A Captive of Wing and Feather

by Melanie Cellier

  Both birds appeared to pick up on my intention, waddling away in the direction Gabe had taken. I resisted the urge to turn and check if he could be seen, and my restraint paid off a moment later when Leander stepped into the clearing.

  He arrived as if he had just been out on a night time stroll and ended up here by chance. Nothing in his expression suggested he knew that I had spent the evening overturning his study and destroying one of his magic artifacts.

  “Ah, Princess,” he said. “I wondered if I might find you here. I take it you’ve realized that you’re not entirely free yet?”

  So he did know it had been me—or someone on my behalf, at least.

  He gave me a snide smile. “I thought it behooved me to come and give you some relevant information before you made a fatal mistake. Because I would hate for something…untoward to happen to you.”

  I glared at him. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  “Oh, I think you do,” he said, all of the casual friendliness in his voice disappearing, replaced by icy steel. “I’m talking about your little excursion this afternoon. No doubt you’ve been feeling extremely satisfied with yourself, but destroying that bottle merely put in motion a further layer of the enchantment. I had hoped not to need to take such an action, but I’m afraid you brought your fate on yourself.”

  I tried to keep my face impassive even as dismay filled me.

  “You may not be tied to this lake at night anymore,” he said, “but you are still bound to it. Pass more than a day’s travel away from its shores, and you will quickly sicken and die—along with your feathered friends, who have spent so much time here they have become enmeshed in the enchantment.”

  He glanced at the swans and several of them honked rudely at him. I reached out to pat their heads and necks, shaken by the news that not only was my life in danger now, but theirs as well. Although Leander must want me alive for something, or he wouldn’t have bothered to come and tell me this new stricture.

  “How do I know you’re telling the truth?” I asked, deciding on boldness. “Maybe there’s no new enchantment at all, and you’re just hoping to keep me here out of fear.”

  He didn’t flinch—instead a new gleam entered his eyes. “Feel free to test it out. The weakness should overtake you slowly enough that you’ll have time to crawl back here to die in a familiar place.”

  I couldn’t prevent the shiver that shook me. One look at his face was enough to convince me not to put his pronouncement to the test—but neither could I meekly accept his words. I drew myself up straight.

  “I’ll find a way to destroy this part of the enchantment as well, and then I’ll leave and never come back. There’s always a way to undo such things.”

  “Naturally,” he drawled. “And given the godmothers’ foolish penchant for true love, you can no doubt guess what sort of thing is required. But that may be a problem for you, my dear.” He grinned fiendishly. “For you to be free, the man you love must publicly declare his devotion to you and promise to marry you—an insuperable barrier from everything I have seen of you.”

  “What is that supposed to mean?” I asked.

  “Why, simply that such a condition requires you to first give your heart to another. And I don’t believe you are capable of such a thing. Perhaps on cold nights it will comfort you to remember that you are the cause of your own ongoing misfortune.”

  He gave a coughing sort of laugh and strolled away as casually as he had appeared. At the edge of the trees, he paused and looked back. “Oh, and you won’t find it so easy to gain entrance to my Keep again. I have taken permanent measures against unnecessary bolt holes.”

  And then he was gone.

  I struggled to breathe. At least he didn’t seem to suspect Ash. From the sound of that last comment, he thought we had found a way to open the secret passage from the outside. Perhaps the locked door on his study had convinced him of it. But that provided little comfort for me. For several all-too-brief hours I had thought myself completely freed. Then one shackle had reappeared, and now a second. I was almost as bound as before.

  Leander had disappeared for a full minute before Gabe emerged, striding quickly toward me, a surprising look of pleasure on his face.

  “I suppose you couldn’t hear him from over there,” I said cautiously.

  “Not at all, I caught everything, I think.” His smile was still in place.

  I frowned at him. “You seem awfully cheerful considering not even a full night has passed, and I’m already doubly cursed again.”

  “I’m sorry.” He grasped both my hands. “Of course I would never want you to be cursed. I’m just enjoying the fact that Leander is so wrong. And when I free you, there’s going to be nothing he can do about it.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked warily, trying to pull my hands free.

  He just gripped them more tightly. “Adelaide, you were always the kindest of us as children. And I’ve seen you at the haven—you’ve somehow maintained that kindness despite everything. And now I’ve seen that you’re brave and intelligent as well. And you care about my kingdom, even though you weren’t born into it. I can’t imagine anyone I would trust my people to more willingly—as well as my heart. It would be an honor to declare my love for you. And I will—tomorrow morning in the town square. And I will make any promise you want.” His face broke into a cheeky grin. “And no one will dare gainsay it—you are Palinar’s only princess, after all.”

  He smiled as if our families’ approval were merely the icing on the cake. And he was right that they would approve of such a match. It was a strange thought after so many years without considering such matters. I could almost feel myself falling into this future he had painted, and only at the last minute did I jerk myself free.

  “There is only one problem.” This time I successfully pulled my hands free. “You’re forgetting part of what he said. This isn’t just about your love—it’s about mine.”

  I half expected him to laugh off my comment with some quip about his charm and good looks—as he had been about to do earlier when I scolded him for the presumption behind his kiss. But instead he stepped forward, deadly serious.

