Thirty-one:
Zaan Pulfer
Prince Raoul was missing. After my father came home from talking with Crimson, he had been in a fowl mood. He couldn’t imagine why anyone would choose to be with a monster. I liked to think that my father was a good man. That he protected people from harm. That he would never do anything to hurt anyone. But he was also a Hunter. In his eyes, monsters weren’t people.
When Crimson left, I went to find my mother in her study in the living quarters of the stop on the second floor. The door was closed, and I could hear the scribbling of her quill as she worked on the books. I knocked on the door.
There was a pause. “Yes?” her melodic voice asked.
I opened the door. “Something’s happened.”
She froze. “What’s that?”
“The Prince has go
