Page 47 of Flame and Sparrow

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A few more sleeps came andwent until one day I woke up and knew that something had to change; I could no longer contain my restlessness.

I opened my eyes to a kaleidoscope of colors shining through the tinted window glass. My hand ritualistically reached for the sparrow resting against my chest, as it always did. Whether in divine or mortal realms, it didn’t matter—it was always where I reached first.

All these years later, I still woke up wanting to tell my sister things, and it took me a minute to remember she wasn’t there to hear them.

I swallowed down the rush of emotion trying to choke me and went to the washroom, which had a small closet full of basic but beautiful things to wear. The clothes had appeared just hours after the house had, all of them so finely tailored and luxuriously soft that I wondered if magic had been involved in their making. I hoped not. I didn’t want to think about divine residue leaching into my skin from the fabric.

Either way, the clothes I’d arrived in had mysteriously disappeared when I put them aside to wash, which meant the alternative to the divine clothing was prancing around the realm naked. Notexactlythe impression I’d planned to leave on the place.

So I grabbed a flowing, silver-trimmed tunic and a simple pair of straight black leggings without any fuss. Rieta’s voice echoed in my thoughts as I pulled the tunic over my head, wincing as one of its buttons snagged on my messy braid.

Are you not comfortable here?

I couldn’t say I wasn’t; I’d been given everything I needed and then some. But I had not come here to be comfortableorsafe, as I’d told her—I had things to accomplish.

I redid my sleep-mussed braid, then grabbed my charts and diagrams from their drawers and spread them across the table in the sitting room. My heart raced as I searched for...something. I still wasn’t sure what; I just knew I needed to decide on a goal, a plan, and I needed to make a move.Today.

My fingers traced a darkly shaded area on the map I’d made of the backyard; a strange energy sometimes radiated from this point, and the trees here were always surrounded in long shadows no matter how brightly the false sun above them shined. It had caught my attention several times while strolling past it, and today I would explore it more thoroughly—even if it meant hopping the fence to search for a source on the other side.

I collected the small, makeshift spear I’d stashed under my bed; I’d whittled it from a tree limb with the help of a sharp-edged rock within the first days of my arrival, just in case I needed a weapon aside from my claws.

I hadn’t tried to draw out my claws in this realm yet; I was doing my best to play the role of an ignorant human who posed no real threat, and the beastly nails would have been a dead giveaway that I was not who—or what—I claimed to be.

After securing the spear at my side, I headed for the back door. I was reaching for the socks and boots I’d left beside that door when I heard a sudden rustling behind me.

It sounded like a bird. My gaze darted to a nearby window, which I’d cracked open yesterday in hopes of disrupting the eerie silence of the house. The opening was technically large enough for something to fly through it, though it would have required twisting at a strange angle. Maybe—

Another rustling sound.

Definitely wings.

Definitely coming from inside the house.

I slowed my breathing and tried to calm my pounding heart so I could listen closer. I had no idea what sort of creatures lurked in this realm; it could have been anothertestwaiting to pounce on me for all I knew.

Gripping the spear handle tightly, I crept backward, scanning every potential hiding place, more than ready to pour all of my frustrated, anxious energy into a deadly thrust.

Sudden movement flashed in the corner of my vision. I spun toward it just in time to see a small creature dart past the window.

I thought it was a cat at first; the thing certainlymovedlike a cat, slinking its way up and across the cabinets and shelves of the sitting room, circling me, squeezing into spaces it didn’t seem to logically fit.

Then it leapt from the top of a cabinet, and I watched as tiny wings flared out to break its fall while sharp, talon-like claws extended, clicking across the wood to bring it to a stop at my feet.

I got a good look at its head as it came closer. Its ruby-colored eyes were wide and bright, more like a bird of prey’s than a cat’s, and its mouth was clearly a small but sharp beak. Its tufted ears still looked feline to me, however, and it let out a decidedly catlike purr as it weaved in between my legs, brushing both downy feathers and rough fur against my ankles.

I’d always been more of a dog person than a cat person, but I was so excited to have another living being to talk to that I didn’t hesitate to crouch down and open my arms to it.

The creature seemed as eager to make a friend as I was, leaping into my lap and promptly burrowing its face into my shirt.

Smiling, I lifted it out in front of me to study it, my mind flipping through pages of a book I’d once read, searching for what to call this creature. It was the size of a large house cat, but weighed no more than a bird, as though its bones were hollow and its size exaggerated by a massive amount of fluff and feathers.

“You’re a griffin, aren’t you?”

Another purr, followed by the creature taking my sleeve in its beaked mouth. The gentle mouthing grew more violent as I drew him back toward my body, eventually nipping the skin underneath.

“Easy with the love nibbles,” I chastised.

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