“Yes,” Nettle said. “Do you honestly think I am a murderer? That I would work with someone who was? I was at that banquet to watch, Princess. Another set of eyes and ears. Nothing more.”
“Then you must know who it was,” Aurora said. She was almost shouting now. She bit her lip to keep the words in, to control her anger before it gave their presence away. “If you were there to watch. You could have stopped it.”
“Princess—” Nettle reached for Aurora’s arm, but Aurora stepped out of reach.
“No,” she said. “No. Have you been watching me, all this time? Is that why you were at the Dancing Unicorn when I went there? Are you supposed to be bringing me to him?”
“No, Princess,” Nettle said softly. “I did not tell him any of your secrets. I was in Petrichor to watch the rebels there, before you ever awoke. And he wanted me to help you. He did not ask me to force you to go to Vanhelm, and I would not have done so if he had. He was concerned for your well-being. As was I.”
“I can take care of myself.” Nettle just watched Aurora, a few loose strands of hair around her face, and waited for her to speak again. “Where are you leading me?” Aurora said eventually. She should have asked more questions before she followed her. They had been going away, and that had been enough, but now her naïveté felt beyond foolish.
“As far from that village as we can get in one night. There is no trap, Aurora. But we cannot be caught out here when the sun rises.”
“Where?” Aurora said. “I won’t go into another village. Not now.” Not until she had her magic under control.
“You won’t,” Nettle said. “I have somewhere safe in mind. A cave. But we must continue if we are to reach it. You do not have to trust me. You can run from me now and I will not follow you. But I want you to be safe, and I think you will be safer with me.”
“Of course you think that,” Aurora said. But she did not move away. Nettle had protected her from the guards. And whatever her motivations, she did not seem to want to hurt Aurora. Quite the opposite. Aurora straightened her back and started to walk along the stream again. Nettle walked beside her.
“Were you there?” Aurora said. “What happened in the village—did you see—?”
“It was already burning when I arrived,” Nettle said. “But the soldiers did nothing to stop the fire. I saw them rounding up the villagers, stopping them from protecting their homes. They took them all away.”
“It was me,” Aurora said. “It was my fault.” She had destroyed a whole village, condemned its people just by her presence.
“Your magic got out of your control?”
“You already know about that?” She did not know why she was surprised. How long had Nettle been watching her, noting details for later dissection?
“I saw you,” Nettle said. “At your presentation, at your wedding. And this fire was not begun by John’s men. It is not so difficult to notice.”
“I destroyed that village,” Aurora said. “I didn’t mean to. It was an accident, but—it was me.” She had grown up hearing how magic was evil, fearing the curse, knowing that it could only twist and destroy. This was her proof. Her magic was no different from any other.
“You may have begun it,” Nettle said, “but the king’s men were the ones who let it destroy the village. They are the ones who will use it against you.”
Aurora’s feet throbbed as they walked. She stumbled slightly, but she refused to slow down. The stream eventually trickled into nothing, and Nettle veered away from the path it had suggested, leading Aurora to the edge of another forest.
The sky was beginning to lighten when Nettle rested a hand on Aurora’s elbow. “There is a cave up the bank here,” she said. “Hard to spot unless you know it. We should rest there.”
“A cave?” Aurora couldn’t see any gaps in the bank. “What if they find us? We’ll have nowhere to run.”
“You are safer hiding under cover than out in the open. But you may go elsewhere, if you wish.”
Nettle began to climb the bank, placing each foot so that no earth was disturbed. Aurora glanced over her shoulder again, but she had nowhere else to go. She followed, careful to step in the same spots each time.