by T. K. Perry
“Send four of them after Anna and Van.”
“Your Highness, we have orders to...”
“Send four of them after Anna and Van,” she repeated, her clipped tone alarming both guardsmen. “Now,” she added.
The second guard hurried away with a “Yes, Your Highness.”
“Tiger, Limen needs more guards. Please see to it.”
“I’m not leaving you alone,” Tiger announced.
“I won’t be alone. I’m going to stand right here until you return with more guards.”
Tiger scowled. “Yes, my Queen,” he whispered, turning away.
The first guardsman watched Tiger’s retreat. “Is he in season?”
Lexi turned piercing turquoise eyes on him until he took a small step backwards. “I needed a flying guard,” she explained icily.
The guardsman swallowed and bobbed his head in a nod.
Lexi looked down at the parchment in her hand and broke the royal seal with a rising sense of dread.
Daughter,
It is not necessary for me to tell you the distress your actions have caused your Parents. You have been raised to know the duties of your Position. When you shirk them, the Kingdom suffers. I must insist that you now return home immediately with your Husband (after your conduct, I can regard Talan as nothing less). You need have no concerns about your probable pregnancy. The guardsmen have brought a cot to carry you down the mountain if you are already flightless. I expect you to leave within the hour.
Queen Ami Monarch
Lexi swallowed repeatedly, forcing the burning bile back to her stomach. She read it again and again, her horror finally softening to calm. “Must insist,” though close, was not an order. She read it again. This was not an order. It was clear her mother very much wanted to give her one, and had meant for the letter to appear to be so, but the word “order” or “command” was missing. A smile encroached briefly on the corners of her mouth, and she wanted to hug her father. He had been very brave; nothing else could explain it. Tears of gratitude pricking her eyes, she folded the parchment carefully and slipped it into her pocket.
She caught the remaining guardsman looking at her expectantly and stared him down until he dropped his eyes. His submission made her cringe inwardly; she really needed to stop acting like her mother before it became a habit. Shaking off the persona, she tried to slump, but drew up immediately as three flying guardsmen marched towards her. One looked vaguely familiar, but the other two were strangers.
“Good,” she nodded, turning towards the remaining guardsman. “You four will remain at the castle. The former Governor will need at least four guards outside his door at all times. Please coordinate with Pol when your men need to be relieved.” She wanted to laugh at the remaining guardsman’s piqued expression, but schooled her face into its usual blank.
“Y-y-your Highness,” he stuttered. “The Queen said we would be returning with you immediately.”
Lexi gave him her blandest smile. “You may return tomorrow, but I will remain here.”
“But the letter...” he began until quelled with Lexi’s coldest stare.
“Surely you do not imply that you are privy to its contents?”
His eyes widened in horror. Mail tampering was usually punished with incarceration. Tampering with the royal family’s mail had once been punished by death when her great grandfather was king. “N-n-no,” he stuttered, shaking his head vigorously.
“Good,” she answered simply, looking up as Tiger approached with Pol and Charis.
Tiger shook his shaggy head at her, his obvious disapproval hitting Lexi like a slap. Her cheeks colored and she turned to walk away. She could hear Tiger’s heavy step fall in line behind her and allowed herself a little sigh of relief.
“Your Highness?” A deferential voice called from behind her.
“Yes?” She turned to see the guardsman who had looked vaguely familiar. Flying guards were necessarily an ever-changing group, but occasionally an apprentice palace guard joined their ranks for the latter end of his season. She was certain she had seen this guardsman around the palace. Lexi’s eyes squinted slightly as she struggled to recall his name.
