Chapters (42)
- Front Cover
- Title Page
- Copyright
- Contents
- Prologue
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- The World of the Storm Crow
- Acknowledgments
- About the Author
- Back Cover
“Sakiva,” Captain Mirkova said, her Korovi accent heavy. Unlike her daughter, Captain Mirkova had lived half her life in Korovi. “You should be helping with afternoon training. This is irresponsible of you.”
Kiva stiffened beside me, but she didn’t rise to her mother’s bait. She’d always had more discipline than me.
I faced Caliza, getting straight to the point. “What do you know about hatching crows?”
She frowned a very specific frown, the one she’d used since we were children whenever I talked about the crows. “Why do you want to know?”
“Humor me.”
Caliza’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t know anything more than you. They’re all born on Hatch Night, on the winter solstice, but Mother said that was ceremonial.”
“But what makes them all hatch at the same time? And why did they never hatch where we could see them?”
“I don’t know, Anthia. And it doesn’t matter. I’m very busy right now. I don’t have time for this.”
There it was. It doesn’t matter. She rarely said anything else to me about the crows. They’re gone. It doesn’t matter. Move on. I could tell her about the egg, but she wouldn’t care. She wouldn’t believe one crow could save us. She’d never believed.
“The least you can do is answer a question or two,” I said. “You owe me that.”
Something flashed behind her eyes that had her turning her face away. “I really don’t know more. Let it go.”
Disappointment filled me, weighing me to the spot. Caliza had been a long shot, and now even that hope had been crushed.
What if the secret to hatching was lost forever?
Swallowing against the tightness in my throat, I stormed out of Caliza’s office, Kiva on my heel. With the need I had to do something suddenly left without an objective, I felt untethered, my motivation leaking from me like blood from a wound.
I slowed to a halt in the middle of the entrance hall, my energy all but gone.
“Thia?” Kiva asked cautiously.
“I don’t know what to do.” I buried my face in my hands.
Kiva laid a hand on my shoulder. “Let’s go for a ride. Some fresh air might help.”
Three
It felt strange being outside the castle grounds. I’d barely left my room since Ronoch, and I’d never once stepped into the city. I hadn’t yet found the energy, the strength, to see what had become of Aris.
I already wanted to leave.