A Captive of Wing and Feather

by Melanie Cellier

  I issued no objections, so we were soon on our way. When we arrived at the haven, however, we were only steps behind Ash, so it was impossible to pull Audrey aside. The baker exclaimed over her return, and insisted she eat one of the cakes he had brought—a task she accepted with great enthusiasm. He also showed great interest in the inner workings of the Keep, asking her a number of questions.

  When she had answered them, he confessed his interest was not without selfish motive.

  “I have some news,” he said, “and have been hoping I’m the first to bring it to you.” He looked hopefully at Wren as he spoke, and she drifted nearer, curiosity on her face.

  “Lord Leander is to host a party at his Keep!” he announced, once she reached his side. “Can you imagine? And all of Brylee is invited.”

  “So he really means to do it? I’m astonished,” Cora said.

  “You had heard of his intention?” Ash looked a little crestfallen. “I have to admit, it took me utterly by surprise. Who could have imagined such a thing after so many years?” He straightened slightly, a proud smile on his face. “But that is not all. His servants have finally appeared again—or at least a couple of them—and are busy procuring supplies for the event. And guess who has been asked to bake the cakes? It will be an enormous order.”

  “Oh, Ash! How wonderful.” Wren laid a hand on his arm. “And such a compliment since they must have a chef of their own.”

  “No doubt she will be otherwise occupied with the savory dishes.” Ash couldn’t hide the pleasure in his voice at Wren’s praise. “I’m to attend the castle in three days with samples for us to discuss the menu.”

  “Three days? That’s quick,” said Cora.

  “Well the party is to be in only a week. I imagine they must be in a flurry of preparations up there, it’s no wonder they had to turn to Brylee for supplies. It’s to be in honor of Your Highness, of course.” Ash bowed his head in Gabe’s direction, and the prince nodded in return.

  Although he was taking it in stride now, the baker had looked nearly as surprised to find the crown prince here at the haven as he had been to find Audrey returned.

  “His servants seem to have recovered from their illness rather swiftly,” Cora said in an aside to the two of us.

  “Indeed.” Gabe’s voice was unusually serious.

  I glanced up at him quickly. What was he thinking? That such haste on Leander’s part—after so many years without hosting so much as a simple reception—seemed ominous?

  Because I was certainly thinking that.

  After all our efforts to gain entry to the Keep, in one week, we were all to be invited through the front gate. And yet, I felt nothing but dread.

  Chapter 14

  Clearly news of the party had filtered into the haven from multiple sources because while Ash hadn’t left the kitchen, the children soon came streaming in en masse, exclaiming about it and begging to be allowed to go. Even Selena and Frank abandoned their dignity to join the pleading.

  Cora, however, announced that as far as the haven was concerned, it was an event for adults only. After that, it took the combined efforts of Wren, Audrey, and myself to soothe and placate the devastated children. But I didn’t once waver and consider speaking to Cora on their behalf. I didn’t want children anywhere near Leander.

  It wasn’t until after the children had been consoled with Ash’s cakes that we were able to herd them all back into the large room designated for their schooling. Wren remained behind with them and, after three escape attempts, managed to keep Juniper with her as well.

  In the chaos, I caught both Gabe and Audrey’s attention, gesturing for them to extricate themselves and follow me. I led the way to an empty room I had recently cleaned out after the departure of its resident. When Gabe closed the door behind him, we all took a moment to simply breathe and enjoy the calm and quiet.

  But our minds inevitably turned to the various problems confronting us, Gabe and Audrey speaking at the same time.

  “We sent the swans on a scouting mission, and they say they can lead us to the wolves.”

  “I don’t like the sound of this party.” Audrey cut herself off and blinked at Gabe. “The wolves? You really want to go looking for them?”

  “We have to,” said Gabe. “I cannot leave wolves rampaging around my kingdom attacking people. Especially not when such behavior is so far outside their usual ways. Something has affected them, and I need to know what it is.”

  Audrey didn’t look entirely convinced, and I had to admit I understood her hesitation. But I also understood Gabe’s determination. He had a responsibility to Talinos that she did not.

  “I wasn’t thinking that you would come along, Audrey,” he assured her. “We just wanted to inform someone of our intentions.” He turned to me. “But, in fact, there’s no reason for you to come either, Adelaide. It would no doubt be safest for me to go alone.”

  I frowned and pulled out my paper. He might have deluded himself into thinking he was safe in Leander’s Keep, but he couldn’t possibly think he would be safer alone while scouting a pack of unnaturally aggressive wolves through a forest known to contain at least one pocket of enchantment. He was trying to protect me. But while I might not have his skill with a bow, I did come with some advantages. My wedge of aerial scouts being the main one.

  Various arguments and recriminations filled my mind, and I considered how best to condense them down to the most efficient number of words. In the end, I gave up and kept it to two words.

 

  I trusted in my glare to convey the rest of my feelings on the matter, and to my relief, it must have been a speaking one because he didn’t attempt to argue further. I then switched subjects.