Rather than introduce himself, he cleared his throat and held out a small envelope. Taking it from him, she glanced at the name scrawled across the front. It said “Raven” in her father’s handwriting. Lexi’s lower lip trembled and tears momentarily blurred her vision. The guardsman was already retreating back to his post, so she thanked him and quickly spun on her heel. She tucked the note in with her mother’s hostile missive and resumed her brisk pace. Her exhaustion was making it harder to keep her emotions in check, and she blinked rapidly to prevent the betraying tears that begged to fall. As she opened the door of the queen’s suite, a single tear slid down her face in open mutiny before she could dash it away. Clodi was not inside, and a breakfast tray was at the table. Lexi waited impatiently as Tiger swept the room with abrupt, irritable movements that betrayed his mood. His disapproval had morphed into a palpable anger that seemed to trail in his wake. When he attempted to slam the balcony doors, they bounced back open, caught on the rugs beneath them. Tiger muttered under his breath as he flung them out of the way. On another day it would be funny; today his anger coaxed Lexi into her own animosity.
“Did you have something you wanted to say?” she demanded, her abrupt ire evaporating her tears.
He opened his mouth, closed it, and released one note of a bitter musical laugh. “Yeah, I do. This is stupid and miserable. The Governor is back. Quit.”
“I can’t just quit.”
Tiger rolled his eyes. “Yes, you can. Limen’s wings are broken. The talk is all over the castle. He isn’t going anywhere.”
“But they hauled him halfway up the mountain...” she began.
“No, they didn’t. They found him in a field half a mile from the castle.”
“But Talan said...”
“He lied to you. Again.” Tiger shook his head angrily, then returned to his post on the balcony and shut the doors.
It was a full minute before Lexi could close her mouth. Why did Talan’s lies still catch her by surprise? She grit her teeth and tore open her father’s message.
Dearest Daughter,
I laughed for a full minute when I heard you’re calling yourself Raven. I’m sure Raven would laugh, too, if I could make her understand. But I must warn you, Talan is spying on you, writing your mother regular letters of all that you do. Your mother is so infuriated that you’re spending time with Tiger that Cercy is now restricted to her room, and a guard kept at her door to ensure she doesn’t leave. I tried to talk your mother out of it, but she has convinced herself that Cercy is to blame for you leaving, and that it was she that aided you. She knows it was I, but she prefers Cercy be the scapegoat. She wanted to put her in the dungeon, but I refused. And I will not order you home. You deserve the same chance I had. If your mother says otherwise, disregard it. I will not waver on that point. But please dear, hurry a bit if you can. Your mother is so enraged at the situation that the servants are hiding from her, and even Juno is too frightened to come out of her guest room.
I love you!
Dad
Lexi was halfway to the balcony before she had finished reading. Yanking open the door, she thrust the letter at Tiger, and watched his smirk at the first two lines devolve into fury. He reread it once, then tossed the letter to her.
“I’m going back,” he announced.
“How will that make it better?”
Tiger’s expression vacillated between determination and indecision. “Lex, I need to make her...” he stopped and took a deep breath. When he spoke again, his eyes were on the heap of rug he had hastily flung aside. “There’s a rumor going around that Ryp Leafwing is related to you. And his wings do look just like your mother’s. Is he...is he your cousin?” He lifted his eyes to hers and held them.
Lexi swallowed, but didn’t answer.
Tiger blew out a long breath
that turned into a laugh. “I’m going to blackmail the Queen.”
“Tiger...” She wanted to argue, chide, defend, but all her words died on her lips.
“What, Lex? There isn’t another solution and you know it. Unless you’re going to marry Talan, this is how it has to be.”
“But she’ll...”
“What? What can she do? Aren’t Ryp’s family farmers?” Tiger let out a hard laugh. “Is the Queen a farmer’s daughter?”
When Lexi didn’t answer, he broke into a guffaw.
“I can’t imagine anything the Queen would hate more than people knowing that particular fact. Can you?”
Lexi pictured her elegant mother working a farmer’s field and shook her head wearily.
“So I’m going home to blackmail the Queen. Want to come?”
Lexi gave him the weakest of smiles.
“I’m going to tell her we’re engaged, so you should probably be there.”
“What?” Lexi blushed hotly, her mouth hanging open as she took a ragged breath.
