by T. K. Perry
“Anna?” Lexi blinked, wondering if she was still napping and this was only a terribly odd dream.
Slightly bedraggled, the lovely blonde looked up with relief and a quick curtsy. “Grandmother insisted I come fetch you and Van,” she said apologetically. As she spoke, the brown-winged man slipped behind her, his hands clasped and head respectfully bowed, but she ignored him.
“Aah, the fiery beauty has a lovely friend,” the small male with checkered wings wriggled past Lexi, waggling his eyebrows with a knowing smirk.
Lexi looked down at the small male, her blank expression slowly draining the leer from his face.
“Get out, Mr. Skipper,” the clerk commanded from behind his desk.
“You can’t order me around, old man” the small male groused, then held up an impatient hand before Eros could speak again. “And don’t tell me you’ll make me share a room, I’ve heard that one before.”
Rather than respond, Eros lifted a whistle to his lips, sending the little man skittering through the door before he could blow it. Eros settled back into his seat with a grim smile. “Perhaps you had better shut the door, Mr. Duskywing.”
The quiet man who stood behind Anna nodded and shut the door as Lexi moved into the room.
“Grandmother had one of her fits,” Anna explained, ignoring the clerk just as she was ignoring the servant behind her. “She’s convinced she’s dying, and she wants Van home now. She was sending Tris,” Anna indicated her servant with a graceful hand, “but then I came into season, and she insisted I go with him.” The suppressed outrage was still evident in her voice, even as her lower lip trembled. “But I wouldn’t want to deny her a dying wish,” she insisted, a little too brightly. “So please, let’s get Van and Talan, and leave this nasty-smelling place before anyone finds out I was here.”
Lexi let out a sigh and turned to Eros. “She’ll share my room this evening. Please find a room for Mr. Duskywing.”
Eros nodded, but no one noticed. Mr. Duskywing held the door open for Lexi and Anna, then hung back for his room assignment.
“Aren’t there enough rooms for everyone?” Anna protested, looking back at Eros. “Not that I wouldn’t be honored to share a room with you, Your Highness.”
Lexi suppressed a grimace as she slid her arm through Anna's and pulled her along. “There are a great many people here, and my room is already guarded.”
Anna’s blue eyes grew wider still. “Do the commoners behave criminally up here?” She darted a paranoid glance around her. “Are we in danger? Surely, they wouldn’t dare harm a noble.”
“They don’t know who I am, and I would like to keep it that way,” Lexi whispered, grateful they were moving against the crowds so no one heard more than small bits of their conversation.
Anna laughed, then stopped abruptly when she saw Lexi’s serious expression. “Why?”
“Perhaps this discussion can wait until we are alone.”
“Of course, Your Highness, I apologize.”
Lexi’s mouth tightened at the title as she stopped in front of the guards posted at her door. “You must have relieved Beck."
Both men looked chagrined. “We thought you were inside."
“I was." Lexi turned to the more familiar looking guard with spotted white wings. “I need you to find Van West and bring him here.”
“Yes, Miss Fritillary,” he said with a slight bow, then hurried away.
“Fritillary?" Anna mouthed, but Lexi ignored her and stepped past a gray-winged guard who held the door open for them. Anna stood numbly in the doorway, looking around at the sparse furnishings and wrinkling up her nose at the lingering smell of mildew from the neatly-folded balcony rugs.
“This is your room?”
Lexi smiled blandly. “This is the queen’s suite.”
“Nasty old castle,” Anna complained under her breath as she unstrapped the neat little pack around her middle and set it on the bed Lexi indicated. “Where is the bathing chamber? I’d like to freshen up before dinner." She fluffed her golden locks, then wrinkled up her nose again. “I can still smell that horrid little man that had the audacity to touch my hair.”
Lexi hid her smile by smoothing the blankets on her own bed. “There is a public bathing chamber.”
Anna looked startled. “You don’t want me to use yours?”
Lexi’s smile broadened before it fell away into a blank mask as she faced Anna. “I use the public chamber. Would you like to borrow my swimsuit?”
