Earth Bound

by Avril Sabine

  “There is no pain when you’re not feather poisoned.” She reached out to touch his wings, drawn by the dark feathers she longed to own.

  He grabbed hold of her hand before she made contact. “You better be telling the truth.”

  “You don’t know how lucky you are. I’d give anything to have wings.”

  Talon laughed, a harsh abrupt sound. “You’re the one who’s lucky. I’d give anything to be rid of them.”

  With the one hand still trapped, she reached out with the other, her fingertips connecting with his skin. Heat radiated from his shoulder. “You can’t keep retracting them. They’re killing you. Can’t you feel the heat of the poison burning through you?”

  “Didn’t you say you were going to help me?” At her nod, Talon continued. “Then you can start with telling me what you’re doing here.”

  Brianne lowered her hand, wishing now that she’d spent the time in the trunk planning what to tell him.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Talon

  Talon sat on the edge of the trunk at the foot of his bed, head in his hands, his wings still out. He didn’t know if he should believe a single word she’d said. He raised his head to meet her eyes. She sat cross-legged on his bed watching him. “The Supreme One? The Holy Father?”

  Brianne nodded.

  “You lie.”

  “I swear by the Lord and Lady your Supreme One is the same as ours.”

  “Impossible.”

  “I don’t know what’s going on, but something obviously is. And he’s the only one who’s trusted by both your father and my uncle. Actually, he’s trusted by all our people. Yours and mine.”

  It couldn’t be possible. He was the Supreme One, upholder of the Sacred Law, adviser to the War Leader and Political Leader. He knew everything about his people. Every single question he asked was answered without hesitation. “Prove it.”

  “I’ve been trying to prove it, well, prove something anyway. Someone has been passing information between our people, that’s why I was sent here.”

  “That isn’t proof. You want me to betray my people and let you live and do it all on trust. You’re a liar. Obviously. And a good actress. How am I meant to believe a single word you say?”

  She leaned towards him. “Then help me find the proof.”

  He looked away from her, shifting as he tried to find a comfortable way to sit with his wings out. “You could be saying that so you can find the information you were sent here for.”

  “You need a stool to sit on. That’s what we use.”

  “And how would I explain that to anyone who asks?”

  Brianne shrugged, then smiled. “You need it for your art. So you can sit at the easel while you create your masterpiece.”

  He glared at her, anger rushing through him at the reminder of his failure.

  “I’m sorry. If only we’d been born to the opposite people. Can you use a bow?”

  “I use a crossbow. What has that to do with anything?”

  “I was just wondering if you’d have outperformed Macklyn in every skill like I did.” She fell silent a moment before she added softly, “Until he grew wings.”

  “Of course I would’ve done better than your Macklyn.” His glare remained in place. “Especially if he couldn’t beat you.”

  Brianne started to laugh, then smothered it with her hand, glancing towards the door. “How does that ego manage to fit in bed beside you each night?”

  “You can change the topic as much as you like, but it won’t change that I don’t trust you.”

  Brianne’s smile faded. “I don’t think you trust anyone.” Her gaze was drawn to his wings. “You don’t really have a choice. You need what I know or you won’t live much longer. Haven’t you noticed it’s getting harder to keep them retracted? That the pain is worse and the days seem to be getting hotter. You’re suffering from feather poisoning. Some of my people get it when they’re first learning to control their wings and misjudge how long they can keep them retracted.” Her eyes held his. “You help me and I’ll help you. I promise I won’t take any information back to my people that you don’t want them to have.”

  “I don’t want them to have any information.”

  “And what about the Supreme One? If he’s playing us against each other, don’t you want them to know? What if every battle fought has been due to his interference?”

  “Every battle fought has been because you’ve been trying to steal our land.”

  Brianne shook her head. “No, every battle fought has been because your people came over the mountains and drove us out of our lands.”

  “Your people came from the sea and tried to take our lands from us.”

  “Have you seen the ocean around our part of the land? That’s impossible. The shoreline is filled with rock spires and the winds swirl and slam us against them. The only way out to sea is near the Feronian Mountains and you have those areas heavily guarded. We’ve even tried reaching the mountains, but you always prevent us. You want us forced to keep trying to make barren land grow crops while your fields nearly overflow with food.”

  Talon slowly shook his head, trying to make sense of it all. He’d been raised on tales of the invasion. Been told a million times that to let the Caelians reach the Feronian Mountains was to be surrounded by the enemy. Lacey, no, Brianne seemed so sincere. But she always had. He reached out and lifted her hand, comparing the pale brown to his own golden brown tones.

  “Vieteh berries.”

  He let her hand drop. “Is it any wonder I can’t trust you? Even your skin lies.”

  “So does my hair and eyes. But my words are true. Please let me prove them to you.”

  “How?”

  “I don’t know.”

  He stared at her for long moments before he rose to his feet to pace the room. “I can’t keep you here. If I’m caught hiding you they’ll kill me along with you.”

  “You better hope they don’t find me because I know your secret.”

