Satin Rose and the Witch Hunters

27. Invisible Stalker

It's been three days since I was turned into a bird.

When I first saw dad dressed up and sitting next to the queen my beak dropped. My feet were probably planted there, standing in front of that window watching as the entire court came up to him to bow, greet, and offer gifts that I didn't even know existed.

At first there was this sense of impossibility. It only looked like dad, it only moved and acted like him. How could something like this even happen in a day? The last I saw him, he had been in the store tidying the counter before opening up.

There was no way that in the time it took to me to meet the Wloran and transform into a bird, he had walked up to the queen herself and asked her hand in marriage. Yet when his eyes went to her, it looked like he was in his own world and she was more than just the Queen.

Then as the hours went by and a crown was placed on his head an anger started to burn inside of me.

At first I tried to laugh it off. Making odd squeaks that made the starlings jump back. This explained stuff a little. Dad was probably in such a hurry to leave the house that he hadn't locked or taken anything, not even the bit of coin he had saved. Then a thief must have sensed the opportunity and sacked place, unable to find anything but the three dresses as valuable.

The longer the crowning went on though, the more I couldn't distract myself with weak excuses and questions start to cloud my mind.

How long had this been on his planned? Was this some sort of double life that he led all this time? All that talk to make me learn magic, was it all a ruse to get rid of me? What of the pains that have stricken me? The accident at the initiation? The hunters casually waiting by?

All that had happened to me surely wasn't ALL his fault, but at that moment I didn't care. It surprised even me that all that pressure had been riding on my heart and the moment that something to be blamed came along I dumped it all onto him.

Healthy disrespect to the crown my ass. I guess I didn't really know my father.

Even as the anger ate through my stomach, I watched until the end and couldn't pry myself from the window until all the people in the room slowly poured out and then my eyes were staring at nothing.

Why hadn't he come back to the house? Searched for me? His only son had been missing for an entire night and he doesn't bat an eye?!

Beside me the trio were exchanging worried glances when I suddenly turned around. The jumped back and I flapped and hopped to find another window trying to find where he had gone.

I refuse to believe that everything, all the time we had been together, was worthless! Empty of meaning! Only a passing moment! Surely this was all an act he was keeping up. I had imagined him in chains and coming to his rescue. Perhaps he had been forced here and the chains were something that couldn't be seen. Yes, in time the façade would crack. He would rush out in the night coming to find me.

And so I waited for something, ANYTHING to happen. Past the little feast they had after the crowning. Past the afternoon he spent greeting the people in the palace and his little tour through his new home. Past the night that slowly overtook the world. A dark and starless night that chilled. And up until the next morning when he got onto a carriage, the same one I had ridden to come in, leaving the palace in the wrong direction.

That time never came.

For a few hours I couldn't move again. The starlings that left but came back to check on me for what seemed like every hour. They brought crumbs, nuts, even an intact small loaf of bread. It was only when the sun had broken through the cloud cover and a thirst was in throat that I decided to stand. Without thinking much, I ate some of the food pile. When one of the starligs came back I followed him as he left.

My flying was still as unreliable as ever. The bird seemed to notice it though and slowed its pace. Stopping on branches and roofs until we found ourselves in a garden behind within the palace walls. A small bird bath had been set up amidst the rainbow of flowers. Drinking deeply and splashing in the small pool. All three starlings were there. From them I looked closely and copied them, ruffling my feathers to splash under my wings without being submerged.

My mind cleared, I shouldn't blame dad for everything. No, the entire castle was the reason. They stole him away. A new anger started to boil as I hopped out of the bath. I wanted to see what had ensnared my father, what had tempted him to stray away.

I still wasn't entirely comfortable in my bird body, but I could safely jump from the ground to a rooftop without any issue. Another perk that I noticed was how few people actually looked up. It was as if I was invisible to the world, even walking on the ground there was an odd effect that people didn't seem to see what they didn't want to see and if I simply stuck to the shadows few would even spare me a glance.

With this, the easiest path inside was actually the kitchen, where the foot traffic was thicker than the front door. Everyone here seemed to be busy with something. Stirring a pot, cleaning dishes, mopping the floor. Walking on the cat walk above was almost too easy. The birds, following closely, stayed behind in the kitchen. I pressed on, determine to fined something that would make it all make sense.