The Raven and the Dove (The Raven and the Dove #1) - Kaitlyn Davis Page 0,2
furs and our hunting gear. Nothing will happen. But Elias is only on his shift for another thirty minutes, so we have to go now, or we’ll miss our chance.”
“Elias? Really?” Cassi snorted, shaking her head. But she eased to a seated position and flexed her wings, awakening her tired muscles.
“He’s my friend,” Lyana said with a shrug, tossing the extra furs onto the mattress before slipping her own around her wing joints and tying the openings at her shoulders.
“He doesn’t know how to say no to his princess is more like it,” Cassi huffed, but grabbed the clothes and started changing.
Lyana watched her, smirking. “Few people do.”
Cassi snorted again as she pulled on her pants and laced her boots. “Let’s go before I change my mind. I’m already beginning to overheat in all these layers.”
Not needing to hear any more, Lyana turned and marched toward the door, the bottom tips of her wings barely grazing the floor. The air in the palace was always warm and slightly humid, but in clothes meant for the frigid tundra outside, she found the temperature oppressive, heavy in a way that made her feathers itch. She slid one of the double doors open an inch, peeking through the crack toward the curving hall outside and the atrium beyond. The palace was a tall, ovular dome, with the rooms corkscrewing up along the outer perimeter, leaving a hollow central core for easy flight. The exterior walls were made from translucent crystal stones, allowing the sun to shine through and trapping the heat inside. But in order to maintain a proper seal, there were only two ways in and out of her home—and both were located at the very bottom of the structure. In a few hours, the palace core would be bustling with movement. Right now it was, for the most part, empty.
Perfect, Lyana thought, biting back a grin.
Turning, she found Cassi over her shoulder, eerily silent as usual even in movement, and whispered, "Let's go."
Her friend nodded, somewhat reluctantly. It was still a nod.
Lyana pulled the door fully open and sprinted into the hallway, then dove over the railing and tossed her wings wide in one quick motion. The air whistled as it whooshed through her feathers, her dove wings not nearly as stealthy as the owl wings following behind her, but still doing the trick. The breeze created by her body whipped her clothes as she plummeted to the floor. Luckily, she had bundled her tightly braided hair into a knot atop her head earlier that morning, so it was no bother. In fact, there was nothing she loved more than the stinging kiss of the wind against her cheeks.
Cassi flew past her as easily as she always did.
Lyana tried to hold back a frown when her friend threw a goading look over her shoulder, but failed. Cassi’s owl wings were predatory, made for a quick attack and nearly vertical as she dropped in a straight line toward the ground. Lyana's wings were meant for maneuverability and agility, not for hunting. So, although she soared as quickly as she could, keeping the flapping to a minimum, there was no way she could beat Cassi in a rapid descent. And Cassi knew it.
“What took you so long?” her friend teased from the shadows as she waited with crossed arms on the mosaic floor at the base of the palace.
The colorful stones seemed dull in the early morning haze, but in a few hours they would sparkle. The floor had been designed to mirror the sky above. At midday, when bright rays spilled through the apex of the dome, the crystal palace became radiant with the power of the sun.
Lyana ignored her friend and spun toward the discreet door nestled on the northwestern side of the room. It was the only discreet door there. The other four, positioned at north, south, east, and west, all towered at least thirty feet high and were impossible to open without alerting the entire palace. Though, of course, that was the whole purpose. One led to the banquet room, one to the sacred nest, one to the arena, and one to the official entryway, where an indoor market was held every day to sell goods and create a sense of community. But Lyana didn’t want official, she wanted secret, so she ran her fingers along the wall, searching for the telltale groove of the hidden back door. And…
Got it, she thought as she pressed, hearing a click.