Yes it is Plume!Plume cries happily.
“Wait,” Ferra says, still holding the net at the ready should the cloudfox try to escape. “Do youknowthis creature?”
“Yes! Her name is Plume. She…” I trail off. Oof, where do I start with my history with the mischievous cloudfox? I settle for a half-truth. “She’s a friend I made in Volkany.”
Suri slumps into a chair and rubs her temples. “Oh. This changes everything. Ferra and I found her snooping around the Reliquary Garden the day before yesterday. We thought she must be a spy, sent by your father.”
“Hell of a hard time capturing her,” Ferra adds, wrinkling her nose at the cloudfox, who pauses to wrinklehersnout back.
I drop to my knees and pet Plume’s cloud-like fur, soft as cotton tuffs, with a dampness like fog. Something tightens in my chest. Not pain—just the pull of home.
Of Volkany.
“We didn’t want Lord Kendan or the generals to know about her yet,” Suri explains. “We were afraid they’d torture her, and we knew you were coming, so we thought we’d trap her and let you interrogate her instead.”
Plume pants happily as she rubs against my palm, begging for pets.
I laugh. A real laugh, as I bury my face in her soft fur.
These are my friends, I tell Plume.I’m sorry about the trunk. They thought you were a spy.
Yes!Plume yips excitedly.Yes, Plume is spy!
My grin falls.Wait—you were sent here to spy on me?
She yips again.
I run my hand over my Immortal Crown braid, needing the grounding drag of my nails against my scalp. To Ferra and Suri, I explain, “She says…well, I need to talk to her more. I’m confused.”
Ferra and Suri watch in rapture. Ferra passes Suri a bag of roasted nuts.
I ask Plume,Tell me exactly why my father sent you to?—
The fae king did not send Plume!Plume chuckles as though I’m simple-minded.The fire horse told Plume to fly ahead to this castle and watch girlie.
I nearly lose my balance and have to grip the edge of the trunk to hold myself steady.You mean…Tòrr? Tòrr sent you?
She nods eagerly.
But why?
Plume leaps out of the trunk, spinning a restless corkscrew in the air, happy to stretch her furry legs.
Silly girlie. To spy, as Plume told you! To make sure girlie speaks for the quiet ones—the ones with fur and feathers. They can’t hold weapons or trot into castles. They can only watch big boots start marching and wonder if anyone will think of them.
I slowly sink back on my heels.
It hits me, what she means, and why Tòrr sent her.
Gods, what an ass I’ve been.
I’ve been so focused on the throne—the clash between Rian and the opposition, the game of politics, of human loyalties. So caught up in the rising tension between the fae in Volkany and the humans in Astagnon. I keep telling myself I’m doing this to save lives.
But until now, that’s only beencertainlives.
Human lives.
In the fog of the Gloaming, I forgot who I’m meant to protect most of all. The natural world stands to lose everything, and I’ve let it slip from my mind. Me, Goddess of Nature, of creatures that creep and crawl. I’ve been training so hard to use my power to help the river valley refugees. Thehumanswho are suffering. I’ve neglected the animals who call that same poisoned valley home.
