I knew where I’d seen that face before. My eyes widened.
I’d seen its profile on the backs of copper coins.
“You’ll bow when you address me and call me Le Majest or I will have your head,” he said with a slight tremble to his low voice.
My father’s lips formed a tight line and I saw them trembling, as if he was deciding what to do, but when his eyes fell on my sisters and the tiny faces peering around them, he frowned and bowed, awkwardly.
“Le Majest,” he managed in a choked voice, his silver-streaked curls tumbling from their binding band to cover his face as his head bowed.
The soldiers standing in a ring around the Great Room stiffened as if expecting an attack, while a grey-haired Claw with a scar where one eye should be, strode up the staircase into the loft. These were no regular soldiers. These Claws guarded the Imperial family. That made them Swan Claws. I’d heard legends of the Swan Claws and their brave acts. I’d also heard of their atrocities.
In Haberno, they had fought their way through twenty times their number to rescue a single bottle of wine of the vintage the Emperor claimed was his favorite and then cut their way back through a hundred miles of enemy territory to bring it to him.
In Javens, they’d murdered an entire town because the village idiot wrote a poem about them.
What in the world were they doing here?
There had to be thirty of the Swan Claws spread around the room – more than the room could comfortably hold. They packed around us, smelling of sweat and nerves.
A second man entered the house from behind the crown prince. His blue eyes – so blue that they almost seemed purple – narrowed as he surveyed us. From his full lips, a small white stick jutted. He was dressed as an Imperial Wing in tight trousers, knee-high boots, and a sharply cut black short-coat. He made me think of a sapling held back, ready to burst forward the moment it was let loose. Though his expression was mild on his stony face, his sharply trimmed black hair and dark brown skin made his eyes seem even bluer – as if they held some bright patch of the sky inside them.
“Area is secure. No one else creeping around in the rocks or woods,” he reported. He sounded so much like a veteran, and yet he had to be the same age as the prince – barely older than I was. Maybe the same age as Raquella.
Le Majest nodded imperiously – how else would he nod? As if he was play-acting at being himself.
“And the Forbidding?”
“Far enough back not to be a threat. For now.” His eyes were on me, though he was giving a report to the prince.
What did he want with me? I didn’t like that considering look in his eyes, as if he was weighing me and finding me wanting.
He chewed on the splinter and his lips twisted around it in a considering frown.
The crown prince nodded his head toward the dining room and the rest of the Claws pushed into it, shoving Anfrea and my other sisters out of the way.
Glittering swords flashed and children shrieked, leaving a tight feeling in my chest.
“Don’t touch him!” My sister Helissa’s voice was too high, her son Carsell’s sobs almost choking it out.
“The rest of you,” the crown prince barked. “Kneel.”
My eyes bulged as my brothers and brothers-in-law looked warily at one another.
The prince shrugged one shoulder at the Imperial Wing.
“A display is in order. Show these creatures what it means to serve Le Majest of the Winged Empire.”
The Wing pursed his lips and opened his hand.
A huge bird – translucent white with just a hint of purple glow – filled the room above us, pressing down, down, down. It was so large that I couldn’t make out its features. But I could feel the pressure of it forcing me down like a powerful wind pushing on me.
My heart hammered even louder. This was the flicker I’d seen in the woods. It had been watching us. Waiting for us to come home. He had been watching us.
Reluctantly, my brothers fell to one knee, muttering, “Le Majest.”
Those cool blue eyes fell on me as the crown prince waited for my obeisance.
Hatred – hot and sharp – twisted my guts.
Whatever he was doing here – whatever he wanted – he wasn’t worth half of one of my brothers, and yet he forced us to bow and kiss dust for him. Fury warmed my chest in a way I’d never felt it before. It called to me, begging me to unleash it.
I fought the push of the bird, refusing to relent as its pinions pushed against my head and shoulders.
“And you, girl?” The prince gave me a tight smile, but his voice was full of threat. “I’m sure we’d all want to show proper honor here, wouldn’t we?”
Behind him, the Imperial Wing took the pick from his mouth, studying me. He adjusted his stance like he was flexing a muscle – just waiting to use it.
I glared at him. He was pathetic – working as a bully for a prince who was ... what? Intimidating free men on the far frontier of the Empire? That made no sense. What was he doing here?
I refused to kneel to that.
A hand snaked out and pulled me down – Alect. He shot me a warning glance. Even my younger brother knew it was a bad idea to go against the Imperial Crown.
I swallowed. But I couldn’t dislodge the fury welling up in me. It made my lower lip tremble like I might cry. They were treating us like criminals.
“Do the honors, Osprey,” the prince said.
The Imperial Wing’s mouth twisted, his Imperial drawl full of disdain. “You have the privilege of addressing his Imperial Majest, Juste Montpetit. Heir to the Imperial Throne, Lord of the Far Stones, Owner of this land and all who dwell within, on his formal Grand Tour of the Empire.”
I glanced furtively to either side of me. My brothers and brothers-in-law all shared the same look. Barely concealed fury.
We weren’t anyone’s property.
We were free people who had chosen to come to the Far Stones. We had carved out lives in this unforgiving country, battling the Forbidding and its strange tangling, fighting their relentless shadows, taking on the swift and violent changes of the seasons, without flinching and without complaint. No one had the right to pretend our hard work was theirs. No one had the right to own us.
But none of us spoke. We didn’t dare, with the children in the other room. I heard one of them begin to cry softly.
“You will lay down any weapons at my feet,” Juste Montpetit said, striking a pose that was surely meant to be majestic as he pointed at the slightly curled toes of his boots.
Maybe I should be trembling at the honor of seeing the heir to the throne of the Empire face to face. But what was he going to do to us? Rulers didn’t march into the homes of free people to do anything kind.
I wasn’t impressed by him. All I could manage to think was that he was too pretty and too delicate for a land like ours. These stones would break his pretty fingers and smash that long straight nose. Even if he bent and broke us, this land would take our revenge.
“As part of my Grand Tour of the Empire, I have decided to display my ambitions for this great nation to the people on the outer edges of our reign. Starting with you. Weapons. Lay them down.”
I felt like a Forbidding had stepped into my house. I froze, uncertain of what to do.
“Now,” he barked and the soldier nearest my father put the tip of his sword to my father’s neck. A line of blood ran down it as the old man’s lips moved in what I was sure had to be a curse. But though the steel in his eyes was cold and harsh, he drew the sword from the scabbard at his side and laid it before him.