A Captive of Wing and Feather A Retelling of Swan Lake - Melanie Cellier Page 0,21

burden of my new worries about Gabe’s arrival.

I tried to draw strength from the knowledge that my wedge accompanied me—bar its black member. But they flew high above the treetops, out of sight for now. Still, I forced myself onward, toward the growing feeling of menace. I owed it to my friend.

The trees didn’t thin, as they did around Brylee. Instead I stepped directly from the thickness of the wild forest onto the fringes of a vast lake. Only the thinnest verge of clear land allowed me to walk beside the shoreline, skirting the short stretch of water between me and my target.

I kept my eyes on the ground, but all too soon, I had reached a stretch of jagged rocks that climbed steeply to the base of a broad wall. The ancient, rough stone soared into the air above me, a deserted battlement at the top. No gate broke the gray expanse—I had reached the rear of the curtain wall as intended.

I forced myself to look up and take in the whole of it, my eyes quickly scanning the surrounding area for any movement. In all the mornings I had come here, I had never seen any, however, and—true to form—nothing stirred around me now.

Instead, my eyes were drawn magnetically back to the stone structure. In vain I reminded myself that it was small compared to the home in which I had been raised—the vast palace at the heart of the Palinaran capital. It was even small compared to the heir’s castle where my mother had often taken my brother and me during the years of my childhood. But it made no difference—still the walls and tower seemed to loom above me.

Leander’s Keep.

Chapter 7

A splash drew my attention back to the water, as my six swans landed gracefully on the lake. They paddled over toward me, climbing free to press against my legs. I brushed my hand along their feathers, drawing courage from their presence. We were later than usual which meant we would have to work quickly.

“You know the drill,” I bugled. “Look for any change in routine, any way inside, and any sign of Audrey.”

We had been doing this for enough mornings that I no longer needed to describe my friend—the same age as me but distinctive thanks to her bright copper hair.

All six of them took off, their wings beating, and their legs pumping as they ran along the surface of the water before gaining altitude and wheeling toward the Keep. I watched them go with a swiftly beating heart, just as I always did. If Leander saw and recognized them, if a hunter from the Keep took note of their presence, if one of them swooped too low and put themselves within reach of one of the Keep’s large pack of hounds—

I cut off the thoughts. There was a reason we came only in the early hours of the morning and left once the full activity of the day began.

I strained my ears to hear any unusual sounds, but nothing stood out. Soon the beat of wings sounded, however, and Sunny came back into view. She flew in a direct line toward me, angling down to land in the water as near to me as possible.

Each of my swans had an individual role—something specific to observe. For Sunny it was the gate.

“Was the gate closed?” I bugled.

She thrust her beak down into the water once before raising it again and watching me, drops of water sliding down toward the surface of the lake. I waited hopefully for several seconds, but she made no extra movement.

I sighed. A single tap of the water meant yes. Two taps meant no. In all the mornings we had come here, she had never tapped the water twice for that question.

“How many guards?” I asked next.

This time when she bent her neck, she kept it near the water, thrusting it down six times in quick succession.

I sighed again. The opposite answer to what I hoped to hear. Six guards manning the only gate was an increase, not a decrease, on the usual number. Because of the crown prince’s arrival in town?

Not that the reason mattered. I had no more hope of sneaking past the usual four guards than I had of six.

On your own, at least, an insidious voice whispered in my mind. But you aren’t on your own anymore.

I thrust the thought away. Two people weren’t enough to force their way past six guards, and even if I had