The Raven and the Dove (The Raven and the Dove, #1)

by Kaitlyn Davis

Lyana stepped closer to her sibling, widening her eyes, silently pleading. Her wings lifted and shifted just enough to make her appear small and fragile, like the innocent little sister he still saw her as, despite the evidence to the contrary. A slight wobbling of her lower lip puffed it into a pout. She didn’t have to turn to see her best friend roll her eyes—she just felt it without looking. Her brother’s icy exterior began to melt. Deep in his honey irises, she could see the shell cracking. He closed his eyes tightly and released a loud, frustrated breath as his body slackened with defeat. “Every time,” he muttered.

Patience, Lyana thought, hearing the voice of her mother in the back of her mind. Patience. The lesson her parents always tried to teach—the one she had never bothered to learn.

I expected something…larger? Grander? I don’t know…” He gestured with his hands. “More.” Xander laughed. “You’ve always been difficult to please.” “Me?” Rafe touched his heart in feigned denial. “Maybe I just have high standards. There’s nothing wrong with that.” “Maybe you’re just too stubborn for your own good,”

Lyana felt the raven’s scream all the way to her core, as though a fist had taken hold of her insides and yanked, ripping everything out of place. She’d never heard such anguish, such pain. She’d never seen such bravery.

Luka tossed her a sidelong glare. Talking back just made everything worse—for Luka, maybe. But if there was one person Lyana knew how to manipulate, it was her father. And she meant that in the most adoring way possible.

Luka snorted. Lyana stopped herself from wrinkling her nose at him. The delivery was a bit dramatic perhaps, but it worked. Her father relaxed. “I pray the gods give you a mate with some backbone, daughter. May the skies help him if he doesn’t have the wits to tell you no.” “Aw, that’s not true.” Lyana smiled at him as she stepped back, laughter bubbling in her throat. “You hope I find a mate just like you, so I can wrap him around my little finger.”

Rafe and I? We’re two sides of the same coin. Where I’m patient, he’s rash. When I plan, he acts. If I smile, he frowns.

Logic. She hated when Cassi wielded logic like a weapon against her. It was frustratingly effective.

Lyana shrugged. “I don’t care. I don’t need to. He’s going to be my mate, whether he wants to or not.”

“Oh, Cassi? My dearest, bestest friend in the whole wide world?” She wasn’t sure how long she’d been lying there, perfectly still, exhausted and worn out. But the sound of that singsong voice gave her new energy—not that she’d ever let Lyana know it. Instead, she groaned, feigning pain. “You’re here already?” Exuberant as always, Lyana jumped onto the bed, making Cassi bounce with it. “I am. So it’s time to get up, because we have a big day ahead.” Cassi couldn’t help but grin. Her best friend's joy was infectious. And

Wow.” She stopped short when her eyes landed on his face, jaw falling open. It promptly closed as a smile tugged at her lips, one she visibly struggled to control. “You look…clean.” An amused grin widened his cheeks. “It’s amazing what a difference water and a fresh rag can make.” “I’ll say." She coughed, clearing her throat, but her gaze lingered on his features, slowly taking them in. Why does she look so excited? So eager?

But he couldn’t stop his gaze from rising. It skimmed the metallic fabric of her gown, the graceful arch of her neck, and traveled over the lush lips below her ivory mask to the emerald eyes open in eager wonder. Rafe couldn’t move a single muscle.

Her eyes began to sparkle with mischief and mirth. A smile curved her lips. With his hand still beneath hers, she formed a fist, crushing the stone he’d so carefully placed. When her fingers opened, a perfect, dazzling diamond sat in the center of the ashy dust. Somewhere in the world, Taetanos was laughing, Rafe was sure. But when he finally stood, the only sound he heard was the soft giggle spilling from her lips, striking him like a knife to the gut. He stumbled back to the mosaic floor and knelt before the offering basket, holding a gilded dagger above his head like a gift to his own executioner.

Her prince retreated swiftly and knelt with his offering, but the sensation of his fingers lingered on her skin, as did the sight of those eyes growing wide with shock. She had hoped to get a smile out of him, or some sort of sign that he was glad to see her, that her surprise had been a welcome one, anything really, even the slightest wobble of his lips. Oh well… She sighed softly, undeterred.

Two can play at that game, she thought, pointedly keeping her face turned forward. Princess Lyana Aethionus chased after no man. After all, why would she when it would be oh, so easy to get him to chase after her?

Three of the princes surrounded the dove as she held court, asking question after question, smile growing wider as she continued sipping on hummingbird nectar. His fingers balled into fists when he watched her reach out and squeeze the arms of the smug purple-winged jerk who kept flashing his dimples as though they were some sort of prized possession.

He refused to apologize, instead offering a shrug. “I’m perfectly adequate.” “Oh, yes, well,” she mused, rolling her eyes. “Perfectly adequate is the dream, I guess.” Lysander frowned. “I’m much better without a chatty princess distracting me from the steps.” “I’ve heard that men aren’t very good at performing several tasks at the same time, but I never really understood the statement until now.”

