Guilt did somersaults inside my stomach, adding to the ill effects of the news, and my world began to spin. Sparks grew in my vision. I steadied my breath and forced them back.
Castiel glared at his brother, but Riaan waved him off. “I’m telling you now.” The king tipped his head back to the ceiling, rubbing a sore neck. “If there was any other way…”
But there wasn’t. My father had died in a valiant effort to stop the Wraith Queen and her assault. If she was yet alive, at least Toma had slowed her for a time. There was no more hiding. No more running, from any of them: Johan, Lucan, Weylan. If this was the ambassador to the Wraith Queen, she would trump them all.
Castiel leaned forward, bringing his face to mine. I instinctively stepped back.
“I will not let him hurt you, Ilianna. He will not hurt you.”
“You cannot stop him.” His expression pinched. He wanted to argue but I didn’t let him. “Besides, our kingdoms come first,” I said, despite the pathetic fear that threatened to overcome me. “Our combined forces are the only chance we have of surviving an attack.”
“There will be a celebration in two weeks to announce your official arrival to our country. It’ll be the first step in securing the peace your uncle so desperately desires.” Riaan spoke over his shoulder as he walked away. “In the meantime, let us pray our fears are for nothing.” He hesitated at the door. “And will someone clean her up, please?”
A Falcry
Castiel rejoined the search for Weylan beyond Meyrion’s walls. I was dismissed to my room and ordered to stay there until the prince’s return. I observed the final attempts by the guards to locate Weylan on the grounds from my window until night impeded my watch. The effects of the potion faded with the sun.
Sameen brought me my meals and kept me company. She helped me ready for sleep, working my hair into a long, intricate braid down my back. She would have stayed with me all night, I was sure, but I sent her to her own bed when her yawning couldn’t be contained. I paced the length of my room in my nightgown—a prisoner once again, but this time I didn’t mind so much. The stone walls that encased me within also kept Weylan out.
Exhausted, I tucked into a ball in my chair and waited for Castiel, but it wasn’t until the outside torches extinguished and the fire in my hearth dimmed that he came.
A soft creak was the only warning that someone had entered. A chill raised the hairs on the back of my neck. He was so close. His presence pressed against me, familiar now, but I didn’t turn to acknowledge him. Nervously, I fiddled with the end of my braid.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” His voice was barely more than a whisper. It sent a tremor down my spine.
I shrugged, nonchalant. “You should have known I would seek out Lucan. He—”
“This is not about Lucan.” Castiel moved around the chairs to stand before me, but still I could not meet his gaze. “You told me Weylan was a spy. A schemer. That he was bad.”
“What more did you want me to say?” I asked, my voice monotone.
Castiel crouched in front of me, and I was glad I had not seen his eyes before because they undid me. “You should have told me that he struck you. Repeatedly. That he caused you pain.”
Tears nearly blinded me. “Is that what your Healer told you?” I asked, accusingly.
“It’s what Gedeon saw, Ilianna. His magic allows him to see how an individual received each injury that he heals.”
“You should have told me what Gedeon’s magic could do. I would never have—”
“Allowed him to heal you?” Castiel interrupted. “To save your life?”
The light from the fire made him glow. His intensity would burn me alive.
Being the coward I was, I glanced away to avoid his eyes. “I wouldn’t have died from Lucan’s wound.”
And why did he appeared to be so upset? Could he really care as much as he seemed? I swallowed against the growing hope and wiped a rogue tear from my cheek. “And what could you have done that would’ve made any difference?” Nothing ever made a difference. Weylan was too powerful to be stopped.
“What could I—?” His words rose too loud and he made a visible effort to check them. He gripped the arms of my chair and growled. The muscles in his jaw rippled. “When will you realize that what he did—what happened to you—never should have been allowed. He should be punished. Him, and anyone else that touched you. All of them, cast into prison—”
Without realizing what I did, I lurched forward and threw my arms around his shoulders. My face buried into the warmth of his neck. Castiel stiffened beneath my embrace, but seconds later, his tension ebbed. One hand gathered me closer, the other kept us from falling onto the cold stone beneath us.