“I need a swimsuit?”
“The pool is for men and women both,” Lexi explained, feeling guilty that she was taking delight in Anna’s discomfiture. “However, the Governor would probably allow you to use his private chamber.”
Anna’s wings sagged with relief. “Oh yes, that would be better.”
Lexi opened the door and looked out at the gray-winged guard.
“Is the Governor likely to be in his bath, right now?” Lexi asked politely.
“No. He usually bathes later.”
“Good. Would you please escort this young lady down to the Governor’s bath, and then bring her back again?” Lexi asked.
The guard looked down the hallway where his fellow guard had departed moments before.
Lexi fought the temptation to order his obedience. “Yes I know you’re not supposed to leave me unguarded, but the other guard will be back soon. This young lady is Van West’s sister; the Governor would want her protected as well.”
The guard nodded his assent, and Lexi turned to look back at Anna. “The guard will take you.”
“Thank you Your Highness,” Anna said with a smiling half curtsy as she took up her bag and walked quickly out the door.
Lexi sighed as she shut the door behind them. Now it would be a virtual parade returning home. Somehow the mountain had become as confining and restrictive as the palace, though a lot less comfortable. Lexi eyed the sagging beds with their threadbare blankets and recalled the dismay on Anna’s face with a returning smile. Leaning forward, she smoothed down her bed cover, her eyes involuntarily straying to the ceiling. A devious grin lit her face as she darted to the balcony. In the courtyard below, Tiger’s distinctive yellow and black wings spread lazily out behind his stool while Coli’s twitched irritably across from him, her arms tightly folded over her chest while she let her gaze wander. Lexi swallowed a little pang of guilt, then flew up to the balcony above and darted inside with a triumphant smile. The smile froze on her lips as she gazed at the beds. All three had been stripped bare of their bedding, including the pillows.
She let out an irritated puff of breath and went back to the balcony. Tiger looked up at her with an enormous grin, then quickly turned his attention back to Coli. A waving hand caught Lexi’s eye framed by tan-spotted underwings and familiar auburn hair. Lexi sucked in her breath, visibly sinking as a boulder of guilt settled in her stomach. She had forgotten about Cam.
He appeared to be visibly counting the floors as he flew, a little confusion showing on his face when he realized Lexi was standing on someone else’s balcony.
“You didn’t ask Tiger yet?” he asked, glancing into the empty room as he landed on the rail.
“No, I did.” Lexi turned away from his greeting to hide the deep blush that refused to be quelled. “He didn’t know.”
Cam followed her into Tiger’s room with confusion. “Something wrong with your room?”
Lexi trained her face to a pleasant smile as she turned to face him. “Just giving my new roommate a little privacy.”
“You have a new roommate?”
“Van’s sister came to fetch him,” Lexi said, taking a step back as the scent of stolen cookies overwhelmed the last traces of Tiger’s calming scent.
Cam let out a short bark of laughter. “So Cretin number two is going home?”
Lexi took a deep breath and gave him an apologetic smile. “Cam, I might be going home, too.”
Cam’s heavy brows knit together and he gave a light snort as his jaw tightened. �
�You mean, without me?"
Lexi nodded somberly.
"You’re not going to marry me?” he asked, a rumble of anger hiding his hurt.
Lexi laid a hand on his arm to soften her words. “Tiger thinks the royal flying guard is already on its way to escort me home. I don’t think we’re going to have a week.”
Relief softened Cam’s features as he laid a calloused hand over her own. “Then we’ll have the officiant marry us now. We can hide somewhere.”
Lexi shook her head slowly. “Erynnis can't marry anyone without Limen's permission. I asked.”
Cam gripped her hand tightly as he let out a long, frustrated sigh. “Would your father marry us?”
“I don’t know. I’m certain he would like you, but he’s never married anyone without my mother’s approval.”
Cam gave a hard laugh, and released her hand to scratch the back of his head. “So you’re telling me that after all this effort to get away from the Cretin, you’re still going to marry him?”
