There was nothing holding me back.
I straightened, staring at one of them and then the next. “There’s nothing holding me back.”
Jack nodded, his face guarded and wary.
William blinked at me from behind his glasses, all concern.
“There’s nothing holding me back,” I repeated.
Evan nodded, a little smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.
“You know it, baby,” Daniel said, grabbing me and picking me up, spinning me around as he had before.
“I can go anywhere,” I said. “I can do anything.”
“First get dressed,” Evan said, handing me the bundle I’d dropped when I started to unravel.
I unwrapped the dress, a fine purple gown that I’d made by hand. It was heavy, with threads made of real gold and strips of purple velvet in between wider panels of hand-sewn brocade.
“That’s an interesting choice for hiking,” Jack said.
“Should I wait to put it on?” I asked, hesitating halfway into the thing. “I could go without clothes like all of you.”
“Naked hiking isn’t the best experience, either,” Daniel said. “Y’all should shift. I’ll ride the horse since I have clothes. If you get tired of flying, Astrid, you can ride with me.”
“So unfair,” William grumbled to Evan. “You get to have a hot girl riding you, and I get to be a cow.”
“I get to have Daniel riding my ass,” Evan said.
We all shifted and started off down the mountain. I usually shifted into a falcon, but I’d tried out almost every kind of bird I could think of when I’d been learning to fly. Now, I shifted into an owl, so I could see in the dark. The moon had risen higher, but it was too dark for most bird eyes.
“You’re a really talented shifter,” Daniel said as we started down the mountain. “Most people have trouble shifting into other forms.”
I couldn’t do more than hoot in answer, but in truth, I could only shift easily into various birds. I still shuddered at the memory of trying to force my body into the form of a turtle, and since learning I could shift into other animals, I’d tried to shift into a few things without much success.
Jack led the way down the mountain, followed by Daniel on horseback and William in bull form. I swooped overhead, resting frequently on branches. The more I flew, the easier it became to land. Maybe all I’d really needed was more space to practice. Out here I had enough space to curve my wings to catch the air and slow myself, then to grip onto a branch and settle while the land animals caught up again.
Soon enough, we were at the bottom of the mountain, and a wide dirt path cut through the forest. I’d seen roads from my tower, but none up close like this. I marveled at it while Daniel dismounted. The others shifted into human form, so I did, too, though I wouldn’t have minded flying all night long. With the cool breeze ruffling my feathers and the bright moon overhead, I could have stayed out there forever.
Daniel handed my dress to me, and the others got out a bag they had stashed in a tree. We all dressed before starting down the road.
“Ready to meet our mom?” Jack asked, giving me a smile that seemed to hold more meaning than I could decipher.
“Sure,” I said. A minute later, we turned into a driveway where a home of some sort sat. At least, I thought it was a home. It didn’t look like the castles in the illustrated tales I’d read, or even like the humble cottages. It was a rectangular metal box that sat up on square, grey stones, and it had only a couple tiny windows. Inside, one pale light burned.
Daniel bounded ahead and opened the door, bowing with a flourish as he gestured for us to enter. Jack gave me a tight-lipped smile and held my hand to help me up the steps. My foot caught on the hem of my dress, and I lurched forward, almost tumbling on my face before I’d even made it in the door. I yanked at the fabric, finally jerking it out from under my toes.
“Once again, she knows how to make an entrance,” Evan said as I stumbled into the trailer. A woman was inside, sitting on a long, puffy chair with cracked cushions, watching a group of tiny people inside a glass box. She had a worn, wrinkled face that wasn’t nearly as beautiful as Mother Dear’s, and she wore a pair of jeans and a plaid shirt instead of a dress. I reminded myself that she hadn’t known I was coming.
“Mom, this is Astrid,” Jack said, squaring his shoulders and resting a hand on my lower back.
“The princess,” William added.
