The horse galloped at a breakneck speed and we left the last shreds of Forbidding behind us as we sped into the sunset toward the spires of Glorious Ingvar.
Behind me, I heard a roar of anguish.
Osprey.
The same anguish ripped through my heart. What had I done? What had I done?
I looked back, but I couldn’t see him. I could only feel the steady throb of the hot feather in the band on my wrist.
As we raced to flee him, I kept seeing that melted look in his eyes as he parted his lips. It replayed itself over and over in my mind. By the time we reached the gates of Glorious Ingvar, our horses slick with sweat and huffing, I thought the memory might consume me.
Chapter Eleven
“He’s better than I thought he’d be. Quicker,” Retger said irritably. “So are you. Those bees are something useful. In nature, it’s the smallest things that usually have the biggest bites.”
I made a sound of agreement in my throat, but my mind was elsewhere. I kept feeling that tug toward Osprey. Twice, I almost leapt from the back of the horse to run back to him. I shook my head, trying to clear it. He would be okay. I knew he would be. But wasn’t it strange that the bee I’d set to watch Juste was watching Osprey instead?
At the thought of Juste’s name, I felt something like rage simmering in my belly – and another tug. This time to the north and east. I felt my jaw dropping open. I could feel him. I could feel where he was if I really tried to. It was the honeycomb in Juste’s belly – I was sure of it. It had bound me to Juste Montpetit in ways I didn’t want to be bound and it had also left this thread between us. I shivered. If I could feel it, perhaps he could feel it, too.
“He’ll be after us again,” I whispered. “He’ll be better at it next time.”
“So will we,” Retger assured me grimly as he led us through the gates.
“Ho, Traveler!” the gate guard called, stopping us with an outstretched polearm. “All arrivals must register at the gate and if you know of a path through the Forbidding, you are required to list it.”
“List it?” Retger asked, dismounting, and taking the pen and writing in the ledger thrust at him. I moved nervously in the saddle. There would be no keeping this record from Osprey. He had to know we’d be there, but I hated leaving more evidence. Hopefully, Retger was being circumspect in what he wrote.
In my mind’s eye, I could see Osprey arriving and checking the ledger for my name. I felt a thrill of anticipation at the thought of it. He would follow, and next time, I would be ready.
“House Bald Eagle is organizing a push to clear the road,” the guard said. “Any information we can gather will help them. How did you make your way through the Forbidding on the road? Was there already a clear path?”
“We carved our way,” Retger said, flashing a dimpled smile. “Like all good Far citizens.”
“Just the three of you?” the guard looked suspicious. His Claw uniform was immaculate, and his sword handle bright and polished. He likely wasn’t from these parts.
“I’m worth ten men when it comes to fighting the Forbidding,” Retger said with a wink, finishing his work on the ledger. He’d better be careful with bragging like that, or they might recruit him.
The Claw nodded to him. “You’re free to pass, citizen.”
He took back the ledger and we stepped through the walls and into Glorious Ingvar. It was all I could do to keep my mouth shut and my worries to myself as Retger led us through the packed, winding streets of the city. Hawkers were closing their shops and taverns lighting the lamps over their doors as sunset sank into darkness. The scents of the city – mouthwatering bread, the fecundity of horse dung in the streets, the sharp tang of sweat, and the ferment near the tavern – filled my nose and made me feel like just one person lost in a sea of life.
The city was large. I lost track of where we were in the winding streets before we’d taken more than a turn or two. They were not laid out straight or in a grid of any kind. Rather, it seemed that buildings had been erected on any empty space and the spots between them were packed dirt merely because they were there to walk on, not because anyone had thought through whether it would be a good design for the city.
Thankfully, Retger seemed to know where he was going. He stayed on foot, leading our horses, his eyes alert and his steps firm.
“Have you been here before?” I asked, but I knew he couldn’t have been. I knew all the places he’d been and he’d hardly been out of Far Reach more than I had.
