A moment later, Talon reemerged beside another figure, each holding a torch. The firelight illuminated a dark-haired woman with a scar across one eye. I gaped. It was the woman from the ball. Her lips pressed into a thin line as her eyes fell on Kiva, scanning her wound, before she faced Talon.
“Lower the gangplank,” she said. “I’ll wake Luan.” They both vanished over the edge of the ship.
“What’s happening, Caylus?” I asked. “Who are these people?”
“Later. Help me,” Caylus began, already sliding from his seat. He kept both hands on Kiva as he went, and I leapt down to help him lower her from the horse with my free arm. We each slid under one of her arms, but she barely supported any of her own weight, and she was muttering incoherently.
“Kiva,” I said. “Kiva, stay awake. Stay with me.”
She groaned.
Caylus and I moved as quickly as we could to where Talon had lowered the gangplank. He practically skipped down the wooden board and slid his arms under Kiva’s legs.
When we reached the top, Samra had returned with a wisp of a redheaded woman who resembled Talon almost identically save for the length of her plaited hair. She took one look at Kiva and said in a low voice, “This way,” before turning back into the cabin of the ship. We followed, taking the first turn into the now-lighted hallways and then a left into the open door of a small infirmary.
“Lay her down on the bed,” Luan ordered. “Then get out.”
“I’m not le—” I started, but Caylus was already dragging me out of the room. “Let go of me!” He reached over my head to shut the door once Talon was through.
“Best to let her work,” Talon said with a nod.
I glared murderously at Caylus and shook off his hand. Clutching Res to my chest, I stalked back the way we’d come to the deck of the ship. Voices reached me a second before I stepped out. I reflexively shrank back into the shadows and then stuck out my arm when Caylus started to go by me. I pressed a finger to my lips.
“They went farther down the docks,” Samra was saying. “They abandoned the horses here as a distraction and fled on foot. You’re at least ten minutes behind them.” Another voice I couldn’t make out answered, then Samra said, “Search the ship if you don’t believe me, but do it quickly. I’ve already wasted enough sleep yelling at those damn fools for all the racket they were making.” She moved toward the gangplank.
Tension coiled my muscles, and I started looking around for something to use as a weapon before remembering the bow strapped across my chest. Then Caylus grabbed me, jammed his fingers into the wall, and shoved me toward it. Except the wall had vanished, and I stumbled into a dark space. He joined me, then slid the false wall closed, enveloping us in cool air and the scent of oak.
Footsteps thudded, dulled voices not reaching through the thick wood. Seconds stretched into minutes as I fought to keep my breath silent, my senses blind to everything save for the hard press of Caylus’s body against mine and the traitorous thundering of my heart. Then everything faded.
The false wall slid open. “They’re gone,” Samra said.
I let out a breath. “Thank you.”
She ignored me, her eyes locked on Caylus. “What in Duren’s name do you think you’re doing bringing Illucian soldiers to my ship? I ought to toss you into the sea.”
Caylus’s wide-eyed look made me think she’d do just that. “It’s a long story. Is there any way you can ship off a little early? Before dawn?”
“Those soldiers may come back if they don’t find us where you sent them,” I added.
“I’ve thought of that, thank you,” Samra snapped. I scowled, but she was already looking at Caylus again. “What are you doing here?”
Caylus stepped aside, putting me squarely in Samra’s line of sight. “She’s holding the only chance the Ambriels has of ridding themselves of Illucian control once and for all.”
I waved best I could with an armful of crow.
Thirty-Two
Samra woke the rest of her crew quietly. Everything was done quietly. The ropes and anchor were pulled up, the mast adjusted, the sails set. A half hour later, a favorable wind carried the ship out to sea, and Caylus and I sat in Samra’s quarters with her. As I took the chair across from her, Res in my lap, I nearly bolted back up.
Curled on the desk, a paw tucked over his nose, lay Gio. I blinked, the sight of the little white kitten from the bakery throwing me off completely. It was miles from Sordell to this port. How had he gotten here? I shook my head. That question didn’t even begin to cover how strange this was.
