After laying the note on my pillow, I dressed quickly, pulling on my pants and his tunics. It smelled of him, cedar and that indefinable scent that was uniquely his. If I couldn’t take him with me, I would take this. My armor, my shroud, my promise to come back as soon as I could.
I grabbed only essentials: weapons, a purse of coins, clothing, then hesitated and tucked in the book he’d given me, the one about the Skathes, and the cinderhawk feather Trew left for me long ago. I folded the letter from Commander Thorne and tucked close to myheart. As I slung my pack over my shoulder, a familiar peep rang out from the windowsill.
Pherin she flew to my shoulder. When she landed, her tiny head tilted in question.
“I have to go,” I said. “Don’t you see? I’m the only one who can save Addie. My fathertookher. I raised her after our mother died. We’re all the other has left that matters.”
Pherin cheeped, her wings fluttering.
“If Trew finds out why I left, he’ll follow. And if he follows, my father will kill him. So I have to make sure he can’t come after me.”
Her tiny claws tightened on my shoulder, and I sensed her stubborn refusal to be left behind. When I opened my mouth to protest, to tell her it was too dangerous, she bristled, every feather standing on end.
And you won’t be in danger?was how I read her indignant posture.
“My father loves me.”
Or did he? How could you love someone and lie to them like he did to me?
“He won’t hurt me,” I said, needing to believe it was true. Otherwise, how could I walk directly into the fire? “I’ll sneak in and free her. A day or two, and we’ll be on our way back to Syllavar.”
She bumped her head against my cheek, a gesture of solidarity so small yet so fierce it nearly undid me.Come with. Need.
More than ever.
“Are you sure?”
I swore she scowled.
“Alright,” I whispered. “We’ll fly for her together. But once we’re there, you need to stay hidden. Promise me.”
She just tilted her head, watching me.
Bag in hand, I left my room.
In the hush of the castle, I thought I heard him stir. Maybe it was just a fire settling. Maybe it was his voice, soft and sleepy, whispering my name.
I didn’t look back. If I did, I’d never go.
Other than the occasional guard making rounds, I found the castle corridors silent. I kept to the shadows, slipping through passages I’d memorized during my weeks here. Every step took me further from Trew, and each one felt like I was tearing out pieces of myself, leaving them behind.
My hand drifted to the letter hidden beneath my tunic. The outline of it was a reminder of what waited for me. Ofwhowaited for me. The sister I’d mourned. The sister I’d do anything to rescue.
“For you, Addie,” I said under my breath as I slipped through the gate. “For every soul he stole. I will not fail in my mission.”
Pherin fluttered her wings where she perched on my shoulder.
“At first, he won’t understand why I have to go,” I whispered. “But one day he will.”
The night air hit my face as I hurried down the path to the lake, only pausing in the spot where I first met Trew. Where I stabbed him, even if it was an accident.
I looked back, trying to memorize the look of the castle. Trying to picture him sleeping in bed, a soft smile on his face.
Turning, I hurried down the hillside, moving swiftly across the pier to the boat docked at the end outlined only by a sliver of moonlight.
A ferryman sat on the bench, shifting with the rock of the waves lapping up onto the shore. His head lifted as I approached.
“Do you need passage to the far shore?” he asked.