“No.”
“But you know where we’re going?”
“Yes.” He turned and shot me a firm look – a clear order to keep my mouth shut, but I didn’t know why. Was there some secret to how he was navigating? I narrowed my eyes and tried to guess what it might be.
Eventually, he found his way to a tall, narrow building. The stables were on the ground floor and a huge sign hanging over them proclaimed this was the Kingfisher Inn. It rose three more stories above the stables and ended in a peaked roof.
Retger had a quiet word with a tough-looking man with one eye who stood watching from the door of the stables. Coins exchanged hands, and then the horses were being taken and we were dismounting and following Retger up a narrow staircase that opened up to a wide common room.
In the room, there was a long bar with smaller tables filling the rest of the room. My head was still spinning from the hurry of our ascent and I barely took in the chaos of the room. Someone was playing a viol, people were dancing and eating, and the conversation was so loud I couldn’t hear Zayana when she tried to whisper something to me. If this was what cities were like, they could count me out!
Retger leaned over the bar and spoke to the bartender who turned, took a pair of keys off the wall, and handed them to Retger with a bored expression on his face.
I barely had time to open my mouth, never mind object, before Retger was sweeping us up the next flight of stairs and down a hall to where two tiny rooms stood side by side. They were numbered. He opened the first, glanced at the narrow single bed and washstand, and then opened the second and handed me the key. It was identical to the first, but there were two narrow cots in it.
“Your accommodations, ladies,” he said with a grin. “The barkeep says there are baths at the end of the hall.”
“Then I’ll be going there immediately,” Zayana said primly, taking the key from my hand, but I didn’t miss the way her eyes stayed on Retger until she absolutely had to tear them away, or the way he seemed to subtly flex his muscles as if aware of her scrutiny. It was all I could do to keep from rolling my eyes. Seriously? We were a bit busy fleeing for our lives, or hadn’t they noticed? It was like watching a mating dance between a pair of birds in the spring.
Retger motioned to me and we ducked into his room together.
“Finally, a moment to talk,” he said, but he looked awkward as he said it, chewing his lip. Emotional moments had never been his strong suit – but that was true of my whole family.
“How did you find your way through the city?” I asked.
“The Single Wing leaves signs. Little scratch marks that tell you the way to safe houses or friendly inns. They’re at the bottom of the corner of the buildings. I followed the marks.”
“Oh,” I said, feeling foolish. Everyone knew things I didn’t. “Can you teach me?”
“Sure, but not tonight. They’re complicated.”
I nodded. “He’ll be able to follow them, too. Osprey. He’s also of the Single Wing.”
Retger nodded, considering. “And yet he hunts you for Le Majest?”
Why did I feel so defensive about that? “He’s bound by magic.”
“We’ll have to move quickly, then. We’ll go to find these records at dawn.” He double-checked the closed the door as if he was afraid of people listening in and then continued in a low voice “I told you we had things to discuss. About the Single Wing. Look, the old man used to take us aside after the Hatching ceremony – after we didn’t Hatch
– and he’d tell us. He would have told you that night if ... well, he wasn’t there to tell Alect or Raquella either. Abghar told them instead.”
I felt a pang at his words and blinked back tears. I missed them all. Having Retger here was like a taste of home, but it couldn’t be enough.
“When Father arrived on the beaches of Far Stones with the other settlers – this was before our mother arrived and they married – there were things that were done to clear the land. Things that were unspeakable.”
“They used blood to drive back the Forbidding,” I confirmed. So. Juste had not lied about that.
Retger looked uncomfortable. How much had my father told him about what happened then?
“Among other things. And sometimes when they fought the Forbidding, they said there were men within it. But they did not reason with these men, they slew them on orders from Le Majest.”
“The crown prince?”
