A Captive of Wing and Feather A Retelling of Swan Lake - Melanie Cellier Page 0,25

there was no sign of her daughter.

“Do you really think he’ll—” Wren’s quiet voice broke off as I walked in, resuming when she saw it was me. “Oh, it’s just you, Lady. We’ve received word that the prince has gone to the Keep today, and I was just asking Cora if she thinks he really will keep an eye out for Audrey.”

I kept my hands still, ignoring the instinct to reassure her. As far as Cora and Wren knew, I had no more knowledge of Prince Gabriel than they did.

“I wouldn’t go raising your hopes,” Cora said, caution in her voice.

My eyes strayed over to the table where a number of bread loaves and rolls were piled haphazardly. So the baker had been here, despite it not being the end of the day. He must have someone else watching his shop. No doubt he had been the source of the news regarding Gabe’s movements—perhaps the gossip had been his excuse for the early visit.

I looked pointedly between the bread and Wren, raising an eyebrow.

“Yes,” said Cora in a wry tone, “Ash is here. He wanted to be sure we had heard the news of His Highness, and thought he would bring some fresh bread while he was at it. Claims he feels bad about only giving us the leftovers at the end of the day.” She paused, her mouth edging up on one side. “I can’t imagine why.”

Wren studiously ignored us both.

“It’s very considerate of him to think of the haven’s residents,” she said. “He even brought a small cake for Junie. In fact, he’s off fetching her from Selena now.”

I snorted. Yes, very considerate of him.

Juniper burst through the doors, cutting off further conversation. Ash and Selena followed more sedately behind. The tall, muscled baker looked out of place beside the young girl and slim youth, but he carried himself easily and with a comfortable smile.

“Mama! Mama!” Juniper cried, throwing her arms around her mother’s legs before spotting me and giving me the same treatment.

She looked up at me with shining eyes. “Ash brought me a cake, Lady!”

“Ash said it was fine for her to leave the lesson, but I thought it was best if I come and check with you directly,” Selena said to Wren. Her responsible tone was somewhat belied by the way her eyes kept sliding toward where Juniper’s cake rested on the table.

“Thank you, Selena,” Wren said, hiding a grin. “Junie, perhaps you could share the cake with her.”

Juniper pulled free of me and rushed over to the table, climbing onto a chair and eagerly beginning the process of dividing the cake. Selena dropped all pretense and hurried over to join her, the two of them discussing a fair division without further reference to the adults in the room.

“I had thought Juniper might share some with her Mama,” Ash said, looking slightly crestfallen.

Wren smiled. “Selena will enjoy it more than I could. One of the delights of youth. It was very kind of you to think of Junie.”

He brightened at her gratitude and moved over to talk to her quietly. I watched her face as they spoke. Her smile and laugh seemed genuine, and the two of them always got on so well, but she made none of the little encouraging looks and movements I had seen other young ladies in Brylee use when they wished to show a courting man that they returned his interest. And I knew she always denied that Ash even was courting her—although it was obvious to everyone else.

Did she think she had nothing to offer a man with a prosperous business and respected position in the town? Or was it grief still for the woodsman husband she had married young—the one who had died in a tragic accident while Juniper was a small baby?

I could still remember how shattered she had been by her grief when they first arrived—holding herself together purely for the sake of her child and younger sister. Without her husband and the income he brought in from chopping wood, the three of them had been left with nowhere to turn but the haven.

She had come a long way since then, however. And while she never forgot, she had regained some of the joy for life that Audrey said she used to have. Juniper always gave her a reason to smile, despite her grief, and lately Ash seemed to be giving her another reason to smile despite her protestations. I hadn’t worked out yet whether she