  His heart sank. His life might be miserable and barely worth living, but he wasn’t about to give it up. He only had one choice. He drew his sword.

  “I won’t go quiet. You might want to rethink this.”

  “You have no sword.” He advanced.

  Brianne grinned fleetingly. “You think that’ll matter?” She backed away. “You’re a warrior too, you tell me what you’d do in the same situation. What would you do to protect your people?”

  “Anything.”

  “Me too. Except Macklyn. I’ll let you have him. The rest I’ll protect with my life.” She reached the table and four chairs near the wall, grabbing a chair to hold in front of her.

  “You seem pretty obsessed with this Macklyn considering you want him dead.”

  “Probably about as obsessed as you are with Bellamy.” Another fleeting grin. “Did you think I didn’t notice?” She stepped to the side and away from the wall. “Come on Talon. Put down your weapon and let’s figure this out.”

  “You know you can’t beat me.”

  “Actually, I can. I know your weaknesses now and you don’t have a clue. You won’t know how to defend them.” Her eyes rose to his wings then back to his face. “Give me a couple of days. Work with me on this. We have to find out why the Supreme One is doing this. There has to be a reason.”

  “What weaknesses?”

  “You’ve got to be kidding. Do you really think I’m going to tell you?”

  “Tell me one of them and I’ll think about helping you.”

  “Sure you will. Why should I trust you any more than you want to trust me?”

  He lowered his sword, not knowing what to do. He swore. Once again his wings were ruining his life. “You shouldn’t.” He concentrated on trying to retract his wings.

  “No. Don’t. Talon, you’re killing yourself.” She came towards him, putting the chair down as she did. “Talon.” She pressed her palms against his cheeks.

  He closed his eyes, her hands cold against the heat o
f his skin. “I was dead the moment I became an infernal bird.” He opened his eyes to meet her gaze when she slid her hands down to his chest, sliding them around to his back and the ridges there. Her hands pressed against the ridges and he fought to keep his wings retracted. “What are you trying to do?” His sword fell to the ground as pain rushed through him.

  “Save you.” Her arms tightened when he tried to pull away.

  Then his wings were free and he stumbled back as she let him go. They refused to retract. “What did you do?”

  “It’ll be at least half an hour before they retract.” She bent and picked up his sword, holding it at her side.

  His eyes scanned the room checking for weapon options while most of his attention stayed on Brianne. He should have killed her while he had the chance, but he hadn’t been able to bring himself to do it. His father never would have shown such weakness towards the enemy.

  Stepping back, Brianne laid the sword across her palms, keeping them close to her body. She stared at him a moment more before she held it out as she spoke. “Promise to help me save our people.”

  His gaze was drawn from the sword to her eyes that continued to watch him steadily. A million thoughts went through his mind, but it was her words that echoed in his head the loudest. Save our people. He stepped forward and rested his palms against the sword, directly above hers. “Yes.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Brianne

  Brianne felt like hitting Talon. “Can’t you stay still?”

  “You’re the one who told me I have to sleep with my wings out the entire night. I sleep on my side, not my stomach. I feel like the bed’s suffocating me.”

  “I’ll be suffocating you if you don’t let me get some sleep.” She tugged at the rope that was attached to both her wrist and the bed head, lying fully clothed beside Talon. Even her boots were still on. “I don’t see why you had to tie me up. I said I wouldn’t run.” She had no idea how she was meant to convince him that he could trust her. At least on the issue of her sticking around until they found out what was going on.

  “Shut up. It’s hard enough to try and sleep without you talking all night.”

  “It’s nearly morning,” Brianne muttered.

  “Then shut up and let me sleep. I had enough problems to deal with before you came along and added to them.”

  “Wings aren’t a problem. I’d give anything to be able to fly.”

  There was a long moment of silence before Talon answered. “I can’t fly.”

  Brianne sat up to look at his shadowy figure in the dark, wishing it was brighter so she could see his expression. “What do you mean you can’t fly?”

  “Exactly that.”

  “You mean you’re not very good at it.”

  Talon sat up as well. “No, I can’t fly.” He growled, “How in the Infernal World am I meant to sit up with these things out?”

  “Sit on the edge of the bed.” She frowned. “You’ve never flown. Ever.”

  “Haven’t even flapped my wings.”

  She ignored the thread of bitterness in his tone. “Are you deliberately trying to kill yourself, or is it a natural skill you have?”

  “What’s wrong now?”

  “They’re like any other muscle. You need to exercise them. I’m surprised you aren’t already dead.”

  “You and me both,” he muttered.

  “You have to exercise them.”

  “How?”

  “The mountains aren’t far from here. You could practice flying there.”

  “They’re nearly an hour away.”

  “That’s not far.” When he didn’t answer, she continued. “I’m serious Talon. You have to exercise them.”

  “You want me to get caught.”

