A Captive of Wing and Feather

by Melanie Cellier

  He grinned. “Their caution is like a red rag to a bull where I’m concerned, I’m afraid.”

  I rolled my eyes, but I was too interested in what he was saying to comment on his irresponsible nature.

  “You mean it’s not just Brylee? It’s the whole kingdom?” My eyes widened. “Is that why the whole army massed at the border with Palinar and then just sat there for years? The locals seemed to think it only logical, but I could never understand such a strange course of action.”

  Gabe’s face turned serious.

  “It’s a course of action that nearly ruined Talinos. So many men sitting idle for so long? Our production nearly ground to a halt, and paying them was emptying the royal coffers. If things hadn’t changed in Palinar—and if I hadn’t finally managed to convince my parents to disperse the soldiers and set them to more useful tasks around the kingdom…” He shook his head. “It was like no one could think of anything but their fear of what might cross the border—and yet no one could take any positive action either. Surely Talinos cannot have been going on in such a manner for my whole life without my noticing.”

  “No, indeed…” I said slowly. “I don’t think…” I looked up at him. “What of your brother, Percy? He was only a year younger than me, so he must be seventeen by now. Surely he is not equally timid?”

  Gabe’s face twisted. “He’s as bad as anyone.”

  “Then it must be new,” I said with conviction. “He’s closer in age to many of us younger princesses than he is to you older boys, but he was always determined to keep up with you. Do you remember when he was seven, and he broke his arm trying to—”

  “Oh yes. Now that you mention it, I do remember that,” Gabe said quickly, cutting me off. “Although, to be fair, I broke my arm as well.” He shook his head ruefully. “I was no doubt a terrible role model for a brother three years younger.”

  It didn’t seem polite to agree with him, so I said nothing. A thoughtful expression crept over his face.

  “You know, I spent a lot of hours loitering around the town waiting for you yesterday. It did seem particularly bad here—more so than back in the capital.”

  “Perhaps because we’re near the border?” I asked. “Ever since my parents…” My words faltered, and I couldn’t bring myself to refer to their deaths out loud. Just as I had feared, Gabe’s presence was bringing back a part of my life that I had put away for good.

  I could feel a crawling sensation from my scalp down my spine as I remembered the face of the servant who brought the news to my mother—my father and Dominic’s trip had resulted in the murder of an entire village. Everyone had fled before him after that, except for her. My mother loved our people too much not to protest such an atrocity. But, selfishly, I wished she had stayed in her rooms that day.

  Watching my father send my mother tumbling down the stairs to her death had been traumatic enough without the shocks that followed. I saw them now, racing through my memory. My godmother’s pronouncement of a curse on our kingdom. My father attacking her, only for her to step back into thin air leaving him to fall to his own death. Dominic rejecting the godmother’s call to free our people, instead roaming the palace full of pride and anger. My own repeated attempts to speak to him, and his continued rejection.

  Whatever rage had gripped him, it had left no room for the love I had always believed he bore for me. Sometimes I even wondered if he had been aware enough to see me in those horrifying days. It was like he had forgotten I even existed, no thought in his mind for anyone other than himself.

  No immediate danger threatened me now, but still I felt the panic of those days when I found myself alone at thirteen in the vast empty palace of Palinar, surrounded by an equally empty city. I had no idea what had happened to my people, no chance to farewell my mother at the grand funeral she deserved, and no words of comfort or arms to cry in. I had nothing but fear, and hopelessness, and grief. Until my godmother reappeared, and I had the haven.

  Gasping, I pushed the images away and the emotions down. I was here now, at my lake, and I had more immediate concerns.

  Re-wording, I tried again. “Ever since the curse on Palinar, it seems like most Talinosians have been obsessed with the taint creeping across the border and consuming them as well. Well, what if they were actually right, in a way? Maybe it was already here—maybe it’s still here—and they just can’t see it.”