Samra’s gaze followed mine down to the sleeping kitten. “Aroch. He’s been keeping an eye on you for me.”
“How—” I stopped. I had enough unanswered questions.
Samra’s gaze dropped to the bundle in my lap. “Why is your vest breathing?”
Slowly, I unwrapped the cloth to reveal the half-asleep crow. Samra’s eyes flared wide, and she leaned carefully over the desk for a better look.
“How is this possible?” she asked.
“I found a surviving egg in one of our rookeries,” I explained.
She lifted a hand as if to reach across and touch him but lowered it, her fingers curling into a fist. “You intend to use it to fight Illucia?”
I nodded.
Samra considered us in silence, her face expressionless. Then she rose, stepping around the desk. “I’ll prepare rooms for you,” she said before slipping outside.
I watched her go, marveling at how controlled she was. It was as though I’d showed her a flower, not a magical creature meant to be extinct.
That was the kind of poise I had to learn if I was ever going to be a leader.
Suddenly left with nothing to do and afraid to let my mind wander to Kiva, my eyes snagged on Gio again. Or Aroch, apparently. It made no sense how the kitten had managed to travel back and forth between Port Maranock and Sordell, unless—
I cast a sidelong look at Caylus, who rubbed his eyes with his palms. “Samra was at the ball,” I told him. “Who is she?”
He looked up, distant gaze focusing. “She’s the smuggler friend I told you about. The one that got me out of Seahalla when…” He trailed off, shrugging as if it would complete his story.
“Oh.”
“She’s an Ambriellan noble,” he continued. “Her father was the leader of the high council. He’s one of the few who kept his power. Samra pretends to be loyal, but her family runs a whiskey-trading business, and she uses it as a front to smuggle for the rebels.”
That explained both her presence at the ball and the disgust with which she’d treated me. She’d likely been staying somewhere in Sordell, then brought Aroch back with her when she left. “Samra’s a Trendellan name,” I said.
“Her mother was Trendellan.”
Was. Had Samra lost her to Illucia? Was that why she played this dangerous game?
Caylus hesitated, then added, “Samra is Diah.”
I stiffened, everything falling into place: what she’d said to me at the ball about not being sure if I was a friend or an enemy. The dullness of the left side of Diah’s mask, where the wood covered her blind eye. She was a rebel leader.
My eyes wandered across the bruises darkening Caylus’s face and the part of his ribs visible from where he’d torn his shirt to stop Kiva’s bleeding. It took everything I had to sit patiently in my seat and not burst into Luan’s room and demand to know what was happening to my best friend. I’d even wrapped my feet around the legs of the chair to keep myself rooted.
“Are you all right?” I took his hand.
His fingers curled around mine, and he tried to smile. It didn’t work. “I’ll be fine. I’ve had worse.” He meant to make me feel better, but it made me feel sick.
“I’m sorry,” I blurted suddenly. He stared blankly at me, and I continued, “I couldn’t do it. I couldn�
��t give Razel the crows. But then when Shearen was going to kill Kiva, I just—” I couldn’t lose both of them, couldn’t lose everything. Not again.
He squeezed my hand. “I wasn’t telling you not to for show. I didn’t want…” He shook his head. “Not for me.”
I made my own attempt at a smile, but it failed as miserably as his. “I know. Thank you.”
Samra returned to escort us to our rooms. We’d barely stepped into the hallway when Luan emerged from the surgeon’s room. Her sleeves were stained with blood, her face set in a grim expression that wiped away every ounce of happiness that had welled up inside me.
I lurched forward. “What happened? Is Kiva all right?”
Luan paused. “Your friend is alive, and I’m mostly certain she’ll stay that way.” When I started forward, she held up a hand. “What she needs now is rest. Give her a few hours before you barge in.”
