Page 22 of Wingless Crow: Part 1

“For one, I don’t want to. I far prefer having you around.” He sounded so casual, I wished to slap him.

“Asshole,”rushed through my head.“A stuck-up, selfish asshole.”

“I quite look forward to watching you build a new life for yourself here,” he continued, oblivious to the resentment seething inside me. “You’re getting a pretty good start in Elaros, a chance of becoming the king’s favorite. I want to see what you’ll do with that.”

Did he honestly think I’d find it enticing to serve as a source of his amusement?

“Sorry to deprive you of your future entertainment, but I have no desire to be a part of this world.”

“But you already are,” he pointed out. “The moment you crossed the River of Mists, you became a part of Sky Kingdom. You have no choice in what your life here will be. But you do have control of your reactions to what is happening to you. You can fight it, be miserable, and try to escape. Or you can accept it and play the best game with the cards fate has dealt you. Either way,” he made an elegant gesture in the air with his hand, “the end result will be the same. The only difference will be that the first path would lead you through more anguish and suffering.”

“Not if I leave here—” I insisted, but he wouldn’t let me finish.

“You won’t leave. Not for long. If I let you walk through the gate, you won’t make it a hundred paces from the palace before someone snatches you. The word that there’s a human woman in the king’s palace has gone out already. News like that spreads faster than a wildfire. Do you know how rare you are?”

I didn’t answer that, but I remembered what Brebie had said about me being the only human here.

He didn’t wait for my reply, anyway. “With one small, brief exception, your kind has never been to Sky Kingdom before you. There are no records of humans ever residing here directly from your world. If you leave, you’ll be snatched, sold, and traded until you’ll ultimately end up here, in the royal palace again. Do you know why?”

“Why?” I asked quietly, subdued by the fate he’d predicted for me.

He leaned closer, speaking softly in a voice that could be considered intimate if he wasn’t talking of such disturbing things. “Because a rare thing like you, my dear Sparrow, can only belong to a king.”

“But I’m nota thing.I don’t want to belong to anyone.”

“Sadly, it’s not up to you to decide.”

I balled my hands into fists to stop my fingers from trembling. As much as I hated to ask anything from this man, desperation forced me to beg again.

“Take me to the forest, please, to the bridge across that river. I’ll do anything—”

His somber expression remained infuriatingly unyielding.

“The River of Mists is a capricious, brutal monster, Sparrow. If the crossing doesn’t kill you, you’d return to your world, but it wouldn’t be the same place or the same time as you left. You may end up thousands of years in the past. And you’d be alone, with no friends or family, with no means to support yourself, and no memories of where you came from in the first place.”

Now I remember more from his conversation with Trez, who had said the same thing. I would go back to Earth, but back towhat?No one could tell me what time period I’d end up arriving in.And like Voron had said, without friends or money, I’d risk far more than what I was facing here.

The hopelessness of my situation brought tears to my eyes. I sniffled, turning away from him. The last thing I wanted was for the snooty High General to see me cry.

He wouldn’t let me hide, though. He couldn’t give me even that little mercy. Cupping my face, he turned me to him.

“I can’t give you your memories back, Sparrow, even if I wanted to do that. I didn’ttakethem. I made themdisappear. They’re gone now. Gone for good. Irrecoverable.”

Gone…

A huge part of me—my entire past—was lost forever. Sorrow gripped my heart. A tear I couldn’t hold back rolled down my cheek, leaving a hot trail on my skin.

Voron caught it on his thumb and brushed it away.

“Old memories would be nothing but useless ballast for you here. Missing your past and the people you knew but could never see again would’ve only made you unhappy.”

“I assure you…” I paused, willing my voice not to shake before continuing, “there is nothinghappyabout me without my past, either.”

Keeping my face between his hands, he stroked my skin with his thumbs. “Let’s hope there will be soon. I sincerely wish for you to find joy in Elaros.”

I stepped back, fleeing his hold. He couldn’t return my memories and wouldn’t free me. There was no reason for me to stay in this room any longer. I turned to the door.

“You can’t go yet,” he stopped me. “As much as I enjoyed talking to you, dear Sparrow, I didn’t call you in here merely for a conversation.”

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