She smiled. "Do you need help?"

  "No, I’ve got it," I said. My voice came out harsher than I meant it to, and she raised an eyebrow at me. "Thalia..." I began, deciding it was time to have the conversation I’d been putting off.

  "Hm?" she asked, tossing her raven black hair behind her shoulder. "Are you scared?"

  "A bit," I said. "But that's not what I needed to speak to you about."

  She furrowed her brow, her smile replaced by a frown. "What is it?"

  "You said the king sent you to my village," I said. "A year ago, when you first sought me out. But when he saw you the other day, he didn't seem to recognize you at all."

  She looked away from me and swallowed. “The king meets a lot of people, Tristan. He could’ve forgotten me.”

  “Don’t,” I warned her.

  She shut her eyes tight. “Tristan, please. We don’t have to do this right now. I swear–”

  "I let you into my home, Thalia. We’ve trained together day in and day out for damn near a year. You ate food from my table, slept within walking distance of my bed, we have bathed together in rivers, my servants…my friends waited on you! I considered you a friend," I said coldly. "All under the assumption, of course, that the king had sent you. That my father had something to do with it. But that was all a lie."

  I hadn't realized how angry I was about this until I started talking to her. It angered me more than she seemed unable to respond, when she was usually so sharp-tongued and quick-witted.

  "I'm so sorry, Tristan," she said, her voice barely above a whisper. "I never intended to deceive you. I was told the king sent me, but it was a secret mission. For what it's worth, the king really hadn't ever spoken to me before or seen me. He couldn’t have recognized me. It was an assignment given to me by another one of his courtiers, one I'd never met before. All handled through middlemen. The court assured me that my father would be taken care of...he's frail, worse off since my mother died."

  "So it's true," I said. "You betrayed me."

  "No," she replied. "I'm on your side."

  "I find that hard to believe," I said.

  She picked up her head to look at me, her eyes brimming with tears. "I understand," she said. "And there were so many times I was on the brink of telling you, but..."

  "But what?" I asked.

  "But I wanted to protect you. I knew that if I told you the truth, you'd just try to send me away."

  I shook my head, my head pounding. "Since I can't get rid of you now, will you finally tell me the truth? Why did the king, or one of his courtiers, send you to me in the first place? If that is even really what happened."

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  She bristled a little at that, standing up straight and looking right into my eyes. "I never intended to deceive you. The king did send me, but it was a secret mission. He couldn't openly find out if you were who your father thought because of the political climate, but he believed in you and your potential. He wanted to give you a chance to prove yourself. If you are the chosen one, you're the most valuable individual in this kingdom. You understand that, right?"

  "So you were trying to figure out if I was the chosen one?"

  "No," she said, licking her lips. "I stopped trying within a few weeks."

  I waited for her to keep talking, though it was taking everything in me not to walk away.

  "I liked you," she said. "You were a smart, good-hearted man. Sure, a little immature, but...what noble isn't a bit spoiled? So I stopped trying to find out if you were the chosen one and just tried to shield you from it all."

  "Shield me from it?" I echoed. I knew she could hear the disbelief in my voice.

  "I know it was wrong, Tristan," she said, her voice shaky. "But I had no other choice. I had to follow the king's orders. What a terrible lot, to be the chosen one only to be used as a tool by a crumbling empire. So I wrote letters to the courtier that had given me my mission, telling him that I still hadn't managed to ascertain the authenticity of the prophecy. I do not regret that."

  I shook my head, still fuming. "You could have told me the truth. I could have handled it."

  "I didn't want to risk it," she said, her voice pleading. "I didn't want you to think..."

  "If I had been prepared, I would've been able to protect my home! My father!"

  Tears streamed down her face. "I know," she said. "I should've told you."

  "How can I trust you now?"

  "I’ll do anything, Tristain. Anything. I would die for you," she said, then clasped her hand over her mouth as if she'd just said too much.

  "I don't need you to die for me, Thalia," I said. "I would rather you didn't. I don't think I could take another death right now."

  She picked her head up, her jaw hardening. "Listen to me, Tristan," she said. "I know I made mistakes. I know you might not like me right now and I don't blame you. But I'm on your side. I promise."

  I stared at her. "The only reason I'm not sending you back to the palace right now is that I don't want to go into the Dark Forest with only a man I barely know. But when we get back, I think we need to talk about this. We can figure out the details later."

  She sniffled. "Okay," she said, wiping away a couple tears. "I understand."

  I sighed, feeling a little bit of my anger dissipating. She was rarely vulnerable, and seeing her cry made me feel awful. It didn't matter that I knew I was in the right, there was a part of me that wanted to wrap my arms around her and console her.

  But I couldn't do that.

  Not after everything that had happened. The loss of all the people I’d grown up around was still fresh in my mind. This business with being a chosen one, saving the world, learning magic…now was no time for dealing with a lack of trust.

  I needed to be on my guard. And I hated that I had to be on my guard around her.

  Before we could continue our conversation, Alistair stepped out of the cave, his gaze darting between the two of us. "Hope I'm not interrupting anything."

  "You're not," I said sharply.

  Thalia wiped her face with the back of her hand, quickly regaining her composure. "We were just discussing our next steps," she said.

  Alistair nodded. "Right. Well, we should get going if we want to make it through the Dark Forest before nightfall."

  I turned to Thalia. "Do you have experience navigating the Dark Forest?"

  She shook her head. "No. I’ve never been there before. Alistair?”

  He nodded. “Yes, I've been through it a few times before. It's dangerous, but we can make it if we stick together,” he said. “Harlan was giving me more thorough instructions, and he was telling me about the herbs we can eat if we’re stuck. I think he didn’t realize it would be more frightening than helpful.”

  “Anything of note?” Thalia asked.

  “Yes. Two herbs that look almost exactly the same; one will leave you satiated for days, the other one will kill you instantly.”

  “Wonderful,” Thalia said, smiling grimly.

  “We can talk on the way,” I said. “Let’s go.”

  The three of us followed Old Man Harlan's directions to get to the forest, which was surprisingly close. Half a day’s march brought us to the edge of the forest.

  This place was unlike any other I had ever seen. The trees were tall and gnarled, their branches reaching out like grasping fingers. The air was filled with the stench of rot and decay, the ground was littered with the corpses of small animals and birds, I could scarcely make out their bodies, it was as if they were camouflaged by the forest floor.

  The air was so thick with rot it tasted sour.

  We walked on for hours, our eyes constantly scanning the thick shadows for any sign of danger. I couldn't help but wonder if we were really going to find the herb we needed, or if this was all just a wild goose chase.

  As we walked deeper into the forest, the trees grew thicker and the shadows grew darker. We could barely see more than a few feet in front of us, and the rustling of leaves and twigs underfoot was the only sound we could hear.

  Then Thalia gasped.