He shook his head. “He wasn’t even born then. The Emperor. He gave orders that anything found within the Forbidding was to be killed or burned. The settlers did that and they carved for us a land and a home. But in their hearts, horror and shame were born. They hid any ruins or signs of life that they could – not bridges obviously, but anything else. They didn’t want to think about what they’d done.” That explained why the entrances to the undertrails had been disguised. “And it made their bonds to the Empire of War and Wings chafe. And that was when the Single Wing was born. They marked themselves and swore to one day take this land for themselves and drive out the Empire as they had driven out the Forbidding.”
“They didn’t do a very good job,” I said, glancing out the tiny window. “It’s back.”
“No battle is ever fought just once,” Retger said darkly. “Anything you have that’s worth something has to be defended and bought again and again and sometimes the price is steeper than you could have hoped. The old man paid with his life. We might, too. But freedom is one of those things that’s worth fighting for again and again. No price is too high.”
I swallowed as I thought of my father. “Are you sure about that?”
“As sure as I am of anything, Shrikeling. At any rate, the old man joined the Single Wing with the rest of them, and when we come of age, we join, too. We’re all in it. Every one of us. The in-laws, too. And that’s why I can help you here because I know who to talk to and who can help us. I have connections and I know the signs. We’ll find your information here one way or another. I’m going to go out and I’ll find where those records you need are from the times of the settlement and then we’ll go look at them together.”
“I should be the one finding them,” I protested.
He was already shaking his head. “When your pursuer comes, he’ll be looking for you. He didn’t see much of me – likely not enough to describe me accurately. So, I should be the one to go into public. Do you have any coin?”
“A few,” I said, fishing into my pocket and pulling out the coppers Wing Ivo had given me.
“Buy yourself dinner down below,” he said. “We’ll try to resupply tomorrow. And promise me you won’t leave the inn until I return.”
“I’m not a child, Retger. This is my responsibility.”
“Look, is it really so bad to have a bath and a meal and catch some sleep?” I was going to keep arguing with him but then his eyes narrowed. “How well did you know that Wing? The one who is hunting you? That look in his eye when he saw you wasn’t what I expected.”
“We’re friends,” I said, a little too quickly.
“Friends who hunt each other for the Empire?”
“It’s complicated.” My arms crossed over my chest of their own will.
“Friends who look longingly at each other like they’re about to speak binding vows and leave married?”
I rolled my eyes. “Come on, Retger.”
“Just stay in the inn.” He was shaking his head, all brotherly protectiveness and worry. He shoved me out the door before I could protest and locked it behind me. “Baths are that way.”
And then he was gone, leaving me frustrated and – yes – in need of a bath. By the time I found the bathing area, Zayana was gone and the attendant was pouring a fresh hot bath. She left as soon as it was full, and I took the opportunity to sink into the hot water. That alone nearly put me to sleep. I hadn’t bathed properly in ... not since I’d left home. I even attempted to wash my long curls, surprised to find little bits of twigs and leaves stuck in the mass of hair.
Eventually, the water went cold and I had to leave the warmth and dress again in the soiled clothing from the road. I cleaned the jacket and hung it on a hook in our room to dry. There was no sign of Zayana. Maybe she was eating. I tried not to worry but I’d gotten used to having her around.
I sat on the edge of the bed – just for a moment. I’d get food in a minute. I just needed to sit to rest my bones. I didn’t even realize I was nodding off until I awoke, sprawled across the cot. Zayana was snoring in the other cot, but when I glanced out the window, the moon still showed it was early in the night.
And I was hungry. I grabbed my freshly cleaned jacket and headed below.
Chapter Twelve
The common room was still buzzing with people. I ordered dinner and a drink from a girl serving tables and then found myself a spot at an unoccupied table. The common room had owls carved on every bit of wood. Owls in flight. Owls peering out of holes in trees. Owls on tree branches. It was oddly comforting.
I was just sitting down when my vision flashed to my bee. It was the one with my family.
Raquella’s worried face flashed across my vision. “It looks like people lived here. Recently. Those are carrots on that table.”