She tried to step back, but the raven prince held her firmly. He paused with his mouth hardly an inch from her ear, the edges of their masks touching. His breath was warm as it brushed over her neck, making her skin tingle with awareness of him. “I’m not who you think I am,” he confessed softly.

It doesn’t matter who she picks as her mate, because she’s the queen who was prophesized. My queen. The queen who will save us all. And her mate is fifteen thousand feet below, waiting for her on a foggy sea. What happens in these trials is inconsequential. Irrelevant. It doesn’t matter.

He was doing that infuriatingly adorable thing of pretending she didn’t exist—heavy on the infuriating.

Her hunting leathers had been specially designed to hold daggers, and Lyana had no problem letting everyone in the room guess her skill level while she prepared, taking her time, feeling the weight of each blade, not paying attention as the other princesses took their turns. “Stop showing off,” Luka murmured, but his tone was playful. Lyana glanced at him as she snapped the last buckle into place. “Now, why would I do that?”

One man with his gaze on the ground. One prince pointedly studying his toes. One raven who would ignore her no longer. Because there was winning a trial, and winning a heart.

Straightening her back, she proudly lifted her chin. “I dare him to even attempt to tell me no.” They both knew what that no entailed. Cassi closed her eyes and pretended to shudder. “I pity the man who tries to deny you.” Lyana grinned. “I do too, my friend. I do too.”

Cassi fluttered over to answer, in case it was a raven, but Luka forced the door open. He paused in the doorway, looking at her for a moment before nodding awkwardly in greeting. Cassi stepped back and glanced away, giving him the opening to race across the room and crush his sister in an embrace—one which Lyana reciprocated wholeheartedly.

Lyana would never fit the mold he’d imagined his mate would, a quiet life companion, a figure of reserved strength, a ruler more like him. She was more than a princess. She was a force. If anyone could bring color to a house made of black, it was she. If anyone could return laughter to streets that had grown quiet from so much misfortune, it was she. If anyone could erase the past and restore the future, it was she.

something like the princess currently dining with Xander and the wonder in her eyes as she’d stuck her arms into the waterfall. It was the same expression she’d worn when he’d shown her his magic, as though it wasn’t something to fear but to celebrate—as though he wasn’t someone to fear but to celebrate.

“I don’t know what I’d do without you, Cassi,” Lyana whispered as she pulled her friend in for a tight embrace. “You won’t ever have to find out,” Cassi replied, voice earnest and certain. “That’s a promise.”

until all at once the entire façade toppled, dropping almost in slow motion as the wall of solid stone made for her head, falling, falling, falling— Something slammed into her from the side. Lyana rolled painfully across cobblestone. Arms wrapped around her, holding her to a hard chest and closing her wings. The world disappeared as onyx feathers arched overhead. “I’ve got you.”

He looked at her, heart thudding in his chest. “Helen, where’s Rafe?” His captain’s gaze just slid to the rubble. Stupid idiot. Stupid, selfless idiot. In an instant, Xander understood exactly what his brother had done. Thank you.

Xander remained in the town square for hours—lifting stones until his fingers began to bleed, letting his people cry on his shoulder, leaning over the bodies piled on the ground, using a wet rag to clear the blood from pale brows, searching for signs of life, and directing the healers to those with the best chances of recovery. He was a beacon of strength. A fixed point in the midst of so much chaos.

questions about what had really happened between these two people who claimed to hate each other, about what had really happened to make a dove pick a raven as her mate.

“What are—” “Stay still,” Lyana softly commanded, pressing her palms against a broken part of his wings, hearing him hiss. She didn't relent. “I’m fine,” he protested. “Could’ve fooled me.” “You shouldn’t have come,” he grunted. One side of her lips tugged into the smallest smile at the words, because they were empty of everything except stubborn pride.

“This feeling that I was meant for something more. A yearning in my gut, a beating of my heart, a sense that my destiny is bigger than what’s expected of me. And I’ve always been looking for it, searching the world for a sign, for a clue, for a map to the adventure I know is waiting. I haven’t found it yet, but I found you, and maybe we were supposed to figure out the rest together.”

Sensing his gaze, she wiggled her exposed toes and said, “I’m fine.” But then she eyed him suspiciously, even as her grin widened. “Unless you mean to drag me to more lessons, in which case, I’m in excruciating pain and don’t wish to be disturbed.” A laugh popped out before he could stop it. “No, no, I promise.” Her eyes sparkled.

“I thought, if you were feeling healthy enough, you might want to come with me to visit the injured?” Her expression turned somber. “I just…” he continued, unwilling to ruin her mood. “I thought it would lift their spirits, to have their prince and new princess visit and offer Taetanos’s blessing. I can teach you the words on the way, they’re simple enough. I wish there was more to do, but the healers are doing their best. No matter how small, I want to do something.” Lyana grasped his hand. “I’d love to.” “Really?” he asked, not surprised so much as hopeful—hopeful this could be a turning point for them, maybe the start of something deeper. Lyana squeezed his fingers. “There’s nothing I’d love to do more.”

