They Took My Wings

Chapter Four

Exiting the High Palace unnoticed was simple enough on a normal night. We'd had ample practice at it over the years. But climbing down pillars and curtains while wearing the rock-gown, and without drawing attention, proved more annoying than expected. The dress was heavy. Very heavy. And the skirt tangled around my legs and caught on my claws and snagged on the stone, and I'd shredded several parts with my spines, and almost fallen to the ground numerous times before I eventually managed to swing myself down from balcony to balcony and land safely on solid ground.

"This is why I make my own clothes," I huffed, observing the damage.

Kai didn't hear me. He was looking back up towards the Great Hall, chewing his cheek—a childhood habit that had reappeared recently.

Irritated, I made sure to scratch him with my claws as I grabbed his hand and jerked him into a run.

The easiest place to scale the Inner Wall unseen on a night like tonight—with most of the guests gathered in the Great Hall or Grand Saloon—was to the west, past the Great Library. From our current position on the north-western side of the Grand Entrance, it was more than a mile past the Gallery, through the brightly lit High Gardens, over the High Queen's Walk, and past the Rockery. Tonight, as we crept through the foliage and ducked around corners, the distance had never felt so great. Even so, we were able to move forward with relative ease for the most part.

Thankfully, Kai soon snapped out of whatever daze he'd been in, and began actively participating in trying to get us out unseen.

Maybe a little too actively.

In the rare moments we were almost caught, Kai wrenched my arm out of its socket, threw my back against the wall, and loomed over me to shield me from view. I was so glad he was finally paying attention, that I didn't start complaining about the rough treatment until the third time I almost lost an arm. Kai just rolled his eyes and kept doing what he was doing.

We'd crossed the High Queen's Walk, into the far-west sector of the grounds, and were entering the Rockery, when the scents changed: the smells of beast, blood and smoke were no longer coming only from behind us.

I skidded to a halt, pulling Kai to a stop beside me. "Beasts are in the Royal City."

Kai's face twisted. "But Jassanda is only after the Familiars. Why would she attack her own city?"

"That's not the point. Kai, she's dividing her forces. Not even she can afford to do that when fighting the Familiars."

"Are we sure it's her? Others could've brought beasts."

"It's her. But she's making a mistake. Why would she risk losing?"

As bad as the sudden loss of the Familiars would be to Nethvaria, it would be much worse if the Queen lost or allowed survivors to escape. At least if the Queen killed all Familiars in a single night, it would be comparatively easy for her to maintain control over the shocked nations. But a prolonged battle with the Familiars, guaranteed a world war.

The Balance could survive one massacre of less than fifty creatures, a massacre that would ensure the stable succession of the High Throne. But could The Balance survive a world war?

I turned in place, looking for an escape route. Kai wanted us to wait the battle out, but there was nowhere to go. The High Cliffs blocked our path to the east, the burning Royal City on the north and west, and we couldn't guarantee more beasts weren't still entering by the Light Falls in the south. With the High Palace already under attack in the centre, it wouldn't be long before the fight reached us in the far-west sector of the grounds.

A crawling feeling of being hunted trickled down my spine, even as bile rose in my throat. I glanced over my shoulder, almost surprised when I didn't see claws aimed at my back.