  A softness entered Gabe’s eyes at the mention of my parents, and when he spoke, his words were gentle.

  “Jon has been convinced for a long time now that what happened with your family in Palinar opened the door to a darkness that has been infecting many of the kingdoms. Marin was nearly destroyed—until the new princesses managed to turn things around there.”

  He leaned forward suddenly, his expression turning eager.

  “Did you hear there are godmothers here now? They never left the Old Kingdoms, and Lily and Sophie even have a godmother of their own. A godmother helped Jon, too, and he and the twins managed to destroy the Tourney!”

  “Destroy the Tourney?” I stared at him.

  “And then Sophie freed your brother—and Palinar along with him—and Celine managed to thaw the Eldonians. And Snow somehow managed to stand up to her stepmother—which is almost as astonishing as all the rest. I suppose you heard her father died?”

  I nodded. “Yes, poor King George—and poor Snow. Although I’m glad she’s Queen Blanche now. But what did you mean by thawing the Eldonians?”

  He shook his head. “That’s a long story, and it’s all over now. My concern is for Talinos—because it certainly looks like whatever darkness is festering here has yet to be driven away. I’ve been traveling for a while now, and I didn’t notice the other border towns being as bad. Which makes me wonder…”

  He turned to me, his eyes glowing and his voice slightly breathless. “Do you think Brylee could be at the center of whatever has happened to Talinos? Could this Leander somehow be part of it? Maybe he recognized that you were a danger to his plans, and so he decided to trap you before you could upset them?”

  I frowned. “It seems like a very elaborate scheme for such a simple purpose—especially given I wasn’t exactly posing much threat to anyone back then. I lived at the haven and helped Cora with the elderly residents and the children.”

  Gabe deflated somewhat. “No, I suppose there would have to be more to it. But that doesn’t mean he isn’t tied into whatever is happening to my kingdom. Which makes it all the more important to get inside his castle and see what’s going on.”

  “If Leander is plotting against the kingdom, your rank may not be enough to keep you safe,” I cautioned.

  “I’m not worried about me—I’m worried about my people.” He hesitated, peering at me, as if he wasn’t sure if his next words would be welcome. “I’m glad you found the haven. It’s why I came to Brylee, actually. I heard there was a place where anyone who needed it could find safe shelter, and I wondered if—well, I suppose I hoped more than anything—that you might have found such a place.”

  I turned my face away. I hadn’t found the haven—I had been placed there. And it wasn’t news to me that the godmothers had returned to these lands—because it had been my own godmother who placed me with Cora. When I had no one, my godmother found me a new family. I had even found a new happiness, despite the grief for my mother. But then I had turned sixteen, gone for an ill-advised walk in the woods, and been lured into an elaborate trap that changed everything.

  Sometimes, at night, when I was alone, I wondered if my godmother had foreseen it. She had looked so kind when she came to me in the palace at Palinar—to a thirteen-year-old, alone, grief-stricken, and confused. She had worn none of the avenging anger that had clothed her as she confronted my father standing over the stairs where my mother had fallen to her death.

  She had offered me a way out—and I had gladly taken it. But surely she had known of the evil that lurked in these woods? On those nights it was hard to forget her role in m
y father’s death—as deserving of that fate as he may have been. The possibility that she was not, after all, a friendly force had kept me from calling on her through the two years of my curse.

  “You know, I’ve been wondering…” Gabe said, jolting me from my thoughts. “You were saying earlier that yours is a strange sort of curse, and I’ve been thinking about all those other kingdoms and what happened in them.”

  He jumped up and began to stride again, causing several of my swans to look up abruptly and honk loudly. He ignored them. Finally he stopped and looked back at me.

  “What do you know of godmother objects?”

  Chapter 6

  I blinked in surprise.

  “You mean like the royal mirrors?”

  He nodded. “Among other things. They’re the magical objects the godmothers use to help drive back the darkness and ensure true love triumphs. We don’t have as many of them as the Old Kingdoms apparently, since we’ve gone so many years without the godmothers, but we do have them.”