“Oh, look at you,” the woman said, rising from the cushioned seat. She reached toward me, holding her hand sideways instead of palm up. I wasn’t sure what to do. Mother Dear had taught me how to give my hand to a boy for a kiss, but not a woman. After a second, I laid my hand over the top of hers. She clasped my hand in both of hers and shook it up and down.
“It’s nice to meet you, Astrid,” she said. “You’re…Owen’s daughter?”
“Yes,” I said, brightening at the familiar name of Father Dear. Everything here was so different that I didn’t know what to do.
“Ah,” she said, nodding. “That makes sense, then. That’s why I haven’t see you around the valley. Who’s your mother, dear?”
“Mother Dear,” I said. “Or, Yvonne. That’s her first name.”
She cast a questioning look at the boys, who did some shuffling and shrugging and cutting their eyes at each other. “The witch,” Jack said at last.
“Oh!” their mom said, drawing back. “Yvonne the witch? That explains the fine clothes.”
“It does?”
“Oh, well, you’d just never see that kind of thing in the Third Valley,” she said. “You know what they say. Third Valley, third class.” She gave a little laugh that sounded forced, gesturing to her clothes.
I didn’t know what she meant, but then it dawned on me. She hadn’t prepared a feast or dressed for the occasion because she wasn’t a noble. She was a commoner who would come to see me when I paraded through town on coronation day.
“Are you…seeing Jack?” she asked, giving her son a questioning look.
“Something like that,” Daniel said with a grin.
“Well, you’re welcome to hang out here, if that’s what you kids want. You can see we don’t have a lot to do, but it’s nice of the boys to finally bring home a girl for me to meet.” She sat down on the couch again and put her feet on a funny, low table in front of her.
“It’s not like that,” Jack said, his face going a little pink.
“Like what?” I asked.
“I’ll explain later,” he said, his fingers brushing my lower back again. I sighed and leaned back into him, and he stumbled at little, like I’d caught him by surprise.
“Are those elves?” I said, nodding toward the glass box.
“No, those are people,” Jack said, looking like he was trying not to laugh again. “That’s a TV, Astrid. It’s not real.”
“How did they get in there?” I asked, leaning down to look closer. “Did you give them a shrinking brew?”
All four boys started laughing, and their mother stared at me. “You don’t have TV in your valley?”
“No,” I said. “What is it?”
“We can explain all that later,” Evan said. “Let’s figure out what we’re going to do with you. Where are you going to stay?”
“I thought I could see the people,” I said. “How they live and everything. If I’m going to rule them one day…”
“Didn’t you tell her?” their mother said, frowning at the boys. “Astrid, honey. The shifter king, or queen in your case, doesn’t really have any control over his people. He’s not really a ruler. He’s more of a…symbol.”
“Not a very good one, either,” Evan muttered.
“What do you mean?” I asked. “I’m the princess. When he’s done being king, I’ll be coronated and take his place. I’ll be the shifter queen.”
“You can try,” William said. “But shifters don’t really stand on all that ceremony.”
“But…Mother Dear said…”
&
nbsp; “If you want to see how shifters live, look around,” their mom said. “This is pretty much it. I’d invite you to stay, but we only have one bedroom for all four of the boys. I sleep out here on the couch.” She patted the cushions under her. It didn’t look wide enough for even a skinny person to sleep comfortably, not to mention the condition of it left a lot to be desired.
“Then I’ll sleep here, too,” I said. “If I’m going to be the princess, I should know how the people live. I should live and work right beside them, not sit up in my tower like a dragon hoarding treasure.” I shot Daniel a smile as I quoted his earlier words.
“It’s okay,” Jack said. “We’ll take her to her dad’s. We just wanted to bring her by to introduce her.”
The boys headed for the door, and even though I still had a million questions, I followed them out. “We’re going to see Father?” I asked as we stepped out into the darkness.
“That’s what she thinks,” Jack said with a grin.
