Page 101 of King of Storms and Feathers

Releasing a rough sigh, I relinquished the perfect opportunity to kill my captor.

Then to confirm he was fast asleep, I stroked his ear and waited, watching his chest move in and out, as regular as waves lapping at the shore. If anything would wake him, it would be this, since playing with his sensitive ears never failed to produce an immediate and impressive reaction.

But tonight, nothing.

After I’d committed each angle and precious curve of his face to memory, I slipped off the bed as quietly as I could and stole into the star-filled night. Toward the alarming promise of freedom.

Chapter 26

Leaf

“This is treason,” I muttered, staring at the patch of night-dark grass between the travel boots Ari had given me and her delicate woven sandals.

I could barely meet her gaze as she slipped a key from her pocket and removed the collar Arrow’s goldsmiths had made especially for me.

Not only was I finding it difficult to say goodbye to the Sayeeda, I was worried sick about what would happen to her when Arrow discovered her role in my escape. As he inevitably would.

“You and Ildri are risking your lives for me.”

Bathed in moonlight, we huddled together in the eponar paddock on the western side of the mountain, away from the Storm Court’s tents. Thanks to Ari’s cloaking magic, we were invisible to all. But that didn’t stop the sightless creature, who used magic to navigate, from rasping its sizable tongue along my neck in long, moist strokes.

“Would you stop that, Enyd? We won’t get very far tonight if you plan to lick me the entire journey.” I stepped sideways out of the creature’s reach, and Ari checked my satchel for the third time since we’d slunk into the paddock.

“Enyd will carry the cloaking spell for as long as you ride her. Remember the gold nugget in your coin pouch. Don’t lose it. Repeat the chant I taught you, and it will help you disappear if you’re in danger. Mount quickly, head northwest toward the Port of Tears, and do not stop for anything. The eponar is fast. It should take you two hours at the most.”

“Remind me about when I arrive?”

“As we discussed, an orc called Orion will meet you in the tavern in the hiding place we arranged and sneak you onto a ship, which will dock at the gold trader port in the Earth Realm. Head northwest, and when you reach the Sunken Forest, keep going in the same direction through the trees, and your people will find you.”

I stuck my foot in the stirrup and swung into the saddle with a grunt. The eponar let out a deep honk, a sound I would probably find amusing if there wasn’t a good chance a certain winged fae would be hunting me from the sky in the next few hours. Truthfully, the odds of me surviving the escape attempt were low, and at present, I was scared witless.

Sitting on this creature, with its long neck and narrow lumpy body, felt similar to riding one of Coridon’s cantankerous camels—a blind one. I patted Enyd’s bronze fur and prayed that everything Ari had told me about her was true—she was calm, obedient, intelligent, and, most importantly, faster than lightning.

“Ari, what will happen to you and Ildri when Arrow finds out what you did? Why risk your lives for me?”

With her golden eyes fixed on her clasped fingers, she said, “The risk is now greater, of course, since the king marked you as his Aldara.”

“You’re deflecting.”

She sighed. “Ildri helps you because of her soft heart. And I help you because I know that you’re needed in your realm. You really haven’t uncovered a single memory of your true identity?”

My heart thudded harder. “If I had, I would have told you. Ari, if you have any knowledge about who I might be, even a hint, please, tell me.”

She took a slow breath, her irises shimmering in the moonlight as she gazed at me. “I believe you come from the lost city of Mydorian, a city that, even now, stands strong in the Earth Realm.”

“That’s impossible. The city is nothing but vines and rubble.”

What Ari suggested couldn’t be true. My memories were of a family who lived rough in the ruins, surrounded by forest. There was no lost city of Mydorian. And if there was, and I’d lived there, surely I would have seen it in my visions.

“You’re wrong.” Gazing up at me, Ari gripped my knee and huffed. “The city is cloaked, hidden by a resident reaver elf. There is so much more I wish to tell you. The reasons the gold serum has no effect on you… why you were able to exit the city using the reaver door unaided… But there is no time. You must leave now, while you still can. Find the hidden city. If you still don’t know who you are by the time you arrive, when your people see you, they most definitely will. Trust me. What has been forgotten will be remembered. I promise you.”

I twisted in the saddle, leaned down, and kissed Ari’s cheek. “Thank you for everything. I want you to know it was worth becoming a slave in the Storm Court to gain your friendship. I’ll never forget you, Ari.”

“Nor I you. Do your best to pass for a male if you can, and don’t take that knitted cap off for anything,” she whispered. “Now go! Travel swiftly, Daughter of Dust and Stone.”

At her words, something twisted in my chest and coaxed the shadow of a memory from a dark corner of my mind. Not an image or a vision, just a feeling—of visceral fear.

“If you haven’t enjoyed the full benefits of Raiden’s… friendship yet,” I said as I wheeled Enyd around, “for everyone’s sakes, you should try to do it soon.”

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