Page 5 of Realm of Crows (Wings of Ink #5)
Five
Ayna
I don’t fight as they take me to a nearby camp hidden behind the first few rows of trees, where brambles and skeletons of bushes shield the tents from spying eyes.
The frozen ground bites the soles of my feet, but I don’t complain.
I don’t say anything at all until Kaen shoves me into a fire-lit tent at the back of the camp.
Thin threads of smoke escape on their way up from the fire in the brazier at the center of the tent to the gap in the roof.
There have to be at least thirty of them—gray like the winter landscape and wide enough to accommodate four men or more.
The twenty people trailing Kaen and me to the center of the camp disperse at a wave of his hand, returning to their posts high up in the branches or standing guard near the roaring fire tucked into an iron barrel at the heart of the camp.
“Sit there,” Kaen grumbles, pushing me onto a pallet of straw at the side of the tent. I take the opportunity to pull my legs under my body, almost moaning with relief when the modicum of warmth that has built beneath the cloak spills onto my frozen feet.
Kaen doesn’t take the spear away from my throat when the large, rectangular flap opens and Enhela marches inside, a stack of fabrics in her hands.
“I’ll hand you these and send Kaen outside so you can put them on in privacy, but in return, you need to promise you won’t try to flee and you won’t attack or attempt to hurt anyone in this camp.
” Her blonde eyebrows rise on her forehead as she stares me down with the intensity of a displeased mother.
When I don’t respond, she adds, “We know all about your kind, that you can’t lie, that your promises are binding.
So, better agree if you don’t want a group of men watching you while you dress. ”
“People have watched me piss myself.” I give her a bland look, trying to read her position in this group of rebels—because that’s what they are.
Rebels. “And if I were you, I’d think twice about whom you threaten.
I might be weak and half frozen, but I could blow up this place with my powers anyway.
” I don’t mean to provoke them, merely to show them that I won’t be intimidated.
When Kaen’s spear nicks my skin again, I loose a growl, whirling around so fast I nearly tear through the tent wall behind me. I don’t reach for his weapon, though. That would give them a reason not to trust me.
Both humans watch me wide-eyed, their hearts racing as they realize there is nothing they could do to keep me in check.
Rebels , I remind myself. They are on my side. But would they fight for me if they knew who I was, knowing that I’m a Crow? Would they abandon me for what I am, even when they have dedicated their lives to put me on the Tavrasian throne?
Blowing out a breath, I settle back on the palette of straw and tuck my cloak tightly around my body. “I’m sorry. It’s the instincts. I’m not all accustomed to this Crow body yet, and sometimes I fail to control myself.”
It’s a weak excuse, but not a lie either. I do still struggle, do yet need to learn the limits of my strength and my powers. I don’t even know if all my promises are binding now or if I still get some leniency the way I did before I turned into a full Crow.
Enhela is the first to find her composure again, her hands shaking only slightly as she holds out the clothes to me. “I don’t know who you are, but I believe you aren’t a spy for Erina. All his Crows are male; we know that much.”
“Who told you that?” I try to keep my voice level, but the cold is racking through me in wild shivers, making it hard to control my hands as I take the bundle from her.
Enhela doesn’t respond as our eyes meet for a long moment when I grab for the fabrics, and she holds onto them as if to let me know I can have them on her conditions only.
Pale blue irises, hardened by a steel will, but something soft shimmers behind them, something that recognizes a tortured soul such as mine.
“Thank you.” A hint of a smile curves my mouth, even if only for a heartbeat, before she lets go of the clothes and nods once in silent agreement.
Beside Enhela, Kaen is still white-knuckling his spear, teeth bared as he watches my every movement.
I pull the clothes under the cloak and press them to my chest, eager for anything that will help keep me warm.
“I won’t hurt anyone in this camp,” I say, and both rebels’ features relax.
“Unless”—their features tighten again—“if they hurt me . I’ll definitely fight back if anyone attempts to hurt me. ”
“Fair enough.” Enhela nods to herself while Kaen’s spear remains pointed at me.
“Who told you?” I don’t wait for anyone to leave the tent but turn my back toward them while I extract a pair of thick woolen pants from the stack Enhela handed me and shove my frozen legs into them. “About there being no female Crows,” I amend when neither of them responds.