Anxiety twisted in my stomach, but I relented. Samra showed us to our rooms. The one I would share with Kiva was right beside the kitchen, and Res knew it too. He cooed softly, the cord between us humming stronger as the last of the drug faded away.
“Oh, now you’re fine because there’s food nearby,” I said, and he nudged my cheek with his beak. The room was small, with two bunks and a small washstand. The walls had hooks for clothes that I hung my bow on and a small circular window filled with endless ocean blue.
I sat on the bunk, Res bundled in my lap. My eyelids felt heavy, and sleep pulled at me. I fought it, wanting to be awake the moment I was allowed to see Kiva, but in the end, I succumbed.
Gentle hands roused me all too soon. Caylus stood over me. “Kiva’s awake.”
I nearly sprang to my feet before remembering Res in my lap. I prodded him, and he complained but rose with a ruffle of his feathers. The link felt back to normal, and he looked it too as he leapt to the ground and nipped at the feathers beneath his wing. He followed behind me as I slipped past Caylus and down the hallway to the infirmary.
Luan met me at the door. Her gaze dropped to Res, her lips parting, but she said nothing except “Five minutes” before striding out.
I stepped inside to find Kiva lying propped on a thin bed. She was snow-white and bare to the waist save for a band of cloth around her chest and the bandages encasing her shoulder. Her eyes were closed, but they opened as I sat down beside her.
“I was dreaming of punching Shearen in the face,” she murmured, licking her dry lips.
I picked up a glass of water from the bedside table and helped her drink from it. “You need to have better dreams. Try stabbing him next time.”
Kiva laughed, then winced, and I resolved not to make any more jokes.
“How are you feeling?” I asked.
“Weak,” she replied. Her eyes dropped to her bandaged shoulder, and my stomach roiled.
“You can…move it, can’t you?” It was her sword arm.
Her jaw clenched, her voice coming in a whisper. “Barely.” She leaned her head back, staring up at the roof and blinking rapidly. “What if I can’t? I won’t be able to protect you. To help you. Even if I do recover, I’ll be useless the next few weeks. A liability. You and Caylus should just—”
I flicked her in the forehead. She blinked, startled, and I smirked.
“I don’t care if I have to carry you, Kiva. I’m not leaving you behind. I need you.”
She held my gaze a moment, then swallowed hard. “You definitely can’t carry me.”
“Caylus can.”
She laughed weakly, but the threat of tears in her eyes receded, and she relaxed.
I leaned forward. “I have someone for you to meet.”
Her eyes widened. I grinned and leaned aside. Res cocked his head, emitting a low caw.
Kiva’s head dropped back onto the pillow as she let out a laugh. “Thank the Saints. He’s beautiful, Thia.”
I sat back in my chair. “It’s barely two days’ sail to Seahalla, you know. You’d better heal quick.”
“What’s our plan once we’re there?”
A good question. With everything that had happened the last several hours, I hadn’t had the time or foresight to think about it. I doubted Razel’s plans had changed—she would still want me to marry Ericen and to place us on Rhodaire’s throne.
“We’ll have to find somewhere safe to lie low for a few days while you recover,” I said. “Razel can’t hatch those eggs without me, which means she’ll have people looking for us.”
“She might attack Rhodaire to draw you out.”
An image of the army sitting on Rhodaire’s doorstep rose. “Which is why we need to get a letter to Caliza. She needs to be prepared. Once you’re healthy enough, we need to get Res to the meeting in Trendell. Otherwise, they won’t believe we’ve hatched him.” Then we had to recover the remaining eggs.
“Maybe Razel won’t attack,” Kiva said. “She’d lose the chance for a peaceful takeover, and she’d have to pull troops out of Jindae and the Ambriels to manage it.”
“I hope you’re right.” If Razel did attack, how long could Rhodaire hold out?
“Well, at least you don’t have to marry Ericen,” Kiva said.
I sighed, leaning back in my chair and looking at my leather gloves. “He saw us, Kiva. In the courtyard. He could have called the guards, but he didn’t. He let us go.”
