Page 38 of A Wayward Movement

Everyone glanced at the anzu, in time to see her give a strange hacking cough, sprinkling water onto the prince’s plate in the process.

Chapter

Nine

“Zuzu!” Xavier was delighted. “Your powers are developing at last!”

“And it’s water, not fire.” The murmur came from one of the prince’s personal guards, and Alina’s lips twitched at the relief in his voice.

“Just like you said, Alina.” Xavier turned to her, impressed. “You were right.”

The anzu preened under all the attention, ruffling up her wings, then twisting around to clean her fur with her tongue, right at the point where it transitioned into feathers.

“I’m glad she’s progressing,” Xavier said, prodding the roast pheasant on his plate with a fork. “But I’m not glad she’s basically vomited on my food.”

Alina laughed. “Don’t be so fastidious, Your Highness. Water produced by an anzu is just regular water. It’s perfectly safe to drink, so there’s no reason you can’t eat your food.”

“First of all, you can’t call me Your Highness while insulting me,” Xavier pointed out. “It’s indecent of you.”

“To most of us, fastidious isn’t an insult,” Alina informed him. “And calling you Your Highness is the opposite of indecent.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure.” He leaned a little closer than was comfortable in front of so many witnesses. “It’s all in the tone. I’ve heard many a Your Highness that would make even a hardened soldier blush.”

“That may be,” Alina said, somehow having to fight back both a laugh and the heat trying to climb up her neck. “But you’ll have no success trying to convince me I was straying into that territory. Your Highness.” She added the last two words as blandly as possible.

Xavier laughed. “Not yet, but I’ll break you eventually. There must be some limit past which even you will be scandalized, Alina. But to return to the point, I’m not convinced that eating this food won’t cause me to be vilely ill.”

“It will be fi—”

Alina’s words were cut off by another, more violent, hacking from the anzu. She seized a napkin, ready to wipe up any excess of water, but this time, it was a large and slobbery fur ball that Zuzu deposited right onto her beloved benefactor’s food.

“You were saying?” Xavier prompted Alina politely.

This time she didn’t hold the laugh back. “My mistake. It looks like you’ll have to order a new meal.”

“Actually, my appetite is gone,” Xavier said, watching with a pained expression as the anzu hiccuped out a small stream of water on top of the fur ball. After sniffing at the whole concoction, Zuzu began to nibble at some of the pheasant.

“She’s starting solids!” Alina said in an encouraging tone.

“I’m delighted for her.” Xavier didn’t sound delighted. “For myself, I think I’ll call it a day.”

The group began to rise at the words, Alina finishing her own food as quickly as good manners would allow. She was eating at the crown’s expense, and she didn’t intend to waste the opportunity. A few others took a little longer to finish eating, and Alina found herself standing around with the prince and a few companions as conversation flowed from serious to mundane matters, everyone more relaxed after a good feed. The inn was fairly busy, and lots of other patrons filled the space with noise as well.

“Did His Highness say that you guessed what Zuzu’s powers would be?” Charles asked Alina.

She smiled at the servant. He was the only one other than the prince who used the anzu’s name, and she liked him for it.

“Yes, I could sense it from her movements.”

“That’s impressive,” Charles said admiringly. “You must have a very attuned sense of magic.”

“I don’t know if I’d say very attuned,” Alina said ruefully. “I’ve always had a bit of a knack for it, but my efforts are usually pretty clumsy because I was never formally trained.”

“Why not?” Xavier joined the conversation so abruptly, Alina started.

“What?”

“Why didn’t you study at the Craftsman’s Guild?” Like you vowed you would. She could hear the silent addition.