Page 75 of Realm of Crows (Wings of Ink #5)

Fifty-Six

Myron

I don’t remember the first time we crossed the waters separating Eherea and Neredyn, but I love the weeks we spend on the ship more than I’ve loved any place I remember living.

It might be due to Ayna’s presence or to the hope ringing out in every caw when my people circle the mast, their black wings a stark contrast to the blue skies above as they scan the horizon for signs of land.

Any day now. Silas said it can’t be long, and he does remember the journey.

“Silas is playing cards with Kaira again,” Ayna informs me as she joins me at the ship’s bow, gazing out into the endless midnight- and-indigo waters.

The two of them have been spending a lot of time together, sharing stories of loss and hardship over a pack of worn cards, and it’s become a friendship that will last centuries—if Kaira’s knack for that particular game won’t drive Silas nuts.

Ayna is wearing simple black pants and a woolen tunic beneath a thick cloak, but the air has become warmer over the past days, and I can almost taste spring, even when I can’t make out a shred of land in the distance.

“I’m glad they are getting along. Would be a long time to spend with someone you can’t stand the sight of.”

Ayna bobs her head, winding her arm around my waist and leaning her head against my shoulder. “I could spend eternity on a ship with you.”

“I know.” Because I feel the same way. “But I’d prefer to have at least an island to visit every now and then and feel solid ground beneath my feet.”

That earns me a soft chuckle from my mate, who spent years on a ship while I was brooding in a forest.

Now that we’re together, nothing will stop us from building our future—not even the gods.

I told her as much when she shared her conversation with Shaelak weeks ago.

Not one sign of the god since. Not of Vala or any of the others either.

It is as if they no longer care for what we do or where we go.

Whatever they wanted has been done—except for Herinor’s mission.

Wherever he is, I hope he finds his way back, if not for my sake, then for Kaira’s and Silas’s and Ayna’s.

Smothering a sigh, I bury my face in Ayna’s near-white hair and inhale her scent. Freedom and something floral, the wind above the seas and a hint of adventure .

“Land!” Ennis sets down his boots next to me, shifting into his fae form, shouting so loudly I cringe to the side, pulling Ayna along and nearly stumbling over the length of rope by the railing.

“Apologies, Majesties.” Ennis bows, folding his hands behind his back.

“We sighted land ahead, perhaps half a day’s worth of travel away. ”

“Did someone say land?” Silas and Kaira come running, cards abandoned in the shadow of the mast.

“Let’s hope whoever owns that land won’t disapprove of our arrival,” Ayna comments, craning her neck to see what lies ahead.

“And if they do, we’ll continue.” I don’t expect to find a realm waiting for us with open arms—and I’m not ready to drive others out of theirs so I can make a home for our thirty Crows and our court. “We’ll find a new home.”

“We will.” With a quick hand, Ayna grabs for the rope ladder, climbing like she’s never done anything else in her life, and when she reaches the crow’s nest at the top, a whooping sound carries across the ship.

I shift in a flash, fluttering up to see what she does, landing at the rim of the crow’s nest right next to Ayna’s hand.

It is beautiful. Even from this distance, I can make out a white sandy beach stretching along the shore.

Behind it, greens and browns spread inland.

With every hour we stay up there, more of the land is revealed, a tall spire in the north, surrounded by a small settlement.

The dark stone of what has to be a tower of sorts.

A few fisher boats tied to a narrow pier.

When the waters get too shallow to continue, we take the three rowing boats to water and proceed to the shore with shaky hands and hope in our hearts .

Not a single soul comes out of their wooden huts, despite the signs of obvious occupation. Both the wooden buildings and the fisher boats can’t be older than a few months. The tower north of them seems to be the only building that’s been sitting here for centuries.

“Home.” Silas falls to his knees in the wet sand before he even sets foot out of the water, digging both hands into the ground. “We’re home.”

Both Ayna and Kaira leap off the boat into the considerably warm water, their boots splashing toward the shore.

“I recognize this,” Kaira shouts, setting foot onto dry ground. “From Herinor’s memories. This is where he met—” She turns around, searching for me, and I know what she’s about to say.

“My mother,” I finish for her, following onto land. “This is where he met Myrion.” My heart throbs once at the memory of my mother’s fearless character.

“I wish I’d known her.” Ayna holds out her hand to me, and I take it, letting her guide me up the sandy dunes until we stand on a patch of grass near the wooden buildings where I could swear I hear hearts beating.

“So do I.” But it’s almost like I can feel her here, where her feet walked the lands.

Ennis and Gorrey join us alongside Royad, who has taken on the task of organizing the remaining Crows into a hierarchy. Ennis and Gorrey have become part of the royal guard, so has a male called Frenius, who claims he helped Herinor find Erina.

“What would you like us to do, Your Majesty?” Frenius asks, hand on the pommel of his sword, but I don’t need to respond .

