Abducted [W&W Book 3]

Chapter 55

Ildri flew behind Anya and Theresa, glad that they were leading. She felt a constant sense of nervousness and could not help imagining what would happen if her wings suddenly decided to cease operating as they should. Luckily the knowledge of how to use the wings seemed to be a part of the magic, because somehow she stayed aloft skilfully.

Keziah was clearly delighted to be flying with her mistress. She circled around and back again until she finally settled down, probably because she was getting worn out. Ildri kept an eye on her to make sure she was keeping up, the bird was not used to long flights, but she seemed wholely delighted.

After a while Ildri could hear shouts pass between Anya and Theresa, and Anya led them in a slow descent. The feeling made Ildri's stomach lurch but she followed because there was not much choice. They alighted on the ground surprisingly gracefully.

"We're going to take a break, Ivan," explained Lady Theresa.

"We need to eat. This uses a lot of our energy," Anya said.

Ildri nodded and they all sat down to eat some of the delicious food that chef had packed in their bags. Ildri fed bits to Keziah. The parrot was surprisingly tranquil. Ildri was quite certain it was a product of the bird's exhaustion. She was rarely awake and not causing as much trouble as possible. Ildri decided she would probably need to carry Keziah when they went up again. She hoped it would not slow her down.

"You could probably make this potion, Ivan, since your familiar is a bird," Anya said by way of conversation. It took Ildri a moment to realize that Anya was talking to her.

Ildri shrugged. "I'm not sure that I would want to. I'm not really a fan of flying."

Lady Theresa laughed, "You should want to, I'm sure people would pay a lot for the chance to fly. No doubt my husband would have plenty of uses for it. Same with this disguise potion." She fidgeted with the necklace around her neck.

Ildri nodded. "I'll teach you when we have a chance," Anya said. "It's tricky but I think you can do it."

They sat in silence for a few moments. "I was surprised at how easy flying was. It reminds me of when I was stuck as a cat. My body sometimes seemed to know how to do things that I did not know it knew how to do and it's the same as that. It's an odd feeling."

* * * * *

They chatted aimlessly for a few minutes before they decided to leave again. They flew up, which was considerable more work than flying from the castle walls. It was not until they were above the trees that they got really good updrafts and were able to soar again.

When the sky was dark they stopped and risked starting a small fire, which Ildri did with a few drops of ignition potion. They slept lightly and arose with the sun. They redrank their potions and began to fly again even though Ildri's eyes felt tired and grainy.

They flew across the land for most of the day. They kept fairly low and to the most isolated regions so that they would not be as easily seen, but gradually it became more difficult to do so. The forests looked more like the ones around Maxine's house and Ildri realized that they were getting close.

She was really glad that Lady Theresa was there, because she could talk to her own husband. Ildri did not know what she would have said to him. She probably would have chickened out and flew back the way that she had come.

Finally the capital came into view and Anya led the way down. "We'd better get rid of the wings now, they stand out too much."

"We can walk the rest of the way," Lady Theresa agreed.