That it wasn’t magic. It was something more. Her god, Aethios, flowing through her, giving her the power to heal the world. Rafe had spent most of his life resenting his magic. It had saved him, but not his parents. It had made him an outcast, something to be feared. It had made him a fugitive, someone filled with fear. It had turned his brother into a liar and his life into a lie. But standing there, watching her, for the first time Rafe understood his magic was a gift. Because his magic had saved her. His magic had created this moment. And she, and this, were magnificent.

“I’ll tell my mother you require a day of rest to recover from your wounds. Shall I come back to escort you to dinner?” “Please do,” she murmured. He left with another bow. Lyana winced when the door clicked closed. Three, two, one— “What were you thinking?” Cassi hissed, charging toward her the way Lyana imagined bears in the great plains of the House of Prey might charge toward a rabbit. But she was no rabbit.

“Love is when you find a piece of yourself in someone else, a piece you never knew was missing, but without which you'd be broken. You feel whole, and complete, and accepted for exactly who you are. You can be your true self, because around this person, for the first time you have no desire to pretend to be anyone else.”

because…love is giving a piece of yourself to someone else and trusting them not to break it, and I’d like this to be a symbol of the piece of my heart I’ve given to you.”

“Would this unnamed informant happen to have black-and-white speckled wings and a name that rhymes with sassy?” He laughed softly. The mood between them eased. “A true prince never reveals his sources.” “And a true princess already knows them anyway,” Lyana retorted. She stood on tiptoes and kissed his cheek, because it was the best she could do, and something he might not have expected. “Thank you, Xander.”

“But I have a plan to cheer you up.” Lyana’s eyes brightened. “A plan?” “A surprise, really,” he corrected. Lyana stared at him with a narrowed gaze, as though trying to discern his secret. “A surprise…” At his other side, Cassi scoffed, “You shouldn’t have told her that. She’s the most impatient person in the world.”

Odd how the mind wandered in that last second of existence, stretching it into a whole lifetime of dreams. He and Lyana speaking their vows. The cheer of his people as they returned, a mated pair, the beginning of a new age for his house. The two of them at peace in their little haven of books and windows, a joining of two different sides. The sight of a smile finally returned to his mother’s lips as she held her first grandchild in her arms. Teaching his son how to read while Lyana trained their daughter how to fight. The laughter that would have returned to his quiet streets. The light and warmth that would have filled the dark halls of the castle. And lastly, the two of them, side by side on matching thrones as they watched their heirs fight for their own mates, small smiles on their lips as their eyes met, remembering the pain and confusion and heartache of the early days, and how it had all given way to a life of so much more.

The blade plunged into his chest and Xander fell back. He stared through the bars at the top of the sacred nest, finding trees and sun and open sky, distantly hearing Lyana’s scream as his vision grew dim. Then it faded. He faded. Entirely.

Not like this. Not dying a slow death in the place where they were supposed to make their vows, supposed to promise each other trust and loyalty and faith before the gods. “Let me save him, and I’ll come with you,” Lyana begged, her eyes on the shuddering rise and fall of Xander's chest. If the cost of freedom was his life, she would spend the rest of hers in a cage.

Xander’s lids fluttered open, a moment of calm in the eye of a swelling storm. He blinked, finding her above him. “Lyana?” “Xander,” she cried and fell against his chest, clasping him. “You’re alive. Thank the gods, you’re alive.” “I’m fine, I—” He froze. “I…I was stabbed.” Lyana sat up. “I was stabbed. By the priest. And you were, you…you…” He trailed off, attention lingering on her wings for a few moments. He met her stare as silent questions raced across his eyes. But nothing else did.

She didn’t want to see the truth in his eyes, not yet—not until Xander was safe. Lyana spun, finding him among the chaos. He gaped in horror as his sacred nest ripped apart. “Go!” she cried. His eyes found hers. “Not without you. Come on!” He reached for her arm and tugged, but she shirked his hold. “No, Xander, go.” Her voice was soft this time, but he heard every word. There was too much to explain. “Go!”

The world will fracture, splinter in two, One made of gray, the other of blue. Beasts will emerge, filled with fury and scorn, Fighting to recover what from their claws we have torn. Two saviors will arise, one above, one below, A king born in fire and a queen bred of snow. Together they will heal that which we broke, With magic and spirit, with mirrors and smoke. But only on the day when the sky does fall, Will be revealed the one who will save you all.

At first, she stiffened, so tense he almost pulled away. But after a moment, her arms closed around him, clasping tightly, as though he were the last bit of life she could hold on to. “It’s all right,” he soothed. “Let it go. Let it out. I’m here. You’re safe in my home. Always.” She didn’t cry, or sob, or fall apart. But she didn’t let go either. She clung to him as her body silently shook and a torrent of feeling was unleashed, something deeper than he understood, but he didn’t have to understand. He just had to be there to hold her through it, to be strong as she clutched him for support—because in truth, the embrace was as much for him as it was for her.