A Flight of Marewings

1

Korinna I

Korinna looked up from the group of farm workers she was supervising and saw her father’s ghost. He stood at the far end of the field, staring at her; she could see straight through him to the forest beyond. Dust clogged her mouth, making it difficult to breathe. She stared back at him as feelings washed over her: shock, rage, sorrow.

Curse the gods’ timing! She had only a few days of the harvest left. The last member of her family was dead. Her father, the duke of the powerful port city Kyratia, had rarely come to visit his mistress and illegitimate daughter at the remote farm at Anoberesovo, and not at all since her mother’s death years before. Yet he had remained her protector from afar, funding her estate, and promising to arrange her a powerful marriage. Korinna had received a letter only a week prior about his illness. The ghost’s haggard appearance told her the outcome.

Korinna closed her eyes for a moment and whispered a prayer for her father’s soul. Then she took a deep breath to steel herself; she didn’t have time to mourn, and she had been anticipating this chain of events for several years. Without another heir for her father’s title, she would marry his warlord so he could become the next duke. But she’d never met him and had no idea how he would treat her. This could be her chance to gain her freedom to the world beyond her small farm—or become a prisoner to a cruel man.

She beckoned to a young boy helping in the field. Run and tell the foreman that everyone must stop their work and go back to their homes. They may gather what they can quickly, but everyone must be indoors before nightfall.

He nodded, then spun on his heel and sprinted away. She turned without watching him leave and went up the hill to the manor.

The four wooden walls of the courtyard closed around her, providing the safety of the home she had always known. Anoberesovo was a modest estate, encompassing enough grain fields to support fifty families, a stream to irrigate the crops from the nearby river, and grazing land for sheep. Servants and guards also lived in the manor, which was too large for Korinna alone, and she could afford a blacksmith, a healer, and a musician in residence as well. As a child, the courtyard with its out buildings and vegetable garden had felt enormous to her. At nineteen, she knew every pane of glass in the windows, every board in the walls. Putting her hand out to the worn wood reassured and steadied her.

Her steward, Myron, rushed out of the storehouse to her side. My lady, what is wrong? You look ill. He put a hand on her forehead.

Korinna brushed off his concerned touch. I’ve called the workers from the fields. Send everyone we can spare back to their homes and tell them to stay there. We must lock the gates before nightfall, and I want all of my people safe.

Myron looked past her to the empty road. Are we being attacked?

I don’t know. Korinna rubbed her hands together, trying to stay calm. Duke Basileos is dead, and his Warlord is coming here. He will want to seal the marriage pact that my father once proposed, and we can’t be sure of his intentions. We must be prepared to defend our home if he comes in force.

Myron spat on the ground to avert evil. Your father is dead? How do you know?

She took a deep breath. I saw his ghost.

The old man’s eyes widened and he cupped his hand to his forehead, invoking Deyos. The gods guide his soul through the Dry Lands. Oh, my poor child.

Korinna murmured another prayer and glanced behind her.

The shade now stood just outside the gate, staring at her with hollow eyes. He pointed to the sun and traced a line down to the western horizon.

She nodded and turned back to Myron. We must prepare, quickly. The Warlord will arrive after sunset.

Myron bowed his balding head and shuffled off to carry out her instructions.

She summoned the captain of her guard next and told him to prepare their defenses, but she knew even as she spoke to him that they wouldn’t be enough. Anoberesovo was not a fortress, and her guards were not war veterans. If Warlord Galenos came there with a company of his trained soldiers and tried to take her from the house by force, she would have to surrender or see her home destroyed.

As the shadows stretched longer across the empty fields with each passing hour, Korinna was too caught up in the wave of activity to stop and fret about what could happen. Her people fled the manor for the safety of their own homes, leaving her and Myron alone to prepare a simple dinner. The guards pulled on their armor and ranged on the wall around the courtyard.

In the kitchen, Korinna rolled out flatbread while Myron peeled garlic for the artichokes. A grate over the hearth allowed them to roast vegetables and lamb on skewers, which only needed to be turned on occasion. By assembling each dish in a line and keeping to simple preparations, the two of them were able to prepare a large quantity of food at once.