  I raised my brows, and he crossed over to drop down beside me again.

  “We didn’t grow up with the stories like Lily and Sophie did, but it turns out it’s all true. If a kingdom is ruled by true love, then everyone prospers. That’s why the godmothers do it. Lily explained the whole thing to me once. And it certainly seems to be making a difference in Palinar and Eldon and Eliam.” He laughed. “It sounds like a fairy story, doesn’t it? But it seems our ancestors went astray and that’s what opened the door to all this darkness in the first place.”

  I bit my lip. I thought it was my father who had done that. But then I had seen the way he warped the brother I once loved…Maybe a long time ago, someone had warped him in the same way, the problem stretching back for generations.

  “But what do godmother objects have to do with any of this?” I asked.

  “Godmother objects and gifts are the only source of power in the kingdoms. I guess I’d heard that, but it never really meant anything to me. Except then I went to Eldon for Oliver’s wedding. Celine has a lot of stories—and even more brothers and sisters.” He shook his head. “Seriously, there’s a seemingly never-ending supply of them. And most of them have unbelievable tales about how they fell in love and saved their kingdoms. But Celine herself—”

  “Who’s Celine?” I interrupted.

  He looked surprised for a moment and then gave me an apologetic look.

  “Sorry! I keep forgetting how much you’ve missed.” He chuckled. “It’s hard to imagine anyone not knowing Celine. She’s…a force to be reckoned with. But I think I’ll leave you to find out about Celine’s special gifts yourself.”

  “That sounds ominous,” I said.

  “Well, she saved Eldon—thanks to her godmother. And that’s my point.”

  “That Celine has a godmother?” It had been a long day, and the various shocks were starting to take their toll. Too many thoughts were swirling around my mind, and I was struggling to follow the conversation.

  He laughed. “No, that’s entirely irrelevant.”

  I pulled my eyebrows together, giving him an unimpressed look.

  “Sorry,” he said again. “I’m making a muddle of it. It’s just that I heard a number of cases from Celine and her siblings where people with evil intent were able to find and collect godmother objects, and then twist them to their purposes. And I wonder if that could be what’s going on here.”

  “You think Leander is using a godmother object to keep me trapped here?” I asked.

  “How else could he be doing it?” He leaned toward me. “It might even be more than one. And it would make sense of why some parts of the enchantment seem almost positive—and why it didn’t turn out quite how he wanted. Maybe the original enchantment was meant to protect a place—like this lake.” He waved his arm around to indicate the clearing around us. “And maybe he twisted it to trap you here—you’re probably right, and he never meant for you to be able to leave during the day.”

  “And the swans?” I asked skeptically.

  “Like I said, maybe that’s a second object.” He was warming even more to his theories. “Maybe it was originally intended to allow someone to communicate with animals—or swans particularly—and he tried to twist it so that you would communicate like an animal, or something. Maybe he even intended to turn you into a swan.”

  “Now you’re getting a bit carried away,” I said, unable to resist a small smile despite myself.

  He grinned back. “Well, maybe not that. But who knows his plans? The good news is that, if I’m right, we have a plan, at least.”

  “We do?”

  “We need to find those godmother objects and destroy them—that should break the enchantment. Which means you were right. We need Leander, so that he can lead us to them.”

  “And how are you planning to get him to do that?” I asked.

  A dimple appeared in one of his cheeks. “I suppose it’s more the beginning of a plan than a full plan—but that’s enough for me.”

  “I’ll bet it is,” I mumbled to myself.

  When I looked up, he was giving me a questioning look, but I didn’t repeat myself.

  “It’s getting late,” I said instead. “We need a full plan, but I’m tired. I suppose you’ll have to stay here for the rest of the night—you’ll never find your way back in the dark. But in the morning, you need to go back to the town. Come up with some excuse for the innkeeper about where you were all night—we don’t want word getting to Leander that you were in the forest all night.”

