Fiery wings spread on either side of me. In front of me, I see a long neck laced with a red crest, and the wind whipping around me brings the scent of wood, leather and pepper.
The picture comes together in fits and starts. This is Simu. I’m on the phoenix’s back. And I’m held by Roane. He somehow grabbed me as I was falling and pulled me onto his steed’s back.
Miraculously, I realize, the griffin egg is still whole, clutched in my arms. Its shell must be thick, hard as stone. My thoughts swirl through my brain like honeyed syrup.
A phoenix. Roane. A griffin egg.
Dazed, dizzy as the fiery bird flies downward in circles, I see the ground approaching. We land right outside the city, ploughing into a meadow.
The phoenix lands with barely three running steps to end its momentum and then lowers itself to the ground, gathering its wings in. I flinch as they fold, one of them touching my leg, scorching it.
Roane’s arms slowly release me, dropping away. My middle feels cold without their solid heat. “Time to dismount. Swing your leg over,Ellin. Come on, you can do it.”
“It burns,” I whisper.
“Phoenixes always burn. You need to jump off.”
Nodding, I try to swing my leg over the phoenix’s back but the skirt of my ruined dress is tangled around my legs, making it difficult. I breathe out, struggling to shift, but I can’t lean back, and there isn’t enough space…
“I’ll go first.” As if sensing my distress, he somehow twists around and dismounts, sliding down the creature’s side. He stumbles sideways, a wince crossing his handsome face, then steadies himself and opens his arms. “Come. I’ll catch you.”
This time, I manage to lean back enough to free my leg and swing it over. I turn on the phoenix’s back, then I’m sliding down its side and right into Roane’s embrace, the egg held against my side.
He catches me easily but holds me off the moment I collide with his chest, settling me on my feet. “There. Easy.”
The feeling of loss makes no sense. He only caught me so I wouldn’t fall on my face, so what is this about?
The phoenix produces a mournful sound and rises on its four legs, then with a flap of its flaming wings, it takes a few running steps and flies away.
“You came for me,” I whisper, my focus back on Roane. “Saved me. I thought…”
“You thought… what? That I’d let you become griffin fodder? Or climb down from the roof of the world on your own?”
“Well, you didn’t seem to care either way before.”
His face is grave as he regards me, his lashes casting shadows on his sculpted cheekbones. Black strands are stuck to his long neck and temples, and the scar in his cheek seems more livid than ever. Darker. Painful. “I seem to have given… the wrong impression. I’m not interested in seeing you dead, Aline.”
“But you think I’m a liability.”
“I…” He rubs the back of his neck, grimacing. “I won’t lie. I do.”
I nod, pressing my lips together.
Then his gaze narrows. “What’s that? Don’t tell me you stole a griffin egg?”
I hug the egg to my middle and brace for the argument I feel coming. “Yes.”
He shakes his head and a smile tugs on his lips. “That’s reckless. Such a stupid thing to do.”
“So why are you smiling?”
“I’m not.” But his mouth curves wider. “Why did you steal an egg?”
“To negotiate. I didn’t expect you to show up.”
His smile falls. “Aline?—”
“So I made a plan to convince the griffin to fly me back down.”
