“Let me do it!” Van grumbled. A small pick appeared in his hands, and he slid it into the large lock, wiggling it around enough until there was a solidclick.
“Hurry!” Aeriden whispered, urging us into the darkness of the cage.
We stumbled over each other as Van swung the door shut and whipped the curtain down as the door latched in place.
We crouched low in the darkness as the footsteps grew louder. My breath caught in my lungs as the festival workers passed, keeping my hand on Drystan’s arm. Aeriden let out a sigh of relief as the sound of their footsteps disappeared into blended animal bleats.
“That was close,” Aeriden whispered as he laughed, “Come on, let’s?—”
A soft clatter bit through his words, the rattle echoing through the darkness, and I tightened my grip on Drystan.
“What was that?” Van breathed, still as death.
A soft hiss slipped through the space, and something thudded from the center of the wagon.
“It’s a snake,” I said in a shaky whisper, not needing to see Aeriden’s face to know it had paled.
“Shit,” Van whispered as he backed away from the center of the cage and bumped into the bars lined with a lattice of wires.
I signed to Drystan in the limited light, and his body went rigid.
Aeriden’s hand gripped my gangly arm as a soft swishing whispered from the box, followed by a light thump as the snake slithered out.
“Van, get the pick,” Aeriden ordered, pulling me behind him.
“I don’t—” Van’s boots scuffed as he scrambled around the back of the cage, feeling along the floor. “I must have dropped it!”
Aeriden cursed and scooted along the edge of the cage, putting space between himself and the rest of us. “Spread out,” he murmured, eyes wide enough I could see the whites of them in the darkness.
The spiraling form of the snake shifted as we moved, its heart-shaped head swiveling to watch us. It stopped as itlanded on Aeriden, and the little forked tongue that escaped its mouth flicked twice as if it could taste my brother. The snake’s head lifted off the ground, coiling the center of its body in toward itself as it did so, poised to attack.
“I found it!” Van whisper-yelled from opposite the cage, where he fiddled with the lock pick. Metal scraped as rattling and hissing built into a threatening crescendo.
Van swung the door wide as the snake lunged for Aeriden. He dodged to the side the same moment the heel of my riding boot slammed on its rattling tail. Aeriden surged toward me as the snake retracted, coiling in on the pain before it whirled to face us. Aeriden’s hands were on my back, shoving me out of the cage. We tumbled out, tripping over the steps, and landed in a heap.
I stared at the gold and white topped tent as we lay on the ground for a heartbeat before the booming voice of Lord Pavel, my father’s confidant, reverberated through the small space.
“I thought I’d find you here. You’re in for it, Aeriden. Your father’s not happy. Your sister is missing?—”
“You don’t have to tell him,” Aeriden pleaded as he jumped to his feet.
Lord Pavel opened his mouth and paused as his eyes landed on mine, recognition and a speck of amusement dancing in them.
“Sisters spare me,” he muttered beneath his breath. “Come on.”
Lord Pavel slipped a few gold coins into the hands of the beast master as he turned around. We trudged out of the tents, heads hung low, knowing we’d return to Cantor Manor and straight to the stables for chores instead of the Sun Dance.
Aelius’s shatteredmorning rays shifted, bouncing off the diamond-shaped mirror hanging in Isla’s guest room and landing directly on my sleeping eyes. I cursed and threw the downy pillow over my face as Isla sprang the door open.
“Happiest Awakenings, Lyv!” she sang as she bounded across the room.
I groaned and rolled over.
“Get up! We haveminutesto get ready for the celebration.”
I tugged the blankets over myself. “This is theoneday I get to sleep. Leave me alone.”
She ripped the blankets off, and I reached blindly, swatting at the air.
