“It’s fine with me if you want to send the bird in.” Archer smirked at Edward. “But we have these armies, you see. Are they for nothing?”
The Scottish and French commanders looked at each other in a moment of mutual solidarity.
“The armies are useful.” Jane wished the others would all just hurry up and understand. “They will be a diversion. Imagine her panic when Mary looks out and sees several thousand soldiers assembled outside the city. Here.” She touched a spot on the map. “On the opposite side of London from the Tower.” She leaned forward over the table eagerly. “Mary doesn’t even know you’re alive, Edward. As far as she’s aware, I’m the one preparing to attack London. And we’ll let her continue thinking that.”
“Which doesn’t change the problem of a naked bird king standing on the Tower Green,” Archer said. “Do you have a plan to keep him from getting killed before he surprises Mary?”
“Yes.” Jane grinned. “I do.”
Edward had been planning to attack the city at dawn, but with Jane’s new and improved plan, they were going to hold off until night fell, so that it’d be easier to sneak into the Tower unseen. Which would give them the entire day to prepare.
“I’m going to practice,” Jane announced when she and Gifford returned to their tent together to get some much-needed sleep. She hung a cloak from one of the tent poles to act as a curtain, then took off her clothes. Light flared as she changed from girl to ferret to girl again. It was surprising how easy she found the change now that she knew she could do it. Now that she knew what she truly wanted.
“Show-off,” Gifford said from the other side of the cloak curtain. “You’re probably keeping our neighbors awake with that light.”
She just wished G would want it, too. He’d be much more useful in the morning in his human form. And there were so many other reasons that she wanted him to be with her tomorrow.
Jane turned into a ferret and ran up his leg and side until she perched on his shoulder.
Gifford stroked her fur. “Nicely done, my dear. Now can we go to sleep?”
She considered asking him to practice, too. But if he wanted to, he would suggest it. He would try. But since he didn’t offer to try, she became a girl again, dressed, and together they squeezed onto the narrow sleeping pallet.
“This is nice,” G said against her hair, pulling her back against his chest. “Thank you for not making me sleep on the floor.”
“You’re welcome,” she murmured. It was more than nice, she thought as she closed her eyes and tried to quiet her mind. She’d go to bed like this every night, if she could. But this could be their last night together.
It was starting to feel terribly familiar, this feeling that tomorrow they could die.
The sounds of birds singing woke her a few hours later. She stretched her arms and wiggled her toes; she was still a girl.
“Did you sleep?” Gifford’s voice behind her was deep and groggy.
Jane nodded and pulled herself out of their makeshift bed. “Not well, but it was better than nothing.” In truth, she’d tossed and turned for hours. There was much riding on her today.
Gifford sat up and smoothed back his hair. “I didn’t sleep. I kept thinking about you breaking your curse.”
Jane looked over at him, hopeful.
“Your heart’s desire, you said.” He rose to his feet, his clothes all sleep-tousled and a pressure mark running the length of his face. He was beautiful, she thought, if one could call a man beautiful. There was a question in his eyes, and she knew the answer.
“Gifford, I—” The word balanced on her tongue. Was it so difficult to say? It couldn’t be wrong. The feeling had been gathering in her since those days in the country house, growing and deepening ever since. And now that she knew the secret to controlling her form, they could actually have a future together.
She desperately wanted a future together.
“Jane.” He glanced at the tent flap. “It’s almost time. The sun.”
“Don’t change,” she whispered. “Stay with me.”
“I want to, but—” He began tugging at his clothes, loosening his shirt collar and picking at the buttons.
“Don’t change!” Jane went to him and took his shoulder, like her touch could break his curse. “Want to stay with me more than you want to do anything else.”