Page 25 of Feathers so Vicious

“Isn’t it obvious?” A final stroke of his finger over my bottom lip as he winked at me. “We’re incredibly charming.”

Lightness came to my core as I stared at him, flabbergasted. “Charming?”

“Handsome, too.”

Muscles I hadn’t used in so long twitched, bringing an unexpected smile to my face. That it had taken a Raven to put it there was an odd circumstance.

Sebian grinned. “You don’t agree?”

Oh, he was more handsome than one’s captor ought to be, but in a strange, eerie way. Undeniably Raven.

Forbidden.

And yet, he had carried me here. Had cleaned my wounds, covering my mouth in salve and a smile. And, yes, he’d saved me from the fate of the other women in the village, even if he’d had no other obligation to interfere beyond his task to catch me. In all those things combined, I found gratitude. It wouldn’t kill me to confess so… might even gain me a much-needed guide.

“Sebian?”

He gathered a handful of salve and carefully slathered it on my chest. “Hmm?”

“Thank you for… you know, protecting me.”

His hand stalled, rendering him still for long seconds before he narrowed his eyes at me. “What do you mean?”

“From that Raven,” I clarified. “In the village?”

He stared at me for another moment, features morphing between surprise and… something else. Something I couldn’t name.

Until he got up and turned away. “You should go back to your chamber and rest. There will be a feast in a few days to introduce you to court.”

“Introduce me.” What a fine way to describe how I would undoubtedly be paraded around like the captive I was. “What court?”

“The Court of Ravens, of course.”

ChapterNine

Malyr

Past, City of Valtaris

“The Court of Ravens has been moved underground, so I suggest Prince Malyr flies to our line of pathfinders over here.” Captain Asker pointed at the bone-carved figurines, all of them sitting on a cliff chiseled from stone on the left of Father’s strategy table. “About two hundred of Barat’s archers took over the temple plateau. They’re currently shooting at the fates we sent out on the battlefield before the gate. As long as arrows keep whistling at them, distracting them from their visions, they won’t be able to cut through the cavalry—a problem that our pathfinders can solve quickly and with little risk…” Asker paused, driving up my pulse. “If only the prince would weave his shadows thick and broad, hiding our pathfinders in their plumes.”

Weave my shadows.

Darkness shifted at my core.

Scratching. Scraping.

I crossed my arms behind my back, hiding trembling fingers that had gone numb when Barat’s army had appeared on the red horizon. Sun. Moon. Stars. Each of them guiding beacons. What did that say about a blood-streaked sky at dawn?

“He will do it,” Harlen answered in my stead, my brother ever so eager to practice his role as heir and future king, but I heard the tension in his voice. Saw how he raked his palm over his three black braids with a single, nervous motion. “Will you not, Malyr?”

Everyone’s gaze slid my way, full of heavy expectations that stiffened my muscles. Even Mother looked over from where she held Naya’s hand, helping her balance on the low stone wall that enclosed the breezy pavilion. Only my little sister remained unfazed, finding joy in hopping from stone to stone, her long dark hair crowned by a circle of daisies.

Sweet little Naya, so innocent, so blissfully unaware of the war waging around her.

My throat narrowed the longer I watched her while everyone else was watching me. What if me releasing such a vast, unpredictable amount of my shadows was necessary to deliver us from this attack? I wanted to do my part in protecting our kingdom, but…

What if I couldn’t protect it from me?

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