Page 110 of King of Storms and Feathers

A wave of humans surged forward. Young, old, and every age in-between. Many were gold addicts, their eyes a dull golden color and rough patches of glittering skin marring their faces, but the majority of Mydorians seemed healthy enough.

Excitement and fear clenched my heart. These were my people, and I was home, exactly where I had longed to be since the moment I woke in the gilt market slaver’s cage.

“Move!” Sonail shouted, pushing people so hard they fell to the ground as we passed. “The outlaw princess, Zali Omala, has been captured. Make way so she can be returned to the capitol and face trial.”

Zali Omala?

Zali was my name? And I was what? A princess? Crazed laughter bubbled up my throat. Heat and ice filling my veins simultaneously. No. That was ridiculous. Impossible. Sonail had it wrong.

None of this made sense. I didn’t feel the slightest flicker of recognition, not a single revelatory twinge of ownership of the rebel princess’s name. It couldn’t be me. How could I forget, not only my whole identity, but also the entire city my family supposedly ruled?

No… No way. I wasn’t this Zali person. It wasn’t even remotely possible.

“Shit,” I muttered, my legs beginning to shake as I realized something that was indeed true.

I had been a fool, wanting to return to this place. I should have stayed with Arrow and remained his little Leaf forever, instead of this… Zali, the outlaw.

He would have kept me safe, made me laugh and cry with his powerful hands and body. And I would have fought his rule with every breath, every nip of my teeth.

Arrow would have loved it.

Perhaps I would have, too.

As my breath sawed in and out of my aching lungs, Sonail tugged me through the gate. While bodies buffeted us, pushing and shoving, I relieved him of a small blade that fit neatly inside the pocket Ari had stitched in my shirt.

At least now I’d be armed when I met the regent. And all going well, my visit to Mydorian would be a short one.

Chapter 28

Arrow

A storm rumbled in the distance, the sound invading my sweat-soaked, alcohol-induced dream. I moved slowly inside my human, moaning blissfully, somehow aware I was still asleep.

Thunder cracked, and I woke with a start to find cool air on my chest instead of Leaf’s warm body. My eyes still closed, I flung my hand out, patting over empty silken sheets. I inhaled deeply, seeking her scent in the air, not finding it in the camp. Not finding it anywhere.

Gone. My human was gone.

“Ari,” I bellowed, sitting up, rubbing my temples and wondering how much wine I’d drunk last night. My head throbbed, and my eyes burned when I tried to focus on… fucking anything.

I leaped from the bed, stumbling as I threw on a shirt, then my chest plate and leathers. “Ari! Where the fuck are you?”

I strapped on a sword and ducked out of the tent. The Sayeeda and Ildri strode through the mist-filled camp, their faces grim like they were marching toward their executioner.

If the news they bore was as bad as I predicted and it explained why Leaf wasn’t in my tent, then the storm of the century was about to break.

Energy sparked from my knuckles as I cracked them and flicked my wings out. Then I tore across the field to meet Ildri and my Sayeeda. “Where is she?”

Ari stared at my wings that whipped the air above my shoulders. It was rare for me to display them in front of my courtiers, but my blood rushed like wildfire through my veins, and I longed to shoot into the air and find my human. My Aldara.

She was more necessary to me than my crown of feathers, than my whole fucking kingdom. Why? I didn’t know, and I didn’t care. All that mattered was that it was true.

Thunder rumbled closer, black clouds gathering above. “For fuck’s sake, Ari, where’s Leaf?” Without thinking, I wrapped my hands around her throat and lifted her off the ground.

Ildri stepped forward, touching a burning glyph on my arm. “Be calm, Arrowyn,” she said, her eyes gentle. “You’ll need to be calm to listen. And to then take the right action.”

Action? What the fuck was she talking about? What was going on?

Ari’s sandals hit the grass as I lowered her. “She’s gone, My King.”

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