The Stepsister Scheme

kids named him.” He pointed to the white fur on the ends of the aviar’s legs. “It was that or Bootsie.”
    His lips quirked slightly as he turned back to Danielle. “As for your aviar, her birth name was Zoё. One of the dwarves renamed her, though. These days we call her Zirdiclav.”
    Danielle did her best to imitate the chirping sounds of the name. “What does it mean?”
    “Hard to translate into your tongue,” Quink said, glancing away. “Roughly, it comes out to ‘Stormbreaker’.”
    Arlorran sniggered. “They might not understand dwarvish, but I’ve picked up a smattering.” He shook his head. “‘Zir’ means breaker all right, but ‘clav’ is a dwarf word for an unexpected gust of wind.”
    “So she’s... ” Danielle covered her mouth with her hand. “Breaker of Wind?”
    “She’ll be fine,” Quink said. “Ah, your friends might not want to fly directly behind her, though.”
    “I’ll call her Wind,” Danielle said. She leaned forward, pressing her body to the aviar’s neck. She had never tried to talk to any animal this large before. Would the aviar understand? Even if she did, there was no guarantee she would listen.
    “Please,” Danielle whispered. Wind’s ear flicked back. “I need to get to the chasm. My stepsisters are there, and they’ve taken my husband. My mate.”
    The aviar snorted. Danielle couldn’t tell if she understood or not.
    “I know I’m clumsy. I’m doing the best I can. Could your foals run and fly so beautifully when they were born?”
    Another flick of the ear, and a slight shake of the head. The reins tugged free of her grip.
    “I understand,” said Danielle, praying that she did. She reached down until she touched the metal buckle. A sharp tug loosened the strap, and then she was sliding the reins up and off of the aviar’s head. Wind shook her head, spitting the bit from her mouth and tossing the whole halter toward Quink.
    “What do you think you’re doing, lass?” Arlorran asked, hurrying to her side. “She’ll dump you to the ground like—”
    The aviar leaped, wings slamming down with such force that Arlorran tumbled onto his back. Danielle hugged the aviar’s neck, pressing her legs beneath the wings. Her weight was too high, and she felt like she would topple off the instant she relaxed at all.
    “Well, all right, then,” Arlorran said, brushing dirt from his backside. “What do I know about flying horses anyway?”
    Wind nickered as she cleared the treetops, where she stilled her wings and began to glide in slow, wide circles. Her head turned slightly inward, and Danielle swore she saw amusement in that ocean-blue eye.
    Gradually, Danielle loosened the muscles in her legs, letting them slide down Wind’s side until the wings no longer beat the back of her thighs. She could feel the powerful muscles pumping as the aviar maintained her flight.
    Quink flew after her, the discarded halter dangling from his hands. “And how will you control her, you addlebrained, wingless nit of a girl?”
    “I won’t.” Danielle swallowed, hoping this wasn’t a mistake. “I’ll trust her.” She lowered her voice, speaking to the aviar alone. “Can you take me back down to my friends?”
    The aviar’s wings spread wider, slowing their flight. Danielle tensed as they swooped down, but Wind landed as lightly as a sparrow.
    “Better,” said Talia. “But you’re still stiff as a statue. Keep riding like that, and you’ll end up feeling like an ogre pummeled your legs with his club.”
    “Oh, hush,” said Snow. “You’re just jealous because you have to use the reins.” She clapped her hands and beamed at Danielle.
    “Princess Danielle?”
    She looked down at Arlorran. “You don’t have to call me princess.”
    Arlorran turned to watch Snow and Talia as they bickered. He lured Wind away with another apple, until they were out of earshot. Lowering his voice, he said, “You’ve a dangerous path ahead of you. Keep them safe, lady.”
    Danielle stared. “Me keep them safe? Talia’s the one who can kill a giant with nothing but a bootlace, and Snow’s magic is powerful enough to—”
    “A mastery of weapons and magic will help, no doubt about it,” said Arlorran. “But I know Snow, and I’ve watched you and Talia.” He reached up to pat her on the leg. “Trust old Arlorran. Take care of those two.”
    Before Danielle could respond, Talia guided her aviar around. “Come on. The sooner we get moving, the sooner I’ll