If he hadn’t been in the practice yards waiting for the ever-tardy Cassi to arrive, he might not have heard Helen whistle, a high-pitched slow-quick-quick-quick sound that could only mean one thing. Rafe looked up, covering his brow to deflect the glare as he made out two figures zipping down from the top of the castle, racing toward the city on the other side of the wall—Xander and his princess.
Rafe flew over the lawn, landing at a run as he pushed his way through the circle of guards waiting for a command. “I’m coming.”
Helen glanced at him, not an ounce of surprise in her expression. “You, me, and…”
She pointed to two other guards but Rafe had returned his gaze to the two descending figures. It didn’t matter, anyway. Whoever else was coming would treat him just the same. And it wasn’t about the guards. It was about his brother—who was, at this moment, acting very much not like his brother. Xander rarely went anywhere unless the proper arrangements were made first, and unless his mother and the guards knew. He was the sole heir, and even though the seven houses were peaceful, and the royal family had no enemies they knew of, he still wasn’t supposed to travel alone—not when so many hopes and dreams and people relied on him.
“Come on,” Helen said as she secured a throwing knife to her belt and pumped her wings. “We’ll stick to the sky, give them a little privacy. But keep a watchful eye, just in case.”
Rafe and the two guards nodded. He felt almost naked going out without his twin blades, but they were resting on a table in his room where he’d left them the night before, and there was no time to retrieve them. Instead, he swiped a single sword from the collection, making sure it was sharp, before he followed the others.
By the time they were over the wall, Xander and Lyana had disappeared into the city streets, but it didn’t take long to find them. If the rising hum of conversation hadn’t been enough, the rush of movement certainly was. People running. People flying. All moving closer and closer to one fixed point—the main town square where a pair of ivory wings stood apart from the crowd, yet also its center.
Helen and the two guards remained high above the city, maintaining the aerial view, but Rafe shifted closer. Maybe he was a glutton for punishment. Maybe he was just being a diligent brother. Maybe it was a bit of both. But he found he couldn’t help but sink toward one of the rooftops circling the square, crouching out of sight as he searched for the best vantage point from which to watch the pair.
They were as happy as he’d ever seen them. Xander spun in circles, shaking people’s hands, introducing them to his new mate, laughing so hard he threw his head back, his whole body racked with mirth. And Lyana was right by his side, kneeling to accept the hugs children offered and threading the flowers they brought her through her hair. The crowd continued to grow and grow, but true to the House of Whispers, no one pushed, and no one shoved. They respected their prince and kept a ring around him, allowing Xander to approach them instead of the other way around. Still, it was an unusual day when the prince made a surprise visit to the town, especially with his new mate, and some of the ravens on the outskirts began to beat their wings for a few futile seconds to steal a quick glance as the couple walked by.
The longer he watched, the deeper the pit in Rafe’s stomach grew, though he couldn’t pinpoint precisely why. He was used to the role of outsider looking in, and this was no different—perched on a rooftop, watching the revelry without taking part. And yet, as he watched his brother, for the first time uncertain of what was going on in his head, Rafe realized he wasn’t accustomed to this feeling, not at all, not when it came to Xander. And as his eyes flicked to Lyana, the image of the alluring girl in the cave—the one who had looked at him as though he might be the start of something—was shriveling away, replaced by a princess he hardly knew.
It was good.
It was how it was supposed to be.
Nevertheless, the gaping hole in his chest that no one else could see ached. Rafe glanced at the guards circling overhead, but didn’t move. He kept his wings against his back and gritted his teeth as he turned again to the square, forcing himself to watch no matter how much it hurt, because there was no other option but to suffer in silence, which he did, keeping his eyes glued to the happy couple. His diligence was the only reason he saw Lyana freeze.
A moment later, he understood why. The air prickled with magic. A static charge made the hairs on his arms stand tall and sent a tingle down his spine.
She looked up, searching the sky.
Her eyes found him instead, widening before quickly dropping back to the square and the people around her. He didn’t miss the frown creasing her forehead or the way her feathers bristled. He looked away, trying to shut out the world, if only for an instant. And that was when he felt the ground beneath him tremble—a small, subtle thing.
Rafe jumped to his feet, alarmed. The shingles on the roof vibrated ever so slightly. The water in the twin fountains on either end of the square rippled, not from a splash, but from movement unseen. He found Xander in the crowd, noticing how his brother smiled at a jewelry vendor, admiring his wares, unconcerned. Rafe turned to Lyana, but the princess had been pulled into a nursery game with some children, holding their hands as they skipped in a circle. He’d experienced earthquakes before, but this felt different, bigger, yet no one else seemed to notice or care.
The fizz of magic dissipated.
Then everything happened all at once.
A rumble turned into a roar and the ground violently shook, sending half the crowd to their knees as the stones along the floor of the courtyard ruptured. The statue in the center of one fountain broke, and a torrent of water spewed like heavy rain. Parts of the river splashed over the barriers, sending waves across the already slick cobbles. Laughter turned to screams. Through the chaos, a deafening crack split the air.
Where?
Where?
Rafe searched for the source of the sound, gaze jumping to the bridge connecting the two sides of the square, to the black arches of the spirit gates, to the stone façades of the buildings around the perimeter.
Then he saw.
All the buildings close to the river were set on low columns, no more than four feet tall, to escape the flooding that happened each spring. And one of those columns was now splintered down the center, a spidery fissure that crept up into the building above. The crack spread, foot by foot, higher and wider, like a snap of lightning cutting through stone.
The world continued to shake.
The stones began to teeter.
The surface wobbled.
A flash of white caught Rafe’s eye. Two ivory wings spread, but didn’t move, didn’t launch into the air like many ravens had done in the confusion.
She was still, shocked.
With her head angled up, she stared in horror at the avalanche of rock ready to crush her.