Chapter 29
Chapter Twenty-Nine
The tavern door shuts, muffling the boisterous voices within and replacing laughter with chirping crickets and the mournful hoots of a fanged owl.
I let Thorne drag me another few steps before digging my heels into the ground. “What’s the big hurry all of a sudden?”
The irritated noise that escapes Thorne’s throat makes it clear that he’d rather not answer. Too bad for him. I’d rather not get hauled out of taverns by hot, grumpy instructors, but we can’t always get what we wish.
While grumbling beneath his breath, he scans our surroundings. “Can we at least get to Zephyr before we play twenty questions?”
Unlike earlier, his posture is rigid. Clearly something worrisome happened between his interaction with the stranger and now. “Whatever.” When he tugs on my hand again, I don’t fight him. I can bide my time. Short of pitching me off Zephyr’s back, he won’t be able to escape my pestering on the ride back.
The brisk evening air nips at my cheeks and fingers. Shivering, I pull free of his grip and shove my hands into my pockets. My left one jostles the book Royce gave me, dislodging a piece of paper. At first, I figure it’s a loose page but then realize the parchment’s too thick. Fishing the paper out, I take a quick peek and stumble.
A primitive map. Penned in Leesa’s scrawl. And the directions lead to a spot not far beyond Castle Axton’s gates.
Too caught up in my discovery to pay attention to where I’m going, I stumble again, drawing another curse from my grumpy keeper. “Whatever you’re reading, can you do it later? We don’t have time for that now.”
When we reach the shed, Zephyr greets us with a spirited neigh.
“I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but we’re going to need to make time for this.” I wave the map under his nose. “Just a slight detour. Won’t take long at all.”
“No. Absolutely not.”
Thorne flings me into the saddle. If not for his annoying dictator routine, I’d probably admire how he tosses me around with seemingly no effort, like I’m a rag doll rather than a full-grown woman. Instead, I want to sew his mouth shut until he learns to listen.
“But we’re right there! It’s close to Castle Axton, so it shouldn’t cost us more than a few extra minutes.”
Saying nothing, Thorne vaults into the saddle behind me and snaps the reins. Zephyr flaps his powerful wings, rustling my hair as he propels us into the air.
Several rhythmic wing-beats pass before my flight instructor speaks again. “If I don’t take you, you’re going to sneak out again, aren’t you?”
“Yup.”
“Fucking hells.” Thorne grunts. “Fine. But if I say we need to abort, we abort. Got it?”
“Yes, sir.”
He leans forward, his hot breath feathering against my cheek. “Watch how you say that, Duchess, or one day you’re going to get more than you bargained for.” His low growl boils my blood. “Now tell me where to go.”
Reaching into the saddlebag, he produces a tiny ever-light lantern. As I study the map, I direct him. To anyone else, the map probably reads like gibberish. Only Leesa and I would know the markers, such as right turn at the ghost tree—the place where, the first time she ever snuck me beyond the castle grounds, we swore we spotted a ghost.
The forest grows thick around my home, and everything looks different from the air, making locating Leesa’s markers a bit tricky. It doesn’t help that we need to fly as low as possible to avoid detection by the castle guards. By the time I identify the tall boulder we used to climb that we dubbed Giant’s Rock, Thorne’s practically vibrating with impatience. He finds a tiny gap in the foliage and lands Zephyr like a pro.
I scramble off the alicorn’s back first. “Wait here. It should only take a few minutes.”
Thorne loops the reins around a branch. “Nice try, Duchess. No way in the three hells am I letting you totter off into the dark forest at night without an escort.”
I roll my eyes. “I don’t totter. And, gee, I didn’t know you cared.”
“Don’t let it go to your head. I can’t very well leave Flighthaven with a fledgling and come back empty-handed.”
“Whatever you say.”
Part of me wants to insist he stay behind. I have no idea what to expect from this outing. What clue, if any, Leesa left me regarding her whereabouts or disappearance. The more practical part of me remembers the attack from my last excursion in these woods and would just as soon not face another threat alone.
Though I get turned around more than once, I finally find my bearings and reach Giant’s Rock. As instructed, I head due east. To my surprise, a well-trodden path appears beneath my feet. The trail weaves around large tree trunks and dead-ends at a small square of grass peppered with larkfire, vivid red wildflowers with droopy petals.
