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The warden pushed open the door to the barn. The scent of musty hay and animals flew at me, and I wrinkled my nose.
Two young stable hands sitting in the hay leapt to their feet.
“Mi’ lord!” the taller one spoke up, his body practically vibrating as he took in Roar and his young eyes landed on the gold snow leopard crest that clasped Roar’s cloak shut. “We’ve just finished putting away as many of your horses as we can manage! The rest are—”
“I’m sure they’re fine. My soldiers will take care of that,” Roar interrupted the lad. “I’m actually here because I wish to teach my lady to fly. Might there be an area where we can have some privacy? A place with a soft landing?”
“Oh, yes. In the far back we keep bales of hay and there’s lots on the ground,” the older youngling said, eyebrows pulling together at the request. “Some of your soldiers are already sleeping in the stalls, but they aren’t close enough to the bales, so they won’t be able to see. And we’ll stay up here, by the door.”
“Good lad.” Roar pulled two silvers from his pocket, which made the younglings’ eyes go wide. Their eyes went wider still when he retrieved a second one for each stable hand. “Tell no one of this. My lady is quite embarrassed to not be able to fly yet.”
The younglings’ faces softened. The smaller one had wings, but the other did not. The smallest one came forward. “It took me many weeks, my lady. My older brother teased me for being clumsy and falling a lot, but I think you can do it!”
“Thank you.” I smiled. “With your encouragement, I’m sure I’ll manage.”
The boy beamed, and when Roar handed over the silver coins, they appeared ready to die from happiness. I suspected that it was more money than their entire family might get in a week.
Taking my hand, the warden and I walked to the back of the barn, where hay and other tools lined the wooden walls. The ceiling arched high, so that if I got a few feet off the ground, I’d not hit my head.
Roar turned to me. “Seeing as I’ve not used my wings since I was a youngling, I can only teach you what I remember. Mostly what my parents taught me.”
My heart clenched. He seemed so unaffected by his loss, but I suspected that was only because two decades had passed and he was good at burying things. I wondered if it actually hurt him to think of his lost wings.
“I’ll take whatever you can offer,” I replied.
“With your scarring, you’ll have reason to not fly while at court, but should you need to . . . Say if there is danger, you should be able to do so and not draw attention.”
“Do you foresee danger at court?”
His face hardened. “We might act with sophistication and manners, but the courts of Isila are the most dangerous places in the realm. Make no mistake about it, Neve.” He took a deep breath. “Now, spread your wings.”
I shucked off my cloak and did as he commanded, loving the feel of my extended wings and relishing how far I could stretch them. Before, I’d never been able to do such a thing. The metal rods placed in them would have made such an action painful, so I usually tried to make sure my wings took up as little space as possible. Squished together, they ached less, much like tucking into a ball when one’s stomach roiled sometimes helped.
“We’ll start easy,” he said. “Flap them a few times. Get the sensation of air beneath them and determine how much resistance they can manage. Vary the speeds as you do so.”
I fluttered my wings, testing out the motions of flapping. Before today, I’d been hesitant to do too much with my wings. But no pain came, and after a few test flaps, I went faster. Air billowed against the thin but sturdy membranous tissue, and for a brilliant moment, I imagined being lifted from the ground.
“More!” Roar encouraged, perhaps noticing that I loosened up. “Go up on your toes! Trust your wings to catch you.”
I did so, pushing up and working my wings harder. Within minutes, they ached.
“I’m already tired,” I admitted to Roar.
“You’ll have to build the strength. Do you have the feel of it, though? How it’ll feel when they catch air?”
“I think so,” I said, still beating my wings, determined to give this my all, even if I didn’t expect to get off the ground.
“Then, here. One last try.” Roar stooped and rushed toward me. Before I knew what he was doing, he grabbed my legs and threw me into the air.
“Stars!” I breathed, not expecting such an action, nor my wings to catch air, but I hovered a few hands above the dirt. “Roar! Look! I—ohhh!”
The air I’d managed to ride gave out beneath me, and I fell to the ground, arms flailing. Thankfully, the warden stood there with me. He caught me at the waist with a smile on his face.
“You did it!” He did not let go and our chests pressed together as I breathed, trying to calm my racing heart.
I laughed, the sound of it somewhere between nervous and elated. “You act as if I soared in the rafters, but I was not that high off the ground. I could probably jump higher.” Proud as I might be, I had to admit that it wasn’t that impressive.
“It’s a start. How do you feel?” His face hovered so close that I could count his lashes, but I tried to ignore this closeness that made my insides twist and confused me. Instead, I tried to focus on the matter at hand.