  “No, I don’t. I need your help to save our people.” She almost felt guilty for having used that line to convince him yesterday, except it was true. Or at least she guessed it was. Surely her grandfather and uncle wouldn’t have sent her in without telling her the Supreme One was also a spy for them. She remembered Barrett’s comment about her people having removed identity tags for the past couple of months. Pushing that uncomfortable thought from her mind she said, “Talon? You still listening?” He continued to sit across from her, a shadow in the darkened room.

  “Go to sleep.” He rose from the bed and crossed the room to stand by the window.

  Brianne carefully slid the dagger from her boot. With another look in Talon’s direction to make sure he continued to stare out the window, she cut the rope, sheathed the dagger and followed him. “What’s wrong? Are you in pain?” She pressed a hand against his back, between his wings, feeling the unnatural heat of his skin.

  “I’m always in pain, it’s only the degree that varies.” He reached out to her hand, sliding his across her wrist and the rope still tied there, the end dangling. “Give me your dagger.”

  She tugged her hand free. “What dagger?”

  “I’m not in the mood for this.”

  “I used my teeth to gnaw through the rope.”

  “Brianne.” There was a warning in his tone.

  “Talon.” She mimicked his tone, refusing to be cowered. He reached for her again and she stepped away. “I can show you some flying exercises.”

  “After you give me the dagger.”

  “Would you hand over your dagger?”

  The silence stretched out and then he sighed. “Show me the exercises.”

  She stared at him suspiciously. “And the dagger?”

  “You can keep it for now. What’s a dagger compared to a sword?”

  Brianne grinned, glad of the darkness. He had no idea and she planned to keep it that way. “Come to the middle of the room, you’re going to need plenty of space for these exercises.” She watched as he lit a candle before joining her.

  When the first rays of morning light struggled into the room, they were still going. Brianne stared at the pain and fatigue that etched Talon’s face. “How about we try and get some sleep now?”

  “No. Not until I get these right.”

  No wonder she’d known what to say to convince him yesterday. They were far too alike. “Well maybe if you weren’t such a slow learner we’d be done by now.”

  “Show me,” he growled.

  When he did the exercise more accurately, she was barely able to hold back her grin. Yes, they were very much alike. Another couple of attempts and it was close to perfect. “Now can we get some sleep?” She waited for him to answer. When the silence dragged out and he continued to stare at her, she asked, “Well?”

  “If I get hold of some penitent robes for you, do you think you can get into the House of the Lord and Lady and find proof?”

  She didn’t hesitate. “Yes.”

  “Are you certain?”

  She’d make sure she was. “Of course I am.”

  “I’ll get robes for you during the day and when it’s dark I’ll lower you out the window. Guards never bother patrolling the back of the fortress because there’s no way into it unless you have help from inside.” He stared at her a moment longer. “You better return.”

  “Unless I’m caught I’ll return.”

  “Don’t you dare get caught.”

  Brianne looked away from his gaze. That wasn’t something she could promise. Her eyes fell on the bed. “Sleep now?” She turned back to him and when he nodded, crossed the room to drop onto the bed, keeping her boots on in case she needed to make a quick exit. She watched as he walked towards her, his wings cloaking him. How she ached to have wings. It wasn’t right that a Tersten should have them when she didn’t.

  Once he blew out the candle, Talon stopped at the edge of the bed. “What?”

  “They’re so beautiful.”

  “They’ll be my death.” He lowered himself onto the bed, lying on his stomach with his head turned towards her.

  She reached out and ran a finger across several feathers. “They’d be worth it.” With her hand resting against his wing, she closed her eyes
and drifted off to sleep.

  Chapter Twenty

  Talon

  Talon waited until his father left his office before he entered, having pottered around in the corridor with one of his paintings, pretending to find the perfect place to hang it. The only attention his father gave him when he strode past was a look of disgust mingled with disappointment.

  Seeing the office was empty he opened the door to the right of the entrance and stepped into the small room, lit only by a barred window, closing the door of the storage room behind him. An old desk, trunks, and several stacks of paper and books filled the barely used room. Talon headed straight for the desk, sliding open the bottom drawer, relieved to find the old key still there. He dropped it into his belt pouch, smiling slightly as he recalled the prank he and Marshall had planned for the laundry years ago. It hadn’t turned out exactly as they’d expected. They’d made a copy of the key and when they’d tried to sneak into the laundry late one night, about six years ago, someone had been in there. Running back to the fortress, they’d hidden the key in the storage room, planning to try again another night. It had never happened. Each of them had made excuses until the key was forgotten when more interesting things came along.

  About to leave the room, still holding his painting, Talon froze as he heard a sound in the office. He pressed his ear against the door. It was quiet. Should he open the door and check? He reached for the handle.

  “Are you sure this is what she looks like?”

  Talon pulled his hand away from the door at the sound of the Supreme One’s voice.

  “The soldier I had draw her likeness is a talented artist and he’s seen her a few times, Elden.”

  Talon frowned. Who else was with his father and the Supreme One? He’d never heard an Elden mentioned before.

  “You have to find her. You can’t let her escape. She’s the niece of their First Officer,” the Supreme One said.

  “She was examined. They found no wings,” Barrett said.