Page 63 of Ladybird

Chapter 15

Regina couldn’t sleep that night, being so worried about Lightning as well as the rest of her birds. She tossed and turned so much that she finally decided it was senseless to lie there any longer. She got up in the middle of the night and dressed, meaning to go check on her birds. Roger had offered to stay in the mews overnight since she didn’t trust that Cassian would hear the thief if he should come back again for another bird. Sadly, Hunter told her no. He said it would only scare the thief away and he needed to put out bait to catch him. He told her to trust him because he had a plan.

“I won’t let my birds be used as bait. Why did I ever let Hunter convince me that this was a good idea? I should have brought the birds to my chamber to sleep with me here,” she spoke to herself, wondering now why she hadn’t. As much as she wanted to give Hunter free reign with whatever plan he had, she still felt like it was only putting her birds at risk. Nay, she had to protect Hera, Dewdrop, and Cloud. They were like her children and she would never abandon a child. Regina put on a cloak and lit a candle, hurrying from her room.

It was dark in the castle with an occasional wall torch mounted on a sconce every so often. It only gave enough light to see the ground, not to mention the mice that scurried to and fro. “Well, now I know where to get some mice for my birds,” she mumbled. Everything was silent in an eerie sort of way. She realized that everyone was sleeping. This was probably the time when the thief wandered about stealing whatever he could get in his sticky hands.

She made her way out of the keep and across the courtyard, not seeing the night guards atop the battlements. Something seemed amiss. For her own peace of mind, she needed to check on Hera, Cloud, and Dewdrop. She couldn’t stand the thought of someone stealing another one of her birds. Her heart still ached for Lightning, making her feel like she wanted to retch. She couldn’t even imagine possibly never seeing her sweet peregrine falcon again. Hope swelled within her, wanting to believe that Hunter and Luke could really could find the bird before it was too late. She needed to have faith because without it, she would have nothing left to cling to.

Regina pulled open the door of the mews, the bells atop the door jangling softly. Still, she did not even hear a peep from her babies within. Odd, since they usually sensed her approaching. When they heard the bells over the door and knew someone entered, they usually at least fidgeted atop their perches. Her heart thumped hard against her chest as her eyes scanned the area, trying to locate her birds with only the light of the lone candle in her hand. Then she spied three stiff forms atop the perches. Usually her birds flapped their wings when she entered the mews and made little noises of anticipation. Tonight, they were as still as corpses.

She stepped forward and gasped when someone pulled her to the side and clamped their hand over her mouth.

“Keep quiet, Ladybird. Or you’ll ruin the plan.”

Relief rushed through her when she realized it was only Hunter. He’d dismissed the idea of Roger spending the night in the mews because he’d obviously planned on staying here himself. Hunter blew out her candle and pulled her into the corner of the mews, hunkering down with her in the pitch black.

“What’s going on?” she whispered.

“If I’m correct, we are about to catch a thief,” he whispered back.

“I hope so.” She waited in the dark with Hunter, but nothing was happening. They stayed there for what seemed like at least an hour before she decided she really needed to go and comfort her birds. As she started to speak, Hunter held up his finger to her lips.

“Listen,” he whispered.

“I don’t hear anything.” As soon as she said it, she did hear something. It was the sound of metal clinking. If she wasn’t mistaken, she knew this sound. “It’s a cage. Someone is here to steal another bird.”

“Wait for it,” he told her with his hand on her arm.

Sure enough, she saw the door to Cassian’s attached room open. The man walked out with not one, but two cages in his hands. He balanced a lit candle in a jar atop them.

“What is he doing?” she whispered.

“Shhh.” Hunter held up his hand to keep her quiet.

Cassian put down the cages and then turned back to most likely get another cage from his room. Horror swept through Regina. The man was taking the birds somewhere and she had not given him permission to do so.

The door to the mews opened, the bell above the door jangling softly as when she’d entered. Cassian had his back to the main entrance but when the bells sounded, he looked up and turned around.

“He heard it,” she whispered, shocked and not understanding this at all.

“It’s about time you came. I told you to be here an hour ago,” complained Cassian. “What took so long?”

“I had to make sure that damned thief-taker went to bed first,” grumbled the voice of another man. “I waited for a while after I saw him enter the keep, just to be sure he wouldn’t return.”

Regina realized that Hunter must have sneaked back out here when no one was watching.

“We’ll have to move quickly. I want to take all three of them out of here tonight,” instructed Cassian.

Regina gasped. Hunter quickly clamped a hand over her mouth.

“Did you hear something?” Cassian looked around.

“Nay. I didn’t hear nothing,” said the man in the cloak who had entered through the front door. He held up a lantern and looked around. Hunter covered Regina with his body, keeping them hidden in the shadows.

“It’s probably the damned birds,” grumbled Cassian. “Lately, they don’t even want me to touch them, the stupid things.”

“I don’t like this idea,” said the man in the cloak. “Stealing birds from nobles is a crime punishable by death. This is was never part of my plan.”