And I’d left him behind.
She frowned. “He made his choice.”
I nodded slowly but without conviction. I’d been honest with Ericen when I said I didn’t have feelings for him, but somehow, he’d become my friend, even if that wasn’t what he wanted. I’d told myself he was too consumed by his desire to prove himself, that he couldn’t extricate himself from the web of pride, loneliness, and need he’d woven around himself.
But in the end, he’d chosen me.
“At least he wasn’t secretly a knife-wielding assassin.” Kiva’s tone was flippant, but she didn’t look at me, and I could hear the truth behind it.
“Auma had to keep her cover.”
Kiva shrugged. “I always knew I didn’t really have any idea who she was. Saints, I liked the mystery. I just…” She trailed off, and we sat in silence for a minute before she asked quietly, “Do you think she made it out?”
“Yes.” If I’d learned anything about Auma, it was not to underestimate her.
Kiva nodded. She thought so too, but the hard press of her lips betrayed her worry.
The door opened, and Luan entered, ushering me out so Kiva could rest. I hugged Kiva gently, then stepped out into the hallway and traced my way back to the top deck with Res on my heel, thinking about everything we needed to accomplish.
Illucia was after us, Kiva was recovering from a serious wound, I had a hatchling to raise, and Caliza didn’t know any of it. Not to mention in a few weeks, I’d have to convince the world’s leaders to go to war.
I expected to be overwhelmed by everything, to want to crawl under the covers of a warm bed and hide from the world. I didn’t.
Instead, as I stepped out into the morning sun with Res at my side, I felt a familiar lightness, like a forgotten friend. It was the feeling I used to get when I’d fly, as if I’d become the air itself.
Light. In control.
Free.
That heavy feeling might never fully leave me, but I could live with it. I’d survived, and I would continue to survive.
I stepped up to the ship’s edge, one hand on Res’s head as I faced the rising sun, my skin glowing in the light.
I had a lot to do, but I was ready.
The World of the Storm Crow
Wings of Aris
The Thereal Wing
Saint: Edair Thereal
Crow: wind crow
Egg: creamy white
Head of House: Lady Dovelin Thereal
Industry:
entertainment, such as theater, music, and artwork. Wind crows protected crops from storms, helped facilitate flight paths throughout Aris for other crows, provided favorable winds for sailors, and helped with city maintenance, such as sweeping up feathers.
The Kerova Wing
Saint: Harla Kerova
Crow: shadow crow
Shell Color: matte black
Head of House: Lady Kumia Kerova
Industry: highly involved in the military, with a focus on espionage. Shadow crows helped conceal spies from both sight and sound, and also made up a large percentage of the military crows.
The Turren Wing
Saint: Royceir Turren
Crow: battle crow
Shell Color: dark metallic gray
Head of House: Lady Ryna Turren (previous head, Lord Zeir Turren, banished for treason)
Industry: weapons production, most famously black gold weapons, made from the feathers of a battle crow. Aside from producing feathers for black gold, battle crows also made up the bulk of the military crows, helping with patrols, and also with transportation of heavy materials with their increased strength.
The Rynthene Wing
Saint: Selka Rynthene
Crow: water crow
Shell Color: deep ocean blue
Head of House: Lord Relel Rynthene
Industry: highly involved in the navy, as well as trade and transport of goods, with a focus on production of ship and fishing supplies. Crows helped purify water, water crops, and manipulate the ocean for easy sailing and fishing.
The Brynth Wing
Saint: Shaldra Brynth
Crow: earth crow
Shell Color: forest green
Head of House: Lord Culveir Brynth
Industry: architecture and city infrastructure, as well as the heart of Rhodairen knowledge pursuit. Known for crafting stone and woodworks. Crows helped with construction of new buildings and manipulation of farmland and tended to city landscaping.
The Garien Wing
Saint: Azrel Garien
Crow: storm crow
Shell Color: shiny black with specks of color
The Storm Crow Page 28