At sunset, Korinna left the kitchens and went upstairs to her rooms. Her maidservant had fled, so she attended herself. She opened the windows to admit the cool evening breeze into the stuffy space. A bowl of water still stood on the table from the morning, with a folded cloth beside it. Without time for a bath, Korinna wiped away the dirt as best she could.

The wardrobe was half-empty, holding mostly practical clothing and one red robe saved for festival days at the temple, but she looked beneath these for a small chest. Inside, she found a full-skirted linen dress, dyed a rich, dark yellow with saffron, with crimson embroidery on the hem. It was old-fashioned—once her mother’s dress, a present from her father—but her mother had shortened it to her short height, and she knew it suited her well. She changed quickly from her dirty work clothes. The fine clothes would be her armor, a proper appearance for a duke’s daughter.

Surrounded by her mother’s things, her scent still lingering after all of these years, it felt as if Pherenia was present in the room with her. She could hear her voice echoing with advice: The most important thing you can do is to be confident. If you act like you belong, others will accept that. But if you show fear or hesitation, they will take advantage of any weakness and tear you apart.

From the box, Korinna selected a sapphire-studded comb and used it to fix her hair up into a bun, the nicest arrangement she could manage on her own. She left the rest of her mother’s jewels in the box, keeping her customary ornament: a chain at her throat holding a single coin, the only one she hadn’t spent to feed her people that hard year when the harvest burned in a chimaera attack.

Dressing up gave her no pleasure, and she kept glancing out the window to check the position of the sun on the horizon. When the Warlord arrived, she must appear in complete control, a fine lady running her estate with skill.

Korinna examined her reflection in her small brass hand mirror. Her breath caught in her throat. Everything about her—from the clothes to the work-worn hand gripping the mirror—was the same as her mother, dressed up to see her father on one of his visits. But where her mother’s face had been lit by joyful anticipation, Korinna’s lips were pressed together to hide her anxiety. And her father would never come to visit again.

Her eyes glistened with unwanted tears. She put the mirror face down on the table and held her head high, steeling herself. Whatever was coming, she must be prepared now.

When she went downstairs, she paused by the alcove in the front hall and knelt at the ancestors’ shrine. She touched her mother’s death mask, a small painting, and said a prayer of remembrance. Mama, I hope you can be with him now, she added.

There was no answer. Her mother’s spirit was more polite than her father’s. If she still remained to watch over her daughter, she did so without being seen.

Myron met her in the kitchen and reported on the situation. Everyone but the guards has left, my lady. Supper is finished and waiting on the hearth. The house has been secured and the guards are positioned on the walls by the front gate. No riders have been sighted yet.

Korinna nodded. Well done. We have a little time, so take two guards with you to carry ale up from the cellars. We will need enough to serve the Warlord’s men.

A good steward would simply accept her orders and see them carried out, but Myron had served as the head of the household at Anoberesovo since Korinna was a young girl. He raised his thick eyebrows and grunted. You mean to let the Warlord in? What will prevent him from simply carrying you off and letting his men raid our home?

She held her head high and, with as much confidence as she could manage, she said, I hope that the warlord and I can negotiate like rational people.

Myron bowed his head in deference to her wishes, but he muttered, I hope so too, my lady.

Korinna knew that she was taking a risk, but she wouldn’t simply cower in the corner and pray for the gods to save her. She went outside and climbed the walls to look over the gate. It was growing dark and she couldn’t see very far down the road by the light of the torches. Would Galenos carry torches, or would he swoop out of the darkness and surprise them?

All eight of the guards turned and stared at her. Captain Aeson approached and bowed to her. With his head still down, he said, My lady, won’t you go below? We can’t guarantee your safety if you stay up here.

She shook her head and strode straight up to the edge of the wall, planting herself with her back straight and her chin up. I will watch here with you. I want to be the first to greet our guests.

He raised his eyes to meet hers, pleading with things left unsaid. Are you sure you want to do this, Korinna?

Once, Aeson had been her friend, the one who comforted her when she lost her mother. But she’d warned him that she would leave someday, and his affection for her wasn’t enough to keep her on the little farm. She had a duty to fulfill, and while she feared what could happen if she left her home, she was also excited about the chance of a better future.

She couldn’t make him understand, so she looked away into the darkness. It doesn’t matter what I want. This is my fate and I won’t try to run from it.

The captain bowed again and moved away, but she could hear the other men talking in low voices behind her. Korinna made no outward sign that she heard them.

