Chapter 5
They crept through the woods, up long and winding paths, until they reached the cave. The toads fanned out so they surrounded the space, toads above, toads below, toads blending in with the rock face at the entrance.
A warm glow spilled from the cave’s interior. In the quiet of predawn, Gemma could hear the crackling of the fire, the clatter of boots on stone, the murmur of sleepy conversation.
The sound of pounding hooves jolted her. Giles? So soon? But they hadn’t given the signal. Her heart hammered in time with the hoofbeats. Her mouth went dry. Queen Francesca, squatting on her shoulder, murmured, “What has he done? Humans. So impatient.”
But the horse that stopped before the cave’s entrance wasn’t Giles’s war mare. Instead, a stallion came to a halt, black as night, and
