Osprey opened his mouth, but Ivo laid a warning hand on his arm again. Did they do that a lot? It must be handy to have a backup conscience around to remind you not to be an idiot.
“How would you feel if I took it, Aella?” Ivo said gently. “I can battle back the Forbidding tonight while your shoulder heals up and then when you’re ready for the sword again you’ll know where to find it. As your Guide, I am bound to stick with you until your training is complete. You can trust that I am not going anywhere.”
I noted that he didn’t say he’d give it back. But at least Osprey wouldn’t have the sword. I nodded sharply and grabbed the rope tied to the ring in the nose of the boat, wrapping it deftly around a tree on the riverbank and securing it with practiced knots. You did a lot of knot-tying on a homestead like mine. It felt natural and almost comforting to tie a clove hitch in the rope.
As I worked, I fought a sudden sharp memory of my father moments before his death – his single eye looking at me with the intensity of the sun on a summer day. I gritted my jaw against the pain of the memory. The rest of my family was out there in the Forbidding somewhere. Whatever Raquella had meant when she said that they had fled into the Forbidding – whether they were carving their way into it or had found some other way around it – couldn’t be a good thing. It was too dangerous and there were too many of them for it to be more than a temporary solution.
I needed to focus on getting Le Majest to a healer and then I needed to convince Wing Ivo to help me go after them. He seemed like a reasonable person. More than anyone else here, he seemed to be on my side.
I fought back the swell of emotion and turned, only to step backward in surprise.
Osprey loomed over me, his bird manifestation fluttering at his back. It blocked the others from view.
“Zayana and Ivo are settling Le Majest,” he said quietly, tucking a new pick into the corner of his mouth. One of his hands still cradled his belly.
“And you thought that meant this was a good time to come finish the job you started?” I asked grimly.
He sucked in an angry breath but then he closed his eyes, the muscle in his jaw jumping as he clearly tried to rein in his own temper. I felt a little thrill of satisfaction. I could stir him up as much as he stirred me up. That made me irrationally happy.
“I thought it was a good time to try to explain some things.”
“Like how you want me dead?”
The toothpick went wild again. I tried to push past him and his hand shot out and grabbed my upper arm. I flinched as pain shot out from my wounded shoulder.
He gasped and let me go. “My apologies.”
“For grabbing my wounded arm just now or for giving me the wound in the first place?” I crossed my arms over my chest. Jagged slashes of emotion ripped through me, leaving me gasping in their wake. Pain and betrayal were uppermost, but anxiety and attraction were mixed in there with them. I was too much of a mess inside to know how to feel about this man.
“I beg your forgiveness for both,” his voice was low. He seemed younger with the formal words and the hiss of pain that followed them. “I do not want you dead, Aella of House Apidae. I am bound to kill you. But that doesn’t mean I want you dead.” I met his icy blue eyes and held his gaze as he spoke, the white pick dancing along his lips. He looked like a human osprey – a predator of the skies and sea. “I asked you to be my ally and bound you to me with an oath because I want Far Stones to be freed. I want this land brought out from under the power of the Winged Empire. But more than that – your bees give us hope that someone – anyone – might stand up to the dominance of a world of birds and live.”
“That’s a nice sentiment, but meanwhile you’re trying to kill the person you claim inspires all this hope.” I fiddled with my clothing, distracted. I only realized what I was doing when his eyes drifted down to watch my fingers picking at his osprey cuff. It had slipped out from under my sleeve.
He reached out slowly and touched the cuff, his finger trailing up and down the leather. He wasn’t touching me, and yet it felt almost like a caress.
“I don’t want you dead.” He punctuated the sentence by looking up through his lashes at me in a way that made my heart stutter. What right did he have to look so pretty and young and at the same time be so infuriating?
“And yet you’re bound to kill me.” I let my cynicism leak into my tone.
“Only if he dies.” He was clutching his belly again, a flash of pain rippling over his face like water. A wounded predator. I could practically see the feathers at the back of his neck ruffling.
“Are you ... did I hurt you?” I asked, taking a half of a step forward. We were so close now that I could see the tension around his eyes.
He shook his head, but more like he was shaking off the question than like he was denying the hurt.
“Let me see,” I demanded, stepping forward and grabbing the edge of his tunic. He sucked in a quick breath, catching my hand to stop me, but he didn’t put much force into holding me still. I met his gaze and slowly lifted the edge of his tunic to look at his belly. The skin was unbroken and smooth. There was no bruising across the hard muscles under his clothing.
I frowned. He was acting like he’d been wounded, and yet there was nothing there.
“Maybe your ribs are broken,” I suggested, but he hadn’t been cradling his ribs, only his belly.
“It doesn’t matter.”
I reached out carefully and touched his hard belly, trying to feel if there was something I was missing that was hurting him. His dark skin was silky, but I felt nothing out of place. I frowned and withdrew my touch. He snatched my hand in his before I could fully remove it. A little shiver ran through me. Sometimes his sudden movements reminded me of how fast he could strike in attack. Like when he attacked me.
