Shield of Sparrows

My tarkin let out a rawr from its crate.

“Let me sleep.” I buried my face in a pillow.

Rawr.

“You just ate.”

Rawr.

“Ugh.” I folded the pillow up over my ears for a blissful moment of silence. But the guilt might as well have been another rawr.

I flung the covers from my body and crawled out of bed, padding to the crate to pick up my tiny monster. As soon as he was tucked into the crook of my arm, his violet eyes closed.

“You’re spoiled.” I stroked the scales along his spine.

There was only a narrow strip of scales, four rows total. It wasn’t the full armor plating he would have as an adult. And his were hard yet flexible, like fingernails. The baby’s fur was as fluffy and soft as feathers. The color wasn’t the rich ruby red of his mother, but the lighter shade of pink that would someday become his stripes. His belly was so pale it was nearly white.

I shuffled to the bed, plopping on its edge. Then I lay down, propped against my pillows, positioning the tarkin on my chest as I closed my eyes. He curled into a ball and promptly fell asleep, his heartbeat a steady flutter against my chest.

In the past four days, this little beast had thrived. All he’d needed was goat’s milk, water, and constant attention. He was still too thin, but his ribs weren’t as prevalent beneath his fur. His violet eyes weren’t as cloudy.

“So much for the crate.” Ransom’s voice came from the doorway.

For as long as I’d known him, thought of him as the Guardian, it had taken no effort to adopt his name in my mind. It was like there’d always been this empty space, a hole, and I’d been waiting all this time to fill it with a name.

Ransom.

I couldn’t imagine it being anything else.

“I’ll teach Faze to stay in the crate later.” I yawned and didn’t move.

“After it’s big enough to jump over the side? Or after it can shred through the slats with its claws?”

“After I’ve slept for more than two hours at a time.”

“Tired, my queen?”

Exhausted. I hadn’t been this worn out since our trek from the coast across the plains. But I refused to admit that I was tired. That this monster was zapping my energy. “I’m not tired. I’m moping. I miss Evie.”

He’d taken her back to Ellder and Luella two days ago. I’d missed her immediately. I think Faze missed her, too.

She’d been my helper with this tarkin. She’d given him the name Faze.

I had no idea what it meant or where it came from, but Evie had started calling him Faze, and now that was his name.

When we’d returned from the den, I’d worried that Evie might be scared of the monster, especially so soon after his mother’s attack. So I’d kept Faze to myself, staying in the treehouse as I fed him milk from a makeshift bottle.

Ransom had told Evie to stay out of my treehouse. He might as well have carried her up my rope ladder himself. My little star wasn’t one to be told no.

She’d taken a single look at the pup and squealed for joy.

In that moment, Faze was her pet monster.

The fit she’d thrown when Ransom had come to take her back to Ellder, to separate her from her baby, was a tantrum that had rivaled one of Mae’s. But the fortress was a better place for her to stay, where she was safe behind its walls and under Luella’s watchful gaze.

I was certain I’d join her soon. Whenever Ransom was tired of babysitting me, too. I’d be dropped at the fortress, and he’d go about his monster hunting.

Maybe that was why he was here this morning.

Well, when I returned to Ellder, at least I’d have this little beast to keep me company. He was mine, for now. Until it was time to set him free.

“How long will this moping continue?” Ransom asked.

“I don’t know. A day or two.” Or until I had a nap.

“That’s unfortunate.”

I cracked one eye and lifted my head off my pillow. “Why?”

He leaned against my door, chiseled arms crossed over a broad chest. Green eyes. Dark green.

My favorite color.

“A lionwick was killed in a nearby village.”

I sat up entirely, catching Faze before he plopped onto my lap. “Lyssa?”

He nodded.

“You’re going?”

Another nod. “It’s a hard ride. Over a day and a half.”

“Can I come?”

“The only stop will be to sleep and not for long.”

“Is that a yes?”

“Your choice, Sparrow.”

“I’m coming.” I flew off the bed, setting Faze in his crate and ignoring his whine. “Give me a minute to get dressed and pack.”

Rushing to the bath, hiding behind the partition, I traded my long sleep shirt for pants and a ruby tunic that would probably clash with my hair but was such a bold color I didn’t care.

With my hair secured with a leather strand at my nape, I rushed to grab an extra set of clothes, stuffing them into my satchel beside my journal. After pulling on my boots, I strapped the carrier I’d fashioned for Faze across my chest.

When Arthy was a baby, his nursemaid had used a carrier like this. So I’d made one of my own from an old gray dress.

Faze fit in the pouch it formed, and after he was settled, squirming to get comfortable, I secured my shoulder harness for my knives so they were crisscrossed over my spine. Then I grabbed my sword and his bottle. “Ready.”

“We’re not going to war, Cross.”

“Says the man who’s always dressed for battle.” I flung a hand toward the sword hilt peeking out over his shoulder. “Where are we going, exactly?”

“Ravalli.”

Never heard of it. “Great. What will we be doing in Ravalli?”

“Research. We’ll ask some questions. See if there have been other instances that we haven’t heard of before.”

“Okay. Let’s go.” I crossed the room, but he shifted, filling the doorframe with that huge body. “What?”

“Leave the beast.”

“I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“Because someone told me to keep his existence a secret.” He’d been worried that others might try to kill Faze and, in doing so, break Evie’s heart. “And there’s no one to watch him. You took Brielle and Jocelyn to Ellder, too, remember?”

Not that either would have welcomed him in their treehouse. They were both terrified of the tiny monster.

