28. Raven
Islept for close to two days, and my body continued to crave more.
Pain pulsed in places where I’d never been sore.
Ash filled my waking hours, and my dreams offered little peace with visions of the pit, the undead, and the Killian wracking me.
Blinding white light and a clear-eyed afflicted.
Chace pulling me to his chest. Winter carrying me to safety, and later, in my rooms, Winter’s eyes churning wildly with magic.
My hands were bandaged to protect the too-many cuts, my cheek boasted a bruise and slight abrasion, and my ribs were tender, slightly discolored, but otherwise, my outward appearance was untouched. Any further wounds were invisible to the outside world.
As a result of my condition, and what the guards had put me through, the Crown had granted me a day of reprieve.
So very kind of Her Majesty.
“This looks like a lovely location.” Neive pointed to a spot at her feet. “Put it here.”
Lucas promptly laid out a large woven blanket.
The duo had decided—or had been directed by Winter; I wasn’t sure—that a picnic on the long lawn would do me a world of good.
I preferred the idea of staying in bed longer, but friendships were blooming between me and the two servants, and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to cement their loyalty a bit deeper than before.
“I say, we don’t do this enough.” Lucas settled onto his bum, loosely wrapping his knees in his arms, and I slowly…possibly a tad too slowly….lowered myself onto the blanket beside him.
“Completely agree.” Neive opened the enormous basket she’d had Lucas carry out. “That is why I packed us a most proper and delicious lunch. Along with a bottle or two of bubbly.”
“Woman, you do know the way to my heart.” Lucas swatted at her playfully, and she giggled.
Neive placed a hand beside her mouth and whispered, “Doesn’t Prince Winter already own that big ole heart of yours?”
“Oh please.” He batted the comment away with a fling of his wrist. “Very, very old news. Get with the times, baby cakes. I got me a secret love slave down in the citadel, and he’s everything and then some.”
Neive playfully jerked back, her mouth in the shape of a large O.
“Do tell,” I said. “We must hear all about this guy who can wind your heart up and tie it into a knot.”
“Ah, ah, ah.” He wagged a finger. “I believe I told you this once before, but it’s very unbecoming to kiss and tell.”
With giggles on our lips and smiles on our faces, the three of us relaxed and dove into a delightful meal. Boxes of strawberries and grapes. A choice of cucumber, fruit blend, or chicken salad tea sandwiches. And lots of bubbly. Lots and lots of bubbly.
The last time I’d felt an alcohol-fueled buzz, I’d said things I ought not to have said―to Chace―but the sensation now soothed my tight muscles and dulled my aches. Something I deeply craved.
When we’d filled our bellies and packed the remnants of our lunch away, we lay upon the blanket, side by side, and gazed at the sky. The shimmer of the magical barrier added a pastel tint to everything above.
“Look at the clouds and tell me the first shape you see.” Neive snickered with the delivery, showing more effects from the bubbly than Lucas and me. “I see a pink pussy cat.”
“Pink pussy, huh?” Lucas drawled. “You naughty, naughty girl. Haven’t gotten any in a while?”
Neive sighed, then frowned. I chortled, enjoying this relaxed, real version of them.
A somewhat pink-tinted cloud did hover overhead, but I was hard pressed to see a cat within the billows and folds of its edges. Maybe there was something to Lucas’s assessment.
I swept my gaze across the sky, taking in the various clouds slowly drifting by.
“I see…” I glanced from a form on the right and one barely off center. I pointed to the one on the right. “A twisted chain…” I swung my finger toward the other cloud. “And a scythe.”
“Damn, girl!” Lucas said. “Kinky and dangerous. That’s why Winter doesn’t know what to do with you.”
I rolled my eyes. “Winter doesn’t need to do anything with me. Nor should he try.”
Lucas and Neive growled a “meow” in unison. In my peripheral, I thought I saw a clawed hand or two playfully cut through the air.
Shaking my head, I held back a laugh, and against the gentle protest of my body, I pushed to a sit. I crossed my stretched legs out in front of me and leaned back on my spread arms.
The castle overflowed with life and preparations for the upcoming celebration. A birthday ball for a long-missing prince. Staff hung banners, strung lights, and planted autumn-colored flowers to line the main walk.
A murder of crows collected on the various rooftops, overseeing the endeavor. I didn’t know if it was the activity they watched or me.
I turned a lazy gaze to Lucas and Neive, who both continued to lie flat, ogling the sky. “Would you mind if I invited a friend to join us, if only for a moment?”
“What? Who?” they mumbled.
I smiled and raised an extended arm in silence.
A flurry of feathers brought the darkened palace rooftop to life, but only one bird broke from the mass and flew straight for me. A large, black raven. He landed deftly on my offered arm, avoiding my bandaged hand, and croaked.
