Page 1 of Feathered Thief

PART I

Once upon a time, there was a plump boy who loved a golden-haired girl . . . and a golden-haired girl who despised the plump boy . . .

Euzebia

Kazik invaded his mother’s sitting room and flopped into a chair near hers, panting and red-faced. “Mama, what can a man do when the lady he likes doesn’t like him back?” he asked.

“How do you know the lady doesn’t like you back?” Euzebia hid her amusement, her knitting needles clicking without pause. At not quite twelve, Kazimierz was the picture of his father at that age, especially the freckles and curly red hair.

He huffed in despair. “Iknowbecause she glares and wrinkles her nose at me as if I stink! You know I took a bath before King Ryszard’s coach arrived.”

“What did you do after your bath?”

Kazik shrugged. “We all climbed trees to pass the time.”

“Did you now?” The queen’s lips twitched when Kazik wasn’t looking. She knew the boys had also played tackle tag.

“I had to pass the time somehow. Their coach was late.”

“You might have avoided getting sweaty and stinky by studying your lessons while you waited for Princess Helena to arrive. Have you practiced animating an object today?”

Kazik tipped his chair back and tried to keep balance with his toes. “I couldn’t focus on magic when she might arrive any minute.”

“What a shame! I was thinking you still might animate something as a gift for her.”

“I can’t do that! Czwarty and Twardo would heckle me forever.”

“Does it hurt?”

“Whaaat?”

“Heckling. Do you like Helena enough to risk it?”

His chair’s front legs hit the floor. “That’s not fair.” Jumping to his feet, he plunged both hands into his already wild hair, a mannerism he’d learned from his father.

“You must complete your assignment, so why not make Helena happy at the same time? You could sneak it to her when your friends aren’t around.” She observed his conflicted expression with secret delight. “Kazimierz, you might also try being kind to her. Compliment her on something she does well.”

He grimaced. “Nobody does that. Why can’t Helena complimentmeon somethingIdo well? Czwarty teases Kornelia all the time, and she giggles and follows him everywhere.”

“Hmm. It sounds to me like you’re pursuing the wrong girl. Next time, choose one who loves being told she’s slow and clumsy like a newborn calf.”

Kazik’s jaw dropped. “How did you—? Were you spying on me?”

“Certainly not. I heard the story thirdhand. Little girls do tell tales.”

He scowled so hard that his dark eyebrows nearly met in the middle, but his mother knew he was considering her advice. “I’ll think up something to animate. Thanks, Mama.” He hurried over to kiss her cheek, then ran from the room.

Euzebia smiled, certain that her son was the handsomest, brightest, and bravest in all the land. He would grow out of his awkward stage eventually, just as his father had.

However, thoughts of his father put a worried crease between her brows.

1

LOVE AND WAR

Kazik ran downstairs, along several corridors, outside into the formal gardens behind Mnisztwo Castle, through a gate, and finally through an invisible doorway. Instead of mountains, he now gazed upon rolling green hills and a rippling lake beneath a pale blue sky. He had entered Geoffroi’s pocket world.

He was just about to call for the golden horse when something bunted him from behind. Kazik turned, laughing. “How do you do that? Sneak up on me.”

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