 

  “Perhaps.” Gabe’s voice suggested he wasn’t greatly concerned. “But it also presents us with the perfect opportunity to get inside the Keep.”

  “Yes, but Lord Leander will know we’re there,” Audrey said, “which is a major difference. I think it would be much better if we snuck in.” She looked quite agitated as she continued to enumerate her arguments. “Plus, there’s no way he’s throwing everyone a party out of the goodness of his heart.” She looked between us. “If it fits with his plan to have us all inside his Keep in a week’s time, then surely we need to get ahead of him. You’ve said you think this is about more than Adelaide—that he might have enchanted the whole kingdom—so who knows what he’s planning?” She was working herself up into a crescendo now. “Perhaps he even means to use the party as an opportunity to assassinate you, Your Highness!”

  Gabe looked like he was about to laugh until he saw my face.

  “You can’t really think that’s a danger?” he asked.

  I bit my lip and slowly shrugged. I didn’t know what to think. But it was certainly something I feared—and something he would do better to have a healthy fear of as well.

  “But if he wanted to do that,” Gabe argued, “why throw a party and invite the whole town? It seems like he would have far better opportunities. I did show up at his gate and invite myself in, after all.”

 

  Audrey peered at my words and nodded vigorously, grasping onto my thoughts and taking them further.

  “He won’t want to risk the guilt falling on him. He probably intends to have a whole host of witnesses to your accidental death.”

  Gabe didn’t look entirely convinced. “As you both already know, I have no qualms about gaining illicit entry to Leander’s Keep, but we have yet to work out a way to achieve such entry. And, in the meantime, I must go after those wolves. The swans managed to locate them, but we have no way of knowing how long they will remain in one place. We have to move quickly or risk losing them.”

  I nodded. I agreed we needed to leave—and soon. But an idea had struck me.

  said he’s been invited to the Keep in three days’ time.>

  Audrey gasped, her eyes growing round. “It’s perfect! He said he has to take samples, so I’m sure he intends to drive in with his wagon. We could be hiding in the back!”

  Gabe arched an eyebrow. “And Ash would be amenable to the three of us turning up and asking to secrete ourselves among his baked goods?”

  Audrey grinned. “From what I’ve seen this morning, not much has changed in the six months I’ve been away. Ash is sweet on my sister, and I bet she could convince him to do anything.”

  “I don’t like the idea of putting him at risk,” Gabe said slowly.

  “He won’t be at risk if Lord Leander never knows anything about it,” Audrey countered. “And even if something went wrong, you’re the crown prince. Ash can just say that you ordered him to do it.”

  I worried at my lip. It had been my idea, but I kept thinking of ways it might go wrong.

 

  Audrey paused for a moment, her eyes trained on the opposite wall, before turning and giving me a grin.

  “I might have an idea about that. I think this idea could work, but…” She trailed off, giving me an apologetic look.

  My heart sank.

  “I’m going to have to tell Wren the truth,” Audrey continued, just as I feared. “Because I’ll need her to help me.”

  I took a slow breath. Everything was unraveling, but it was far too late to try to stop things now.

 

  “There’s no time,” Gabe interrupted. “If you still intend to accompany me, we need to leave now.”

  “I think it might be better coming from me, anyway,” Audrey said. “And it will give me a chance to tell her why I really went to the Keep—something she should really hear from me.”

  I didn’t like it, but I also couldn’t deny that the sisters should have a chance to speak in private. And Gabe had already crossed over to the door, eagerness to be gone clinging to him. Reluctantly I nodded my agreement.

  Audrey and I joined Gabe at the door, and he gave her a list of supplies he needed. While she explained where he could purchase more arrows, I thought about what I wanted to take for myself.

  They split, Gabe going out for the arrows with a promise that he would be back to collect me and the rest of the supplies Audrey had promised to gather. If it wasn’t for the supplies, I might have suspected him of meaning to slip away without me. But I couldn’t shadow Gabe—I had something of my own I needed to take.

  Everything Gabe had requested fit into a single sturdy bag, and I was waiting out the front of the haven for him when he returned. Only when he actually appeared did I realize that suspicion about his intentions had still been lingering in the back of my mind.

  For his own part, Gabe wasn’t entirely pleased with my appearance.

  “Is that a sword?” he asked.

  I had hoped he wouldn’t notice it beneath my cloak, but it wasn’t the easiest object to conceal, especially since I had strapped it firmly around my waist. I met his gaze squarely. I wasn’t going to face wolves without a weapon.

  He frowned, and the many objections my father would have made to the sword ran through my head: that it was beneath my dignity, unladylike, unbefitting my station, and an insult to Palinar to suggest that its princess would ever need to lift a finger to defend herself.

  And it had been true, in a way. The only time I had ever needed to defend myself had been against him—and someone else had stepped in to do it for me.

  I strode over to Gabe’s side, handing over the bag when he reached to take it from me. He took one look at my face, sighed, and led the way out of town. But clearly he wasn’t quite willing to let the matter drop.

  “Weapons can be extremely dangerous in unskilled hands. If you don’t know how to use it, it can end up doing more harm than good.”