  “Leander is wrong about you, Adelaide. You have a big heart—the biggest I’ve ever known. You are more than capable of love. I don’t doubt you for a second. The only question is whether you can love me.”

  I opened my mouth to disagree, to reassure him that it wasn’t about him. But I couldn’t say the words. Because it was him, wasn’t it? His recklessness, his foolish insistence on bounding into danger—how could I trust my heart to such a man? But still it hurt to see him in pain, and I couldn’t bring myself to say such a thing.

  He looked searchingly into my eyes, paling slightly. I don’t know how much of the truth he saw there, but it made him turn away.

  “Of course.” His voice sounded tight. “In that case we must believe Leander is wrong, and there is some other way.” He swallowed. “Or someone else.”

  “There’s no one else,” I said instead, in a small voice.

  He nodded once, but still didn’t look at me, leaving us standing awkwardly beside each other. He pulled himself together first, turning to me with a carefully neutral face.

  “We should return to the haven for the remaining hours of the night. At least this change to the enchantment leaves you free to do that.”

  I nodded. It was a significant reprieve even if I gained nothing else. Of course I would prefer to be freed from Leander completely, but I could make a life for myself within a day’s travel of my lake. I would always have the haven.

  The first part of the walk back was conducted in silence. And I tortured myself wondering what Gabe must be thinking of me. But eventually he cleared his throat and spoke, only a slight tightness in his voice giving any hint at everything that had just passed between us.

  “I haven’t finished the whole journal. It’s rather difficult to wade through as he seems to mostly jot down short notes and though
ts without context. But amid all the railing against the shortsightedness of his father, and his frustrations at his failed experiments, I found several entries of significance. They’re the reason I chased you down in the first place, and I’m afraid they’re still of relevance now.”

  I didn’t like the sound of that.

  “Smashing the bottle only freed you from the lake—briefly, at any rate,” he added, no hint of bitterness in his voice although I strained to hear it. “Like I said earlier, the tie to your swans—the one that gives you their language instead of your own—was worked by an entirely different enchantment. And we either missed that godmother object, or he doesn’t keep it in his study.”

  “Oh no,” I whispered, horror washing over me. I had been too happy at my swans’ greeting to consider the broader implications of my link to them remaining intact.

  Gabe nodded. “Yes, unfortunately that means we haven’t managed to sever Leander’s connection to his beastly army. And while his ramblings and bizarre notes on various experiments are hard to decipher, it’s certainly clear that the enchantment on all the animals comes from him—and that he means to use his army to overthrow Talinos.”

  “We have to send for help,” I said. “I don’t see any other way. We probably should have done it before now.”

  Graciously Gabe refrained from pointing out that I had been the one to plead with him not to reveal my location.

  “Yes, I think we must,” he said. “Although I’m loath to pitch my men against wolves and bears. I fear it will be a massacre on all sides, and no one the winner, given the beasts are no more interested in attacking us than we are in fighting them.”

  The thought sickened me, but I didn’t see any other way. “But Leander must be stopped.”

  “Yes, Leander must be stopped.” Gabe sighed. “And apparently we are not the ones to do it. I’ll send a message as soon as it’s light.”

  Perhaps it was to aid in this task, or perhaps he merely wished to be away from me, but he only saw me to the door of the haven, saying he would spend the rest of the night at the inn after all. I didn’t protest. How could I? I had turned him down, and there was nothing left to say between us.

  Chapter 22

  I woke Wren and Audrey just before dawn to fill them in on the new developments. I didn’t mention Gabe’s proposal, but I could see the question reflected in their eyes when I told them of how this new curse could be broken. Even Audrey didn’t voice it, however—although I suspected that was due to a swift kick beneath the table from Wren.

  “So we’re bringing in the cavalry,” Wren said quietly. “I must say, I’m relieved.”

  Audrey didn’t look nearly so pleased about it—she shared too much of Gabe’s thirst for adventure and glory.

  “How long will it take for them to get here?” she asked.

  “I’m not sure.” I tried to work it out in my head. “I’m sure Gabe will pay someone to take the message express. He should probably have taken it himself, in truth, but—”

  “He would never leave,” Wren finished for me, and I nodded.

  “But will they get here before the party?” Audrey asked.

  “I hope so,” I said. “There’s still the better part of four days.” Even with Gabe safely elsewhere, I didn’t like the idea of all of Brylee’s residents within Leander’s walls.

  The sun rose then, cutting off our conversation by stealing my voice, and we busied ourselves over breakfast. Juniper wandered out sleepily, looking for her mother, but latched onto me instead.

  “Lady! You’re here so early! Come and see what I made.” She started dragging me toward her small table, and Wren waved me away from the breakfast preparations with an amused smile.

  As I played with Juniper, I attempted to calculate how long it might take Gabe to find and commission a reliable messenger. They would only have to make it to the closest royal way station where they could hand it over to a royal courier. Surely his task would be completed quickly.

