Page 101 of Wingless Crow: Part 1

I couldn’t stay here, though. Sooner or later, someone would come in. I had to get out of here, not just out of the king’s chambers, but out of Elaros. The moment they discovered the king dead, they would come for me. Everyone knew I was with him tonight. Everyone saw us leaving the dining room together.

Panic spurred me into action. I knew I would die the moment I came down these stairs. Every minute since was borrowed and an unexpected gift.

I had to use the time I won.

Carefully stepping around the motionless king, I ran up the stairs. Leaving through the bedroom door was not an option. The guards would see me right away. Someone might want to come in to check on the king, and I’d be caught.

I checked the floor-to-ceiling windows quickly. There were lots of them in this giant room. Two happened to be doors leading to a patio without a railing or a parapet. The king didn’t need the railing since, unlike Voron or me, he had wings.

The river that ran in front of the palace bent around the structure on this side. The riverbank was so close to the wall below, I could possibly land in the water if I jumped from the very edge of the patio. The water in the river would break my fall, then I could swim across to the forest on the other side.IfI knew how to swim, which I didn’t remember.

But what choice did I have?

I ran back inside the king’s bedroom and found the door that led to his dressing room, which turned out to be an entire suite of rooms on its own. Located on several levels interconnected by carved staircases, the king’s wardrobe could’ve possibly housed his entire court.

There was a room only for his shoes and one just for his jewelry. Another one held a collection of various creams, gels, and jars filled with shimmering paste of every color.

Rummaging through the open trunks and dressers, I snatched the darkest cloak I could find, found a pair of pants made of a material that was neither see-through nor shimmering, and a short tunic that still reached down to my knees when I put it on.

Grabbing a satchel from one of the trunks, I stuffed it with the desserts from the snack tray by the king’s bedroom. Then I tucked one of the golden knives from the king’s room of torture into the tunic.

When I ran back out to the patio, however, fear descended upon me. Elaros Palace was an incredibly tall structure. The king’s rooms took up one of its highest towers. The wide river looked narrow from up here. Even if I did land right in the middle of its stream, I risked broken bones, if not outright death.

What was better, dying by execution for murder or by breaking bones and drowning?

I didn’t like the choice I faced. I never wished to have wings as much as I did now.

Crawling on my belly to the very edge of the patio, I searched for something I could use to possibly climb down the wall.

A door opened a few floors down, on a nearby tower.

“Fine, surprise me!” I heard the familiar feminine voice.

It was Dove. She sounded cheerful, as if she was in another world somewhere, where murders didn’t happen and executions weren’t a threat.

“I’m not looking,” she laughed, walking out to the balcony. “I’ll wait out here with my eyes closed, no peeking.”

Completely naked, save for a bejeweled choker around her slender neck and a pair of matching bangles, she stretched in the glow of the palace crystals. She looked so beautiful, like an onyx statue topped with silky white curls and a pair of angelic wings.

Wings. Dove had wings. The height wouldn’t be an issue for her.

But would she be willing to help me? Could I trust her not to call the guards?

I had no time to ponder. I needed help, and I had no one else. I had to take this risk.

She tilted her head back, and I called softly, “Dove.”

“Sparrow?” she gasped, then smiled brightly. “Look at you up there! All the way on the very top.”

Right. I’d made it high. So high, the fall would kill me. Literally.

The winged silhouettes of the guards patrolling the grounds came in and out of the palace glow. Afraid to attract their attention, I waved at Dove to fly up to me.

She arched a white-blond eyebrow, glanced over her shoulder at the closed door to her room, then shrugged.

“Sure, why not?” Spreading her wings, she flew up and landed on the patio next to me. “Where is the king?”

“Um…in the bathroom.” I said the first thing that came to mind. “I need your help.”

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