  I had intended to ignore any arguments he put forth, maintaining silence rather than getting into a ridiculous paper argument. But his unexpectedly reasonable objection surprised me enough to deserve a response. As soon as we entered the forest, I paused to quickly write a sentence on the paper I carried with me.

 

  Gabe looked a little surprised, but he accepted my competence without further question and made no more objections to the weapon. My swans flew above us, urging us to continue on the road, so we did, moving as fast as we comfortably could.

  As we walked, I watched Gabe out of the corner of my eye. He had looked surprised to hear that my brother taught me such a thing, and I couldn’t blame him. Dominic had always been haughty and arrogant, especially to outsiders—he didn’t seem the type to bend the rules and take the role of tutor to a younger sister.

  But I had begged and begged, and he had always had a soft spot for me. When we spent time at his own personal castle, with only our mother in attendance, I had often managed to convince him to do things he wouldn’t otherwise have done.

  The memory should have been a pleasant one—I had loved those times—but instead it felt more akin to pressing my finger against a bruise I already knew was tender. It hurt, but sometimes I couldn’t help myself doing it anyway, as if I needed to check if anything had changed. I had loved my brother despite his faults and felt as if it were the two of us against the world. I had never doubted that he would do anything for me. Until I needed him the most—and our kingdom with me—and he had withdrawn, consumed by pride and anger. I realized then how misplaced my trust had been. I was better guarded now.

  I snuck another look at Gabe as he strode along, his bow already in his hand, though he carried it loosely. He had younger sisters himself. Did they love and trust him? Had he ever let them down? From his question, I suspected he would be far more willing to teach them the basics of swordsmanship than my brother had ever been to teach me.

  No proper conversation was possible, given the daylight, but if I had been making the trek with Audrey, she would have chattered the whole way. Gabe, however, remained mostly silent, speaking only when he wished to point out something of note about our surroundings or to check for directions from the swans.

  It was a companionable silence, though, rather than a cold one, and I had to admit I much preferred the journey to my usual solitary trips through the forest. Having his solid presence at my side was reassuring and somehow comforting in a way I hadn’t expected. Although it was possible that was due to what awaited us at our destination. When you knew you were facing an unknown number of wild animals, it was bound to be reassuring to have an expert archer with you.

  We walked for two hours before stopping in a clearing several steps off the road to eat some of the food from the bag. I had started to grow nervous by that point. I would have to turn back if we didn’t reach our goal within the next couple of hours. And we would have to move fast on our way back if it took that long.

  Thankfully we hadn’t been moving again for long when Shadow flew down, honking assertively as she glided past our heads.

  “Do we need to leave the road now?” I asked.

  She dipped her head once in agreement.

  “Is it far?” I added, thinking both of the awkwardness of following them through the forest and the fact that the sun had now moved past its noon day zenith.

  This time she dipped her head twice before bugling loudly. The other swans swooped over to join her, forming themselves into their usual v shape and flapping away across the top of the trees.

  “Did they just form an arrow?” Gabe asked, a laugh in his voice.

  I shrugged. It was their usual flight formation, but it did work well for our purposes.

  We left the road, striking through the trees in the direction the swans had indicated. They disappeared from sight before we made it half a dozen steps, the forest canopy blocking out our view of them. But they must have circled
back several times because we continued to see the occasional flash of white through the leaves, letting us know we were heading in the right direction.

  “We must be getting close,” Gabe said, voice low. “I think it might be a good idea to move a little more cautiously from here.”

  As if to punctuate his words, loud barking broke out. We looked at each other. That hadn’t been far away. I wasn’t sure what worried me more—that it had been so close, or that it had been the sound of a dog, not a wolf. What were dogs doing out here?

  “Stay back,” Gabe whispered and began to creep forward through the trees.

  I stuck close behind him, carefully watching my feet so I didn’t step on anything noisy that might give away our approach. He looked back over his shoulder and met my eyes. For a second I thought he meant to argue, but then the ghost of a smile crossed his face before he shook his head and continued on without comment.

  He probably thought me as brave and foolhardy as him, and I was glad my lack of voice spared me any guilt at not telling him the truth—namely that I had no intention of finding myself alone in the woods at this juncture.

  The barking continued with occasional pauses until it was split by an eerie howl. The sound sent shivers up and down my back. That one had sounded like a wolf.

  My heart beat fast and every noise around us seemed impossibly loud and startling. My muscles would ache in a few hours from all the jerking I was doing. Assuming I was still alive, that was.

  A smell hit me—a mix of wood smoke, animal droppings, and something like wet fur. Every instinct in me suggested I start hurrying in the other direction, but I forced myself to continue onward.

  We reached a thicket with thick knobby branches twining through glossy green bushes. Something pink and flowering had gotten caught in the mix, and small, elegant blossoms peeked out from the mess of green and brown.

  Gabe paused in front of it and frowned for a moment before tipping his head backward. I followed his gaze toward a tall elm just behind the tangle of bushes. When he glanced back at me, I nodded.