Thorne stops beside me and scowls. “That’s it? We took a detour so you could pick some flowers?”
Muttering, I shake my head. “This can’t be all. I must be missing something.”
Wielding the little ever-light, I walk the perimeter. Nothing of interest. Next, I drop to my knees and use my hands to hunt beneath the flowers. Dirt. Grass. More dirt. Then my fingers hit a smooth surface broken up by indents. Carvings.
Crawling closer, I shove the foliage aside and hover the light above the stone. The grooves I felt are words.
It’s a grave marker.
“Why did you want to show me this?” I murmur. And then I actually read the engravings, and the earth sways beneath me. A low buzzing fills my ears.
“What…how can…what…”
Every sentence dies in my throat. Because the name on the grave marker? It’s mine.
Lark Axton
Beloved daughter and sister
Born the same year as me. Dead four years later.
I can’t move. Can’t do anything but gape. Somehow sensing my distress, Thorne squats beside me, rubbing his big hand in a circle on my back. “What is it? You okay?”
Shaking my head no, I point a quivering finger at the marker. When he reads, he goes utterly still. For some reason, the proof of his reaction allows my lungs to resume functioning. “How can that be? That’s the same year I was born.”
Thorne rocks back on his heels. “What do you think it means?” He turns toward me, his eyes fixated on my face.
“I don’t…I don’t know.”
My voice wobbles. Tremors overtake my body. With a curse, Thorne pulls me to my feet and wraps his arms around me. I bury my face in his cloak, inhaling his familiar scent and letting his warm embrace soothe me back from the edge of a nervous breakdown.
We stand that way until I stop shaking. Eventually, Thorne steps back, using his thumbs to gently wipe the tears from beneath my eyes. With the ever-light on the ground, it’s too dark to read his expression, but it almost seems as if he’s waiting on something from me. If so, he might be waiting for a long time. My mind is a wasteland right now.
Finally, he clears his throat. “Do you want to talk about it? I’m sure there’s a reasonable explanation.”
“No.” Not when my brain is reeling like someone whacked me on the skull with the broad side of a sword. I pause. “Wait. Like what?”
His hesitation strikes me as odd. Thorne isn’t usually the type to choose his words carefully. “Perhaps…did you consider that you might be adopted?”
When he speaks, his voice sounds different too. Softer than normal. Maybe even a little cautious. I note those anomalies absent-mindedly, too focused on his actual words to rustle up much interest in how he says them. “Adopted. I guess that could make sense.”
Except, not really. If I’m adopted, why didn’t my mother tell me? Or Leesa? And why, for the love of the gods, give me the same name as a dead child?
With gentle hands, Thorne ushers me back to Zephyr. For the first few minutes of the return flight, I’m quiet while my mind struggles to uncover my earliest memories, searching for any evidence of my possible adoption. I quickly stop when my head begins to throb.
Grasping for something to divert my attention, I latch onto Thorne’s hypervigilant state. Tension radiates from his body into mine, and every time I peer over my shoulder, I catch his head swiveling as he scans the empty skies.
I try my best to remain patient. Surely, if I sit tight a little longer, he’ll fill me in. So I wait. Fidget. Wait some more.
In the end, it’s his barked, “sit still,” that makes me snap.
“Who was that man you spoke to outside the tavern? Is he the reason you were suddenly in such a rush to leave?”
Behind me, his body stiffens even more. “You accomplished your goal, and it was time to get you back. Unless you’d like Torno and Bigley to find out you snuck out.”
His last comment distracts me. “Wait, don’t you have permission to take students off the grounds? You’re the one who gives out the tokens.”
“There’s still a protocol to follow, so at the very least, we’re liable to get questioned. Is that what you wanted to happen?”
I twist my head over my shoulder just to ensure he witnesses my epic eye roll. “Obviously not. And don’t think I didn’t notice that you dodged the question.”
“Is it not true that we needed to return?”
Picturing his neck, I squeeze thick sections of Zephyr’s mane until my hands hurt. “Who was that man?”
“Just someone I used to know. Now, if you’re finished interrogating me, I suggest you take advantage of this time and pay attention to how I fly Zephyr.”
