A vision rocked me, and I clenched my eyes tight, hoping I wouldn’t see Juste. I didn’t want to even think of him.
What I saw was Ixtap. He and his men sneaking up a rocky shore in the early rays of dawn. They were dressed oddly in plain clothing decorated with embroidery and feathers. It was almost as if they were pretending to be regular Far Stones people – rather than our enemies. But why would they do that? One look at their snake-marked faces, tattooed with the creatures they so loved, and into their hate-filled eyes – should be enough to tell anyone they were not from our lands. I clenched my fists as they stopped a cart on the road, but I couldn’t look away from the vision, not even when they ripped the carter from his cart, slit his throat, and left him in the bushes on the side of the road. My bee buzzed in agitation, zipping here and there so hard that I lost the vision and almost lost the contents of my stomach with it.
I lay back, gasping as I fought against nausea until movement disturbed me. Osprey struggled, wordlessly, thrashing against the branches for a moment.
“Shh,” I urged him, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder as I pushed myself up to one elbow. “Quiet.”
He moaned, his teeth gritted, and eyes screwed shut.
Urgently, I looked up through the willows and around us. I didn’t see any pursuers in the area, but that didn’t mean they weren’t close.
“Osprey,” I whispered. Perhaps I could wake him enough to get him on his feet. We needed to leave. It would have been better to be running hours ago, but even running now was better than nothing.
His only answer was a gasp, the dark fringe of his eyelashes fluttering against his cheek.
“Os –” I started to say and then his eyes snapped open and his hand shot out and he pinned me to the ground, flipping me under him so quickly that I couldn’t catch my breath.
“House Apidae,” he growled, low and deep. “You must not let me get the upper hand like this, for it compels me to bring you to your husband.”
The aching sadness in his eyes was completely at odds with the powerful way he held me in place under him, his eyes roving over my face as if he was drinking in the very sight of me.
“You should not have unbound me,” he whispered.
And he was right. I couldn’t squirm out from under him. He was too heavy. Too strong. And now I was trapped. The moment he pulled us from this willow tangle, we’d be seen by his allies and dragged to the heart of his brother’s court.
I opened my mouth to beg him to stop and then his eyes rolled back into his head and he collapsed on my chest with a groan. He was so heavy that it was all I could do to catch my breath and wriggle my way out from under him.
Well. I sucked in a relieved breath, smoothing my wild hair back from my face.
I was lucky he was still so weak, wasn’t I?
I ran a hand through my hair, gathering my thoughts, and then, with care, I rebound his eyes and hands and checked to make sure our tangle was still intact enough to hide us from sight.
This was going to be much more complicated than I’d imagined.
Chapter Two
WHEN OSPREY MOANED himself awake a second time, I was ready. I’d done as he asked and trussed him up like a captive.
I gently stroked his face as he was coming back to consciousness, wincing at the scratches on his face that he’d acquired as I’d rolled him into this tangle of willows. He’d been scratched again, just now, when I’d had to manhandle him to bind him again.
I could feel his panic at being bound and blindfolded in the rapidness of his breathing. It calmed after a moment and he whispered.
“Still you, House Apidae?”
“Still me.”
“Are we being hunted by Le Majest?” His voice was husky.
“By his Wings. It’s midday. They searched all night and we’ve barely managed to stay hidden. Do you think you can stand? The Forbidding has been cleared from these fields, but if we work our way into the forest, we should eventually find it, and then we can hide in the tangles of infected land.”
“Infected?” he asked.
I shrugged before I realized he couldn’t see it. “If there’s a tendril of Forbidding inside of you and the feather is tied to it, then wouldn’t that mean you’ve been infected? And maybe that means the land is infected, too.”
“I wasn’t exposed to this dark magic until well after I had the feather put into me, House Apidae,” his tone seemed to be fighting off both exhaustion and pain.
“It claims to have a root in all of us,” I said, my hand wandering up to my collarbone and the blazing pain just under it where my own feather begged me to return to its master. It seemed to hurt more when I edged toward Osprey, as if it hated him in the same way that Juste did.
Osprey grunted.
“Can you stand, with my help?” I asked, biting my lip.
“For you, I will try,” he said, shortly, his breath gusting painfully as he flexed his muscles and moved up to a kneeling position with his hands still bound before him. I quickly stood, working to part the willows and rip extra branches from above him. Part of me was hopeful at his movement and another part terrified. We were exposed now. Anyone could see us here.
He was pushing up to his feet before I had the space clear and I dropped the branches in my hands to grab his elbow and steady him. He leaned into me, and at first, I thought he was too weak to stand, until I realized he’d leaned his cheek tenderly to the top of my head, like a hug without his arms.
“Osprey?” I said in a small voice.
“Mm?” He sounded preoccupied.
“I should have told you what I was going to do. I should have asked if you wanted to take this gamble instead of taking it for you.”
“Come now, House Apidae, one night in cold and terror and you’re already renouncing your kidnapping and repenting of forcing your magic into me?” He murmured the words into my hair, a hint of humor in his voice. “You smell of spring grass, and fresh breezes, and new tomorrows.”
I felt my cheeks grow hot. “It’s not right for me to gamble with your future.”
His laugh was husky. “My future has been gambled again and again, passed from hand to hand until I’m surprised there’s a scrap of it left. If anyone should gamble with it now, should it not be the one who owns me heart and soul? But you should leave me behind, House Apidae. I can feel your bee at work – feel it sifting through my being and building something new within me. I know the bee has a long range and you can flee without me. If I’m found, there is little they will do to me beyond sending me after you again, but if they find you, all our hopes are lost. If you must gamble, then toss me aside and bet on yourself.”
I took his arm and began to lead him from the tangle we’d shared all night, deeper into the thick brush. I couldn’t stop the branches from clawing at his face and bare skin, but at least his eyes were protected.
“If my bee succeeds, wouldn’t that take away your protection? Why would your brother leave you alive without whatever this bond is that holds you?”
He shook his head and that was all the answer I needed. He might be very brave, but he was not invulnerable. When the feather was gone, Juste would have no reason to keep him alive. We both needed to escape.