Nathaniel bent over it, as a current of sorrow drifted through his chest. He knew what it felt to be aloft, soaring triumphant and free and to be hit with an arrow through the heart, ending the dream that life once was. “Why did you fell it?”
“Don’t touch it!” Timber crouched beside him and used the tip of his bow to move the wing. He cocked its head to the side. A milky, cataract-covered eye glanced up at them. Bald spots covered its body where the feathers had been plucked, or had fallen out. The blood that oozed from the arrowhead was a black, gelatinous goo.
Nathaniel had never seen anything like this in his lifetime, but he’d heard enough stories. “An undead bird?”
Timber nodded, then watched the sky with suspicion.
None of the crows had settled in the city. They’d come and gone so quickly they wouldn’t have noticed if they hadn’t been standing at the back gate.
Timber glanced over his shoulder at the open gate and the moors that lay beyond. “Spies.”
Chapter 7
Dismissal
“I do not understand why they’ll deny the future princess of Ebonvale entrance to her own council chambers.” Valoria collapsed into a velvet seat, staring down the guards on duty as they stood with their spears crossed over the doorway. The one on the right glanced down with a small amount of guilt pulling at the corners of his mouth, but the one on the left stared straight ahead as if the future queen of Ebonvale were not even present.
“Calm down. I’m sure there’s an explanation.” Cadence sat beside her and took her hand. “Perhaps they are planning the wedding and wish to keep it a surprise.”
“I highly doubt it.” If they were planning the wedding, Brax wouldn’t even bother to be there at all. “Everyone who’s important is in there. Everyone except for me.” She’d gone down to breakfast hoping to make headway with her new family only to find the room empty. A servant had tipped her off to where they all were.
“My father would never think to leave me out of meetings.” Father had included her in all aspects of running the House of Song and the outlying village. A sickening wave of melancholy overcame her. She missed his quiet, noble poise more than anything. She could use a measure of it herself.
“Perhaps they do not wish to bother you right before the wedding.” Cadence tapped the back of her hand encouragingly.
“Bother me? They’ve managed to do enough of that already.”
“Shhhh.” Cadence glanced at the guards. “You never know who’s listening.”
“Let them listen. They can teach these warriors proper manners.”
Cadence threw her hands in her lap. “Honestly, I’m not sure what Echo wants me to do. ’Tis like leading a blind goat across a cliff side.”
Valoria narrowed her gaze. “What did he put you up to?”
Her handmaiden pouted, guilt saddening her eyes. “He wanted to make sure you…followed through.”
“Followed through? Who does he think I am? The Queen of Ebonvale?”
“For Helena’s sake, pipe down.”
Guilt panged in her gut. She shouldn’t have spoken ill of her future mother-in-law. Hadn’t she told Nathaniel she didn’t judge others? Valoria behaved better than this. Circumstances had unraveled her just like the edges of that dusty tapestry of some forgotten king on the far wall.
The guards moved away from the door, and the large slabs of oak opened with a creak. The king and queen burst through, followed by a retinue of advisors. A woman so old, she could have been a ghost drifted past. Her long, white hair trailed to her ankles. Bone thin with wrinkled withered skin, she clung to a young man’s arm as if she’d fall to pieces without his strength.
Was that Sybil, the mother of the queen who’d run away with the minstrel so many years ago? It was hard to believe one waif of an old woman was the source for unending minstrel hatred.
Valoria was here to end that prejudice, to unite the kingdoms, to undo the seed that old woman had sown. If only it hadn’t grown so monumentally large.
Nathaniel emerged next. His uniform was rumpled, and a bloodied bandage wrapped around his right hand. He looked as though he’d been up all night.
Despite Cadence pulling on her arm, Valoria broke free and approached him.
He regarded her with welcome surprise. “Valoria. I did not know you were here.”
All of her frustration melted away. She touched his hand. “You’re hurt. What happened?”
Nathaniel glanced back into the room uneasily. “I am certain Brax will inform you.”
She clutched his arm, refusing to release him. The wool of his uniform felt coarse under her fingers, a barrier she could not cross. “Tell me now.”
Nathaniel sighed as though he knew he was in the wrong but could not deny her. He pulled her aside by the tapestry. “One of the raiders escaped. I cut my hand while chasing after him.”
“Is this why they had a meeting without me?”
“No.” He glanced again at the room. Indecision crossed his amber-brown eyes.
She pulled him closer. “Please.”
Nathaniel leaned down to her, so close their foreheads almost touched, and whispered, “Spies from the north have crossed into our territory. It seems the next threat to Ebonvale is closer than we thought.”
“The north?” Disbelief shocked her, followed by a dark dread, which settled in her bones. Had she awoken the threat when she called on the northern lands for help?
Nathaniel pulled away abruptly as Brax entered the corridor.
“Valoria, I must speak with you.” Brax’s voice was blunt and businesslike, as if he called on a servant.
Valoria glanced back for Nathaniel. He’d disappeared in the crowd. The old woman stared at her with large, knowing eyes that bored into her soul and upturned all her secrets. Valoria turned back to Brax and cut through the crowd. Anything to escape the old woman’s eyes.
She reached him and followed him into the council chamber. Ebonvale’s purple pennants hung from lofty rafters. An oily, vermillion scale as large as a carriage hung on a slab of wood on the wall. It must have been taken from one of the wyverns in the final battle at Scalehaven that she’d read about. Old swords lined the walls, probably the weapons of past rulers. This was a place where battle plans were laid down, a place of finality, a room of fate.
Unease crawled over her shoulders. All this time she’d wanted to be in this room, and now the urge to leave crept up her legs.
Brax gestured toward a high back chair with red jewels in the frame and a velvet cushion. “Have a seat.”
Valoria shook her head. “I prefer to stand. Why did you not include me in this meeting?”
He blinked in surprise, as if the thought hadn’t even occurred to him. “Ebonvale’s matters are not your concern.”
Anger flared inside her. “Aren’t they? If I am to be the future queen?” It was the first time she’d directly mentioned their union to him. She felt absurd stating the obvious fact they’d both been denying. But, sooner or later they had to come to terms with their union and all that it implied.
Brax ran a hand over his face. “One step at a time. First, I must ask you to withdraw the minstrels who are able to travel. They must return to the House of Song.”
“Whatever for?”
“There is a new threat to this castle. The minstrels will be safer within their own kingdom,