Chapter Nineteen
Astrid
“Where are we going?” I asked as we congregated in the yard outside.
“In through our window,” Jack said, nodding toward the end of the boxy house. “You can stay as long as you want, and then we’ll take you to a safe place where no one will look for you. Unless you want to go to your dad’s.”
“No,” I said with a shiver. “My mother might be there.”
“And we’re here,” Daniel said, wiggling his eyebrows at me.
“Exactly,” I said. “Usually I just imagine you’re there when I’m going to sleep. Tonight, you’ll really be here.”
“You think about us when you’re going to sleep?” William asked as we headed for a small window. Jack popped out the screen and pushed open a glass window.
“Every night,” I said. “I don’t have much else to think about.”
“Wow,” Daniel said, hesitating at the window. “You just say whatever’s on your mind, don’t you?”
“Yes,” I said. “Why wouldn’t I?”
“Most girls… You know. They play hard to get.”
“Is that good or bad?”
“You’re good,” Evan said, his voice a low rumble that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. He stepped up behind me, his hands settling on my hips. “Ready?”
“Do you think about me?” I asked.
“All the time,” Jack said.
“Me, too,” William said.
“Y’all are hopeless,” Daniel said.
Evan snorted.
“Tell me you don’t,” Jack said.
“Never,” Evan said, lifting me up to the window. I slid my arms through, then my head, then wormed my way in. It wasn’t a tight fit, but it wasn’t a big window like mine. I didn’t know how the guys could fit through, but one at a time, they did.
“Welcome to our room,” Daniel said, gesturing grandly to the tiny space. Two beds filled almost the entire room, with just a walkway between them and a small dresser at the end of each.
“Can I stay here tonight?” I asked. “All night?”
“We should really get you somewhere safer,” Jack said. “This place isn’t very good protection.”
“Mother Dear probably won’t be home tonight,” I said. “She usually stays gone for days.”
“What if she comes home?” Daniel asked.
“She won’t know where I went,” I said. “I’ll go tomorrow. I promise. I just…everything is so new. I thought maybe I could be with someone familiar tonight.”
“It’s not that we don’t want you to stay,” Evan said.
“Really?” I asked. “You want me to stay?”
“More than anything,” Jack said.
“Then it’s settled,” Daniel said.
“Since me and Jack are the ones thinking about you, you’ll probably want to sleep in our bed,” William said to me, gesturing at a bed.
“Hey,” Daniel said. “That’s not fair.”
“You had your turn today,” Evan said quietly.
“The lady can choose for herself,” Jack said, his eyes fixed on me. They were serious for once, and more than that. They seemed to communicate with me, as if we shared an understanding. I could see how deeply he needed me, maybe even more than I needed him. My need was spread between all four of them, but Jack needed only me. I could read all this in his eyes, just the way I read my books. And somehow, I knew that he understood it all, too.
I tore my eyes from his, meeting William’s next. He looked so full of hope, openly vulnerable to what I would choose. Daniel smiled, but he also looked bit resigned. His brother had spoken, and he respected his word. And Evan. Oh, Evan. The quiet one, who so rarely spoke when his brothers were there to do it for him, but who had spoken easily to me when we were alone. Evan, who had touched me in the rain, who had woken my body to this new desire that I’d never known before. He pressed his lips together and gave the slightest nod.
“What now?” William asked, looking around at his brothers.
“I should take a shower if I’m going to be sleeping next to Astrid,” Jack said. “A cold one.”
The guys gave each other looks that I didn’t understand.
“I don’t think it’s supposed to rain,” I said. “Cold or otherwise.”
They blinked at me for a second. “Not a rain shower,” William said. “A shower’s how you get clean. Like a bath.”
“Oh,” I said. “Then why do you call it a shower?”
“It showers down on you,” William said. “Come on, I’ll show you.”
“You can’t take her out there,” Daniel said. “Mom will see.”
“I’ll be a bird,” I said. “I can ride on his shoulder, and she won’t see me.”