I don’t know if they ignored my question earlier or already forgot I asked.
My fae senses sneak through the tent, alerting me of every shift of the two humans’ postures, and I breathe more easily when I hear the wooden end of Kaen’s spear touch the ground.
Gritting my teeth, I unfasten the cloak around my shoulders and let it drop while I slip the woolen shirt over my head, ignoring the odor of leather and dried meat lingering in the fabric, probably from being transported in a pack with provisions.
They’ve seen me naked; exposing my bare back to them doesn’t scare me—if anything, it should encourage their trust if I turn my vulnerable side to them.
“We’ve heard from someone in our ranks.” I’m not surprised it’s Enhela answering.
She seems to be less inclined to run me through with a blade at any moment.
And she seems to care about my privacy even when I gave her no reason.
I’m a Crow after all. They have no idea who I am.
And yet, Enhela has shown me more kindness than a potential enemy is worth.
Turning around, I sit down on the straw again, pulling the too-large, knitted socks over my feet and reaching for the cloak behind me to drape it over my shoulders and bundle up once more, but I stop when I notice that Enhela is wearing only a thin tunic under her leather vest. She gave me her cloak, and now she’s shivering.
The small fire at the center of the tent warms the air in here enough that my breath doesn’t fog, but Enhela’s arms have wrapped around her middle in an attempt to keep herself from shaking.
“Here.” I hold out the cloak for her, the smile on my lips a bit larger than the tiny thing from before, and Enhela returns it, shaking her head.
“Keep it. I can get a new one from my tent, and it’s my own damn fault if I don’t step closer to the fire.
” With two paces, she is next to the brazier, holding her hands out toward the flames and closing her eyes.
“Thank the Guardians we still have enough supplies to keep a few extra mouths fed and a few extra bodies clothed.”
That brings a less suspicious expression to Kaen’s face, and he takes a few steps back, sitting on one of the other three pallets of straw situated along the walls of the tent.
It’s only now that I’m taking a real look around the simple construction, the lack of any comfort.
A stack of blankets sits folded on one of the pallets; on the ground, four large packs lean against the tent wall, and near where I’m sitting, a canteen of water hangs on one of the poles.
“How many of you are there? Rebels, I mean.” I don’t know if I mean the camp or the entire rebel faction, but I can’t help asking. If I’m right, and they indeed are rebels, the hardships they endure are for me. They sleep out here in the cold—for me. They hide from Erina’s troops—for me.
“We never said we were rebels,” Enhela says with the slightest mischief playing around her lips, and I can see the girl she might once have been shimmer through the lines on her face. She brushes back a strand of pale blonde hair—a shade similar to my own—and shares a long look with Kaen.
The man clears his throat, grasping his spear more tightly. “We will answer some of your questions, but only if you answer some of ours first.”
A deal. A bargain. Something flares to life inside my freezing chest, and I sling Enhela’s cloak around my shoulders, telling myself it’s not the prospect of a Crow deal that excites me so much.
“Three questions,” I say without thinking, holding Kaen’s black gaze.
“Three.” He nods, and the sizzling of the magic of bargains snaps into place as the thread connecting all bargains ever made spools in and out of me .
Enhela looks like she is about to object, but it’s too late, the bargain is done.
“I go first.” Kaen takes a step closer to the fire, shadows dancing over his face and carving the lines around his eyes and mouth deeper.
“All right.” I rub my feet, tucking them under the cloak again as I wait for him to pick a question. At least, the ice seems to be thawing in my toes, and I can feel them again.
“Who are you?”
My heart stutters. Any questions but that , I want to say, but the bargain is done, and I owe them an answer.
Preferably an answer that won’t inform them that the rightful Queen of Tavras has turned into a winged monster.
Kaen pins me with a gaze. “Come on, it can’t be that bad.” His words are supposed to ease the tension in the room, but all they do is make my pulse spike. “At least, you’re not working for the Jelnedyn king.”
Because that would be the worst thing he could imagine. Not that the queen he sacrifices everything for is no longer human, no longer fit to rule a human kingdom. That she has turned into one of those creatures of nightmare the humans of Eherea still believe the Crows to be.
My throat is suddenly tight, my mouth dry. “I’m nobo—” A sharp pain under my tongue cuts me off, and I hiss as I taste blood.