Page 103 of Wingless Crow: Part 1

“Can you fly me across that river below, please?”

“Across the river?” She glanced down over the edge of the terrace. “Why?”

“I’ll hide in the forest on the other side.”

She gave me a horrified look.

“Oh, Sparrow, that’s insane. It’s too dark. And there are bugs and wild animals in there.”

I shook my head. “I’m not afraid of animals. Anything is better than being locked up.”

The animals wouldn’t hurt me just for fun. In that aspect, they were kinder than some people.

“Are you sure?”

She was clearly worried about me. But Dove didn’t know how much more dangerous it was for me to stay. Or maybe she was worried about the consequences of helping me? In which case, her concerns were warranted.

“Please, Dove. I promise never to tell anyone you helped me, not even if they catch me.”

“Pfff,” she huffed with the typical self-assurance of a highborn. “I’m not afraid. They can’t do anything to me. But I’m concerned about how you’re going to survive out there on your own.”

“I’ll have to try.”

She rubbed her forehead.

“All right. Listen. You’ll have to take these, at least.” She unclipped a wide golden bangle from around her left wrist and snapped it around mine. She then did the same with the left, too. “They have enough gold and jewels in them to last you for some time. Go to Nalore Village. Do you see that high hill over there?” She turned my head all the way to the right, pointing at the large mass far on the horizon. “The Nalore Village is on the right side of it, in the foothills. Find thesnakanaAsfekadi. She used to be one of my nannies about two decades ago.”

I didn’t realize Dove was so young as to need a nanny just twenty years ago. She couldn’t be much older than me, then.

“Will you remember?” she insisted. “Asfekadi from Nalore Village. Tell her I sent you. She will help.”

“Thank you.”

She glanced over her shoulder, watching the guards making their rounds in the sky. As soon as the closest group of them disappeared around the turrets, Dove grabbed me around my middle and leaped from the patio.

“Let’s go.”

A gasp stuck in my throat. I gripped her shoulders as the night air rushed by us.

Her wide white wings moved softly above us, like the wings of an angel. And right now, that was exactly what she was to me—my angel, taking me away from the murder scene I was responsible for and the deadly consequences I’d face if I stayed.

Instead of flying straight across the river, Dove covered the distance in sections. First, she took me to another patio, a few floors down, then down to a lower turret, moving closer and closer to the ground.

Her tactic served two purposes. First, it helped us evade the guards. And second, when she finally took me across the river, even if anyone saw us, no one could tell we came from the king’s tower.

“Here is good?” Dove set me down on the opposite bank of the river behind the tree line. “Ew, bugs…” She shook her wings, running her fingers through her brilliant feathers to get rid of the few leaves stuck between them. “I can’t stand flying through the trees.”

“Thank you for doing it for me,” I said sincerely.

“Do you want me to try and fly you all the way to Nalore Village? I mean, I’d need to get some clothes on, and such…”

That was a generous and a very tempting offer. I felt grateful for Dove even suggesting it, but I couldn’t accept it.

“You already risked a lot, Dove.” More than she even realized. “Someone may see you with me. Or they will notice you’re gone from Elaros.”

“Right,” she remembered. “Lord Colomb is waiting for me. The poor thing is probably already wondering where I am. He can’t even go look for me.”

“Why not?”

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