Songbird's Cage

Chapter 6

Lark watched, feeling sick as Lady Nava was pulled unceremoniously down the courtyard steps, into the cobblestone court below. She was wearing little more than rags, and even then, she had been bared so the tattoo at the small of her back showed. Bruises and cuts marked her body in patterns that shouted of torture.

Nava had been questioned. Brutally.

From the balcony she was on, Lark could hear the other woman's pleas, her screams that begged innocence and forgiveness. She gripped the balcony, and Rory looked to her as she hastily wiped away tears, angry at herself for her emotion.

"Are you alright?" he asked tenderly. She nodded, fearing that if she spoke, what little poise she had left would break with her voice. The crowd below jeered at Nava, and a stone was thrown, striking her. She fell, sobbing.

Lark turned away, unable to watch anymore. Rory walked beside her as she quickly went back inside. She knew that Nava would be executed soon, whether today or in the coming days, she couldn't guess.

"I can't help but think," Lark said, tears stinging her eyes, "that in another life, that could have been me. In a different world, I might have been in her place."

"Lark-" Rory began, but she cut him off.

"I doomed her to this!" she cried. "This is my fault!"

"She's part of a group that has repeatedly tried to kill you!"

Lark sat down on the edge of a chair, her head in her hands.

"What if she had no hand in this?" she whimpered. Rory crouched in front of her, making her look at him.

"She admitted to poisoning you," he said. "She confirmed the names of what was used. I was there yesterday when she was... questioned. Nava did try to kill you, and she'll be executed tonight."

Lark stood, and Rory rose with her. She felt his astonishment a beat later when she wrapped her arms around him, embracing him. Though she was wary of his injuries, her need to be close to someone overwhelmed her. Rory held her without question.

This was the beginning of the trials and dangers of court. Already, lives were on the line, hers and those of the people who had tried to kill her. Lark had always known that court was dangerous, but she'd never known how much until now.

Nava was beheaded that night for treason, for threatening the lives and future rule of the prince and princess. Every man and woman hailed the royal pair, yet neither had attended the execution. Lark could only focus on the tremendous waste of human life, no matter what this woman had done to her, and Aspen hadn't been seen for a day.

The palace seemed to fall into a waiting silence, wondering what would happen next.

It was two nights after the execution. Lark was blowing out the candles around the room - a task normally for servants, but she demanded that she attend to herself at night. It gave her peace and freedom at the end of a day. She was barefoot, dressed in a thin silk nightgown. Rory was in a chair at the other end of the room, reading a thick book in the dim light. It was one of her tomes she had brought from Hidel, a history of the kingdom. At first he had been only absently looking through it, but he had been drawn in.

"This says that King Hajhep had five lions that he kept in his gardens," he remarked. "And that they would growl and roar at passing lords and ladies."

Lark smiled, putting out another flame with a short breath.

"They were tigers," she corrected. "And they were really quite tame. I used to pet them when I was a child."

She looked at Rory for a time, watching his eyes move across the page.

"May I ask you something?" she said tentatively. He looked up.