Page 57 of A Tempest of Intrigue (Tempest of Shadows #4)

CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN

Ryker

I showered and changed before going to find my father. I didn’t think he’d pay much attention to my scent, but it wasn’t a chance I was willing to take.

When I finished, I descended the stairs back to the main floor and strolled through the main entry as if I didn’t have a care. Whereas before, I’d slipped soundlessly through the shadows, I now stomped through the hallway, drawing servants from the rooms where they worked.

Some of them hurried toward me, but a small man with a handlebar mustache waved them away before pulling on the lapels of his coat and striding toward me. I didn’t slow my step as he approached.

“Good day, milord,” he greeted.

“Good day.”

When I strode past him, the man fell into step beside me and jogged to keep up. “Your father has asked us to bring you to him immediately upon your return, milord.”

I’d expected this but acted as if I didn’t care. “Has he now?”

“Yes, milord. He’s in the aviary, and while he usually doesn’t wish to be bothered there, I know he’d want me to take you to him.”

I was sure my father would flay this man if I left this castle without seeing him. He tried to hide his anxiety, but sweat beaded his forehead.

“Has my father taken to playing with captured birds?”

“He’s very proud of his falcons, milord.”

“Of course he is; he’s always enjoyed trying to break wild things to his will.” The man’s mouth formed a small O that opened and closed like a fish. I saved him the misery of trying to respond. “Take me to his birdcage.”

The man bowed his head in relief. “Of course, milord. Right away, milord.”

He was probably terrified I’d change my mind. If I did, he might hang off my leg to stop me from leaving.

Together, we walked down the hall, past the closed and opened doors before making a right. We traversed another hall that led to an outside corridor that wrapped around the side of the castle.

Every ten feet, pillars of stone rose from the half wall surrounding this side of my father’s monstrosity. Those pillars helped support the balconies over our heads.

Rolling green fields fell away from the castle; they stretched as far as the eye could see. Sun glinted off the water flowing through the moat below and the lake in the center of one of the fields as white clouds floated across the blue sky.

I spotted Xanthus grazing near the lake with the other horses. My heart ached for my friend; we’d endured so much together, but I couldn’t take him into the Revenant Woods. I’d never forgive myself if something happened to him there and he became one of those ghosts.

Before we went to war with the nobles, I’d have to move him, and it would most likely be into the forest, as I couldn’t leave him here. My father would make him pay if I did.

If I whistled for him, he’d come to me, but he was safer in that field than anywhere else.

Behind the castle, the servant stepped away from the walkway and onto a path of flagstones. To my right, the garden’s hedges rose fifteen feet into the air; I couldn’t see anything beyond them.

I’d never been inside my father’s gardens and wouldn’t enter them today as the servant bypassed the archway and continued down the hill. Fifty feet ahead of us, an enormous, gold-domed building rose toward the sky.

The trees planted within the towering structure and posts with flat tops blocked much of the inside view. Wire mesh made up the walls of the structure, and the sweet scent of the birds wafted out, but no flutter of wings or screech of birds sounded.

When we stopped outside the aviary door, the servant bowed to me. “If you don’t mind, milord, I have duties to resume.”

I could sense the man’s desire to flee and didn’t blame him; I wanted to see my father as much as he did. “Thank you for escorting me here.”

“Of course, milord.”

The man bowed again before scurrying back up the bluestone pathway. He didn’t glance back. I envied the man’s escape but not his life with the monster who’d sired me.

I turned the knob and entered the aviary. From the trees and perches, the dark brown eyes of falcons followed me as their heads twisted back and forth, but none stirred as I strode across the stone floor.

Drainage holes had been placed every few feet within the downward-sloping floor. The holes allowed the stones to be easily washed, which must happen often as the floor was nearly spotless despite the dozens of birds above.

Damp from the fresh watering the trees had received, the air within the aviary was more humid than outside. Before I reached the center of the structure, my shirt was sticking to my skin.

The flutter of wings alerted me to a large falcon sweeping over my head. A feather broke free and floated into the sunlight streaming through the glass panes surrounding the golden dome above. It drifted down to settle in front of the second door.

Despite the servant leaving me here, my father was nowhere within the building. I opened the next door and stepped outside to discover him standing on a grassy section of lawn.

The man with him lifted a falcon from the gauntlet covering my father’s arm. The hooded bird remained calm while being transferred from one man to another.

When the falconer turned toward me, his step faltered before he bowed his head and continued past me into the aviary. My attention shifted from the falconer to my father, who stared at me with shock and rage.

“Where the fuck have you been?” he demanded.