“I need to explain something.” His eyes glowed bright, seeming to open larger as he confessed. “I didn’t ask to be granted a name. I didn’t ask to be made a Guardian of Le Majest. It was forced on me in a way so horrific that I do not speak of it. I am not my own man. Can you understand that?”
I nodded but I bit my lip. “My father said that once your fight is gone, there’s nothing left of you. Have you given up on hope?”
One side of his mouth turned up in a sad half-smile. It brought a dimple out in his dark cheek. “My fight is not gone. I wouldn’t hurt so much if it was. But I’m not free either. I’ll be fighting for my freedom and yours for as long as there is breath in my body – but I also have to fight against other threats. I just ... I want you to know that I don’t want you to die.”
“But you’re also bound to kill me,” I prodded.
“It’s like there are two of me – the one that wants to keep you safe and watch you fly free and the one that is bound with heavy chains and being dragged along to watch your execution.”
A look of desperation flickered over his features. He clenched his jaw and it stilled.
“To carry out my execution,” I corrected.
He shrugged awkwardly, looking away for a moment.
“Which one will win?” I pressed.
His eyes seemed to burn, his fingers still resting gently on the cuff as if it was grounding him to me.
“I don’t have promises that I can give you,” he said. “But I do have something else.”
He pulled my arm gently forward so he could access the cuff he’d given me, and with clever fingers, he opened a fold around the edge that I hadn’t realized was there and parted the leather.
I gasped as it revealed a glowing purplish-white feather stitched to the inside.
“It’s one of Os’ feathers,” he whispered, as if this was too important to say aloud. “When Os is close – which will mean that I am close – it will glow brighter. When we are far away, it will fade. A tiny piece of me will go with you wherever you are. It’s the only gift I have to give right now.”
It was a sweet gesture. And yet it hurt so much.
I pressed a hand to his chest an
d he gasped. I’d accidentally placed my palm right over the glowing feather embedded under his skin – the one I wasn’t supposed to know about.
“I think that you and I will need to remain apart, Osprey. I can’t see another way. You’re bound to try to kill me and I’m determined to live. Which means that the most distance we can put between us, the better.”
He looked away stiffly and nodded.
I folded the edge of the cuff over again and pushed past him into the clearing. I needed to think about anything other than that look in his pained eyes.
Chapter Three
I DIDN’T LOOK AT THE others as I stalked to the edge of the forest and began to gather wood to light a fire. It would be night soon and we’d need a lot of dry wood to keep six fires going all night long. I threw myself into the task refusing to think of who my bees were protecting, refusing to think about who might decide to kill me out of duty, refusing to think about how much my heart hurt.
My head buzzed with a thousand thoughts and instead of embracing any of them, I let my mind drift in the buzz, just one bee among many.
I gathered wood intently, scraping every dry stick off the ground until it was clear of deadfall. Under one fallen tree I even found another snake carving. It looked like the ring around an old well. I dropped the log I’d been holding like it was a serpent and backed slowly away. I’d never uncover another snake carving without remembering that horrific scene in the cathedral under the ground.
I was finishing the last fire when Ivo approached me in the careful way you approached people who you thought might lash out in anger.
“Wing Ivo,” I said respectfully, offering the sign of the bird.
He laughed a bit harshly. “That bad is it? You give me my formal name and the sign of the bird?”
I swallowed nervously.
“You’ll make peace with who Osprey is eventually. We need him. He’s an essential part of our cause.”
“The cause of freedom?” I asked.
He looked over his shoulder carefully. He and Osprey both were being very careful not to discuss this near the prince or Zayana.
“The cause of the Single Wing.”
I licked my lips. “My father told me to trust the single wing. I didn’t know what he meant.”
“I saw his tattoo as I readied his body. One of his boots slipped off.”
I thought back, wondering if I’d ever seen my father’s bare feet. I couldn’t recall seeing them. I had no way of confirming or denying what he said.
“He had our mark,” Ivo said. “He’s as much a part of this as I am – as you are now.”
“A part of what?”
“The revolution. The people who want to fly free of the Empire. These days, there are not many left and most of them are on the continent of Far Stones, which is why Osprey and I are intent on finally lighting the fires here and beginning the fight. He tells me that you’re with us. That you swore in blood.”
“I don’t even really know what I swore to,” I admitted. “I’m starting to think that I should know.”
He nodded sharply and looked around carefully as if to be sure there was no one else around.
“The first settlers of Far Reach were mostly men and women who wanted their freedom. They wanted it badly enough that they hacked back the Forbidding and carved a life here for themselves – not completely free of the Winged Empire, that wasn’t allowed, but far from the bureaucrats and laws of the Empire, far from the constant proclamations and injustices. They thought the distance would be enough, that the Empire would start to forget about them. And they did for a while.
“They raised families – like yours – and built a life here. I was with those original settlers. As a Wing, I have duties that take me back to the Empire for years at a time, but always I ache to return to this land. It’s in my blood now, as I’m sure it was born in yours.
