Flight of the Five Swans

Fate Chapter 33

The shawls were almost finished. Raia had completed the fourth shawl several days ago, and was now over halfway finished with the fifth and final garment for her sisters. She progressed much quicker in her work now, as she was interrupted far less often than she had been before. Ayden had cut back on his visits to the garden since the day Raia had given him the butterbur root tonic for his mother—the same day in which Raia had tried to confide in him about her sisters and their curse.

The same day that he hadn't believed her.

It had been a blow, to be sure. She had dared to dream that sharing her tale with Ayden would have lessened her burden a little. By telling Ayden, Raia had hoped to gain an ally who might help with the last leg of her task. But apart from her initial hurt at his reaction, she could not really blame Ayden for his disbelief of her story. Raia understood that even what little she had told him couldn't help but seem impossible to someone who hadn't actually experienced the events firsthand. She had experienced them herself, and yet she sometimes still found herself doubting the validity of her own memory, particularly in her dreams.

Then she would wake, and she would remember.

But soon, Raia would have proof that the story that she had told Ayden had been true. One more day spent knitting—two at the most—and the nettle shawls would finally be ready; her sisters would regain their human forms once more. Of course, Raia knew that she—that all of them—would have a great deal of explaining to do following the transformation. Yet she was not overly worried about this. Raia had great faith in Cliodne's diplomatic silver tongue. She was sure that her elder sister would be able to explain away the strangeness of their entire situation. In fact, Raia wouldn't put it past her to negotiate for peace with Ithcar at the same time. And if that failed, Petra and Thaleia would simply concoct one of their foolproof escape plans to get all six of the princesses safely home to Kyoria.

But first, Raia had to finish the last shawl.

It was late afternoon when Raia saw Ayden walking towards her from the palace. She raised one hand in greeting. Despite the awkwardness that had lingered between them over the last several days, she still felt happy at the sight of him coming to seek her out. There was another, slightly shorter figure walking behind him. Though the other's man face was in shadow, Raia assumed that it was Jhonatan, come to bring her another invitation from the queen. Queen Melani's health had improved as a result of switching to Raia's butterbur root tonic, and she had since expressed her gratitude on several occasions with requests that Raia join her for afternoon tea. Raia enjoyed the short visits in spite of the time they took away from her knitting. The queen had no end of fascinating and amusing stories to tell, many of them about Ayden as a boy. Raia was becoming fonder of the older woman with every passing day, and eagerly looked forward to their little chats.

Raia placed her knitting down on the bench beside her as the two men drew closer. She smiled warmly at Ayden, and was slightly surprised when he did not return her silent welcome. Then the second man stepped out from behind the Ithcarian prince, and Raia's smile transformed into a look of utter horror.

Soran.

His hair was just as blond as ever, presenting a stark contrast to Ayden's dark locks. And that infernal cocky smile still curled his lips. Raia stared in stunned incredulity at the familiar hateful figure. She could have sworn she saw a triumphant twinkle in his eye as he looked at her.

How had he found her?

"I'm glad that I've found you, my dear." Soran said, his voice smooth. Raia's mouth gaped open, and she felt at a complete loss for words. Even if she had been able to speak in that moment, she doubted her ability to articulate any words whatsoever. Ayden's voice inserted itself into the heavy silence that followed Soran's greeting.