Free The Crow King's Wife by Melissa Myers

slip onto his ship since
Onvalla hadn’t ordered one to accompany them.
    Caleb sighed and gave a quick nod before
stepping onto the Spell Hawk and was already seated before Shade
closed the door. The goblin scrambled to the back of the ship with
wide eyes and Shade grinned before tossing it some food. With luck
the creature would content itself with eating for most of the trip
and he wouldn’t have to worry about flying with a goblin on his
face or shoulders.
    Shade gave the ship another quick glance just
to be sure he hadn’t missed anything before he moved forward and
sat slowly down in the pilot seat. He took several moments to
simply savor how good it felt to be in control of something again,
no matter how fleeting that sensation might be. Once he was off of
his ship again his life would be in chaos and he knew it. There was
so much expected of him right now that it made him want to scream
or hide.
    “Well?” Caleb asked as the silence in the
ship grew.
    “Did you hear about the bombing of Eldagar?”
Shade asked with a faint smile.
    “I did. The largest hive of Blights was wiped
out there in a single day, and by rather unconventional means.”
Caleb replied slowly and by his expression Shade could tell he knew
what he was going to say next.
    “That was me, on this ship, and I was worried
some of the Blights might remember that particular day. Considering
how pissy Onvalla was about the glasses that allowed Blights to be
seen I really didn’t think she needed to know exactly what I had
done against her people.” Shade explained with a shrug.
    “Bloody hell. Are you sure none of them
followed us here? I can’t believe Onvalla would simply let us walk
out without spying on us the entire way.” Caleb asked softly as he
turned in his seat to stare at the empty ship behind them.
    “None that I saw and these are the accursed
glasses she was so upset over.” Shade assured him as he placed his
hands over the control panel. “Now there is a shower and plenty of
soap in the back room of this ship. Feel free to partake of it
while I get us the hell out of here. I’m going to warn you upfront
though. I’ve never flown this weakened or with one eye so the ride
will be a bumpy one.”
    “As long as you don’t crash I don’t care how
rough the voyage is.” Caleb returned with a sigh and rose from his
chair. “Soap is too much temptation. I will return shortly.” He
announced as he disappeared into the back of the ship.
    Shade smiled and focused himself on the ship
pouring as much magic as he dared into it. Normally a long voyage
was no issue for him, but this time out he was going to have to
pace himself. For some reason his magic wasn’t as strong as it
typically was, and it wasn’t returning with the speed he was
accustomed to. The ship lifted gently from the clearing and he kept
it as steady as he could as they slowly rose above the tree tops.
The last thing he wanted to do was throw Caleb from the shower or
hit another tree with his ship.
    “I have seen you looking better.” The voice
came from the seat Caleb had so recently vacated and it was so
shockingly familiar that Shade nearly planted the Spell Hawk
directly in a very large pine tree.
    Inhaling sharply he fought to bring the ship
steady again and then glanced over quickly at the passenger seat.
“You are supposed to be dead.” Shade said with dismay as he stared
at Finn Sovaesh in pure shock. He was dressed differently than
Shade had ever seen him, in dark chain armor and a black cloak, but
there was no mistaking who it was.
    The corners of Finn’s lips creased with his
typical arrogant smile and he raised his eyebrows twice. “Funny you
should mention that given what I came to speak to you about.” Finn
drawled and his smile widened. “You were very close to death
recently too, Shade. In fact you were right on the boundary, only a
breath or two from crossing over weren’t you?”
    Shade stared at him for a long moment and
then forced his