Luella craned her neck, staring up at Graves, where he stood on the bridge, high above her.
"Come up here, then," he called.
"How?" Luella looked around. "I see no ladder."
"You don’t need one."
She realized what he was getting at.
"No! I cannot." She hugged herself.
"You can." Graves leaned over the rope railing, staring down at her. "I can wait all night here—for you," he said, the raspy lilt to his voice carrying on the wind.
If there was one thing she’d learned about him, it was that he never gave up. He approached everything with methodical tenacity. If he said he would wait for her to come, he would wait until the sun dipped far beyond the horizon and the air grew chilly with night.
She turned her head, staring at the path back to the palace. It was shrouded in shadows. She could go back alone.
"You won’t," he said, as if reading her mind.
Luella stared back up at him, lips parting. How?—
"Your face is like an open book."
She tried to straighten her expression, but his soft laugh carried to her. She was too stunned by the sound to feel anger that it was at her expense.
Her wings stretched behind her, tugging her muscles. She hopped on the balls of her feet, wondering what it would take to catch the wind and rise in the air. He’d made it look so easy. Yet Luella was stuck on the ground, caged by her flightless wings.
They must have been more ornamental than anything for how useful they were.
"This is futile," she muttered.
Luella walked to the base of the large tree, placing her palms on the rough bark. Little divots and grooves were set into it. A plan took root within her.
She ran her fingers over one of the divots at eye level, then tugged—it was solid. Slowly, she began to scale the side of the tree.
With her feet off the ground, her toes digging into the grooves, she hoisted herself up with her shaking arms. Herwings threatened to drag her back. She gasped, clinging to the tree so she wouldn’t topple backward.
This reminded her so much of her time in Solis. Running in the ruins, a book in hand and a little wicker basket of food and blankets so she could find a spot to curl up beneath the sun. Her days of quaint adventure had felt so far out of reach, and yet, right now, she felt like the same heirus Princess.
She closed her eyes, forehead against the bark. She could almost feel the sun beating down on her back, the weight of duties and lessons waiting for her when she returned to the castle.
She pulled herself up higher.
When she was halfway, she turned her head slightly to look behind her. The distance was further than she thought.
She lifted her right leg, searching for a foothold. When she found a place, she moved her right arm up, fingers reaching, and?—
Her foot slipped.
Luella yelped.
The world spun as wind dragged against her wings, pulling her back.
A flash of darkness to her side as Graves swooped from the bridge.
She was falling, falling, and…
Too quick for her to make sense of, her wings lifted, snapping out so harshly that she felt an ache radiate in her midsection and shoulder blades.