My mouth pressed into the folds of his shirt at his shoulder, my voice muffled, but comprehensible. “Thank you.” And I meant it. Whether his affection—or Melia’s, or Reese’s, or even Sameen’s—was real, I was grateful. It would make leaving this continent a little harder, but not impossible when the time came.
After a few seconds, embarrassment tugged at my senses.
Only yesterday I had commanded him not to touch me. Now, I’d broken my own rule and had flung myself on him. Instead of the anxiety that normally came with such an action, warmth bloomed in my cheeks and flooded my body.
Regaining my composure, I took a deep breath, then pulled away to stand. I smoothed my nightdress with shaking hands. “And since there’s no reason to hide it any longer, I promise to let you know in the future.”
The low flames from my fire silhouetted him, preventing me from seeing his reaction. “Don’t run away.” It was spoken in a whisper, but his words shook me to my core.
I swallowed hard to keep the emotions restrained. “And where would I run?” Where could I run? I moved to the door and gestured to it with a forced half-smile. “Good night, Prince.”
He stood to leave but paused to peer over his shoulder, his eyes meeting mine. His gaze pinned me in place. “Please, do not leave your room until I come get you in the morning.”
“I—”
“If you refuse to obey me then I’ll sleep outside your chambers.”
My mouth snapped closed. Another wave of chills erupted along my spine. I could only nod my acceptance.
“I’ll return early in the morning, but until then, I’ll send an additional guard to watch over you tonight.”
“Reese is out there now. How many more do I need?”
But he didn’t answer, only shut the door behind him, leaving me alone to my growing confusion.
Why did he care?
Weylan had pretended to care, and the memory caused my breath to freeze inside my lungs. A numbness trickled into my heart, draining it of any warmth.
Castiel was nothing like Weylan.
Rejecting the possibility, I shook my head and ran a hand down my face. Exhaustion was setting in. I cast myself into bed, saying a silent prayer to the gods that I would be able to sleep despite the tensions of the past several days. It was no use. The room was too hot. The blankets too soft. My nightgown too thick. I slid from my mattress and moved to the window. Three stories up, it was a sheer drop that would break every bone in my body if I fell. No one would be able to scale it.
I was safe.
Unless Cy decided to return.
I growled and unlocked the casing. I threw the window wide. The evening breeze wafted my hair and sent tendrils of cool air through the dense space of my apartment. The smell of a late evening rain soothed my nerves. I took a deep breath, savoring it. Curled into a ball at the foot of my bed to be closer to the cool, I shut my eyes. Still, sleep evaded me.
A rustling noise caused me to fly from my bed with a jolt. A pair of yellow eyes watched me from the window sill and I froze. A heavy breeze rustled through Ketrina’s midnight feathers. My heart thundered in my chest, so loud I was sure the mystical bird could hear it.
She leaped from the ledge to my chair in front of the fireplace, ruffling her plumage.
/> A falcry was in my room. I was going to die.
But all she did was watch me. Moments later, she lowered into the chair, basking in the warmth of the dimming fire.
Frustration made me brave. Almost.
I swallowed against a dry mouth. “Are you here to kill me?”
She tipped her head to one side and then another. Her eyes narrowed.
“Well,” I asked, “what do you want?” But she only continued to watch me. I slowly reclaimed my seat on my bed and folded my hands in my lap.
I had a feeling that if the falcry wanted to claim my bedroom as her own, she would do so with little resistance from anyone.
Taking a deep breath, I squared my shoulders. I moved to the window. “Now, that’s enough. Shoo.”
Ketrina’s head twitched. Was that a look of confusion?’
“You heard me. Shoo.”