“You asked. I’m saying yes.”
“But you...”
“I couldn’t figure out how to make it work then,” Tiger shrugged, then gave her a quick kiss. “Congratulations. You’re engaged.”
The tears were back. And the silly things began to stream down her face while she choked on a combination of sobs and laughter.
“Hmm...you need some sleep.” Tiger kissed her forehead, then turned her towards her bed. “And when you wake up, you can tell everyone you were just kidding about being governor, and then we’ll go home.”
“I wasn’t kidding,” she protested, her voice thick with tears as she climbed onto her bed.
“Fine. You were ridiculously noble and foolish and controlling, but now there’s no need for it.”
Lexi frowned up at him. “This is how you talk to your fiancée?”
“Yep.” He bent down and kissed her tenderly, his rough thumb brushing away her remaining tears.
Chapter Eighteen
Lexi woke with a smile on her face, though her skin felt tight from crying. She jumped up and flew across the room to fling open the balcony doors. Silvery blue wings spun around with the face of a flying guardsman she didn’t recognize.
“Good afternoon, Your Highness,” he said, bowing as deeply as the balcony railing would allow.
Hiding her disappointment, Lexi gave him a stately nod and slowly closed the doors. When she opened the door into the hallway, Beck turned to grin at her.
“Well, look who finally woke up!”
The two flying guardsmen standing beside him looked at Beck in horror.
“What? I always talk to her like this,” Beck assured them, then turned back to address her. “Tiger is asleep. The ex-Governor would like to talk to you in his room.” Beck wagged his eyebrows suggestively before breaking into laughter. “I’m teasing. He does want to talk, but his ribs are broken, so he can’t get out of bed. But I’ll still chaperone if it makes you uncomfortable.”
“Thank you, Beck,” Lexi answered, her blank expression never faltering.
“Aw, man, being governor is making you no fun,” Beck grumbled in a too-loud undertone as Lexi shut the door.
She took a moment to smooth the clothes she had slept in, then took a comb to her disastrous hair. Halfway through, she opened the neglected breakfast tray and ate all the fruit, then went back to her tangles. When she finally finished combing, her scalp felt raw, but her hair fell to her waist in a shiny cascade. She marched out the door with a stately stride.
Beck kept pace beside her. “Your hair looks better. Do you still want a lady's maid? Phemus said you wanted one.”
“I don't think I'll be staying long enough to require one.”
“Then you are quitting! I wondered if you would with the old Governor back and the flying guardsmen here to collect you.”
Lexi frowned momentarily, but kept her gaze straight ahead. “I have business at home that requires my attention.”
“And will Mr. Swallowtail be escorting you as well?” Beck's eyes twinkled with the grin that had already claimed his mouth.
Lexi gave him a momentary glance and a furtive smile. “Yes.”
“I knew it!” Beck crowed. “First time I saw you together, I knew it!”
Lexi gave him a silencing look with a head tilt to indicate the flying guardsmen trailing them.
“Oh, right," Beck said conspiratorially, his grin impossibly wider as he nodded at the guards outside Limen's room.
Charis turned and gave the door a complicated knock, then another guard opened it from the inside and waved her in. Despite the fresh bedding, the room reeked of antiseptic and despair. Limen lay face down on his bed, obscured by the wooden frames that held his broken wings in place. A medic stood up as she approached and offered her his stool. Limen gave him a low command that was little more than a moan, and the medic scurried from the room. Lexi sat, then bent forward to find the miserable patient beneath the expansive wing frame. His face was heavily bruised and bandaged; a single hazel eye squinted at her, the other swollen shut.
“Oh, Limen,” she murmured. “What happened? Why didn't Van and Talan protect you?”
He grimaced and shut his eye for a moment. “They weren't with me.” His voice sounded gravelly through his split lips.
“Why not?”
“We weren't traveling in the same direction,” he answered evasively.
Lexi shook her head in confusion. “You were all going to the palace.”
