Previously in the Winged Empire ...
THE CROWN PRINCE TOOK all the weapons from the people of Far Stones and they had no way to defend themselves from the dark magic that lurks there, killed Aella’s father, claimed she was his property and married her in absentia. He is tied to Aella through the healing honeycomb her bees put into him and now through a magic binding that came with that wedding.
Aella was meant to Hatch into someone who manifests a magic bird but she Hatched bees instead. Her allies are Zayana, Osprey, and Ivo.
But Osprey is linked to the crown prince through magic and he’s bound to stop any moves made against the throne. And Aella’s best attempts to free him from this bond have failed.
Ivo has drawn Aella in to be part of a secret revolution – a revolution that he and Osprey have already committed to. Aella’s family – unbeknownst to her – are all part of the revolution already.
The crown prince has a spooky power – snake magic. And spooky allies with snakes of their own. But when he offered Aella in his place for their ritual, she learned a lot of their secret knowledge that comes back to her in flashes. And now that she’s been to some of their secret places, her knowledge of what is going on in the world is growing.
Aella can send her bees to buzz around someone and bring back little visions of what they are up to. She left one with the snake people and sent one to watch over her family.
She fled the city of Glorious Ingvar with a captured Osprey and there are Wings hunting them both.
And that’s what you need to know.
Map
BOOK ONE
Hope that flies,
Hope with wings,
Make us cry!
Make us sing!
Free our hearts to love again.
Show us where, and how, and when.
- Songs of the Far Stones
Chapter One
HIDING WAS OUR ONLY option. My heart pounded as I tried to maneuver Osprey to a safer place inside the line of willows surrounding the farmer’s field, but he couldn’t hold his own weight. Without my bees and their power, he was too heavy for me to carry. It was all I could do to break the worst of his fall onto the sweet-smelling grass ringing the field.
I glanced up at the sky. The spirit-birds wings shimmered as they raced toward us from the city. With every flap of their wings, my heart seemed to speed up. Like real birds, they’d have uncommonly good vision. Which meant I had seconds to do something to hide us.
With the moon so bright, it was too easy to see everything around us, and the fires from the city made it worse. I prayed for clouds to come and cover the sky as I grabbed Osprey under the shoulders and tried to drag him across the grass. The scent of growing things filled my nose, mixing with my fear.
He was too heavy – all muscle and bone. I lost my balance and fell onto my bottom in the crinkly grass.
Forbidding take it!
My breath was coming too fast. I needed a solution right now.
We were so close to the bending willows. If I could get him under there, it could really help. There was a curving row of them close by. But what good would that do if I couldn’t move him?
“How did you get so heavy?” I whispered to his slack face.
But I couldn’t be angry with him.
Maybe I could roll him over the planted field and into the willows. Gripping his shoulder, I shoved him over. He flopped, rolling to his belly. I did it again and again, huffing as I worked. I had moments to get him hidden. Only moments before both of our lives would be forfeit. Oh, we wouldn’t be killed, but serving at the pleasure of Le Majest was worse than death – for both of us.
I gritted my teeth and tried not to think about it, but the worries wouldn’t stop.
I would not let him be dragged back to his half-brother. Not when I’d sacrificed so much already to try to save him. I had a feeling, as the warm breeze brushed over me, and the willows began to sway, that this was only the beginning. What had felt like a nearly impossible gamble would only be the start of the magic I’d have to work to free us both. We were more deeply entangled in the plots Juste was weaving than something stolen by the Forbidding. We were both enmeshed in plots within plots and schemes that would rock the Empire.
I rolled Osprey one last time and lifted the drooping branches of a willow up and over to cover him. Gasping in desperation, I scrambled to gather heaps of old dried grass and fallen willow branches from the sides of the field to heap over him. They were soft and ragged after a winter on the field, but the farmer must have cleared them recently, and they were drier than I’d expected. They wouldn’t be comfortable to wait under, but they would keep out prying eyes – I hoped.
I heard a cry like an eagle in the distance and shot a glance to where the spirit-birds were in the sky.
I had to be faster.
I tried to still my shaking hands and force them to work as I frantically piled grass over Osprey, arranged the willow branches to make it look like a natural pile of branches and grass waste, and then dove for cover, wriggling to slide into the tiny hollow where I’d left my friend.
We’d have to wait here for at least a few hours – I didn’t know how long – but long enough that the Wings would decide there was nothing here. And then we’d have to move again. I didn’t dare remain still for long enough to be caught – and now that I was the wife of Le Majest, he would only redouble his efforts to hunt me down and have me dragged to his side. I tried not to think about what that would mean for me. I tried not to shudder or imagine the ways he would torture me now that I belonged to him in every legal sense.
I wiggled in a little close to Osprey, savoring his warmth as my arm slipped around him to hold him close and keep him still.
What did it mean to be married to the future emperor? How long would he keep me alive now that he’d tied me to him? I didn’t imagine that it could be very long, despite the things he’d said about needing me. I knew Juste too well to think he’d saddle himself with me if he didn’t think he could dispose of me quickly after he got whatever it was he wanted. Maybe it was just the memories from the Hissan. Or maybe it was just my quick death he was after.
I had barely finished hiding us under the dried grass when the sky above us began to grow brighter and brighter. I wrapped my arms around Osprey and tried to will myself small.
Be small, Aella. Be small. Be small.
I was nose-to-nose with Osprey. I could feel his breath gusting over my face. He moaned softly and I clenched my teeth. Had the bird above us heard it? Had he?
Something hurt in my chest – likely fear – but I clung to him. I could feel his warmth through his trousers and mine where our legs touched all the way across the length of my left side.
Carefully, inch by inch, I moved my arm up so that my hand could cover his mouth. Just as he began to moan again, I clamped my hand over the sound.
“Shh.” I tried to be gentle and as close to silent as I could be.
I was sweating now, the air chilling me as it blew over us on the cold ground. I fought against my own body – forcing myself not to shiver – as the air grew brighter yet. I couldn’t bear it anymore. My eyes opened and I caught sight between the willow branches of the spirit bald eagle circling above us. Its claws nearly scraped the willows above me, its orange glow bathing the fields in light. It circled, gave another cry, and then started to ascend again.