Page 65 of Feathered Thief

The fox leaped with a vicious snarl. There was a flash, and then acracklike lightning.

“—out,” she finished lamely, then pressed her fingers to her quivering lips. “Did I do that?”

“I expect we shared that spell,” Kazik admitted, lowering his hand. “He got zapped from both sides.” An instant later, she was in his arms again, her face buried in his soft leather tunic.

“And where is His Royal Slyness now?” Geoffroi asked.

Kazik managed to smile. “His Royal Slyness, indeed. My father, still in his fox form, is imprisoned in Castle Valga’s guardroom. No way of escape, even for a fox. I temporarily blocked his magic. He is only a low-levelburvis, you know, but fiendishly clever. He mostly uses his power to steal other people’s.”

“Hoo-rah!” Geoffroi blew through his nose. “Are we to stand here on the road until darkness falls? Climb aboard! I hear voices from the castle. Everyone in there must be awake!”

“My father!” Helena said, her heart bounding.

“Yes. And you, Princess Helena, need to make a grand entrance.” Kazik turned to the horse. “What do you say?”

Always elegant, Geoffroi bent his knee and bowed low to Helena, who covered her cheeks with her hands, feeling entirely inadequate. “It shall be my great honor to carry Her Royal Highness wherever she wishes to go,” he said.

“And I shall preen her hair,” Solara stated, perching on Helena’s shoulder. “Never fear. Your mane will be a delight to preen compared with Geoffroi’s mane and tail.”

Righting himself, the horse snorted in good humor and flung his mane to the other side of his neck. “In her heart, the bird envies me.”

Helena chuckled. “Thank you both, for everything!” Tears burned her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. The last thing her people needed was a sobbing princess.

To her relief, the bird’s “preening” her rippling mane of loose hair involved only a few pain-free tweaks with her beak and a hint of magic, and then Kazik easily lifted her to the golden horse’s broad back. After Solara arranged her skirts and hair to their best effect, Helena said, “Thank you, Solara, for everything.”

The bird fluttered her tail in a soothing shower of music that communicated deep affection, then settled just behind Helena amid the folds of her skirt. Her glorious tail trailed over one side of the horse, while Helena’s rippling hair flowed down the other, and Geoffroi’s mane and tail completed the splendor.

“Now, you look like the princess you are.” Papa Hrabik spoke with pride. “They will all love you like we do.”

“I won’t let you fall,” Geoffroi promised.

“Thank you,” Kazik said while scratching the horse’s powerful neck beneath that lush golden mane. Helena hoped the fay horse wouldn’t take offense at Kazik for treating him like any ordinary horse.

She needn’t have worried. Geoffroi wriggled his upper lip, and his eyes half closed in bliss. “Ohh, that’s the spot . . . A little higher.”

Encouraged by their confidence in her, Helena smoothed the silken waves of Geoffroi’s mane, squared her shoulders, and lifted her chin. “I’m ready whenever you are.”

“We’ll be right behind you. Remember that you are a princess,” Kazik said with an encouraging smile, “andverybeautiful.”

Helena felt a blush, but she was too happy to care—especially when Papa Hrabik gave her a wink and an approving nod toward Kazik.

As Geoffroi clopped up the hill and around the final turn to reveal Castle Valga rising before them, Helena experienced a rush of memories. Yes, this truly was her home!

Dozens of people, among them several familiar-looking servants and guards, filled the courtyard. They all appeared confused and worried, yet she sensed their hope. A desire to inspire and comfort them filled Helena with courage.

She urged Geoffroi onward, and her companions followed her across the drawbridge and through the gates to stand before the imposing keep. Geoffroi stopped, pawed the pavement, and tossed his head for effect, and Solara flew to perch on a filigreed arch above them. Every face in Helena’s view expressed awe and wonder. Kazik stood at her right hand, and Papa Hrabik at her left.

“Greetings, everyone!” she spoke in a bright, carrying tone, her confidence rising. “I am Princess Helena—and yes, I grew up while you were in an enchanted sleep. My escorts, here,are Prince Kazimierz of Mnisztwo Castle andPanHrabik of Bolislaus Castle in Trinec. Geoffroi and Solara, this golden horse and bird, are also my friends and allies. Please tell me, where is King Ryszard? Has he awakened yet?”

No one answered. The people seemed stunned by so much gold and beauty and magic. Was it too much of a good thing?

Then Kazik reached up, grasped her waist, and lifted her down from Geoffroi’s back. As she took his arm and they paced forward together, she appreciated his strength in every sense of the word. Papa Hrabik and Geoffroi, with Solara now perched on his withers, followed close behind. With such support, Helena’s confidence rose. A sense of wonder seemed to spread through the courtyard as the gathering crowd moved closer.

The castle guards appeared irresolute and confused until a great clatter of hooves and a trumpeting neigh from the direction of the stables heralded the arrival of a glossy black horse. People scattered out of her path.

Kazik called, “Iga, girl, it’s all right! These are all friends, and the guards too.”

Geoffroi answered her with a whinny, then asked, “Now, why has no one mentioned this beauty to me?”

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