Lexi let her hand fall away as the muscles went taut underneath her fingertips. “I hope not. But if you follow me to the palace, there's a fair chance you'll be imprisoned.”
Cam pressed his palms into his eyes, then dropped them abruptly. “Just leave with me. We’ll hide somewhere. We’ll...” Cam’s shoulders sagged as he trailed off.
“You said yourself, my mother will think our children are Talan’s; she won’t give up searching for us. She would...” Lexi paused as she searched for the right word. “She would bother your family.”
“Bother?”
“When she feels really strongly that something is right, she will say or do almost anything to make it happen.” Lexi caught the mixture of disgust and alarm on Cam’s face, and shook her head. “I’m making her sound like a monster.”
“What would she do to my family?” Cam asked, his dark eyes stormy.
“I don’t know, Cam. Imprison them? Close the quarry? Something.”
Cam’s mouth shut in a firm line as he nodded once. “So we’re done, then?” he asked, the anger returning to his tone.
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry. You’re nothing more than a puppet in this,” Cam said, his voice seething with suppressed anger.
Lexi drew back as if she had been slapped, then her startled expression smoothed into a blank one as she threw her shoulders back. “I’m hardly a puppet.”
“You act like one,” Cam shot back.
A little shudder of anger broke Lexi’s smooth facade. “If you believe me a puppet, you should save your ire for the puppet master.”
“Excellent idea! Let’s head to the palace tonight so I can do just that,” Cam suggested with acrid irony as he threw his arms in the air.
A single lifted brow betrayed her emotion, her voice eerily calm. “You need to go.” Lexi nodded coolly towards the open balcony.
“This is Tiger’s room; shouldn’t he be the one to kick me out of it?”
Lexi opened her mouth to command him, to remind him of her rank, but her imperious words fizzled at the pain in his eyes. Without a word, she opened the hallway door and closed it behind her. Her anger propelled her down the corridor, but she slowed when she didn’t hear the door open nor his expected footsteps coming after her. She imagined his apology, the soft words he would use to urge her to change her mind, but the door didn’t open. He didn’t follow her. He didn’t take it back. Lexi’s dismay returned to anger before she reached her own door. Van was fidgeting in the hallway while the guard with spotted white wings stood stiffly beside him. Both looked up with relief as she approached.
“You sent for me?” Van asked, wearing an uncomfortable smile.
“Your sister is here. She’ll meet us for dinner shortly,” Lexi said in a flat tone, breezing into her room with a perfectly blank expression masking her face. Lexi nodded satisfactorily at the three covered meals set on her vanity table.
“What? Anna came here? Is she at the pool?” Van asked, his uneasy charm giving way to veiled panic.
Lexi sat down without looking at him. “She’s using Limen’s bath, and she has a guard.”
“But why did she come here? She shouldn’t be here,” Van muttered, pushing back the wispy blonde hair that cascaded across his forehead. “She can’t be here,” he said with more force, meeting Lexi’s eyes.
One corner of Lexi’s mouth twitched with amusement. “She is here. I’ll allow her to explain why.”
Van leaned out of the doorway to peer down the hall. “She takes forever to wash,” he complained. “She only has one guard with her?” He began to pace jauntily back and forth from the room out into the hallway.
Lexi’s twitch became a half smile, but she willed it away with thoughts of her unpleasant conversation with Cam.
“Limen usually bathes after dinner,” Van announced, and abruptly stopped pacing while several emotions flickered across his face. Turning to her, her gave her a short bow. “Please excuse me, Your Highness. I will return shortly with my sister.” Van disappeared out the door, then briefly reappeared. “Please don’t spoil your dinner waiting for us,” he added, and then was gone.
Lexi laughed silently as she uncovered her dish and peered at the odd array of greens dotted with carrots and flanked by some sort of grilled meat.
“Shall I close the door, Miss Fritillary?” the guard asked.
