Page 98 of Skysong

She didn’t need to finish her sentence. If Terault’s people found them now, it would all have been for nothing.

Just a little further now. Oriane could see the edge of the square ahead, and beyond it the road that led towards the woods. It was not empty, as she’d hoped. There were people going to-and-fro, people in such a range of appearances and dress that she almost forgot there was no time to stop and look – no time to take in the world she’d set out to see all that time ago. Not anymore.

‘Oriane,’ Andala murmured.

‘I’m here,’ she whispered back.

They made it to the road. They increased their pace as the woods came into view, and soon they were safe in the shelter of the trees, and alone.

They stopped by the trunk of a huge old oak. After a moment, Andala seemed to remember she was still holding Oriane’s hand. She let it go. Her shell-pale cheeks bore a slight flush. Oriane’s own face felt warm too, her heartbeat unsteady.

It slowed as the sounds of the woods enveloped them. The chorus was familiar to Oriane’s ears, but with subtle variances; the same346song, played with slightly different instruments. It calmed her a little, soothed her fear and overwhelm and whatever else was making her blood surge faster.

Quietly, side by side, she and Andala settled in to wait.

An hour later, the sound of footsteps approaching sent fear sparking through Oriane, but the sight of Kitt emerging from the trees sent a wave of relief from the crown of her head to her feet.

‘We’re all right,’ was the first thing he said. ‘For now.’

Behind Kitt, though, Tomas looked agitated. ‘From what we heard, Terault’s scouting parties may have already reached Fenbrook and learned where we went next.’

‘No one there will tell them,’ Andala said quietly, but Oriane heard a note of doubt in her voice.

‘What do we do?’ she asked.

‘We go. Fast as we can,’ Tomas said sharply. ‘We left the horse and pony just off the road up ahead.’

‘Pony?’ Oriane asked tentatively.

Kitt nodded. He looked more restless than she’d ever seen him as he raked a hand through his hair. ‘We could only get one horse. You two can take it, and Tomas can take the pony beside you. I’ll find a way to follow after—’

But Andala was shaking her head. ‘We’re not separating. Not now.’

‘I can fly,’ Oriane spoke up. Finally – something useful she could do, some way she could actually help. ‘I’ll transform and fly alongside you.’

‘Only if you’re sure, Oriane,’ Tomas said. His tone seemed gentle, genuine. It hurt her to hear it when she still wanted to hate him.347

‘It’s a good idea,’ Kitt conceded. ‘Probably better that way, to be honest. We’ll stand out less, likely make it there faster …’

She closed her eyes and changed, quick as she could. The warmth spread through her so much more easily now, after having spent so much time in lark form of her own accord.

Youcandothistoo, she thought, trying to send the message out to Andala as she looped in a circle around their heads.Wecandothistogether.

Wemustdothistogether.

Andala watched her fly, an inscrutable look in her eye.

The road grew quieter the further they followed it. Kitt and Andala rode the horse, Tomas trotting on the pony beside them, and Oriane flew. For a while, she almost felt at peace. The rhythm of hooves on the road, the choir of creature-song from the woods – it formed a soothing shield of sound in her head as she swooped along beside them, out of sight within the trees. It helped to block out the sharp, truthful voice that whispered doubts and accusations to her in a steady stream, like a rustling wind. It almost helped her set aside her grief.

They travelled through the rest of the day, stopping only once. Oriane changed back briefly to join the others as they ate and refreshed themselves. Then she took to the air again, Kitt, Andala and the king to the road. It was a gruelling pace to keep, but they had no other choice – not now they knew Terault was out there somewhere; that his poisonous words might have found the ear of every citizen, that his blue-robed scouts might lurk around every corner. Oriane kept watch to make sure they were alone, rising as348high as she dared above the canopy to look behind them, and ahead. The first time she had flown upwards, though, she’d had eyes only for the sea.

It was another thing she had only ever seen in books and paintings. To lay eyes on it now, stretched out in front of her like a sheet of sapphire silk, unravelling further than she could see – it had almost brought her crashing down through the trees.

She would be right above it soon, flying over it. Out beyond that horizon, to the new place she’d call home.

As the sun steadily fell, Oriane flew high again to catch the last of the light and scout their position once more. The port city glittered far behind them in the distance, white buildings and tiny ship sails aglow in the sunset. The road behind stretched long and mostly empty. They had not taken the main route out of Azura; this road was narrower, almost hidden amid the trees, stretching up along the cliffs that grew steeper as the land rose. Oriane could only see a handful of people along it now, though the road ahead stretched on an incline, so she could see nothing that way but trees.

Oriane was so lost in the magnificent dusk vista that she hardly noticed the little bird when it flew up beside her. But when the bird began to sing – when Andala began to sing – she could pay no mind to anything else.

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