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We began walking.

His steps became steadier as we crossed the courtyard. Pam and Joseph went ahead with the ladder, leaving us to follow more slowly. Maybe I should have asked Joseph to help, since he was quite a lot taller and stronger than me, but Sten was my patient and my responsibility. I’d woken him. I was going to make sure he was all right.

When the ground became less uneven, I stepped away to give Sten more room.

He stopped.

The hand nearest me had stiffened. His fingers no longer curled naturally, and the skin was growing darker.

I moved closer. Warmth returned almost immediately, and his fingers relaxed.

“How far was that?” I asked.

“Too far.”

“It was about six feet.”

“Which feet are we talking about?”

I laughed. “No one’s in particular. It’s a unit of measurement. But I think your feet might be slightly bigger. So let’s say five gharrgoil feet.”

“Then stay closer than six human feet.”

I looked up at him. “You could say please.”

He stared back at me, clearly unfamiliar with the concept of asking nicely.

“Please,” he said eventually.

“That wasn’t so difficult.”

“It was.”

I almost smiled.

We left the castle and started along the muddy path. Sten leaned on me less with every step, although I stayed close enough that our arms touched.

A shadow moved across the grass.

Sten stopped so suddenly that I almost walked into him. His head snapped up. I followed his gaze and saw another winged figure descending through the grey sky, carrying a dark-haired woman in his arms.

The anger and suspicion vanished from Sten’s face.

“Cairn.”

Chapter 4

Sten

Cairn landed several paces away, his wings throwing mud and loose grass into the air. He lowered the human female in his arms to the ground before folding his wings against his back.

For a moment, neither of us moved.

He looked the same. His horns curved from his head in the same way. His battle scars marked the same places on his chest and arms. Even his expression was familiar, a mixture of relief and guilt that I had seen far too often during our years together.

Yet he was different. There was a calmness about him that had not been there before. The female slipped her hand into his and he held it as if touching her was the most natural thing in the universe.

“Sten,” he said.