It was a crazy thought. But it was a crazy bond. And something was telling me that I’d guessed right.
Osprey’s silence was pregnant. “House Apidae, I –”
There was a crash beside the wagon and our mouths snapped shut. Carefully, I adjusted Osprey’s blindfold. If we were attacked and we had to run, he needed to be ready.
Marcel’s voice was arguing with someone – low and guttural and then two more voices joined the mix.
“We search everything,” Someone was getting closer to the wagon. I put my hands on the hilts of two of the short swords in my belt. When they moved the straw, I’d need to be ready. Osprey wouldn’t be able to defend himself.
There was a flash above me and the ruffling of feathers.
I nearly cursed. A spirit-bird was here. Anything I did would be reported. And then what would we do? A cart was not a fast way to escape.
Osprey reached out, his fingers finding mine as if to try to steady me.
I clenched my teeth tight, hands growing sore, I was gripping the sword hilts so tight.
Were my bees back at all yet? I couldn’t feel the buzz. I could only feel my own frustration washing through me like a tide. Forbidding take it!
Marcel yelled and then there was a sound like something hitting a side of meat. The voice was closer.
“Last chance. Come out of that straw.”
Something thunked beside me into the wood of the wagon bed. A sword blade stabbed through the straw and into the cart bed with enough force to make it hard to draw back. If it had been six inches to the side, it would have hit Osprey. Now was the time to act.
I launched myself up from prone to standing in a fast maneuver I’d done a thousand times while laughing and joking with my older brothers. Who would have thought it would come in handy like this?
My swords were sliding from their scabbards as I took in our situation.
Marcel was on the ground, clutching a blood-soaked wound in his head. Skies and Stars! They’d hit him hard.
There were six of them. One by the cart, dressed in his fine blue Claw coat with white embroidery. He was frozen in shock as if he hadn’t really expected anyone in the straw.
Two more were standing over Marcel. One with a cosh in his hand. That explained the wound to Marcel’s head.
One had his pony already untied and being taken to the carabaos where the other two Claws were mounted, keeping the powerful beasts under control.
I saw in a flash that we were badly outnumbered and in trouble. I’d have to do something bold and do it fast. I drew one sword.
“Bees,” I whispered, but only one popped out of my hand, whirling around me angrily.
“It’s her!” one of the guards on the carabao yelled, pointing at me.
Forbidding take it! I needed a better plan.
I reached down, grabbed Osprey by his bound hands, and pulled him up, putting my sword tip to his neck.
“This is Wing Osprey, sworn to Le Majest,” I said in what I hoped wasn’t too shaky of a voice. “And I’ll slit his throat right here if you don’t give me one of those carabaos and back off.”
It wasn’t much of a plan, but what other choice was there? I knew I couldn’t fight six Claws. Above us, a raven screamed, its semi-transparent gold spirit body floated over us. It was going to come down for the kill, wasn’t it? I could sense it the moment before it happened.
“The eye,” I whispered to my bee. “Go for the eye.”
The Raven dove toward us, screaming. It was a big one. Large enough to grab us both and carry us away. I ducked, pulling Osprey down with me. The raven’s talons were outstretched, reaching for us, inches away.
I gritted my teeth, lifted my sword to fight, and then my bee hit the eye of the raven and it screamed again, flapping violently and rolling to the side, trying to dislodge the bee from its eye. It tumbled into a tree and then another.
I didn’t wait for the fall to end. I grabbed Osprey by one arm.
“Now, we jump,” I said to him and then leapt – with him beside me. We landed side by side on the ground and I pulled him past the stunned Claws toward Marcel. “Lean down and help Marcel up.”
Osprey struggled, stumbling as his bound hands made it hard to lift the older man. He tugged him up and Marcel swayed, leaning heavily into Osprey.
I kept my sword close to his neck as he worked.
“None of you move,” I said grimly. “He’s close to Le Majest. Some might even say they are like brothers.”
The Claws shifted uncomfortably, looking at one another.
“Wing Raven has seen you through his bird’s eyes’ by now,” one of them said.
I glanced at where the Raven was shaking its head, trying to dislodge the bee. It flickered in and out.
“He’s a long way off, isn’t he?” I asked. “Maybe even as far as Glorious Ingvar. His manifestation is weak all the way out here.”
“That won’t stop him from seeing all of this and reporting it to Le Majest,” the Claw said, taking a step forward. “And he wants you, girl. And no wonder with that blasphemous bee racing around your head.” He made the sign of the bird. “You should be ashamed of yourself.”
I pulled Osprey along as I shuffled toward the nearest carabao. “I’ll work on the shame. Maybe after Le Majest shows a little shame for his own manifestation.”
The Claws looked baffled.
“Now, the carabao,” I reminded the rider.
“If the Wing is so valuable to Le Majest, then where’s his manifestation?” One of the nearby Claws asked. They were circling around me, none of them wanting to get too close and none of them wanting to let me go free, either.
I pulled open Osprey’s shirt and yanked the bandage from his wound. He hissed in pain and regret raced through me, hot and agonizing. But I kept up the bluff.
“See the stab to the heart? Have you seen that done to a Wing before? Until it heals, he won’t be manifesting anything.”
The Claws looked at each other, uncertainty in their eyes. And I knew I had them. They didn’t dare endanger a named Wing and while they weren’t sure they believed me, it was a plausible explanation.
The Claw on the carabao slipped off and I motioned to Marcel to climb up. He was in bad shape, his steps stumbling as if the earth was rolling beneath him. It took him three tries before he climbed up and I was sweating the whole time. What was I going to do with the guards when this was done? I needed some way to keep them from chasing me.
“Everyone drops the reins of their mounts,” I said evenly.
They looked at each other, but they dropped the reins. They must know there wasn’t much I could do. I had my hands full with trying to get Osprey up onto the carabao.
“To me,” I whispered, and my bee left the fading bird. It launched into the air with a shriek. “Be strong for your size – strong and terrifying. Get these carabaos moving.”
My bee was zipping from my hands so quickly that I could barely see it go, and then the pony was whinnying and then the horse grunted and all at once the cart was clattering over the ground on just three wheels, and the pony was halfway out of sight in the other direction.
The other carabao reared up, crashing to the ground so hard it sent tremors across where we stood. As he reared again, I took that moment to scramble up onto the back of our dancing carabao. He rocked his heavy horns to one side and then the other as if trying to decide which way to charge. I didn’t need him to be happy, I just needed him to move. I jammed my sword in my sheath and gripped his reins, letting him have his head and chase down the road after the other trumpeting carabao.