A Captive of Wing and Feather: A Retelling of Swan Lake (Beyond the Four Kingdoms Book 5) by Melanie Cellier

Author:Melanie Cellier [Cellier, Melanie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Luminant Publications
Published: 2019-09-04T18:30:00+00:00

The next morning I arrived earlier than usual at the haven. I had slept deeply, thanks to my exhaustion, but had woken early. I tossed and turned, unable to get back to sleep, until I eventually gave up trying. It turned out that knowing there were well-laid plans to ravage your kingdom with deadly animals—and that you were somehow caught up in them—wasn’t conducive to sleep.

I stepped through the haven doors with trepidation. How had Audrey’s conversation with Wren gone the day before? Would she hate me now that she knew the truth? And would she help us even so, if she knew the kingdom was at stake?

I hesitated inside the entryway, wondering where Audrey would be at this hour. Eventually I headed for the kitchen. It was still early enough that breakfast would be in swing.

Sure enough, I found food and dishes everywhere. The cook didn’t arrive until lunch, so the capable residents took turns preparing the first meal of the day.

Audrey leaped on me before I had even seen her.

“You’re alive! Oh thank goodness! I’ve been so worried!”

I frowned and signed out Gabe’s name.

“Gabe? What about him? Is he all right?” Audrey asked.

I nodded, and gestured around the room.

“Oh, do you mean is he here?”

I nodded, and Audrey shook her head.

“I haven’t seen him since you two left yesterday. I’ve been worried sick.”

So he had returned straight to the inn instead of coming to see Audrey without me. I tried to tamp down the warm feeling that evoked. A second thought—that something might have happened to him—easily quenched the sensation. Before I could think of any way to voice my concerns, however, another voice spoke.

“Yes, worried so sick you only managed thirds at breakfast,” Wren said from the back of the kitchen.

I turned to her, and she dropped into an awkward curtsy before I could get a good look at her face. “Your Highness.”

I hurried toward her, shaking my head, and as she straightened, I winced. She might be giving me royal courtesies now, but she wasn’t happy with me.

“I can’t believe you’re a princess.” She wouldn’t meet my eyes. “That you’ve been a princess this whole time.”

So that was what was bothering her—not the curse, and the fact I hadn’t told her about it.

“Personally, I was more surprised you can talk to swans,” said another voice from the doorway.

I whirled around, my wide eyes flicking from Cora to Audrey.

“Sorry, Lady,” Audrey said belatedly. “I had to tell Cora, too.”

“I’m afraid I demanded answers after I saw you creeping off with my old sword,” Cora said, her expression hard to read.

Sorry, I signed. I should have asked. I hurried forward and offered the weapon to her.

She accepted it, placing it on a bench by the door. When she looked back at me, she chuckled, and the band around my heart eased a little.

“No doubt you knew I would say no—since I prefer you avoid the kind of trouble that requires a sword to get out of.” Her voice softened.

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