Lucas and Neive bolted upright and scuttled back an inch or two.
Lucas gasped. “How did you—”
“You’re the reason they’re always on the terrace making a mess!” Neive said, not appearing remotely upset, merely dumbfounded.
“Sorry.” I turned to the bird on my arm and whispered, “Are you keeping my secrets safe?”
The bird croaked.
Lucas curled his legs beneath him and leaned forward. “What secrets?”
I teased him with a grin. “If I told you, they wouldn’t be secrets anymore, would they?”
“No, I guess you’re right.” He folded his hands in his lap. “So, is it safe to say that your goddess mojo is the ability to commune with creatures of the feathery type?”
I snorted. “Um. No. The birds and I are just friends. And besides,”—I dropped my voice to a whisper—“I told you that wasn’t my mojo.”
Based on Winter’s reaction after inhaling what was burrowed within me, Lucas suggested I had goddess-level magic. But it had been Winter’s own magic he had inhaled and gotten high on. His power, not mine. I hoped to merciful death that another couldn’t easily inhale reaper power.
“Right.” Lucas nodded, his eyes darkening as his thoughts likely shifted to the prince, his magical inebriation, and four-day detox.
The raven croaked, pulling my attention back to the bird.
“I haven’t forgotten my promise to you,” I said. “To give you a name. What do you think of the name Poe?”
“Gonk.” The black bird nodded twice.
“Then it’s settled. Poe it is. Pleasure to officially meet you, Poe.” I dipped my head.
The raven mimicked my head motion and gonked a second time.
“You sweet liar,” Lucas said. “If you aren’t communicating with the bird right now, I don’t know what to make of the scene unfolding before me.”
I tossed him a humored smirk but chose not to respond and instead returned my attention on Poe.
“Can you do me a favor?” I asked my feathery friend, while gliding a gentle finger along the bird’s back. “Can you and the gang over there…”—I tilted my head toward the crow-covered rooftops—“keep an eye on Chace for me?”
“Croak.”
“Thank you,” I whispered, then noticed a vision of white in the distance.
Winter was staring but made no effort to approach or even move any closer. With a slight smile and a tip of his head, he turned and strode back into the palace.
Odd. Was he avoiding me for some reason?
Neive repositioned herself on folded knees. “Who’s Chace?”
The question drew me back to the conversation and the group on the blanket.
“Just a friend.” I continued to pet the raven perched on my arm.
“A really handsome friend!”
At the sound of the child’s voice, I jolted, jerked sideways.
The sudden movement sent Poe jumping from my arm to the top of the lunch basket.
He gonked and tilted his head toward Kira, who now stood beside our picnic setup.
Poe’s second gonk gave me the oddest sensation that the bird was agreeing with Kira’s assessment.
“Really?” Neive clapped her hands together at her chest. “Where can I find this handsome friend of Raven’s?”
“He’s usually—”
The small hand of her afflicted twin clamped over Kira’s mouth, stopping her coming confession. Myla shook her head, and the twins stared at each other as if holding a silent conversation.
“It’s a secret, then?” Neive fished.
“Top,” Kira said as both twins spun their attention to the group gathered on the blanket. “But he only has eyes for Raven.”
Kira turned a bashful smile in my direction.
Heat flooded my cheeks, and I returned my focus to Poe, stealing a few moments to compose myself. The last thing I needed was to turn beet red in front of Lucas and Neive over the mention of a guy.
“Why is this the first we’re hearing about this suitor?” Lucas prodded.
To which Neive added, “And when will we get to meet him?”
Chace is not a suitor.
With a deep sigh, and the desire for a subject change, I turned toward the twins. “What brings you to the palace, girls? Where’s your mom?”
“Mom’s just over there.” Kira pointed to the long front walk. “She’s delivering the dress today. Just barely in time, right?”
All eyes turned to Camilla and the garment she guided on a tall rolling rack. The bagged dress was clipped at an angle to accommodate its length and girth. Camilla waved, clearly keeping an eye on her children’s whereabouts.
“Ooh!” Neive exclaimed, her eyes wide on the covered dress, to which Lucas added, “When do we get to see it?”
“Not until the ball. Mom says it’s a secret.”
Myla nodded in support of her sister’s statement.
“Well, boo.” Lucas slouched, then popped straight. “But I guess Neive and I will be among the first to lay eyes on the vision, given our position and all.”
“Aren’t you going?” I asked.
“Of course,” they sang in chorus.
“Then you’ll need that time before the ball to get ready.”
Neive pressed her fingers to Raven’s arm. “Don’t worry about us. We’ll have plenty of time.”