Chuckling at my foolishness, I stop at the center of the empty hall and close my eyes. Letting all thoughts slip away, I focus on the sensation of air touching my skin, the way it envelops me in a cocoon of quiet calm. With a shudder, my body contracts, shrinking in on itself, my flesh giving way to feathers, my face elongating into a beak. My mind goes still, my animalistic instincts taking over as I shift into my unseelie form—a raven—and fly down the hall and out the nearest window. Augie can handle the rest of the ball on his own. Right now, I just need the vast open sky to blow some sense into me.
My wings beat the air as I fly over the forest trees, scents of earth and night-blooming jasmine mingling with the wind. All my concerns over cold courtships and royal successions flee, making my heart feel as weightless as my raven body feels against the updraft.
And yet…
In the very back of my mind, a melody continues to play.
17
EMBER
When I come to, I find myself in a dark room, lying on my side on a cool marble floor. The only light comes from one partially opened curtain that lets in the starlight from outside. My first response is a bone-crushing dread that the last several minutes of my life were nothing but a dream, that I haven’t escaped the bedroom Marus locked me in. Heart pounding, I rise to sit. That’s when I notice something I hadn’t at first—the sound of shuffling movement. Then a shadowed silhouette hurrying about the room. The clearer my surroundings become, the more certain I am that I’m not in Marus’ room.
“Who are you?” I call out. “Where am I?”
The voice that answers is female, a frantic undercurrent to her tone. “You’ve come at a very inopportune time. I know neither why you were climbing around on my balcony nor why you asked me not to tell anyone you’re here.”
“I…spoke to you?” I furrow my brow, unable to recall doing such a thing.
“Yes, and if you keep quiet about me, I’ll do the same for you.” She moves across the room from the far wall to the bed. With the room so dark, I can’t make out what she looks like, only her hurried motions. “I’m guessing you got locked out of your room and had a dreadful time finding your way back inside the palace.”
I swallow hard. “Something like that.”
The figure leaves the bed and approaches me with an extended hand. “Come. I’ll show you the door and you can be on your way.”
I recoil from her, scrambling back. “No, no I can’t go back inside the palace. I need to get out of here—”
My words are swallowed by a cry as a sharp pain erupts inside me. With it comes a return of memories.
Standing on the balcony, ready to run.
The pain of my bargain igniting.
Falling against the balcony door, my consciousness slipping.
The door behind me opening, a frightened shout.
Then my voice, begging for help, pleading that no one can know I am here.
I breathe through the pain.I’m obeying, I tell the magic.I’m not running away.
“Are you all right?” I open my eyes to find the girl crouched before me. All I can make out is a pleasant face surrounded by tendrils of unkempt hair. “Miss, I need you to calm down. It won’t do to draw the prince back with your hysterics.”
A spike of alarm cuts through me. “The prince? What do you mean the prince?”
With a grumble, she rises to her feet and strides over to the single open curtain, drawing it shut. She’s nothing more than a moving shadow as she sweeps to the other side of the room. A second later, dim light emanates from over several sconces. “Calm. Down.” Her words are punctuated with annoyance. “I can’t have you ruining this for me.”
I glance around the now-illuminated room. It’s larger than the one I escaped from, but not quite as extravagant as the whole of Marus’ sprawling apartment. Satisfied that I seem to be free from imminent threat, I turn my study to the girl. She looks to be my age, although her pointed ears tell me she’s full fae. Her skin is a dark golden tan, her wild hair the pale pink of candy floss. She wears a pair of dark trousers, a cream shirt, and a brown unbuttoned waistcoat. Her state of dress reminds me of what men wear in the Gray Quarter. Next, my eyes rove to the bed, where I see an open trunk next to a smaller traveling bag. A thick gray fur hangs halfway out of the bag. “Who are you?”
She crosses her arms. “The less you know the better.”
“She’s right.” I nearly jump out of my skin at the male voice. Rising to my feet, I look for its source. Then movement—the clacking of two red pincers—draws my gaze to the floor near the balcony door. It’s…a crustacean of some sort, covered in an assortment of oddly shaped, multi-hued mushrooms. “You’re lucky I didn’t just snip your fingers and push you over the balustrade.”
“We aren’t snipping anyone’s fingers, Podaxis,” the girl says. “As for going over the balustrade…well, I need to leave. Are you done panicking? Can I go now?” She returns to the bed and finishes stuffing the fur into the traveling bag, then places a brown cap upon her head and tucks her tangled pink strands beneath it. Then, gathering the bag in her arms, she says, “If you need to remain in my room a little longer, fine. I’ll ask no questions. But when you leave, be discreet about it. If anyone inquires, you never saw me. We never spoke. You can lie, yes? You’re human?”
“Half human, but…” I take in her bag, her state of dress, her hasty way of speaking. “Wait, are you running away?”
The crustacean named Podaxis snaps his pincers again. “Did you not hear what the princess said? The less you know the better.”
