Page 43 of Crownless King

He kissed my shoulder.

“Now, let’s get you cleaned up.” He opened the food basket on the seat across. It had a stack of napkins and a bottle of water packed on the top.

His movements remained sure and gentle, his expression calm. But something shifted in the air around us. Instead of being steamy-hot and simple, the atmosphere now felt cooler and tense.

After I was clean and our clothes straightened with all the ribbons and laces tied back in place, I sat next to him on the seat. He wrapped an arm around my shoulders, allowing me to lean into him.

“What are you making?” He pointed with his eyes at my knitting.

I was pleased with the way the royal blue and the steel gray looked together in the stripes of my unfinished scarf. It promised to turn out very well.

“It’ll be a scarf once it’s done. It’s for those freezing storms when you’re feeling grumpy,” I teased, wishing to lighten his mood a little.

His expression warmed, the corners of his mouth lifting in a smile.

“Stay with me, Sparrow, and there’ll be no storms.”

“No storms sounds lovely. But how about the rain? Plants need rain every now and then, don’t they?”

Hugging my shoulders, he rubbed my arm.

“Rain happens when the Sky King cries. I don’t cry, little bird. Not unless I dream, which I have no control over.”

True. Every single rainfall I could recall so far had happened at night.

I tilted my head back to see his face better. He was staring out of the window, his mind no longer with me.

“Do you have to get out there again?”

He nodded. “In a minute.”

I took in his familiar features, including the deep wrinkle of worry between his eyebrows and the strands of hair draped over it. The hair that turned silver when the woman he loved as his mother was taken away from him and killed. When as a child, he was kicked out of his home and dropped into the strange land Below, left to die.

But he survived. He returned. He succeeded. And I had no doubt he would rule this kingdom soon. Nothing stopped Voron in getting what he wanted.

“Sky King,” I said softly, brushing the strands away from his face.

He smiled, catching my hand and kissing my fingers.

The discovery of his origin had been truly mind-blowing, but it no longer shocked me. It was easy to envision a crown on Voron’s head. He had enough determination to take what was his, and enough pride to wear it with confidence.

ChapterTwelve

SPARROW

The palace of the High Lord Cardinali was almost as grand and tall as the Sky Palace in Elaros. Its glistening turrets poked like iridescent icicles through the dark woods surrounding it. The facets of the crystal walls shone like diamonds in the sunlight—something I hardly got to see in Elaros, since the sunshine had been so rare back then.

Now, the white fluffy clouds moved along the blue skies above like signs of hope. The sun didn’t have the full reign of the sky yet, but it had plenty of room to shine between the clouds.

Compared to the palace, the wide road leading to it didn’t look nearly as grand or even well maintained. Thick tree roots and wide rocks in the dirt made my carriage jump and shake. The High Lord clearly didn’t care much about maintaining the road. And why would he if everyone of any importance in his household had wings?

When we finally stopped at the door to the palace, I was glad to climb out of the carriage and feel the solid ground under my feet.

Voron dismounted, meeting me on the way to the entrance. A group of people gathered by the door. Most of them weresnakanaswith someariensand a fewtaureans. They bowed to us, looking uncertain.

A flock of highborn descended from above and landed in front of the servants. The man who acted as the leader of the flock stepped forward. He was shirtless, with golden designs painted over his face and his pale, hairless chest. His floor-length silver cape had a large collar of long bright feathers that fanned out around his neck, making it look as if his head rested on a giant platter.

“Is that the High Lord?” I asked Voron quietly.

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