The male blinked.
“I only wish to ask how you saw them with such clarity if they were flying on gryphons?” The beasts were very fast. And if this fae had been on wing himself, then he’d already done the job of endangering the camp. “On wing?”
Aleksander sneered. “Do you think me a bleeding fool tofly by a king and his guards? On a night such as this, the winds alone would damage my wings, but the White Bear? He’d hurl me from the sky!”
I did not deny it.
“Then how can you be sure?” The gryphons would bear royal markings, but they’d be too small to see from the ground.
“I’m a fylgjarn. My white hawk, Arla, saw the heraldry of the White Bear and the House of the Snow Leopard. She saw the males too, and I witnessed it all through her eyes.”
My eyes widened. Skin-changing abilities with animals were very rare. It was far more common to shift, or even to be part elven and therefore able to manipulate the animal and speak with it. But to see through the animal’s eyes? To have full control? And this male did so with a white hawk?
The symbol of House Falk . . . and not just any animal. A magical one.
“Putting it together, are you?” His wings spread behind him, a luminous silver.
My early guess was all but confirmed. “You’re of Falk blood?”
“The son of the Hawk King himself. Born twenty turns before his firstborn, Aksel Falk, Fates rest his soul.” Aleksander looked smug. To be a Hawk Seed and have survived this long reflected on his resourcefulness. “Me and your mate, we’re brother and sister.”
Was this the fae that the rebels rallied behind? Was he a threat to Neve?
If so, why wasn’t she meeting with him? Aleksanderclaimed to have come from outside and judging by the ruddiness of his cheeks and neck, he had.
“You’re the leader here?” I asked.
He pulled back before releasing a booming laugh. “The leader! That’s a good one, Prince!”
“At the attack in the Royal Theater, the rebels claimed to fight for the heir. That must be a Falk.”
“Nothing trueborn about me, though. Well, maybe except my taste in good ale and fine wine. The stuff here is swill, but it gets the job done, I suppose.” He reached to the nearest table and plucked a horn from a dryad’s stand. They didn’t stop him, only rolled their eyes.
“Plus, I have not a speck of Winter magic,” Aleksander added after a long pull. “No Winter magic means no crown.”
“I see.” The next question, one I’d been wondering since Neve left to dine with the leaders, built behind my lips until it spilled out. “So, who is the leader?”
Aleksander popped an eyebrow. “Well, that’s Thyra Falk—your mate’s twin and my half-sister.”
My knees buckled.Neve’s twin.
Fates, I could only imagine what Neve had felt at that revelation. Neve had so wished to know her family and now she had someone close to her, so close they’d once shared a womb.
Aleksander leaned closer, and with ale-soured breath, spoke again. “Any idea where your father is heading? He flew southwest.”
I drew in a breath as I considered. Southwest was the direction we’d come from. There were no great houses inthe area, only the Lost Kingdom of Dergia, Vitvik, smaller towns and villages, and mountains. So many mountains.
The king might be going to the coinary from which I’d withdrawn coin and trying to follow me from there, but even that idea sat wrong in my belly. He’d send soldiers to fetch us, and yet he flew with Roar. Why would he bring Roar to hunt Neve and me down? I didn’t deny that Roar would want to see Neve harmed, but the king would do that at court. He’d wish for an audience. He always did.
“I haven’t a clue,” I admitted. “But I’d also like to find out.”
Chapter 26
NEVE
She called me her sister.
I sat up straighter and looked the black-haired archer in the eyes. “Is this a joke?”