She snapped her beak at my hand. Even though she was several paces away, I yanked back to ensure all fingers were firmly in place. I clutched them to my chest, my words sounding braver than I actually was.
“Fine. You want to sit in my chair, it’s yours. But only for tonight.”
I sat back down on my bed, folding my legs beneath me. “I don’t know what gossip you expect me to share. I’m really a dull person, so…” I huffed, rolling my eyes at my own idiocy.
Did I really think she was going to answer?
But the falcry were mystical birds. Tales about them had seemed so farfetched to me at the time, but now that I had an actual, physical manifestation of one resting in the very chair I had just vacated, I could believe them all. Ketrina’s yellow eyes watched me as if I were the one on display, but I refused to squirm beneath her gaze. I stared even harder.
After a while her eyes drooped, mirroring mine. A melody danced at the edges of my subconscious, its notes a soothing balm. My eyes rolled back into my head and I jerked awake, and yet Ketrina continued to mesmerize.
I didn’t remember falling asleep
Ketrina was gone the next day. In fact, I wondered if her presence had been real at all, or whether it was just a dream. Had the prince been a dream as well? But when I rose from bed, a large black feather decorated the floor, the only proof that the night had indeed happened.
For a week straight, I had dreams of bloodied farmers, evil blacksmiths, and the falcry. Of the Wraith Queen.
Training was put on hold. The prince claimed he couldn’t get away from his duties, but I knew what he was doing. I watched him leave every morning to continue his search for Weylan. Part of me was annoyed with him. My training had once been so important, but now so easily overlooked. But the more feeling, emotional side of me, appreciated that he seemed to care.
Melia no longer collected me for sparring. I was less than pleased with her new gentle method of friendship and decided to force her hand. I had almost gotten ready in my sparring gear when Sameen arrived with breakfast and clothes—although not the clothes I had grown accustomed to.
I held up a pair of brown pants and a cream-colored shirt. “What is this?”
Her answer only confused instead of enlightened. “Or you can wear this one.” She displayed a mud-colored day dress with long sleeve and attached hood.
“How about neither? I’m going to spar with Melia today.”
“Not going to happen. She’s taking over the prince’s duties today and he has requested you join him.”
I grimaced, flicking the drab material. “And I’ve been reduced to peasant status?”
She rolled her eyes. “There are no peasants in Anolyn, Princess.”
My brows pinched together. “Truly?” But even as I asked, I had never seen a beggar to soil the front steps of Meyrion or plead the king for amends. “How do the boys manage that?”
“The boys? You mean the king and prince?” she asked.
I gave her a cheeky smile.
She responded with an indulgent sigh, ignoring my impertinence. “I’m sure poverty still exists. You can’t control everything, but as Gedeon told you, each citizen is required to work.”
“And what about Weylan’s escape? He’s out there. I shouldn’t be working. I should be looking for him.”
“The prince is seeing to his capture, and you know he wouldn’t take you anywhere if he wasn’t sure of your safety. Today is the first day of harvest. He would like you to join him.”
Again, I stared at her, not fully comprehending her meaning until she held up both the shirt and the dress for me to choose between. It was her turn to smile, and the smugness of it caused any remaining hopes to crumble.
“What am I supposed to do?” I asked.
“I’m guessing the prince will find something.” She tipped her head to the side, a curious expression pinching her features. “Castiel is more content than I’ve seen him in a long time.”
My heart squeezed oddly. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Maybe you have something to do with it.”
I flinched, mentally shaking my head. “I truly doubt that.”
She shrugged then dangled the clothes in front of me, impatient for me to make my selection.
“Does it matter what I wear? You choose.”
Speechless, I climbed into the clothes—the pants and shirt ensemble. It was a drab thing with long sleeves and a neckline that scooped. It had only one thin layer of protection above my undergarments. I tugged on my boots while she carefully picked apart my braids then piled the wavy mess high into a loose bun.
Would I be forced to muck out animal stalls or sow the field? How did one even sow a field?
