“Fine,” I say to him. “Stay here if you want. But I’m going to break the lock, and then it can be your choice.”
I expect him to shriek at me again, but he goes very still.
I draw my dagger. His eyes widen.
I lift my hand to slam it against the steel—but then I hesitate. “My name is Tycho,” I tell him. “If you choose to leave, you are welcome to accompany me to the Crystal Palace in Syhl Shallow.”
He hisses like he’s caught me in a lie. “Scravers are unwelcome in Syhl Shallow.”
“Not anymore,” I say. “Lia Mara is queen. She would welcome Iisak’s son, as would King Grey.”
“Liar.”
“Fine. Suit yourself.” I slam the dagger against the lock with all my strength. Then a second time. The steel twists but doesn’t quite give. Once more will do it. I raise the dagger for a third strike, just when I hear a small voice behind me.
“What are you doing?”
Nakiis growls, and I whirl.
Bailey, the boy I saved from a beating earlier, stands by the edge of the stables. He’s shirtless and barefoot, with mussed-up hair and a cloak thrown haphazardly over his shoulders. His eyes are wide, and he’s frozen as if he’s unsure if he should run or scream.
At my back, the scraver shrieks again, and the bars of the cage make a loudclangas they give way. The door swings wide enough to slam into me, and then he’s free, tearing past me as if I’m going to make a move to stop him.
Bailey gasps and shivers as Nakiis soars through—and then the scraver is gone.
I’m breathless. So is the boy. He’s wide-eyed and staring at me. I watch as his gaze snaps from my face to the dagger in my hand, and he swallows.
“I—I didn’t see anything, m-my lord—”
“Good,” I say. The sack of coins I won earlier is heavy in the purse at my belt, and I tug it free, then sheathe the dagger. “Here.”
His eyes widen farther, but he takes the coins and clutches them to his chest, then hesitates. “He used to talk to me,” he whispers, his voice so low that I almost can’t make out the words. “No one believed me.” He pauses. “But you talked to him.”
“I did.”
He frowns. “I would’ve let him go. I couldn’t break the lock.”
“You can let him go now.” I offer half a smile. “Me as well.”
He nods quickly. “Yes, my lord.”
“Go back to sleep,” I say.
He scurries off, his bare feet silent as he slips into the stables. I don’t know if he’ll keep this secret, but it won’t matter. I’ll be gone in minutes, and it would be hard to prove that the King’s Courier had been liberating mythical creatures in the middle of the night.
I find my way through the stables back to Mercy. I listen for the scraver’s shrieks in the night sky, but I hear nothing. There’s no sign of him.
I sigh. “Come on, girl,” I say quietly, clucking to her with my tongue. “Let’s go home.”
CHAPTER 14
CALLYN
Snow falls again overnight, making the morning trudge to the barn a true delight. Nora is snoring away, so I leave her to it, wrapping myself up in a cloak to go milk Muddy May. The chickens are excited when I scatter grain, and May is lowing for her own breakfast. I scoop grain into a bucket for her, too, then grab the milking stool. The morning air is quiet, but I don’t mind. Sunlight breaks through the cracks of the barn door, a wide stripe of light shining through the area where it hangs crooked.
This morning, I’m glad for the quiet, for the task. It gives me time to think.
I’ve heard a dozen stories about the monster that killed my mother. The soldiers that returned from Emberfall were broken and battered, soaked in blood, some with dried viscera caked to their armor. Their eyes were dark and haunted, and they all had stories about a large white creature that sailed out of the sky, bringing terror and death. Some talked about the glistening scales and fangs like a dragon, some said itwas more like a winged horse, others talked about the talons that plucked soldiers off horses to tear them in two.
