Rule by Ellen Goodlett

Author:Ellen Goodlett
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Published: 2018-09-11T04:00:00+00:00

Sleep never showed.

An hour later, she was still staring at her ceiling when the alarm sounded. It was a piercing, horrible cry—the sound of a stormwing on the attack.

For a moment, she lay there listening. Heard the cry again. Then her sleep-deprived brain connected the dots. Talons.

Elex.

She flung herself out of bed and to the windows. Tore them open just in time to see a stormwing dive across the night sky, its wings twice as big as any human. A dark, terrifying blot across the stars.

It didn’t take long to spot where it and several other stormwings were headed. In the distance, a whole city block lit up like daylight. The birds dove toward mounted Talons, fists raised to call in their nocturnal hunting partners as they rode toward the lighted street.

Zofi sheathed her longknife and yanked on her boots. Then she sprinted down the tower steps wearing only her nightshirt and silk shorts. She burst out of the tower just as a bevy of mounted Talons reached the road toward the Keep. A stormwing perched on the special bar raised above one Talon’s saddle, his warhorse tense with the weight of both the enormous bird and the human rider.

And strung behind him, attached to a long lead, stumbling in the dirt with his hands and feet bound…

Zofi ran straight at the Talons. Never mind that they were half a dozen, had stormwings overhead and swords at their waists. Never mind a plan. She reached for her longknife, raced through tithes in her mind.

That’s when an arm collided with her waist. It knocked the breath from her lungs. She doubled over, staggered, nearly fell. But the arm held her up. Pulled her back to standing. Two warm hands gripped her shoulders, pinned her in place.

“Zofi. Zofi, relax.”

Her vision swam. Narrowed to a pinpoint. It took far too long for her to recognize the familiar face.

“What’s going on? Why are you in your…” Vidal’s eyes widened in embarrassment when he took in her outfit. His hands dropped.

“I heard the stormwings,” Zofi panted. She licked her lips, dared another glance at the Talons. Snap out of it. Panic would help no one. “I—I thought… an attack…”

Vidal followed her gaze to the soldiers. To the prisoner stumbling along behind them, face marred by a long scratch from what had to be a stormwing’s claw. “It’s all right,” Vidal said. “There’s nothing to fear. This bastard will never harm you or another royal again.”

He grinned, though it wasn’t happy. It was the bitter triumph that hits your bloodstream after kicking an opponent to the ground. Vidal’s eyes caught the torchlights, two frightened Zofis reflected in his wide irises.

“Who is it?” She had to ask. Had to pretend she didn’t already know.

Vidal laughed. He actually laughed. “The man who murdered the Silver Prince.”

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