Page 49 of King of Storms and Feathers

Instead, I was the type of fool who couldn’t just stand by and watch another creature suffer. Even monsters deserved compassion. I hated Arrow, but I couldn’t stand to see him in pain.

Awareness sharpened Arrow’s gaze. “Leaf,” he said, blinking twice to clear his dream.

“Go back to sleep,” I mumbled, turning my back to him.

Arrow’s arm wrapped around my waist, and he dragged me against him, tucking my head under his chin. “Stay close. Your nearness chases the demons away.”

“What demons would dare to torment a king?” I asked.

“Demons of fire and blood.”

“Is that… is it anything to do with how your family died?”

He sighed, his breath rustling my hair. “Gold chasers blew up their carriage. I should have been with them. But I was selfish, thought only of enjoying myself, and rode behind with Raiden.”

Humans killed the Storm King’s family. That explained why he hated me but also wanted to keep me alive. I was an easy target, and whenever the mood struck, he could avenge their deaths slowly… bit by bit… and day by day, using me as a scapegoat.

Shivering, I dug my fingers into the back of his hand that braced my stomach, sickly sympathy swelling in my chest. “And if you’d been in the carriage with them,” I said, “how do you imagine your kingdom would be faring now?”

A hard shudder wracked his body, but he didn’t answer.

Arrow’s pain shouldn’t bother me. In truth, I should relish it. But something about the way he clung to me cracked my heart wide open. I didn’t want to feel compassion for my captor, but I understood the pain of loss. The urge to ease his anguish overwhelmed me.

“It wasn’t your fault, Arrow. You couldn’t have prevented what happened. If they had time for any final thoughts, your parents would’ve been so relieved you weren’t with them.”

My breath caught in my throat as he squeezed me tighter and slung a heavy leg over mine. In that moment, I realized Ari hadn’t delivered the sleeping medicine that kept his nightmares at bay.

“Shall I ask the guards to call for your medicine?”

“No. If the dreams return, you can catch them for me.”

“I’ll do my best,” I said, squeezing his hand tightly.

In his current vulnerable state, the king seemed almost human, far removed from the cruel-eyed fae who had bought me as if I was chattel for the slaughterhouse.

But he had caged and humiliated me. And I hated him for that. Someday he would pay for his cruelty, but not tonight.

I would work to earn his trust, and before long, he would turn his attention away from me just long enough for me to steal his blade and slit his golden throat.

Chapter 13

Leaf

“Watch where you’re walking,” the Sayeeda warned, tugging me out of the path of another servant.

We descended a staircase that scaled an outside wall of the palace. It led down to a palm-tree-filled courtyard with a fountain glittering in the midday sun in the center of a rectangular pool.

“Sorry, the light distracted me,” I said, squinting at the yellow ball in the sky as my palms grazed the wall for balance. “Doesn’t the sun look wonderful from the ground? I’m used to seeing it from the pavilion.”

“Not wonderful enough to fall to your death over.”

“You could unchain me,” I suggested, flashing a smile as I glanced back over my shoulder at her. “Then I’d be safer.”

The gold chain attached to my ankles made an escape attempt today, not only foolish, but impossible. But at least it couldn’t stop me from studying the angle of the sun and how it aligned with the city’s landmarks.

“What lies north of Coridon?” I asked.

“Thinking about an escape attempt? I wouldn’t bother if I was you.”

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