Understood. He doesn’t want to talk about the man. Given how his legs and arms tense against me, I figure they must have argued. Not that he’s admitting it.
The fact that Thorne has secrets shouldn’t bother me. Gods know I have plenty of my own. I don’t like it, though. I want him to feel comfortable sharing things with me, and his lack of trust in me stings. More than it should.
I want to burrow under that tough outer shell of his and discover what’s hidden underneath. Maybe years of working as a private soldier and witnessing the worst of humanity hardened him, but he managed to retain a softer, caring side. I’ve seen that part of him in action.
Zephyr veers to the left, derailing my train of thought. A timely interruption, because what in the gods am I doing? One kiss and act of kindness, and suddenly I’m imagining Thorne opening up to me like we’re in a serious relationship. Even with my inexperience, I know better.
Okay. Fine. He can keep his secrets. That won’t stop me from running scenarios through my head.
I picture the gold coins he handed Royce—two of many—and consider the possibility that he’s worried the man will rob him. Or maybe the stranger’s someone from Thorne’s past, like another private soldier with a long-standing beef. Maybe they squabbled over a lover. As soon as Celeste’s face comes to mind, I decide I no longer want to waste brainpower on the mystery man.
Now I’m the one who’s tense.
Thorne must notice because he throws me a bone. “Tell me about the food pantry. How long have you been helping with it? I bet your mother must be proud.”
I laugh. “About two years. And, um, I have no idea if she’d be proud or not because I never told her. Actually, I’m pretty sure she’d be horrified.”
“Why?”
“Because then she’d know I snuck out. I told you, she’s overprotective.”
“I remember, but surely she’s not so overprotective that she’d begrudge you leaving to do something so worthwhile.”
I scoff. “You don’t know my mother.”
He leans over my shoulder to see my face. “What does that mean? You had to leave the castle sometimes. Meetups with friends, traveling, shopping…”
“The only location I was allowed to visit with any regularity was the castle grounds, and even then I was rarely alone. My mother was always at my side or had Leesa stuck there. If possible, I think Mother would have glued us together. I’m sure she would have lost her mind if she knew Leesa helped me escape at night more than once.”
In the ensuing silence, I wonder what he’s thinking. Or if I revealed too much. The last thing I want from him is pity…or for him to view me as a na?ve child.
“I was wrong about you before, Axton.”
His deep voice comes across as even more gravel-filled than usual. “Wrong how?”
“When you first arrived, I had you pegged as just another brainwashed, pampered noble whose parents doted on her and who cared more about her social status and pretty gowns than the well-being of others. I jumped to conclusions based on limited information, and that’s on me.”
The truth smarts. Even though I suspected as much already. “And now that you know me better?”
I hold my breath as I await his reply. It’s not long in coming.
“I’ve watched you work to catch up at Flighthaven. Put in extra hours without complaint. I’ve seen you jump in to defend others, even when they don’t deserve it, and refuse to let hazing hold you back. Honestly, it doesn’t surprise me that you were defying your mother to help the less fortunate in your village…especially the defying part, as I’m personally acquainted with your knack for that. Royce is right. The village is lucky to have you.”
Joy blooms inside me to the point that my chest feels like it’s about to burst. Joy and freedom. The wind, the stars twinkling overhead, the yawning expanse of open sky before us…the rush of emotions is so overpowering that I release Zephyr’s mane and throw my arms out to the sides.
“Whoa, careful.” Sterling’s tightened hold keeps me safe and molded to him. “Last I checked, you still need wings to fly.”
I blink a few times, snapping out of my daze. What the…? Heart racing, I wrap my hands around the pommel. That was beyond strange. Sure, Thorne’s praise warmed my heart, but not to the extent that I should be risking a free fall to a painful death. My emotions go out of whack at the drop of a hat lately, and I don’t like it.
As if to prove my point, another burst of euphoria swells in my chest. Some strange instinct makes me swivel my head to the right. Almost as if I sense another living entity. Far, far off in the distance, near the mountains, a tiny flare of orange cuts through the darkness. One blink and it’s gone.
I keep watching. The orange never reappears, and that sense of sharing the sky with another being gradually fades.
Thorne’s paranoia must be rubbing off on me. There was probably nothing out there to begin with.