A powerful wave of fear swept over her, causing her to look up. Dark shapes blotted out the moon and stars, sweeping toward them with the rustle of wings.

Korinna gasped. The guards around her looked up and raised their spears in readiness.

They were too late. A company of marewings—sixteen wyld monsters, captured and trained for the sole purpose of war, each one carrying a veteran soldier armed with weapons and armor worth a year of Korinna’s farming profits—came gliding over the walls and landed in the courtyard. They were bigger than she had imagined, taller than a man by half, and their wings were even larger. The wings weren’t feathered like a bird’s, but were leathery like a bat’s, with shining scales along the back. Their cloven hooves rang out strangely on the paving stones. Even at a distance, she could see their red eyes gleaming in the darkness, and one opened its mouth, baring long, sharp teeth.

One of the mercenaries vaulted off a black marewing and looked around the courtyard with his hands on his hips. He was dressed the same as all of the other men, in tight-fitting leather dyed deep blue with the black trim of the Storm Petrels. Taller, broader than any man she’d ever met, he drew the eye by his impressive stature. But it was the way that he stood and looked around, surveying her estate as if it already belonged to him, that told her who he was.

Korinna recovered from her shock and started to make for the stairs, then stopped. She took a torch from its holder on the wall and held it aloft. Warlord Galenos, she called down into the courtyard. Welcome to Anoberesovo.

She smiled to herself as he looked around the courtyard and failed to find her. Then he turned and looked up. Even at a distance, she could feel the force of his gaze as their eyes met.

Good evening, Lady Korinna. He smiled back, teeth glinting in the torchlight. I must apologize for calling on you so late in the evening.

She handed the torch to the guard at her side, then turned and walked down the stairs to the ground. Galenos watched her approach, and she took the time to size him up, as well. His large size and well-developed muscles were all things that she would expect from a seasoned warrior. What took her by surprise was the dark color of his skin, darker even than workers burnt by the sun. He spoke Meresto without an accent, but his broad, flat features marked him as a foreigner.

When she came to stand in front of him, she had to crane her head back to look up at his face. I would like to extend the hospitality of my household to you and your men. We had some warning of your coming, so there is food and drink waiting inside.

He blinked rapidly in surprise. How did you know?

She hid her satisfaction at catching him off-guard. When I saw my father’s ghost, I knew that you wouldn’t be far behind.

His brow furrowed and he scanned the courtyard with furtive glances. Of course he did. Is he still here?

The superstitious reaction surprised her. Should she tell him that he lingered to make the powerful warlord nervous? I don’t see him just now, she said vaguely.

Galenos shook himself, then bent and gave her the briefest of kisses on each cheek in greeting. We will be happy to join you for dinner, once our mounts are taken care of. Do you have a pasture where they can stay for the night?

Korinna looked around at the beasts. Each one remained motionless in the same place where they had landed; if they weren’t breathing now, barely labored from their flight, she would have thought they were stone. Where could she put the marewings that they wouldn’t frighten her flocks? I have a field of grain, already harvested, which is empty. There’s a stream with water… What kind of refreshment should she offer to a creature that was half demon? Will they need anything else?

He shook his head and took hold of his marewing’s bridle. Lead us there, and we shall see that they are properly cared for.

Korinna suppressed a sigh of relief. She could have sent for her head shepherd, a man with a knack for raising livestock, but she doubted that even he would know what to do with the marewings. That reminded her that she had no servants to send on the errand. She gestured to the gate. This way.

She walked across the courtyard, trying to keep her head high and her steps even. She had to circle around the edge, because the yard was crowded: sixteen marewings took up almost all of the space. On the way, she signaled for guards to join her and bring torches for the dark fields. One of the guards hurried forward to help her open the gate.

The evening was warm, since it was nearly summer, but Korinna shivered. Behind her, she heard the clip-clop of hooves across the paved ground, and she knew that the others were following her.

She crossed to the field that they had harvested the day before and opened that gate. The wooden fence was low, meant for keeping out sheep and deer—hardly effective for penning a beast that could fly wherever it willed. But there was not enough space in her stables, which housed four cows, so the mercenaries would have to figure out how to keep their marewings from escaping.

She stood next to the gate and watched them pass by. All of the riders were on foot, leading their mounts behind them. Galenos brought up the rear.

