The Storm Crow (The Storm Crow, #1)(86)

“Lovers’ quarrel,” Kiva interjected. “I’m sure he’ll have your head on a stick by morning.”

“Or maybe the queen will have promoted me to second in command of the Vykryn. I like my odds.”

I forced myself to breathe, to think. I had to rescue Res and Caylus and escape, but to where? Lord Rynthene’s ship wouldn’t arrive for another day.

The throne room doors stood open, dual hearths flooding the room with light. Shearen forced us inside, but the room was empty save for a servant nervously clutching a torch. She bowed to Shearen.

“Tell the queen I’ve found them,” Shearen instructed, and the servant hurried off.

Minutes passed. I became aware of my breathing, of Kiva’s growing labored. The torches played tricks of light, making the walls grow taller and reach over me, encroaching. I could feel the humming of the eggs. It pushed into my mind like roots into soil.

The shadows shifted, pulling my gaze. Something gold flashed in the darkness along the wall. Then voices.

Razel entered the throne room, flanked by the servant with the torch. Ericen followed, his eyes widening at the sight of me.

I barely noticed him past that, because there was something in Razel’s arms. Something dark and feathered. My vision narrowed, the room tilting.

Resyries.

I went still. Then his sides expanded. Air rushed from my lungs, and I drew another ragged breath, my entire body wilting with relief. He must have been drugged.

“Get your hands off him!” I was halfway across the room before Ericen sprung forward. He caught me by the shoulders, pushing me back. I shoved at his chest, but he didn’t give. Over his shoulder, Razel smiled.

Three guards entered, Caylus held between two of them, his hands bound before him. He had a bruise around one eye, and his lip was split and bloodied, but he otherwise looked okay. He struggled with his captors, and a female Vykryn drove a foot into the back of his legs, forcing him to his knees.

She looked familiar.

My lips parted—it was the girl from the bakery. The new one who’d started after I’d begun visiting.

Caylus spat blood, then lifted his head, spotting me for the first time. “Thia.” His eyes hardened. “Thia, are you all right?”

“I’m fine,” I whispered. “I’m fine!” I slammed my hands into Ericen’s chest, and this time, he stumbled back, looking alarmed. “Did you know about this?” Was that what he and Shearen had been talking about in the tower?

“Thia—”

“I swear to the Saints, if you knew—”

“Do you think he should have told you? He’s loyal to Illucia. To me.” Razel swept forward, the servant staying close by. The queen cradled Res in one arm like a mother might her child, using her free hand to pull a crumpled paper from her pocket.

Caylus’s drawing. She must have taken it from my room when it was searched.

Razel held it up. “I was just going to take the crow, but with your feelings for the boy, I thought he might be useful for motivating you to do as I say.”

She tossed the paper into the flames. I lurched, watching as glowing embers ate away at the edges of the drawing until nothing but ash remained.

Out of the corner of my eye, I vaguely registered Ericen’s shocked then hurt expression.

Razel pounced on it. “Oh, Eri dear, didn’t you know? I thought she would have told you.”

I didn’t know what to say to him. I didn’t even know if I should say something to him. My heart cracked open, releasing a storm inside my chest. Everything was happening too fast, and it was all out of my control.

Razel smiled. “This is the problem with having people you care about—they can be used against you.”

“What do you want?” I snarled.

“The secret, of course.”

To hatching.

Slowly, things fell into place. By marrying me to Ericen, Razel would not only gain control of Rhodaire if something happened to Kuren and Caliza, she’d also gain control of the crows. She could hatch as many as she needed year after year, because she would have me, and my blood, and my experience.

She’d have an army perfectly suited for taking control not only of Rhodaire but the entire continent.

I swallowed hard. That was what Ericen had been looking for in the library in Aris: information on crows.

Razel approached me, and I tensed. “I intended to wear you down, to break you until you did as you should and obeyed me. Come the winter solstice, I’d have an army. Imagine my surprise when I learned I didn’t have to wait so very long.”

The girl holding Caylus smirked. She must have known what had happened when Res had lost control of his powers and gone straight to her queen.

Razel stopped a step away. My fingers twitched, desperate to snatch Res from her hold. “Now, Thia dear, you will hatch me my army.”

“No.”

She smiled and then nodded to the female guard beside Caylus. There was a cry, and I spun as she knocked Caylus to the ground. She kicked him again, driving her foot into his ribs, his legs, his back. He curled into a ball, trying to protect his stomach.

“Stop it!” I yelled.

Razel raised a hand. The guard froze midkick and lowered her leg.

“The secret,” she said.

“Don’t!” Caylus rasped. “Don’t do it, Thia.”