Girl, Serpent, Thorn - Melissa Bashardoust Page 0,76

stood apart from it.

Soraya looked away, and to her surprise, found Parvaneh standing near her. She thought Parvaneh would be at the center of this joyful reunion, but she was lingering at the edge of the clearing, watching the other pariks intently with her wings flat against her back and her hands fidgeting in front of her. Even when she was held captive in the dungeon, she had never seemed so cowed, so unsure.

“Parvaneh,” a voice said, and Soraya turned her head in its direction. The pariks all stepped aside as one of them strode forward—the one with the orange eyes that had spoken to Soraya when she was waking. At the time, Soraya hadn’t noticed her wings, but now they were more visible: tawny brown, with serrated edges like the wings of an owl.

Soraya wanted to address her at once, but the parik’s gaze was locked on Parvaneh, and from the way the other pariks had parted for her, the way they all waited silently now, Soraya knew better than to interrupt.

“Parisa,” Parvaneh said, the word little more than a breath.

“You’ve returned,” Parisa said. Her voice was soft, but Soraya heard every word. “Does that mean you’ve completed your task?”

Parvaneh’s eyes flickered to the ground, and she gave a quick shake of her head. “Not yet.”

Parisa’s wings fluttered in what Soraya could somehow tell was disapproval. “Then why are you here?”

“I have something that can help,” Parvaneh said, her voice growing louder now. “I have something that can stop the Shahmar.” She turned her head to look straight at Soraya, and Soraya again felt that hollow sensation as she realized what Parvaneh was talking about.

“The simorgh’s feather,” Parvaneh announced with such certainty, such confidence.

An excited chattering erupted among the pariks until Parisa held up a hand to silence them. “Show it to me,” she said.

Parvaneh came to Soraya’s side, and Soraya felt a wave of nausea as all eyes turned expectantly to her. She shook her head lightly and whispered to Parvaneh, “I don’t have it.”

She hadn’t meant for the others to hear, but instantly, there was an uproar of angry voices and fluttering wings. Parvaneh clasped her hand around Soraya’s wrist. “You said you had it,” she bit out between clenched teeth.

“He took it from me before he brought me here,” Soraya said. “I didn’t know that…” She couldn’t finish the thought aloud. I didn’t know that they wouldn’t welcome you without it. I didn’t know you were an outcast.

But now she remembered Parvaneh’s furious outburst when she had told Soraya to abandon her family. Are they truly your family if they’ve failed to accept you as their own? If they cast you out and treat you with disdain? Why do they still matter to you? Perhaps Parvaneh had wanted Soraya’s answer so she could know it herself.

Parisa called for silence again. “We thank you for freeing us, Parvaneh, but it’s not enough to meet the conditions for your return.”

Parvaneh’s head was turned away from Parisa and the others, but Soraya saw the clench of her jaw, the dimming of her eyes. She felt Parvaneh’s shame and humiliation as if it were her own, because it had been—it still was.

“She doesn’t have the feather yet, but she will,” Soraya called to Parisa.

The pariks all fell silent in surprise. Parisa looked at Soraya now as if she had only just noticed her. Parvaneh placed a hand on her arm. “Soraya—”

But Soraya ignored her. “The Shahmar took it from me,” she said, stepping forward, “but I can find it again.” In her mind, she imagined green veins curling over her skin like vines, and the image made her feel bold.

“How?” called out the bat-winged parik from behind Parisa.

Parisa inclined her head, approving of the question. “How can you get close enough to the Shahmar to do such a thing?”

“The Shahmar is fond of me,” Soraya answered. “He brought me here rather than killing me. If I pretend that I want to join him, he’ll keep me close enough to learn his secrets. I’ll find the feather, and when I do, I’ll give it to Parvaneh—only to Parvaneh.”

Soraya didn’t know when she had become so comfortable making bargains with divs, but she managed to hold Parisa’s steady gaze as she spoke, her voice never wavering. The words came to her as if she had planned them, because as soon as Parvaneh had told her why they needed the feather, some part of her had known that she was the only one