The Storm Crow (The Storm Crow, #1)(9)

“Do you hear that?” I asked.

“That’s the sound of your stupidity ringing in your head.”

“Quieter than that—the egg.”

“I don’t hear anything.” She pressed her ear to the shell and drew back with a shrug. “Maybe you hit your head. What were you even doing up here?”

All at once, I slammed back to reality. “Illucia’s threatening to attack, and Caliza’s idea of solving the problem is agreeing to their demands for a marriage between me and Prince Ericen.”

Kiva’s lips parted and closed several times. She swallowed hard, set her jaw. “I’m going to kill her.”

“That’s treason.”

“Seriously injure her.”

“Still treason.”

She threw up her hands. “Hasn’t she heard the rumors about him? He’s as vicious and cruel as Illucians come. Has she lost her mind?”

“Yes.” Even as I said it, guilt swept through me. “No. She did this to protect Rhodaire.” She’d probably fretted about it for days, poring over books looking for another way until her vision blurred, but in the end, she’d chosen the most logical solution to an impossible problem, like she always did.

Meanwhile, I’d done nothing.

Six months ago, no one would have dared threaten our kingdom. The riders were fierce, and the crows fiercer. A battle crow could take on six cavalrymen at once, and an earth crow could open a sinkhole beneath an army. Now, Razel threatened to conquer us like she had Jindae and the Ambriel Islands. She would destroy our culture, level our cities, and funnel our children into her army until everything we were had been forgotten.

“All this because those soldiers chose power over their kingdom.” I clutched the egg closer, seeking its warmth. It still seemed impossible that some of our soldiers had betrayed us. They had sold their loyalty to Razel, providing vital information and allowing Illucian soldiers to slip through their ranks. They’d helped butcher the crows that trusted them.

Illucia had planned everything perfectly.

They’d known that at the end of the Sky Dance, every single crow from across Rhodaire would return to their rookeries. They’d known all the eggs would be gathered in the royal rookery. Instead of facing an army, all they’d had to do was destroy nine towers.

And they’d had help from our own people.

“Those soldiers deserved what they got.” The derision in Kiva’s tone was sharper than a blade.

Executed.

Razel had used the soldiers, making promises she would never keep, and then had them killed.

Scowling, I shifted the egg in my arms and kicked away a chunk of rubble, relishing the solid contact even as my foot ached. “What I want to know is why Razel offered this. Why promise us peace in exchange for this marriage? We’re not in a position to deny them anything. What do they gain?”

“It gives Illucia a foothold in Rhodaire. She can’t take it by force easily. Nearly a quarter of her army is running Jindae, another chunk is in the Ambriels, and now I hear she’s threatening Korovi. Why squander men attacking Rhodaire if she can take it some other way?”

“Marrying me to Ericen won’t give her control of the kingdom. There has to be another step to her plan.”

Or another motive altogether. But what?

I ran my fingers over the egg, and it hummed against my skin. The feeling was both exhilarating and comforting at once. “I have to hatch this egg. If we had even one crow, Illucia would think twice about what they’re doing. It’s the only chance we have of protecting Rhodaire and my only chance of not marrying that bastard.”

Kiva stared at me like I’d sprouted wings. “Be careful. You’re dangerously close to sounding like this girl I used to know. Tongue as sharp as a crow’s talons, menace to authorities everywhere, about this tall.” She held a hand to her chest, a good few inches shorter than my actual height.

I glowered but couldn’t suppress my smile. Kiva had a way of pulling me out of myself, perfected over a lifetime of friendship. I couldn’t remember a time without her at my side. She filled my memories: sneaking into the riding school to watch the riders train, stealing orange cakes from the kitchens before dinner, hiding Caliza’s books whenever she left her study table unguarded in the library.

Kiva had been there every minute to say what a bad idea it was, but she had always stayed. She was always there for me, like she had been for every day of the exhausting cycle of despair that had imprisoned me since Ronoch. I didn’t have the energy to get out of bed, and lying there made me lethargic until my limbs became weights holding me down. My head would hurt, turning my thoughts slow and difficult, each one taking more effort than it was worth, until all I wanted was to fall asleep again. But sleep made it worse.

Without her, I’d never have started getting out of bed. I never would have left my room today, and I might not have ended up in the rookery.

Kiva grinned at my feigned annoyance. “Anyway, it got buried under rubble and nearly incinerated. Whatever’s inside is probably dead.”

“Crow eggs are filled with magic. It could have survived.” The egg hummed in my arms as if agreeing.

Kiva looked doubtful but held out a hand. “All right. Let’s crack it open and find out.”

I hugged the egg against my body. “You can’t just crack it open! It has to hatch naturally.”