  “And then what?” he asked.

  “I’ve been here for two years. There’s no big hurry now. Tomorrow night we can talk again.” I gave him a stern look. “And see if we can come up with a proper plan.”

  “Yes, Your Highness,” he said gravely, but his eyes twinkled at me.

  “There’s a thick patch of grass on that side of the lake.” I pointed across the water. “It will make a nice enough bed.”

  I expected him to protest at not being invited to join me in my shelter, but he stood up meekly enough and bid me goodnight. I watched him with narrow eyes as he made his way around the edge of the water, glancing back in my direction every so often.

  When it became clear he was following my directions, I curled on my pallet, my back pressed against Sweetie’s warm bulk. I closed my eyes, but sleep didn’t come.

  The lake was always still at night, and I could hear faint sounds as he settled himself across the water. His presence felt incongruous with this place—a jarring note that I had never experienced in my many nights here. It kept me awake and alert, every little sound setting me on edge.

  It was true that I was tired, but that had only been an excuse to give me space from Gabe. I needed time to think. Clearly I wasn’t getting rid of him, but I wasn’t sure how to incorporate him into my plans. Because everything I had told Gabe was the truth—but it wasn’t the whole truth. I wasn’t ready to trust him with that.

  I woke before the first lightening of dawn reached the lake, just as I did every morning. But this was the first morning when it actually mattered that I had a final few waking moments in possession of my voice.

  I crossed to the edge of the lake to refresh myself, and Gabe stood immediately, coming to join me. I didn’t know if he was usually an early riser or if he had slept lightly given the circumstances. He certainly looked awake and alert in the remaining moonlight and the first gray hint of dawn. I couldn’t predict the exact moment day would reach us, so I spoke quickly.

  “I assume you can find your own way back to Brylee?”

  Gabe regarded me with curiosity in his eyes.

  “If I said no, would you guide me?”

  “No. Any moment now I’ll have the language of the swans again, and I’ll ask one of them to accompany you and give you warning if you veer in the wrong direction.”

  “So they really do understand you? Like a person would?” He looked awed.

  I glanced to the side where several
of the swans lay pressed together, still asleep. “Not exactly like a person—sometimes the complexities escape them. But certainly far more like one than I can imagine is natural for a group of wild swans. I suspect they’ve been trapped and transformed by the curse just as I have, even if Leander didn’t intend it.”

  Gabe looked at them consideringly before turning back to me.

  “You really don’t mean to accompany me? I thought you spent your days in the town?”

  “I spend some of my day there,” I said shortly. “And I have no interest in being seen emerging from the forest in the early hours of the morning in your company. The townsfolk already see me as odd—and therefore suspicious—enough as it is.”

  I also had something else I needed to do before heading for Brylee—but I didn’t intend to tell Gabe anything about it. Not yet, at any rate.

  He looked as if he meant to question me further, but a spear of light thrust between the trunks of the trees, significantly brightening the scene around us, and I grimaced. My hand rose instinctively to my throat, and Gabe cut off whatever he had intended to say. Conversation was over between us until night fell again.

  “I will be here again tonight,” Gabe warned—although perhaps he meant it as a promise.

  I gave him a tight smile and a quick nod before turning to my sleeping swans. Several of them had woken, stretching and flapping their wings, and at my attention, they began to waddle toward me. I glanced at Gabe out of the corner of my eye, considering.

  I had been thinking of sending Sammy with him—she was one of the steadiest and most reliable of the birds. But irritation at his intrusion welled inside me, and when I bugled to the swans, I found myself directing my instructions elsewhere.

  “Eagle,” I said. “Can you make sure he gets back to Brylee safely?”

  Let Gabe deal with the most ornery of the swans. And Eagle would probably be at her most cantankerous, too, since she wouldn’t like being left out of our usual morning task. But she had been the one to bring him to the clearing, after all, so it was a fitting punishment for them both.