“Yes, thank you,” Lexi answered, intending to laugh out loud once the door shut, but when it was, she found her mirth had left her. Instead, a frown puckered her brow as she ran through her conversation with Cam. You betrayed him with Tiger, an inner voice accused. Lexi only shook her head and picked listlessly at her food. The loud conversation and laughter drifting up from the courtyard below further irritated her until her appetite was gone. She covered her food with a heavy clang, then wandered out to the balcony with a listless gait.
Tiger was sitting alone now, picking at an ash-colored stew with thoughtful abstraction. Coli was across the courtyard speaking with her brothers, who were casting furtive glances at Tiger. Coli clutched their arms, but one broke free and flew across the courtyard to stand in front of Tiger. Tiger got up slowly, his expression grim as he faced Coli's brother.
Lexi leaned forward, squeezing the balcony rail until her fingers began to ache.
Coli landed beside her brother and Tiger, pushing them apart. “You promised!” she reminded her brother a little too loudly, hushing the conversation around them.
Coli's brother leaned around her to smell Tiger. “He’s been cheating on you, Coli,” he announced. “He reeks of some female.”
Lexi drew back involuntarily, a heavy blush on her cheeks as Coli’s head whipped around to face Tiger. Lexi sniffed her own hair and groaned as she detected Tiger's scent. Had Cam noticed?
Coli said something in a low voice to Tiger, whose face was as red as Lexi’s. Then she cast a single livid glance up at Lexi’s balcony before disappearing into the crowd. A few people followed Coli’s gaze, but Lexi had withdrawn too far back into her room to be seen.
“I warned you,” Coli's brother said.
Lexi flinched at the alarming smack of knuckles against flesh, and leapt back onto the balcony. Tiger straightened, his hand on his jaw as Coli's brother struck again. This time, the shrill of a whistle masked the sound of it. The boisterous crowd tensed at the sound and glanced around for a guard before they turned their attention back to the conflict. Tiger was straightening slower this time. Lexi had landed beside him before she realized what she was doing.
“Go away, Lex,” Tiger groaned, pushing her away from him as she tried to examine his face.
“Ah, the source of the stench finally shows her face,” Coli's brother drawled.
“Walk away, Talis,” Tiger warned, his hands hardening into fists. “That’s all I’m taking.”
“Oh, you’re going to fight back now, are you? That should make this more fun,” Talis goaded as Tiger dodged his jab.
“Though I think yo
u have the advantage with that rancid tramp at your side. Her scent is actually making my eyes water,” Talis quipped, blinking for effect until Tiger smashed his nose. Talis stumbled back a few steps, the crowd helping him right himself as he returned to the fight with blood dripping from both nostrils.
“You’ll regret that, horsey-boy,” Talis taunted, lunging at Tiger.
“Stop it,” Lexi commanded through clenched teeth, shoving Talis sideways with all her strength.
Talis stumbled over a stool, then fell against a table as the crowd gasped. A couple of men helped him to his feet, then drew back with open mouths as he stood. Talis’ left forewing hung down unnaturally at the level of his head. Talis stared at it agape, then tried to straighten it gingerly. He winced as it fell back down.
“You broke my wing!” he accused Lexi, his voice seeming to echo back from the gray stone of the castle.
Lexi shifted closer to Tiger as the crowd began to part for a tall, gray-haired man with brown wings. “What’s going on?” he demanded irritably.
“She broke my wing, Pol!” Talis complained loudly, smearing the blood from his nose across his cheek.
“No, I did it,” Tiger announced, stepping in front of Lexi with his wings spread wide. “We were fighting and I pushed him into the table.”
Lexi clenched the back of Tiger’s shirt in her fist and leaned into the back of his neck. “No,” she hissed.
“Quiet, Lex,” Tiger warned.
“No,” Talis said doggedly. “She did it,” he insisted, taking a few steps sideways to point where Lexi stood behind Tiger.
Pol met Lexi’s eyes, and his face went slack with recognition. Lexi tried to step around Tiger, but he blocked her.
“You and your tramp are both going to the dungeon,” Talis said vindictively, as his brother held his broken wing upright.
“Shut your mouth, Mr. Sulfur,” Pol warned with a gravelly voice. “Who started the fight?”