A Captive of Wing and Feather A Retelling of Swan Lake - Melanie Cellier Page 0,64

back over to Gabe, I tapped him on the shoulder and made a questioning gesture. He turned his head to look at me, and I took a quick step backward. I hadn’t been prepared to find his face so close to mine, the gold flecks of his eyes standing out as he grinned at me.

“It was two maids collecting the tray,” he said. “And talking about how Leander will be back in his study soon and probably wanting an early lunch. Which means he’s not there now.”

He stepped away from the door, leaving room for me to peer through the gap myself. No one was in sight. I pulled out the piece of paper I had tucked inside my dress. A bad feeling kept snaking up and down my spine.

“Not at all,” Gabe said. “We were seen by at least two people outside in the courtyard, and I’m fairly certain at least one person saw us before I got you into the stairwell.”

What? I stared at him.

He shrugged. “I would have been a great deal more concerned about attempting something like this under normal circumstances, but we have a decided advantage here. With everyone so meek, no one is too inclined to investigate anything. As long as we mostly stay out of people’s way and don’t cause a ruckus, anyone who sees us will gladly look the other way and assure themselves there’s some legitimate reason for our presence.”

I gaped at him. Of course. I didn’t know why I hadn’t thought of it myself.

“Sorry,” he said. “I should have mentioned it. I just assumed you’d be thinking the same thing.”

I felt like a bit of a fool now. But in my defense, this was the first time I had done anything like this. Somehow I had the suspicion Gabe had spent a significant part of his childhood sneaking into and out of various places. And, of course, danger remained. There was one person here we still needed to avoid at all costs.

“Come on,” Gabe said. “Now’s our chance.”

He headed directly for the door to Leander’s study, reaching over once he got there to pull something from his boot. Bending, he began to fiddle with the door. I hurried after him. Was that…?

Yes. Yes, it was. Gabe had come equipped with lock picks—and apparently knew how to use them. Any lingering doubt about the activities of his youth disappeared.

When the door clicked, swinging open at the push of his hand, he gave a satisfied grin. “My foster mother—Queen Juliette—always called me a reprobate, but you just never know when a skill like this might come in useful.”

I put my hand in the middle of his back and gave him a push into the room. When we had found and destroyed any godmother objects, and I had my voice back, I could shower him with the praises he clearly desired. For now, we needed to move quickly.

I closed the door carefully behind him, re-locking it with the key I found on this side. At least it would give us some warning when Leander arrived. Turning quickly back around, I stood and gaped.

I wasn’t sure what I had been expecting, but it wasn’t this. The word study evoked a large desk and shelves of books—perhaps an armchair or two. And it was certainly possible there was a desk and armchairs in here—somewhere. There were certainly books, but they weren’t lined up on any sort of shelving. Instead they were strewn around in haphazard piles or lying open as if they had been flung away at some point and never touched again.

Everywhere I looked was chaos, mismatched items in a wide range of sizes scattered around on every available surface. The books competed with various items of clothing, innumerable sheets of parchment, several inkwells—one of which had tipped over, spilling its contents over nearby objects—and a number of items that looked entirely out of place in a study. At a quick glance, I picked out several staffs of different lengths and types of wood, a number of glass receptacles—some with murky liquids clinging to their bottoms—several plants, both alive and dead, four large baskets, at least fifty spoons, two ornate mirrors, three combs, a brush, and a long, rolled up carpet.

Even Gabe looked daunted by the room.

“How are we supposed to find anything in all of this?”

In case the room wasn’t strange enough, a heavy smoke rolled slowly from under a door on