Before he entered the field, he nodded at her. Thank you. We will come and join you in your hall… He looked up at the sky. We should be ready by moonrise.

We will see you then. Korinna closed the gate. She gestured for the guards to remain behind and hold the torches up for light—and to keep an eye on her guests.

She turned and started to walk back to the house alone. After a few steps, she looked back over her shoulder. She was surprised to see that Galenos hadn’t handed his marewing off to another soldier—like the rest of his men, he cared for his mount himself, taking off the riding tack and rubbing her down with a piece of cloth.

Korinna hurried back indoors. She found Myron hovering by the door. There are sixteen of them. Hurry, we can bring the food out before they come back.

Together they went to the kitchen and carried the dinner out into the main hall: flatbread, roasted artichokes stuffed with garlic, wooden skewers with grilled lamb and vegetables, soft cheese, and a bowl of the season’s first fresh fruits. Guards brought in two heavy casks of ale from the cellar. Korinna also unlocked her stores for a bowl of salt and a small flask of olive oil.

The main hall was a plain room with a high ceiling, a long table, and a hearth at either end, large enough that she could sit with the head of every family in Anoberesovo. Tonight, Korinna instructed Captain Aeson to sit at the foot with his guards, while she took her place at the head with Myron on her left.

Galenos looked around the room when he entered. Korinna rose and offered him the seat to her right, and he sat with a smile. This is a nice spread. We thank you for your hospitality.

The other soldiers came in and sat down around the table. As Korinna looked at their faces, she realized that three of them were women.

Galenos saw her expression and smiled. I thought that you would be more comfortable if I brought a few of my female officers with me. I apologize for our rough attire, but we traveled fast and could not bring a change of clothes.

She shook her head. We are not so formal here.

His eyes drifted down to her fine dress, then down the table. You keep a very small household. Your father did not provide you with any staff to help you?

She shook her head. I have a few people, but every available hand has been in the fields to help with the harvest, and they’e tired. We can manage for ourselves.

While they ate, Galenos made polite conversation, asking about the harvest and how the estate was managing. The other soldiers didn’t speak, and neither did the guards, except to pass the food back and forth and refill the tankards of ale. Aeson kept a wary eye on the warlord.

At last Galenos looked down at his ale. I came to tell you what you already know. Basileos Votsis died earlier today without officially declaring an heir, so now Kyratia is without a ruler.

Korinna murmured another prayer. The Council must be very concerned. Do you know what they plan to do?

He looked up at her expectantly. They’re meeting tomorrow to discuss the issue.

She met his gaze evenly, but her pulse quickened. You’re here to take me back with you to the meeting. It wasn’t a question.

He nodded. Your father once promised me that I would marry you and become his heir.

She clutched the coin around her neck. There was never a formal contract.

His dark eyes stared at her. However, you’re old enough now that you could make the choice yourself.

Even if I married you, it would not make you the duke of Kyratia. She met his stare without flinching. He never acknowledged me as his daughter by law.

That’s just a technicality. You’re his only surviving offspring. Galenos stood up, scraping his chair against the floor. In the morning, we’re flying back to the capital to face the council. Will you come with me?

The question ran through her with a jolt. She stared up at the warlord. Are you asking me if I’ll marry you?

As I said, it is your choice. He did not look as if he were joking.

She couldn’t tell much about him yet, but the fact that he asked her permission had to be a good sign. Korinna stood up to face him, although the top of her head didn’t even reach his shoulders. If the Council will grant us the right to take my father’s place, then I will marry you.

Before dawn the next morning, Galenos and his company had their marewings saddled and ready for flight. Korinna met them in the field with a small bag containing her personal belongings. The hour was even earlier than when she began her work each day, but she was wide awake, her empty stomach twisted into a knot. Her fate rested in the hands of this strange man and the Council, and for all that she pretended like she knew what she was doing, she had no idea of what lay ahead. She prayed to all the gods for protection.

Galenos looked down at the bag with a frown. What’s all this?

She held up the bag and her stomach turned at the tone of his voice. These are what I can’t afford to leave behind: my clothing, my jewels—

He took the bag away from her and handed it to the waiting steward. It’s too much extra weight. We can buy you new clothes when we get there.

Korinna and Myron stared at one another, but when she opened her mouth to protest, the old steward shook his head. Pick your battles, he whispered.

