She could almost feel the wind, whispering between their wings.
Six shifted beneath her, reminding her to breathe.
‘His body may be alive,’ Arawn explained. ‘But his mind died to us all, long ago. What you will find in that dungeon … he’s not the man you once knew.’
‘Funny,’ she said. ‘I could say the same about you.’
And before he could say another word, she clicked her teeth and let Six carry her and Kinlear away. The ravens followed, a blade of darkness that sliced apart the sky.
‘Thereyou are,’ Izill said, as Ezer and Kinlear burst through the black door into the warm halls of the Aviary, after returning Six safely to her cage.
Nearly all of the prince’s weight was on Ezer’s shoulders, her arms around his waist as she tried to support him before his legs gave out.
‘You must have left early this—’ Izill’s face went ashen. ‘What happened?’
‘Training mishap.’ Ezer grimaced beneath Kinlear’s weight.
Izill shouted out an order, taking charge, and suddenly a flurry of servants and Scribes lifted Kinlear away from her, just as his legs buckled.
‘I’m fine,’ he said. ‘Really.’
But his words were weak, and he wouldn’t stop trembling.
‘Take him to Alaris.’ Izill barked orders to the others. ‘Now.’
‘Wait!’ Ezer called out. She rushed after him, as he asked his helpers to pause.
Before she thought better of it, she leaned in and gently pressed her lips to his cheek.
‘Thank you,’ she whispered against him.
He was cold. He smelled like blood, and when she pulled away …
The sight of him held between two others, too frail to stand on his own two feet, made her chest ache.
‘For what?’ Kinlear asked.
‘For being someone who is not afraid to break me,’ she said.
He grinned, even through his pain. ‘You are not easily broken, Raphonminder. And as luck should have it … neither am I. I’ll send orders to let you pass into the prison. But what you will find there …’
‘I can handle it,’ she said.
He smiled weakly. ‘I know.’
She watched as he was led away.
Before she could visit Ervos, Izill had forced Ezer to bathe and accept a hot meal.
It’s not like he’s going anywhere,Izill said after Ezer told her the truth. She brought Ezer a bowl of soup from the kitchens, along with a small bundle of chocolates.
It was the first time Ezer hadeverhad a true friend.
Her presence settled the nerves in Ezer’s belly as she sat by the fire and awaited news of Kinlear.
And when news came by way of Kinlear’s servant that he was all right, along with a sealed letter meant to give her passage into the dungeons, Izill escorted Ezer all the way there.
‘What do I even say to him?’ Ezer asked. ‘Where do I start?’