“Just clear it of debris,” Abghar said, exhaustion thick in his tone. “It’s the only place with four walls that we’ve seen in days. We’ll sleep here tonight.”
“And the owners of the house?”
He shook his head at the same moment that my vision flickered back. The serving girl was putting down my dinner in front of me.
“Thank you,” I said wanly. The stew smelled amazingly good. I ripped into the bread and began to chew when another vision hit me. When I was tired, they seemed to come more often.
It was Ixtap again, screaming from the bow of a boat. Spray from the surf kicked up and across the bow, spattering him. He seemed unaffected, simply raising the bright torch he held in his hand and calling out an order.
“Command the adders to swim more swiftly! Seasonal winds may be against us, but valor is with us!”
Could snakes actually swim? I shivered and the vision disappeared. Gratefully, I dipped into my stew, only realizing after I’d begun to chew that someone was sitting at my table.
“It doesn’t do to eat alone,” the young man sitting opposite from me said. He wore a red coat, much like mine, only his was embroidered in thick black thread with a design of kestrels. “I’m Shanigar of House Kestrel.”
“How nice for you,” I said, taking another bite of stew. I did not want company. I wanted to eat.
His smile turned a little cold, but he kept talking. “You could use the company – especially if you are traveling alone. Le Majest has sent to the main continent for reinforcements, but it will take time for them to get here and until then, we all must be patient.”
“What do we need reinforcements for?” The rich beef of the stew coated my tongue so that I was hardly even listening to the smiling man. He was in his early twenties, his hair slick and light in color while his skin was dark. It made me think of Osprey’s skin when I’d plunged my dagger into his chest. Had that really only been hours ago? I shivered.
My hand started to twitch as the memory filled me and the man took it.
“You’re not from here, are you? You look an awful lot like the description says you will.”
I tried to jerk my hand away, my other hand searching for my belt knife. But it was gone. I’d lost it when I stabbed Osprey in the chest.
&nb
sp; The man reached into his jacket.
“I wouldn’t,” I squeaked out, my hand still pinned in his grasp, but then I lost all sense of what was happening to me as the vision crashed across my sight.
It was Osprey. Of course, it was. It was always Osprey now.
He was on his knees beside a campfire. I could see Glorious Ingvar in the distance, down the hill. It shone with a thousand tiny lights like someone had planted a field of candles. Beside the fire, Ivo sat, coughing into a handkerchief. He could hardly seem to catch his breath.
“Let me help you,” Ivo said grimly. “You don’t need to soldier through this, too.”
That was when I realized that Osprey had his face in his hands. He looked up and I realized his eyes were glazed over and his cheeks were tracked with tears. He wasn’t wearing a shirt. He began to unwind the ruined bandage around his chest. My more recent stab had left its own bloody stain beside the original one.
“She sure is a stabby one, that Hatched of mine,” Ivo said, coughing again.
“My hands are tied, my friend.” The sorrow in Osprey’s voice was a heavy thing. And the wounds on his body – some bandaged and some scabbed over or opened again from our fight – were everywhere. Each one was a reminder that he’d hurt himself to keep me from pain. “And my heart is tied to something else. I thought I was strong enough for this. I thought I’d hardened myself to the point where I could no longer break, but I am breaking.” His whole body shuddered. “I’m tearing in half. Every day brings me new agonies. I’m set on a path that I can’t turn from. I have to see it through or break in the process.”
His eyes came up and met Ivo’s compassionate gaze, his lips falling open as fresh tears tracked soundlessly down his cheeks.
“He’s doing it on purpose,” Ivo warned. “You should have hidden your heart better. Now he knows what you want, and he will take it from you if only to make you break your vow, break the bond, and hand him everything. You’re the only one with any chance of curtailing him and he knows that. He’s no fool, Osprey. He’ll fight with every weapon he can grab. And she is a weapon against you.”
Wing Magic Page 8
