Page 7 of Kingdom of Shadows and Wings

The collision knocks the boy off his feet. He sprawls across the dirt, his shirt torn open from the fall. The plucked chicken remains clenched in his fist.

Panting, the butcher reaches us.

When I help the boy to his feet, he tries to wiggle away, so I wrap my arm around his bony shoulders and hold tight.

“Much obliged to you for stopping that beggar andthief.” The butcher shakes his meat cleaver at the child. “Once I lop off all your fingers, boy, you won’t be stealing none of my other?—”

“He didn’t steal the one he’s holding.” I shield the boy from the man and improvise on the spot. “He would have paid for your chicken…because I asked him to get me one…except I forgot to give him the money.”

The boy stops wiggling and raises his dirt-streaked face to meet mine, his round eyes bulging with astonishment.

The stunned butcher regards my too-fancy style of dress, threaded with royal blue, gold, and silver. Mother insisted I wear this, claiming others outside our castle would respect me because I’m dressed like a lady. Too stressed, I refrained from arguing.

I would have preferred breeches. Around the castle, I wore the pair I bought off the stable hand whenever Mother wasn’t around. I wish had them on today in lieu of this hot, heavy, uncomfortable dress. Some of the people here gawk at me as if I’m a phoenix risen from extinction. My cheeks warm from all the attention. My pulse throbs in my throat.

So many people. I don’t think I’ve ever seen this many at the same time before. Along with the banquet of competing scents and noises, the scene is a far cry from Castle Axton and a lot to take in.

Skepticism crosses the butcher’s face. “Yer saying you know this thief?”

The boy’s back to squirming. I tighten my grip to keep him still.

“That’s exactly what I’m saying. I’ll pay for the chicken. Then we can all be on our way.”

Before the man can comment, I reach into the pocket within my dress and pull out a silver coin. Prior to me leaving for Flighthaven, Mother insisted I take the silver and a few gold coins to pay off highwaymen who might rob my carriage.

The butcher’s rheumy eyes sparkle. He licks his rotting teeth.

A constable dressed in a dark blue uniform approaches, his features hard. “What’s going on here?”

The butcher speaks before I can. “She’s buying me chicken.” After snatching the coin from my hand, the butcher bites down on the metal to test its authenticity.

A faint crack sounds. One of his rotted teeth? Hopefully not.

With the coin safe in his blood-soaked fist, he spins on his heel. The constable follows, leaving me and the boy in peace.

I loosen my grip on the child and offer him three more coins. “You have to be more careful when you’re around someone carrying any kind of weap?—”

Snatching the coins, the boy smacks my hand off his shoulder and darts into the crowd, still clinging to the plucked chicken.

Though it must be killing them, Otis and Belton hold their tongues. With the guards flanking me on each side, we head back to the carriage.

Otis helps me inside, easing back into the seat across from me before breaking his silence. “Any regrets?”

“Just one. I wish I’d had a chance to give him more money before he took off like that.”

The guard snorts but says nothing, and we resume our journey in silence. I spend much of my remaining time pushing aside personal fears, but as we turn onto the road leading to the sprawling academy, they come rushing back with a vengeance. My magic’s unstable, my body’s weak, and I’m terrified of alicorns and flying, but sure, surviving the king’s flight program will be as simple as rumbleberry pie.

I thump my head against the window. Ugh. What in thehellswas I thinking?

My breaths quicken, one on top of the other. To calm my nerves, I force myself to focus on a happy memory of stealing little honey cakes from Cook with Leesa, the two of us giggling as we raced away to Leesa’s room and gobbled them down from our hiding spot beneath her bed. Slowly, the iron vice gripping my chest eases. I’m not saying the program will be easy, but I can push through. Especially since joining the King’s Flyers is my best chance of finding answers about Leesa.

Also, terrifying or not, Flighthaven provides me with the opportunity to escape my mother’s gilded cage.

I adjust the cumbersome folds of my gown and settle back into the cushioned seat. Whatever I’m picturing at Flighthaven, I’m sure the reality is a lot less scary.

Chapter Four

The reality is, in fact, just as scary. I grip the lip of the carriage window, my heart stuttering at the scene before me. Vast. That’s the first word that pops into my head when the campus emerges before us. Flighthaven sprawls across an expansive stretch of land. An army of formidable stone buildings and structures rise from the ground and form two loose rings. Training fields fill in the middle, along with pathways that shorten the distance between buildings on opposite sides.

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