She pulled herself up straight and fingered the coin at her throat. Many of her things had meaning for her—most of them had belonged to her mother. Would he strip away the rest of her identity so easily?

She clasped hands with Myron. I know that you’ll take good care of the place while I’m gone. I wish you all a good harvest.

He patted her hands and kissed her cheeks firmly, so that she felt the tickle of his beard. We will all miss you, lady. May the gods bless your journey.

Galenos cleared his throat. We need to leave.

He handed Korinna a heavy leather flight jacket and led her near the huge black beast he rode. Nightshade is temperamental and doesn’t tolerate strangers. Stay calm and listen closely to my instructions.

Her breath caught in her throat. His marewing was the largest of all: Korinna’s head didn’t even come up to Nightshade’s shoulder. As they approached, the marewing swung her head around and fixed her with one blazing red eye. She curled back her lips, showing teeth like small daggers.

Galenos put a hand on Korinna’s shoulder and bent to whisper into her ear. Try to stay calm. She can sense your emotions. Just take deep breaths and stand still.

She tried to do as he said, drawing in a ragged breath and letting it out again. She felt a little steadier on the second breath. The red eye burned into her, probing into her soul, but she dared not look away.

Then Nightshade blinked and turned her head away.

Galenos squeezed her shoulder. Put out your hand, palm up, and keep it flat. She will get your scent.

Korinna reached out her hand and stood rooted to the spot.

Nightshade turned back and closed the distance between them with a single step. She lowered her head to Korinna’s hand and her nostrils flared; her breath was hot on Korinna’s palm.

Galenos took a pouch off of his belt and reached inside. He pulled out a small, shriveled blue fruit, dripping with some kind of pickling brine, and placed it in Korinna’s other hand. Feed this to her.

Korinna glanced down at the strange fruit—she’d never seen one that was blue before. Her hand tingled where she touched it, and the cold wetness sent a shiver up her spine. What is it?

Cloudfruit. Just give it to her, before she loses patience.

Nightshade’s ears had perked up at the sight of the cloudfruit, and she shifted closer to them, still sniffing. Korinna barely had time to open her hand and get her fingers out of the way before the marewing snatched the fruit from her.

Galenos reached out and scratched Nightshade behind her ear. The marewing permitted the caress for a moment and then stepped back out of the way. She’ll let you ride if you behave, he said. Are you ready?

There was a flurry of activity as the other riders mounted their marewings and made ready to fly.

Korinna slid her arms into the heavy leather jacket and fastened the carved bone buttons down the front. It was too large for her, and threatened to slide off of her shoulders, but she wrapped it around herself as best she could. She lifted her head proudly. Yes.

He led her to the marewing’s side, then picked her up by her waist and swung her up into the saddle as if she weighed nothing.

Korinna clutched the front of the saddle to steady herself as the world spun dizzyingly around her. It was so high. She managed to get her leg up and over to the other side, grateful as she did that she’d worn a simple tunic and leggings for travel, and settled in as best she could. Her legs ached to span the broad marewing’s back.

Galenos mounted behind her in a single fluid movement and reached around her to take the reins. You’re too stiff. Relax and lean back into me, he said.

She tried to do as he said, but she felt self-conscious about his arms around her. The Warlord had asked for her permission the night before, but today all he did was bark orders like she was a member of his company.

He cleared his throat. I apologize for the familiarity, Lady, but I must hold onto you. It’s difficult to keep your seat in the air and there will be no one to catch you if you fall.

Nightshade flicked her ears back at them, and she could feel the marewing’s impatience to leave. Everyone else was waiting.

She closed her eyes and leaned back, trying not to think about who she was touching. The Warlord’s arms encircled her and held her close. Underneath them, Nightshade’s muscles tensed and she sprang forward. Everything shook, hooves pounded the ground, and then with a great leap and a rush of air, they took to the sky.

Korinna opened her eyes and looked down. Her home was far below, and as she watched, the land fell away and soon her fields had disappeared. The farm and its daily grind were behind them. Somewhere ahead of them was the capital of Kyratia and her future.

The flight was over in a few hours, a journey that took several days on foot. Korinna watched the ground go by below: rolling hills, dense forests, and the occasional village surrounded by farmland tucked in between. Then it changed to a long valley with a wide, slow-moving river full of boats. The river grew wider as it led down to the sea and the great trade port that was the capital: Kyratia City.