Limen opened his eye and gave her a beseeching look. “I had to go see them first,” he whispered. “To make sure they wouldn't be a problem.”
All of Lexi's sympathy hardened into contempt, the metal legs of the stool screeching against the flagstones as she moved away.
“You mean your harem. You were going to visit them,” Lexi accused.
“Some of them would have followed me when they found out,” he whined.
Lexi stood, shaking with temper. “You don't deserve the sacrifice I made for you. I'm taking it back. You deserve to be here. And you certainly don't deserve my sister or her love.” She clenched her fists, wanting to hurt him, but realizing someone already had. She gazed at his battered body and slowly relaxed her hands, letting the acrimony drain out of her. The wing frames were vibrating with jerky movements that puzzled her until she heard the choked cry.
“You're right,” Limen lamented.
Now the pity had hold of her again. “I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that.”
“Why? It's true.” Limen's voice was distorted with the sobs he no longer tried to hide.
“But it wasn't kind.” Lexi frowned at herself, grateful they were alone. “I don't think I have the authority to reinstate you, but I need to go home. I'll call another assembly.” She shook her head. “What a mess.”
“I don't want to stay here,” Limen wailed as she walked to the door.
“I can't help you with that. Not anymore. Goodbye, Limen.”
Putting the pleasant mask back on her face was more difficult than usual. She couldn’t stop replaying her sister’s agony at losing her husband and dreading Mona's suffering when she found out what he had become. She hoped for a fleeting second to keep the knowledge from her, but the fact that she was about to leave the Mating Mountain without an officially appointed governor, coupled with Talan’s letters to her mother, made it seem impossible. Lexi allowed herself one last grimace, then opened the door. She nodded at the medic, who hurried back inside with a guard on his heels.
Beck looked uncharacteristically somber. “Did he tell you, then?”
Lexi waited until they were several steps away from the knot of guards before chastising him. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
Beck shrugged. “Forbidden.”
“He’s not the governor; he can’t order you.”
Beck twisted up his mouth and one shoulder. “He kind of is. I mean, you’ll leave soon, and I’ll probably be taking his orders the r
est of my life. So a little rebellion today? Probably not worth it in the long run.”
Lexi gave him a little scowl before schooling her face once more. “So are the men who attacked him in the dungeon?”
Beck shook his balding head. “Nope. They were sneaky.”
“What do you mean?”
“His escort; they’re pretty honorable guys. When they realized where he wanted them to take him, they refused. And he couldn’t order them, because you had relieved him of his position. So they returned to the castle.”
“They left him alone?”
“The ex-Governor was all put out. He didn’t want to fly back and have you find out what he was up to, but he didn’t want to fly alone, either. So he demanded they go find him a new escort—confidentially, of course—and send them out to him. So they got back, started asking around, only no one they asked would agree. They insist they didn’t give up his location. And the Governor never even saw his attackers—sorry, ex-Governor.” Beck gave her a conciliatory smile. It was dark still, and they knocked him silly with the first hit.”
Lexi swallowed back the compassion that made her want to weep for Limen, and returned to practical matters. “And you’re certain it wasn’t the escort?”
Beck looked thoughtful for a moment. “Their hands show no signs of fighting, and they don’t seem the type, but I think they know something and aren’t saying.”
“Was Limen robbed as well?”
Beck nodded solemnly. “They took his money and his food.”
“So the attackers have the money?”
Beck nodded. “But there’s no place to spend it here, so they’re unlikely to give themselves away. We searched the escorts' rooms and locked them up.”
“What? On whose authority?” Lexi winced at her own imperious tone, and made a conscious effort to relax the rigid posture she had assumed.
Beck shrunk back a little and gave her an apologetic smile. “The ex-Governor’s.”
And the fury returned. It was irrational. She was about to give Limen back whatever authority she could restore and leave the mountain. Why did it matter if he had already taken it? Lexi sucked in a long breath and blew it out slowly.