  But although I looked for Gabe all morning—alternately dreading and longing for his arrival—he didn’t appear at the haven until lunch. When he did, he smiled and laughed with everyone as if nothing had happened the night before, whispering to me when he got the opportunity that the messenger was sent. Only once did I catch him looking at me with something deeper in his eyes, a whisper of all that had been said between us. I turned hurriedly away from him, and the moment passed.

  I expected to see Ash at some point with fresh rolls, but he hadn’t appeared by the time darkness fell. I sat with Wren and Audrey over a leisurely supper, long after everyone else had eaten and been settled for the night. It felt like a luxury, although we ate only bread and butter with a hearty stew.

  “Ash didn’t come past today,” I said. “Is he already busy preparing the cakes for Lord Leander’s dance?”

  Wren stood abruptly, taking her bowl to the pot for another ladle of stew. Audrey watched her go, a guilty expression on her face.

  “Didn’t I tell you?” She looked back at me. “I guess we’ve been distracted. When you weren’t in the wagon, I panicked, and I’m afraid Ash ended up discovering what we’d done.”

  “He was terrified,” Wren said shortly, “and rightly so.” She rejoined us, pointedly not looking at her sister. “You were still in there—captured, for all we knew—and with every chance Lord Leander would discover how you gained entry.”

  I shook my head. “We can relieve his mind on that, at least. Leander thinks we got in by the escape passage.”

  Wren’s face relaxed. “Well, that is a relief, at least. In fact, I think I might go to the bakery now to let him know. He has to be up so early to bake the bread, and I daresay he’s struggling to sleep with this hanging over him.”

  I blinked but hadn’t formulated an answer before she disappeared out the door, pulling a scarf over her hair and her cloak around her shoulders.

  “What in the kingdoms is Ash going to think when Wren turns up at his door in the middle of the night?” I whispered, although there was no one left in the kitchen but Audrey and me. “I thought she was trying not to encourage him.”

  Audrey gazed toward the doorway where her sister had just disappeared. “I don’t think she quite knows what she wants.” She sighed. “And in actual fact, it’s not just fear that’s been bothering Ash.” She looked back at me and grimaced. “Telling Ash the truth meant he discovered that Wren had been using him. He was so pleased when she asked to visit, and so proud of her interest in his sample cakes. No doubt he thought she was finally coming around to his courtship. And now he’s crushed. She feels terrible.”

  A pang shot through my heart. I had just rejected someone myself, and it was an utterly uncomfortable feeling. Poor Wren. And I couldn’t dismiss my own part in the drama.

  “If only there had been another way,” I murmured.

  Audrey sighed again. “I shouldn’t have reacted so openly. He wouldn’t have found out the truth and been crushed.”

  I shook my head. “No. We concealed it from him beforehand out of necessity, not because it was the right thing to do. How would it be better to leave him in ignorance, thinking Wren was finally ready for him to progress his courtship? He’s been more than patient with her—giving her as much time as she needs for her grief—but it can’t be easy for him.”

  I frowned. I understood something of grief myself—if not the loss of a husband—and I could understand the years Wren had chosen to spend alone. But she was different now—more peaceful than she had been when she first arrived, and less melancholy.

  Juniper loved Ash, and I knew Wren wanted a father for her. And Wren herself always laughed at Ash’s jokes and seemed to take his advice with utmost seriousness. And now she had jumped up and run out of here—eager to carry the good news to him so he might sleep more soundly. So why did she still push him away?

  I didn’t have the chance to ask her until two nights later, when Juniper was tucked soundly in bed and my voice had returned with the
darkness. I had spent the day on tenterhooks, hoping for Gabe to appear with news of when the royal guards might arrive, but when he showed up at the haven, he made no mention of them.

  Gregor was being particularly querulous, and Gabe had helped me keep him comfortable and entertained—his presence both welcome and trying at the same time. I had no easy way to ask him my questions—although he seemed to anticipate anything else I might need, being there with the cushion or glass I was reaching for whenever I turned around. I spent the whole day waiting for nightfall, only for him to disappear before the light left.

  There was no doubt that Gabe had made caring for Gregor a great deal easier, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that he was trying to court me—acting as if a threat to the kingdom wasn’t lingering on our doorstep. All in all, it had been a tiring day, and I was more than ready to put my feet up and accept a cup of tea. Audrey had left in high dudgeon at our teasing abuse of her terrible smelling beverage, so only Wren and I remained.

  I watched her for a moment as she pottered around, and it was no difficulty to imagine her installed in the bakery, with its spacious apartment on the floor above.

  “Did Ash appreciate your visiting him despite the late hour?” I asked, as she joined me at the table.

  She nodded. “He was most relieved.” She looked down into her cup. “Although I don’t think he was entirely glad to see me. I’m just thankful he opened the door at my knock.”

  “It was dark,” I said. “He probably thought something terrible had happened. And I’m sure he wouldn’t turn his back if you or Juniper were truly in need—no matter how much it terrified him.”

  “Oh.” Wren looked startled. “I didn’t even think that my arrival might scare him. How thoughtless of me!”

  “You aren’t thoughtless, Wren.” I took a deep breath. “And you seem to care for Ash. Have you considered welcoming his suit?” I hesitated. “I think Juniper would love to call him father.”