Thorne snakes an arm around my waist and pulls me closer to his chest. “You all right?”
Not really. I’m confused and pissed at the weird reactions I keep experiencing for no reason. Since I can’t tell him that, I attempt to laugh it off.
“Yup. Guess I’m just responding to feeling the freest I’ve felt in my life.”
His grip tightens. “It’s sad…no, a crime…that your mother cooped you up like she did. I understand wanting to protect a child, but keeping them imprisoned, even if the prison is a spectacular castle? That’s wrong.”
“It’s not all her fault.”
His arm loosens around me. “You’re saying you wanted her to treat you like?—”
“A living, breathing doll? No. Of course not. But after my father died and I was hurt in the accident, my mother lost it. She’s always been afraid I’m going to die or disappear. I’m certain she’s shocked I’ve survived Flighthaven this long. She’s… No, I don’t want to revisit my past. It’s over, and I plan to never feel trapped like that again.”
He eases closer. I risk covering his hand with mine and love it a little too much when he doesn’t pull away.
I wish these moments could last forever. Our easy banter continues as he banks Zephyr to the left, toward Flighthaven.
“Take over the reins.” When I hesitate, he leans forward until his warm breath caresses my ear. “I promise I won’t let anything happen to you.”
A moment of that old panic rears its head. I acknowledge the feeling and then reason my way past it. I’ve been training for this moment. We’re already in the air. Thorne is behind me and won’t let anything happen to me.
That last reason pushes me to grab hold of the reins.
To my delight, taking the reins is the toughest part. I fly Zephyr solo without needing any help from Thorne. Soon, Flighthaven appears in the distance. Despite the King’s Moon illuminating everything, fire burns in metal barrels and stone pits, increasing the brightness almost as much as day, an atypical sight at this hour.
Shouts ring out. People race across campus like little ants. Dragons and their riders launch into the sky, fanning out in different directions.
I struggle to decipher what’s going on through all the confusion. “What’s happening?”
“I don’t know.”
After relieving me of the reins, Thorne lands Zephyr in a small clearing behind a stand of trees, a short distance from the alicorn stable. With all the commotion, no guards stop to check our credentials.
He dismounts before helping me off. “Join your flight unit, Axton.”
Without another word, he dashes toward the dragon aerie.
Panicked and breathless, I run, Zephyr trotting next to me. With all the people scrambling around, it’s hard to find my unit, but eventually I spot them near the paddock. None of them have their alicorns yet, their gazes still riveted to the sky.
“Olive!”
She startles, whirling around to fling her arms around me. “Oh my gods, you’re alright! I was so worried something terrible happened to you.” Her voice sounds choked, as if she’s fighting back tears. “What’s Zephyr doing here? Where were you?”
Hesitantly, I pat her on the back. I get how waking up to a campus alarm and finding me gone could be a little concerning. Even so, her reaction strikes me as a little over-the-top. “I’m fine.”
She squeezes me until my ribs start to complain, only relenting when Zephyr rubs his muzzle against Olive’s ear and nickers. I send the alicorn a silent thank you as Olive steps back and stares. “Why is Zephyr with you?”
I pat the alicorn’s neck. “I couldn’t sleep, so I decided to take Zephyr for a stroll. Olive, what’s going on? Why are you so freaked out?”
She starts to tell me, but something else seizes her attention. I turn to see Bigley and Torno barreling toward us. “We better get in formation.”
I do what she says, doing my best to act like having an alicorn attached to my arm is the most natural thing in the world.
Though Torno frowns at Zephyr, Bigley ignores the alicorn.
Excitement ripples through the crowd.
“Quiet everyone.” Torno lifts her hands.
The fledglings quit talking. My heart beats hard against my throat as I sneak glances in search of Thorne.
He’s nowhere to be found.
“Fledglings.” Standing confident and tall, Bigley makes for a commanding presence, reminding me of a mature lion with that silver mane of his. “We have a critical situation.”
A Tirenese attack? No, that makes no sense. I didn’t spot any of their famed winged warriors in the sky.
At last, the alarm dies down, though the ringing in my ears still lingers. After regarding each fledgling in turn, including me, Bigley frowns, the act deepening the lines in his craggy face.
“We’ve captured an enemy intruder in the fledgling dorms…and one of our dragons is gone.”