Korinna had never seen the capital or the ocean before. The farthest that she had ever been from her home was the local temple for the major festival days, almost ten miles away. She turned her head back and forth, trying to take in every sight at once: the expanse of the ocean shining in the mid-morning sun and the spread of the city below her. Sailing ships lined the docks of the bay on the south side of the city, rows upon rows of buildings stretched out in either direction from the docks, and in the middle of the city were three tall, domed buildings of gleaming white stone. She was too high to see the people, but she knew that tens of thousands lived and worked there—more people than she could possibly imagine.

From up in the air, she could see that there was actually a city within a city, one built around the other. The inner city was laid out in concentric circles, with broad streets radiating out like the spokes of a wheel. Most of these buildings looked old—including an ancient palace falling to ruin—except for the three white domes rising high above in the middle. An old wall surrounded the inner city. Outside this wall, a newer city had sprung up haphazardly, with streets that seemed to meander with no rhyme or reason. On the east side, the new buildings were large and opulent, but to the west there were shanties and blocky warehouses. To the north, she recognized the large squares as marketplaces full of stalls. Around the new city, there was a second wall, taller and wider than the first, and outside the wall were deep canals fed by the river. Six bridges led to six gates that formed the entrances to the city.

The strangest part was that the whole city spread in an almost perfect circle, except where it pushed up against the sea. And the ground outside the city, the delta of the river, was all sand. How could the city stand without solid ground for its foundation? The buildings should be sinking into the water.

She tipped her head up to yell in Galenos’s general direction. How does the city stand on sand?

He chuckled and Korinna felt the rumble deep in his chest. Magestone. The foundation of the city was created with magic. It also repels monsters—so we don’t have to defend the city itself.

She looked the walls. They were high, but the marewings flew over them easily. What about attacks from the air?

That’s our job, and the guards’ job. Galenos pointed at the nearest wall and the city guard patrolling along the walkway. He also pointed at three large cannons erected along the walls: two pointing inland to the northeast and the southeast, and one pointing west over the harbor.

Korinna felt as if she were being watched by eyes unseen somewhere down below, as if the whole city was staring up at her. How many people lived here? Many more times larger than the biggest crowd she had ever seen at a temple festival or the Summer Athletic Games.

The marewings flew over one of the gates and glided down to a wide field in the northwest corner of the city. Korinna felt the jolt of the landing in every muscle up her legs and back, sore from the long ride. The day’s work had barely begun, and she felt as tired as if she had spent hours laboring out in the fields. She couldn’t imagine being astride a marewing every day.

She looked around the field and saw the other riders swinging over their saddles and stepping down with the ease of long practice, but she could not hope to copy that movement on her own.

Galenos dismounted behind her and held up his hands to her.

Here, let me help you with that, Lady. His face was a blank mask, but she thought she heard a note of pity in his voice.

Korinna was too tired to protest. She let him lift her up again, and leaned heavily against him for support, though she avoided his gaze.

Galenos set her on the ground and turned to another man standing beside him. Lady Korinna, this is my brother and second-in-command, Varranor.

She looked up and saw the same broad features and dark skin, but this man looked completely different from the stern warlord. Varranor flashed her a cheerful grin, took her by the shoulders, and planted a kiss on each of her cheeks in enthusiastic greeting. Lady Korinna! We’re so happy to see you here in the city at last! The old duke shouldn’t have kept a beauty like you exiled in the country for so long. Oh, I’m sorry—my condolences on the loss of your father.

Korinna looked down at the ground. May Meyrissa guide his soul through the Dry Lands.

Galenos cleared his throat. I’ve summoned a handmaid to take you inside and prepare a bath after your journey. She’ll also take your measurements so another servant can fetch you proper attire. We’ll meet with the council at midday, so you must be ready quickly. We will speak again before the meeting.

Korinna nodded and turned to see where she would go inside. Most of the area looked like a military complex: the riders were already busy caring for their marewings, men and women in uniform drilled in nearby fields, and the buildings were all utilitarian and drab—except for one lavish house at the far end of the field. On the path in front of the house, a young woman caught her eye and beckoned for her to follow.

She looked back to thank Galenos, but he was already walking back to his own mount with his brother