“This feels strange,” I said, tugging at the shirt.
“From what I hear, you wear men’s armor into battle. Why is this so strange to that? Besides, you’ll be grateful when the afternoon gets warm.” Then she laughed at my somber expression. “Cheer up, Ilianna. It’s not such a terrible thing.”
But still anxiety draped upon me like a sickness. When Castiel came to release me from my cell, as it were, he almost laughed at my expression.
“You look miserable.”
I opened my arms to display the obvious reason, then noticed what he wore.
In a matching ensemble of brown slacks and cream top, we were ridiculous, a pair of royal yokels. Although he made the outfit look almost good.
A smile lifted the corners of his mouth. “Are you ready for some fun?”
“You’re teasing, right?”
“Not at all. Today, I travel to Rhyolyn, a little town not too far from here.”
I laced my fingers in front of me in an effort to remain calm. “Weylan? Lucan? The Wraith Queen?”
He ticked off his fingers. “My brother leans to the extreme; this messenger might have nothing to do with the Wraith Queen. Lucan is unwilling to discuss anything further, I have scouts searching for Weylan, and you’ll be with me.”
Anxiety gnawed at my nerves. “I’d rather stay here.” But why? It would be better to go with the prince instead of waiting like a sitting duck where Weylan knew I’d be. Grumbling, I followed him.
Outside stood two magnificent horses: one a blue roan with tall, white stockings, the other a buckskin beast with golden tones. He tossed his black mane and stomped his dark legs, impatient for his rider.
Castiel called to him. “Calm, boy.” His hands rubbed down the horse’s sides. “This is Dhema.” He glanced over his shoulder. “Do you ride?”
“Of course I do.” But it had been a very long time and I wasn’t that great at it. In fact, when I was younger, I was deathly afraid of horses until my uncle discovered the fear and punished me with extra lessons. Now I could appear as confident on one of them as anyone else. My insides were a whole other problem. “Which one’s for me?”
He indicated the blue roan with the nod. I steadied my nerves and went to the waiting attendant. I allowed him to give me a hand up, wondering if he felt the tremor in my bones. If he did, he didn’t say. I swung my leg over, thankful when it cleared the saddle. My hands sho
ok, my white-knuckled grasp tense around the reins.
Castiel was already in his seat, his horse steady beneath his sure grip. He studied me. Did he see the coward, the fake that I was?
“Her name is Amaya. She’s very calm.”
“I’m sure she’s wonderful,” I said without feeling. I quickly smoothed my hand down her neck, mumbling beneath my breath as I patted her. “Please don’t throw me. Just, please don’t throw me.”
We set out at a comfortable pace. Amaya was easy enough and seemed content to follow the leader. Then Castiel slowed, a constant vigil at my side. He kept conversation to a minimum, no doubt in effort to calm my nerves. And it worked. A warm sun peeked from behind thin clouds. The fields we traveled were a lush green, plump from a good rain. Wildflowers speckled the landscape. The sound of the horses’ hooves against the dense earth soothed. Even the forests appeared less ominous than before. How could anyone think evil lurked within them?
Except that it did—evil that fought for someone as terrible as a Wraith Queen.
I shuddered. “What’s the first harvest?” I asked, breaking through my moroseness.
He turned from me, no doubt to hide a mischievous smile that still shone at the corner of his mouth. “You’ll see.”
When Castiel increased the stride, it almost felt nice. We traveled northeast for an hour before coming upon Rhyolyn; the small town bustled with movement.
My anxiety returned.
Homes of brick and mortar lined the single street, pressed up against each other without much space between, but the farther we rode, the scenery changed. The homes grew farther apart. Now of wood or even straw, they spotted the land without much rhyme or reason. Beyond them stretched an orchard. In a large field, citizens readied tables decorated with flowers, streamers, and painted signs. The scent of breads, pies, and flora infused the air. My mouth watered. Children played games of chase, barefoot along dirt roads.
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