“But I digress. A few years ago, when the Emperor began to put added tariffs on steel and other products coming from the Empire to the colonies, we began to realize that the Empire had remembered us again. And that is never a good thing. They brought more Claws to Far Stones and set up a garrison close to Karkatua – where we are heading right now. And as the soldiers poured into our colony, the spirit of revolution poured through the people. We have clusters of the Single Wing now in every city and in every town, in most homesteads. If someone hasn’t joined us yet, the chances are that they either haven’t been reached by us or work directly for the Empire. Your father was among the revolutionaries. Likely, your neighbors are, too.”
“But he never mentioned it until he was dying.”
“Our strength is in our secrecy. We don’t tell children under eighteen. Don’t look at me like that. Despite all you’ve done, you’re still a child and you’re under my care.”
“Then why are you telling me now?” I asked.
“I think the bees change everything. We need you for the revolution. The people need a spark point to push them to open action and the fulfillment of the prophecy will do that. All across this land, the news is being spread, people are readying themselves. We just need a few important elements before we can rise. So ... don’t give up on me, now, girl. You’ve made progress with those bees, certainly. And that is good. But we need you to go beyond what is reasonable – for the sake of the coming revolution.”
I yawned – suddenly feeling exhausted.
“Yes,” he agreed. “They sap your energy. But your life depends on keeping them working in the crown prince.”
“Osprey will kill me if they fail,” I agreed.
“More than that,” Ivo said. “We will have need of them and you before you can possibly be ready. So, you must stretch yourself – and stretch the bees.”
“I think I need to get away from Osprey,” I said quietly. “I need to flee while I still can.”
“Hmm.” Ivo looked into the distance, brow furrowed.
“Would you ... would you go with me?” I asked.
“It would be better if Le Majest didn’t die at all. Or at least, not by your hand. Osprey really will be bound to kill you and he is a fearsome enemy. A real hunt by night, slash and dash, glory of the Empire kind of killer.”
That wasn’t making me feel any better.
“Which is why I think I should get a head start,” I said.
“If you stay, the crown prince might live. We just have to get him to Karkatua. By boat traveling downriver, it will only take a few days.”
I sighed. “But will you leave with me when the time is right? You said that as my Guide we had to stick together.”
He chewed on his lip and then looked me squarely in the eyes. “By Wind and Flight, I swear it. I will stay with you and guide you. We will flee at the appropriate time and save our strength for the fight to come.”
My mouth twitched into a slight smile and his answering smile was warm.
“Give it until Karkatua,” he said. “It will be easier to get horses there and resupply anyway. If we have to leave in a hurry, we don’t want to go on foot.”
“And you’ll stand with me over Osprey if it comes to a fight?” I asked, my arms crossing over my chest nervously.
“I will,” he said gravely.
I nodded my head in relief.
“And now, let’s see to the strengthening of these bees. You will need them.”
“How?”
“Prayer or meditation. Find a way to reach out to what is beyond and join the song of the ages – or I guess the buzz of the ages in your case. That’s the fastest way to improve. And we need you to go further than any new Hatchling can be reasonably expected to go.”
I yawned again.
“Which is why,” he said, “as much as I would like to let you rest, you must take first watch. Yell if you see anything, but spend this time meditating or praying. Reach into the skies above with your heart and let them reach back.”
He was gone before I could tell him how crazy he sounded. Maybe this was why he’d never bee
n a guide before. I made the rounds, checking the fires, toeing them in or adding fuel, and refusing to look into the center of the camp where the others spoke quietly over the hammock they’d made for Le Majest. How was I supposed to pray or focus on lifting my heart to the heavens when all I felt was utter rage and hot frustration?
I thought they were all asleep when I took up my place beside one of the fires, but in the darkness, I heard the faintest of whispers.
“If it had been anyone but her, I would have welcomed his death, avenged it, and we’d already be galloping toward revolution now. She complicates everything.” That was Osprey.
“Women usually do.” That was Ivo. “Would we even need to revolt if he was dead? Couldn’t you –”
“No. The Winged Crown would still crush us even if the crown prince was dead. It would bind me tighter than I am bound now. Don’t you think I would have found a way to see it done by now if that could save us?”
“You’re no murderer, Osprey.”
“Sometimes I’m not sure about that anymore.”
Chapter Four
IN THE MORNING, JUSTE Montpetit – Le Majest – woke up with a vengeance. I was deep in sleep, curled on my side to prevent any weight on my wounded shoulder, when his threats woke me from a dream of my father.
“What madness is this? Tell me who has allowed it!” His tone was almost a shriek.
I sat up painfully, pushing past the loud buzzing in my head to try to hear his words.
“Get them off me! Off!”
He slapped at my bees in his belly, crushing one of them.
“They’re holding you together,” I gasped.
“Someone explain to me,” the crown prince said in a low snarl, a tremulous finger pointing at me, “why she is still alive.”
He twisted, shuddering with the pain of the movement, and then lunged toward me on all fours, like a wounded wolf. I scrambled backward over the trampled plants on the floor of the clearing, but he was shockingly fast. His hand shot out and gripped my throat. My bees buzzed around us in a cloud, as frantic as I was.
Hive Magic (Empire of War & Wings Book 2) Page 2