Ayna is already marching for the first hut, hand raised to knock on the narrow door. “Let’s say hello before we decide what we shall do.” Her grin is infectious, so is the beaming face of the male opening the door Ayna chooses to announce our arrival.

“Queen Wolayna!” None of us is fast enough to draw a weapon or conjure magic as the male wraps the Crow Queen in a tight hug—none but Kaira, whose power is a flicker of fire simmering an inch from the male’s hair.

“Let her go,” she demands, stepping closer.

The male only realizes the fire when he pulls away, holding Ayna at arm’s length. “Apologies, Your Majesty. It’s just—” He searches for words, eyes wandering up and down Ayna’s form. “I just didn’t expect to see you again.”

I trust Ayna to defend herself if need be—she’s the product of both Shaelak’s and Vala’s magic after all, and a queen in her own right—but I do feel better stepping to her side so I can squeeze the life out of the male should he as much as think of hurting her. “Did you expect to see me ?”

The male drops to his knees, blond curls shifting as he bows his head so low I nearly fail to recognize him. “Alvary?”

“At your service, Your Majesty.” Lifting his head, he smiles up at me, brown eyes full of warmth at my recognition.

His tan skin is darker than I remember, after weeks at sea and living at the beach instead of in a dark place in a forest, but he looks healthy and happy enough to see me.

“You’re alive. And you’re here.” He jumps to his feet, shifting to his bird form in the process and fluttering above our heads to the highest point of the tower behind the huts .

His caws ring out over the land, and I spot black birds emerging from the nearby trees, from windows, and from the foot of the tower.

Silas is running toward us, sand spraying where his powerful legs hit the ground. “They are here!” he shouts. “They found the ancient Crow Palace.”

He gestures at the tower, and my heart threatens to leap out of my chest as, together, we march toward the foot of what he called a palace.

Eighteen Crows stand in front of the massive building now, Alvary one of them. I recognize each and every face despite the beaked and feathered versions of them I remember having looked upon all my life.

The missing Crows. The ones who fled the Seeing Forest while Royad, Silas, Herinor, and I went on a hunt for the Crow Queen. As Ayna and I step before them, flanked by Royad, Silas, Kaira, Ennis, and Frenius, they lower themselves to their knees as one.

“We found it abandoned, my king”—Alvary gestures at the tower behind him—“and have been spending the past months fixing what can be fixed and rebuilding what needs to be rebuilt.”

All I can do is stare open-mouthed at the black tower that seems to be shimmering with shades of purple, indigo, and green. Hints of gold reflect on the windowsills high up, the sunlight bouncing along the facade in patterns that remind me of claws and feathers.

“We invested a lot of time in the detail,” Alvary amends with a smile. “You know, so no one will doubt this palace belongs to the Crows. ”

With a hand, I gesture for the Crows to get to their feet, and as they do, the sight of all of them, and this palace?—

I can’t help but see it: a future. Fifty-two Crows and one Flame. Together, we will rebuild this court.

Alvary gives us a tour of the makeshift village and the palace, showing us the rooms that have been readied to inhabit along the lower parts of the building, and the ones high up, where the staircase spiraling toward the top of the structure has been splintered and broken, and we need to shift into our bird forms to reach it.

Shattered stone and rotting wood greet us in every room, but there is enough space for all of us to live in this tower eventually, all Crows together in one place.

The basement is an entirely different story.

A stone fighting pit framed with high walls defines the heart of it with tunnels leading to cells filled with bone dust and remains of skeletons.

Metal chains hang loosely from the cracked walls, and thick, iron bars tell stories of the monsters once contained down here.

“The Crows did this?” Ayna asks in a hushed tone as we follow Alvary along the dungeons.

The male shakes his head. “The original cells in the eastern part have been here from the beginning, but the rest is new. Whoever added it must have done unspeakable things down here.”

“I don’t even want to know,” Kaira says from a few steps behind, and I tend to agree.

“It’s a story we might never learn,” Royad says in that calm way of his, and I can’t help but notice the horror in his eyes as I observe my cousin studying our surroundings. “Who knows if anyone of the years of such horrors still lives to tell the tale.”

“What would you like us to do with the dungeons?” Alvary asks, stopping back at the pit after a round through the tunnels.

Ayna and I share a look, the bond between us flaring with the magic of our connection as we silently agree upon a direction.

“Seal them. All of them except for the original cells. Let’s put the place of slaughter into the past.” Ayna smiles at me as I verbalize what we both want. “This is an era of peace for the Crows.”

Ayna takes my hand, squeezing it as we make our way back above ground.

While we were taking a look at the horrors of the past, the rest of the Crows have come ashore from the ship, and when we enter the entrance hall of polished black stone and shimmering highlights, I am reminded of Rogue’s glimmering palace.

The Crows part for us, forming a corridor leading to the center of the room, where two thrones of carved black stone have been placed since we started the tour in exactly that spot.

“What do you think?” Alvary asks, shaking blond curls back, and I can’t help but return his grin.

“Perfect,” Ayna takes the word right out of my mouth. “It is perfect.”