“Now that sounds more like a sixteen-year-old girl,” Jack said with an approving grin.
I shifted and fluttered out of my gown, which Daniel picked up and laid across the bed. William took me in his hands and carried me out of the room, a few steps down a narrow passage, and into another room, this one even tinier than theirs. I’d never seen rooms so small.
I shifted back to human, which made William gulp. His face went pink, and he turned away to pull back a plasticky curtain.
“This is the shower,” he said, gesturing at a small white tub. He turned a couple metal handles at one end, and rain rushed out of a metal spout above.
“Oh, wow,” I said, laughing and clapping my hands together.
“It’s warm, too,” he said, smiling at my reaction. “Feel.”
He stuck his hand out to catch the raindrops, and I did the same. It was warm—warmer than the warmest rain I’d ever felt. As warm as a bath. I searched the flat, dry wall where the water spout appeared and produced warm rain from nothing. “Is it magic?” I asked.
“Technology,” he said. “So, yeah, I guess it’s a sort of magic.”
We stood there smiling at each other for a moment, letting warm rain pelt down on our hands. “Can I bathe in it?”
William’s throat did that funny thing where the bump bobbed up and down. “Yeah.”
I stepped in, holding back a little shriek of delight at the pleasure of having warm water beating down on me. It really was like a bath, and I loved baths. Now, I didn’t even have to heat the water on the stove one kettle at a time and carry it to the tub. I just stepped in, and it ran over me. “You have to feel this,” I said, reaching for William.
“Uh… Are you sure?” he stammered, his face going even more red.
“Yes, it feels amazing.”
He looked at me a long moment. “I really can’t leave, or Mom will see me leaving and hear the shower still running,” he said at last. “But I could just…sit here while you shower?”
“You don’t want to get in?”
“I do, but… Astrid. We’ll be naked together.”
“I know,” I said, remembering what I’d done with Evan in the rain. “That feels good, too.”
“You’ve been naked with a boy before?”
> “Of course,” I said. “I was naked with all of you.”
“Yeah, but…not when you were alone with us.”
“I was with Evan.”
“Oh,” he said, his face crumpling. “Well, see, that usually means that you like someone. And if you like Evan, then I probably shouldn’t shower with you.”
“But I like you, too,” I said. “And it’ll feel good for you, too. He told me.”
“Are you sure?” William asked. “If he thinks you’re his girlfriend or something…”
“I’m everyone’s friend,” I said. “And everyone should feel good. Daniel made me feel good today.”
“Did he?” William asked, a funny look on his face. “How’d he do that?”
“He kissed me all over,” I said. “I feel good with all of you, but especially when we’re naked.”
William hesitated, then peeled off his T-shirt. His skin was pale like mine instead of tan like Jack’s, but he had the same freckles as Evan on his shoulders. He quickly dropped his shorts and stepped into the shower. I pulled him closer, so our bodies were pressed together the way that felt the best.
“I don’t know how I feel about this,” William said quietly, stroking my hair back.
“Doesn’t it feel good?”
He swallowed, nodding.
“Then what’s wrong with it?”
“Nothing,” he said. “It’s just…I’m not used to people being so…rational about it.”
“I like to feel good,” I said, turning to let the warmth splash over the front side of me.
“Let me wash your back,” William said. He picked up the soap, running the bar over my skin. My body sighed with pleasure as his fingers kneaded my muscles, rubbing in the bubbles even as the warm water trickled over my shoulders. After a while, he put the soap back and kept massaging, rubbing my muscles, his fingers sliding over my slippery skin. I leaned back against him with a sigh, warm and relaxed all the way through.
“Thank you,” I said.
“Thank you for letting me serve you, princess,” he said, a smile in his voice. He reached for the soap, lathering his hands before sliding them up the front of my body. “This is definitely payment in itself.”
Caged: A Twisted Fairytale Retelling Page 11