The first night Faze had been here, the night I’d rescued him, Jocelyn had come to visit. One look, and she’d screamed. Brielle had signed the Eight and asked if I had a death wish.

Both of my lady’s maids had seemed more than happy to get out of Treow. Hopefully they’d find life in Ellder a bit easier. Maybe it would remind them of Roslo, and they could settle into a new home. At least until I could send them home.

Ransom scowled at Faze. “No.”

“Yes. You already invited me along. There’s no taking it back now.”

He turned and grumbled something under his breath. It sounded a lot like pain in my ass. Then he walked out the door and jumped off my balcony to the ground, where his Aurinda and my Freya were both saddled and waiting.

“What if I had said no to this trip?” I called down to him. “You would have gotten Freya ready for no reason.”

We both knew I wouldn’t have said no.

He sighed, looking skyward as I climbed down the ladder. “How many questions can I expect on this ride?”

“It’s anyone’s guess.” I smiled as I stepped off the last rung and made my way to Freya.

We set off into the forest, a watchtower guard’s whistle our farewell as we crossed the encampment’s boundary. Five minutes into the ride, I was already lost in the trees, but I stayed beside Ransom, my frame rigid and alert as my gaze swept our surroundings.

He seemed perfectly at ease in the forest. I didn’t relax until we’d descended a switchback hillside and entered a river valley lush with grass.

At least in the open, we could see a monster coming.

The landscape was stunning and green. Indigo mountains cut a jagged line into the horizon. White and yellow wildflowers sprang up through the grasses. The river sparkled blue as it wound through the valley. And far, far in the distance was a waterfall that hung like a curtain over the mountain’s side.

“Ready for my first question?” I asked, breaking the silence.

“If I said no, would you ask it anyway?”

“Yes.”

“Then by all means.” He rolled a hand for me to continue. “Please. Ask.”

“You made me swear to kill you. Who else has sworn that vow?”

“What makes you sure there are others? A hunch?”

“No. It’s what I would do if I was in your position.” If there was a chance I could hurt the people I loved, then I would have made those people promise to take my life.noveldrama

He dragged a hand through his hair, the silky brown locks separating between his fingers.

“You need a haircut,” I said.

“I need a haircut.” He faced me, green eyes swallowing me whole. “Tillia. Halston. All of the rangers in his hunting party. They’ve all sworn to do what is necessary should I lose control.”

“And Zavier?”

“He was the first to promise. And when the time comes for my death, I’d prefer it be his blade.”

When the time comes. Not if. When. He was so certain that this ended with one possible outcome.

“What if there’s a cure?”

“There isn’t. I’ll be out of your pretty hair before you know it.”

I couldn’t fathom the idea of Turah without the Guardian.

I’d been in this kingdom for nearly two months, and somehow, he’d become the center of this new life. The axis I seemed to orbit.

He saw me in a way that no one else had ever tried. He didn’t stifle my sarcasm or snide remarks. He teased me about the questions, but lately, he’d indulged my curiosity the way he did Evie’s. He gave me the freedom to be myself. To stop hiding.

He was a man who’d follow me off the cliff, who’d jump at my side, not pull me away from its edge.

He couldn’t die. I refused to believe that was his only fate. Ransom might have ruled out a cure. But I hadn’t. Not yet.

“So we’re going to Ravalli for research. What are you hoping to find?” I asked.

“Hear, actually. You grew up in a castle. You know how valuable gossip can be. If there really is a person who created Lyssa, then there’s a chance they told someone. Up until this point, we’ve been mostly concerned with tracking monsters. It’s time to start listening to other rumors, too.”

And maybe, in those rumors, find a thread of truth. “Why Ravalli?”

“With the recent lionwick attack, I assume there will be more chatter than normal.”

“Ah.” I nodded. “Whoever created Lyssa won’t be easy to find.”

Not if Ransom had been hunting monsters for years and had yet to hear whispers of a source. Not if they had some sort of unique magic.

“No, they won’t,” he said. “But creating something like this, it’s unlikely they acted alone. To trap a monster. To give it this infection. All I can do is hope that we find one decent lead. I doubt we will today. But this is a start.”

“There’s a chance that people will stay quiet if I’m along.” I was an outsider. Someone to fear, not trust.

“Possibly. Or they’ll leap at the opportunity to have their future queen’s ear.”

I scoffed. “People don’t seem to know I’m married to Zavier. He hasn’t even told Evie. Also, I’m no queen.”

“Yet here you are, helping to save our people.”

I shrugged. “It’s the right thing to do. For all of Calandra.”

He reached out and flicked the end of a curl. “Spoken like a queen.”

“Stop.” I bristled, swatting him away. “I don’t want to be a queen.”

“Tough shit.”

I scrunched up my nose. “Moving on. Have you spoken to any pony riders? They blaze across the kingdom. They probably spread as much news as they deliver. Maybe they’ll have heard a rumor or something.”

Ransom’s eyebrows came together, his mouth turning down.

“What?”

“That’s a good idea.”

“And you’re annoyed you didn’t think of it yourself.”

“Yes,” he admitted.

I beamed, sitting taller in my saddle.

“There’s an outpost for the pony riders past Ravalli,” he said. “We’ll go when we’re done in the village.”

Faze squirmed, awake from his morning nap, and let out a whimper.

I fished his bottle from my satchel and held it for him to drink.

“You’re really keeping the cat?” Ransom asked.

“Did you think I’d change my mind?”

“Honestly? Yes.”

I smiled at Faze. “I guess I have a soft spot for monsters.”

Maybe they were all more than they seemed.

Or maybe this little tarkin would kill me in my sleep.