A Captive of Wing and Feather A Retelling of Swan Lake - Melanie Cellier Page 0,32

odd behavior, or was she merely trying to keep Wren and Cora from asking too many questions?

“Who’s having a party?” Juniper piped up. “Am I invited?”

“Definitely not,” said Wren firmly. “Parties at castles aren’t for four-year-olds. You’ll stay here if such an occasion ever eventuates.”

“With me,” Cora said, smiling at the girl. “I’m sure it will be a very boring party with a great deal of talking, and I’d much rather be here with you.”

That seemed to satisfy Junie, and she began attempting to worm her way onto Audrey’s lap.

I had reluctantly seated myself on Gabe’s other side, and I now poked his shoulder. When he looked my way, I gestured questioningly toward Audrey.

“Ah yes,” he said. “Since the good proprietress here,” he paused to give a half-bow to Cora, “mentioned how much her sister was missing Audrey, I thought I would request that she accompany me back to the town so that she might spend time with her family. I don’t think Lord Leander could deny such a simple request after being forced to turn me away from his gates. It is merely fortunate that she was untouched by the illness rampaging through the Keep.”

I glared at him for his final quip. He should be taking his cue from Audrey and not inciting Wren and Cora into asking questions we didn’t want to answer. But it was just like him not to take the situation seriously. Had he truly just asked Leander to turn Audrey over? Even mentioned her family specifically?

Fear churned in my stomach, and anger made me long to jump to my feet and put distance between us. We had discussed how dangerous Leander was, and yet not only had he brought Audrey to his attention, he had extended it to her family and the haven as well. While I didn’t think Gabe would be purposely malicious, it had been heedless in the extreme. We weren’t all of us princes. One day Gabe would leave, returning to the capital, and Audrey, Wren, Cora, and everyone at the haven would remain, exposed to Leander’s ill will.

I thought I had escaped that sort of careless thinking—kings and princes who believed their kingdoms existed only to be bent to their own whims—but apparently it had chased me down even here. Or one of those princes had, anyway. I could only hope not too many people would pay the price when he was gone.

Part II

The Keep

Chapter 10

I waited among the trees, far enough from the road to be out of sight, but not so far as to be hard to find. As the light began to fade, I fidgeted, throwing glances at the sky and the increasing shadows around me. How much longer should I wait? If they didn’t appear soon, I would have to leave without them.

The crunch of leaves underfoot reached me, and I jumped, visions of bears and unnatural wolves filling my mind. If I was honest, I was twitchier than the increasing hour demanded.

But it was a human figure that stepped into sight, the prince soon followed by Audrey, only a few steps behind him.

“Sorry!” she called as soon as she saw me. “It was a little hard to get away.”

I wasn’t sure how she had managed it at all. I had expected her family to cling to her given her unexpected return.

“I told them I was exhausted and needed to go to sleep early,” she explained without my having to ask. “They currently think I’m holed up in my bedroom. I had to climb out the window and everything.”

It was one of the things I liked best about Audrey. Once she had accepted the fact that I wouldn’t be providing any answers, she had adjusted quickly to my lack of speech and answered most of my questions without me needing to voice them.

She flashed a smile at Gabe. “Thankfully I had a handsome prince to catch me.”

“Did you hear that, Adelaide?” Gabe asked. “Some people think I’m handsome and appreciate having me around.”

I grunted and took off walking. I didn’t have time for their silly flirtations—and I doubted either of them wanted a visit from Leander tonight any more than I did.

Sure enough, they quickly fell into step behind me. I increased my speed, and they both kept pace. I didn’t want to cut it fine if I didn’t have to.

We broke through the trees around the lake well before the final light leached from the sky. A chorus of honks and bugles greeted us, my