Page 71 of Feathered Thief

There was taut silence before the golden horse added, “I do not hold either of you personally responsible for my enslavement.”

“Oh-good!” Twardo blurted, exhaling hard. “For a moment there, I thought we were gonna die.”

Geoffroi turned to look him in the eyes. “Notthistime.”

Kazik hid his smile by casually leaping to Geoffroi’s back, which brought more exclamations of wonder from the brothers, and they all made their way back to the highway. Before long, the friends resumed their usual bantering chatter.

“If you marry Kornelia,” Twardo said, “and Malgosia marries me, maybe we could combine our two countries into one and call it, oh, something like Malnelia or Korgosia.”

“Sounds like diseases,” Czwarty pointed out.

Kazik tried not to laugh out loud. These two old friends were solid. And once they were back on the main road and making good time, Kazik broached a new subject, “About the idea of combining countries . . .”

Castle Valga nearly overflowed with friends and family as Princess Helena and Prince Kazimierz made their vows of love and faithfulness before the chaplain in the castle’s formal gardens at sunrise. Prince Czwarty and Kornelia, soon to be married themselves, served as their witnesses.

Bogumil, Papa Hrabik, Ludwik the tutor, and the rest of Kazik’s gang of former vassal-state children celebrated with them—even the scary little brothers from Plock Castle had matured into tolerable big boys—and much music and dancing followed the simple service. But in early afternoon, Kazik and Helena sneaked out during the festivities to find the golden horse and bird waiting, along with Iga, who refused to be left behind.

“Aren’t you going to tell me where we’re going?” Helena asked as Kazik lifted her to Geoffroi’s blanket-padded back. Riding in a gown felt so restrictive now—she was forever spoiled.

“I promised not to tell,” he admitted. “To be honest, I don’t know exactly. My mother gave Geoffroi directions. Something about an inn she owns?”

Magic had to be involved, Helena knew. Their journey was impossibly quick and delightful. Still, the sky was emblazonedwith stars by the time they entered a village at the border with Trinec and reached a crossroads. “Wait! Where are we?” Helena asked abruptly as Kazik lifted her from Geoffroi’s back and looked with satisfaction at a pleasant-looking inn.

“I honestly don’t know,” he admitted. “We could be just about anywhere, but this is nice.”

Geoffroi and Solara looked smug. Iga merely nudged Kazik’s arm.

But Helena kept shaking her head. “This place . . . It seems so familiar . . . Oh!” She grasped her head with both hands. “I remember! Papa Hrabik and I stayed here on our journey into Wroclaw from Bolislaus Castle! But how could we possibly have traveled this far in one afternoon?”

“Uh, magic?” Kazik offered with a whimsical smile.

“Yes!” Helena pointed at a deserted-looking building on the opposite corner. “That inn was brightly lit and filled with guests partying at all hours. I wonder what happened to it.”

“I imagine you’ll soon find out,” Geoffroi assured her. “By the way, Madame Euzebia thinks of everything. You needn’t worry about providing for Iga and me. I’ll keep a close eye on her. Enjoy your honeymoon!”

“And I shall comfortably roost in the stable eaves,” Solara said. “Congratulations again, and goodnight!” She spread her wings and left them behind in a shower of magical music.

“Iga seems to be adjusting to Geoffroi, but I suspect she thinks of him as a father figure,” Kazik said with a chuckle as Geoffroi opened the stable door for Iga like a gentleman.

“Or a grandfather.” Helena chuckled. “Please don’t tell him I said that!”

Delicious smells greeted them as they entered the inn, and the doorposts and stair rails were wreathed in flowers and ribbons. Spiced cider, a fruit basket, and a plate of sweet biscuits awaited them on a table, and a folded card proved to be a notefrom Madame Euzebia. “Dear ones, please rest and enjoy your visit at the Crossroads Inn for as long as you choose to stay. Love and blessings!”

A small fire crackled on the hearth before a settee, soft music drifted from nowhere, and delicious aromas wafted from the dining area.

“I do love your mother. She thinks of everything. An entire inn to ourselves! It’s perfect.”

Kazik smiled. “I love you, Helena. I always have, and I always will.”

She walked directly into her husband’s arms, sighed in utter delight, and stood on tiptoe to kiss him. “You’d better.”

EPILOGUE

After their honeymoon at the Crossroads Inn, the newlyweds traveled to Mnisztwo Castle and found their home beautifully refurbished. No pocket-world prisons remained on the castle grounds or in Solara’s tower. All deceitful or harmful magic had been banished from the estate.

Papa Hrabik turned down the position of head gardener, requesting instead the role of chief magical gardener. “I understand them,” he admitted. “The plants don’t talk to me like your golden-apple tree, my Lenka, but I know them all the same and keep them in line.”

The golden-apple orchard in its brick-walled garden now thrived in a quiet, protected corner of the estate, its fruit protected by a magical network courtesy of the WMC mages. During Kazik and Helena’s honeymoon, Bogumil had restored the lost tree from King Gustik’s magic garden to its family, offering his sincere apologies to the entire orchard. Arboreal rejoicing rose to the very skies at the return of one lost tree.

---