Page 27 of Wingless Crow: Part 1

He raised his head, looking straight into my eyes.

“Please do, dear Sparrow. I’m very much looking forward to that.”

ChapterSeven

SPARROW

As I followed the guards down the crystal corridors of the Elaros Palace, the grim reality that I was stuck here now settled heavily in my mind. The only way to fight the crushing weight of it was to search for any ray of light.

There must be a silver lining here, no matter how slim or threadbare. All I needed was a little bit of hope to go on. Something to look forward to in the future.

I’d lost my past, my name, and my entire world. But I kept the most important part—me. I might not know who I had been, but I could still become somebody. I’d lost my memories but retained my ability to think, analyze, and make decisions. I could watch, listen, and learn.

My life wasn’t over just because my past was gone. Just because that man took it.

Since I didn’t know who I was before, maybe I could try to be what they wanted me to be?

Could this place become my new home?

For the first time since I got to the palace, I looked around, noting everything.

The place where I met Voron was located a few levels higher than the room where I’d spent the night. The guards led me down a narrow staircase made of the light material with so many decorative cut-outs, it looked like hardened lace.

The stairs connected only a couple of floors, however. After that, we walked along a wide corridor with walls made of pale-gray vines that curved up in such smooth, organic lines, they appeared to still be alive and growing. The space between the vines was filled with white marble and the glowing crystals that illuminated the entire palace.

We took another tiny staircase down, then another one. There didn’t seem to be a staircase or an elevator that would connect all floors from the ground floor to the top. The cute tiny staircases randomly appeared here and there, taking us a floor or two down, then we’d have to walk, looking for another one to take us to the floor below.

The guards must be leading me through the pathways reserved for servants, as many of them had passed us, rushing on their hooves or slithering on their tails.

The lower we descended, the thicker the vines in the walls got, and the more of them there were. In my bedroom, the walls consisted mostly of gray vines, with only narrow strips of marble and small entrapments of crystals that glowed no stronger than a nightlight.

Some light came through the window, but the decorative crystal panes distorted the view outside. The room was too dim. Setting my knee on the blush-pink cushion of the window seat, I yanked the two halves of the window open.

A gust of cold wind rushed into the bedroom, blowing my robe wide open. I gasped, catching the ends of the robe and drawing them closed over my chest again. Winged people soared around the palace. Thankfully, none of them appeared to be close enough to witness me momentarily exposing myself.

My room was somewhere in the middle of the palace, located half-way between the ground and the lacy tips of this unusual construction. This level was too high for me to jump down or even attempt to climb to the ground. Which was just as well. After talking to Voron, escaping the palace didn’t seem that appealing any more.

What would be the point of risking my life while trying to escape Elaros, only to be captured and brought back here again?

Even if I could return to my old life somehow, what life would that be? For better or for worse, with my memories gone, so was the longing. I didn’t miss the people or the places I didn’t remember. I knew all about the world I used to live in, but I had no personal connection to it anymore. My homesickness had no purchase.

Any memories I now possessed came from here.

Instead of mourning what I’d lost, I focused on what I had. As Brebie had said, I had a roof over my head and enough food to eat. I was warm. And for now, at least, I was safe. No one threatened my life.

I suspected that my service to King Tiane might include giving him full access to my body. That was what Voron’s inspection was all about, after all.

But I hadn’t met King Tiane yet. What if I ended up liking him? Everyone else did, according to Voron. What if I enjoyed being the girlfriend of a powerful king? It wasn’t the worst thing that could’ve happened to me, considering the circumstances.

I could go with the flow, at least for now. Maybe things might turn out not to be too bad, after all.

The door to my room opened with a blast of wind rushing from the window. It blew my hair back and whipped my robe around my legs. I turned around too quickly, slamming my shoulder into the window frame. One of the golden beetles fell from the curtains onto my shoulder and promptly scurried down my arm.

Shock zapped through me.

“It’s alive!” I screamed, shaking my arm.

The beetle fell down.

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