“No, just, come over here! You chirping brats! I’m not trying to- ugh!”

  If Sol was skittish, the korrigans were real cowards. I sat in the garden cross-legged among the flowers, under the palace’s back balcony so there was no way for Cervis to spy on me or sneak up on me, with a plate of teacakes and berries. According to the book from the library, these were korrigans favorite treats- but apparently, the little bird-beasts wanted to eat crickets and mushrooms and stare at me from afar. I wasn’t following them again, never again, but I’d been hoping to lure them to me.

  So far, I’d been unsuccessful.

  A cluster of them sat in the nearby flowers, staring out from behind leaves and blossoms. Oto calling them “nasty little things” got more and more reasonable. But the owl queen wasn’t mentioned in any other book in the library- I had tried to find her- and this was the only way I could think of to learn more. Except for going into the forest, which definitely wasn’t happening.

  I sighed and laid back, closing my eyes. This whole fruitless venture felt stupid the longer it went on. But, as I laid there, something soft tickled my cheek, causing me to jerk my head slightly to the side. A tinkling chuckle followed the movement and my heart jumped. One of them is right here!

  It tip-toed across my chest, feeling different parts of my face as it did and humming a tune. The feathery wings tickled my collarbones and then my cheeks, and then I finally opened my eyes. The korrigan moved its gaze from my nose to my eyes and then screamed and back-rolled, flittering up.

  “Shh, sh-sh-sh,” I soothed it, not otherwise moving. “I won’t hurt you.”

  Cautiously, it drifted forward again- I thought this one might be a male at first, but it seemed androgynous on second look. The korrigan stared at me and then asked something in a voice near-silent.

  “I’m sorry, friend, but could you speak up?” I whispered, imagining my voice must seem very loud to it. Perhaps that’s why they’ve been terrified? At a thought, I remembered the wendigo- I was also terrified of things exponentially larger than me. That made sense. The korrigan flitted around me again, and then spoke loudly.

  “Who are you? We haven’t seen you before. Are you a good witch?”

  “I’m not a witch at all,” I said. “I’m a heroine. My name is Aster Fallowfall.”

  “A heroine?” The korrigan flew up so that it was so close to my left eye I couldn’t even see it. “A heroine it must be! Aster Fallowfall! But what does it need with les korrigans?”

  It pronounced “korrigans” differently than anyone else had- like koh-ih-goh. I made a mental note to keep that correction in mind. “I need to learn more about the owl queen. Who is she?”

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

  The korrigan gasped and reeled back, fluttering around a flower before whisking back to my face. I sat up while it was spinning, and the korrigan glanced behind it, fear in its beady eyes.

  “I cannot say! Is not my place!” The korrigan shouted. “Why does it need to know about the Reine Chouette?”

  “Reine Chouette? Is that her name?”

  It let out a tinkling laugh, doubled over, and flipped back around. “Is her title! Lady Strigga is her name.”

  Lady Strigga- I had seen that name in a book! I barely managed to contain my composure.

  “Is she in the forest?”

  “Deep, deeeep forest!” The korrigan replied. “I say no more! It is too questioning!”

  “Wait! Just one more question!”

  It had started to flit away, but paused, spinning around. “Oh, please, it not ask no more!”

  “I just want to know your name.”

  “Oh!” The korrigan flittered back and curtsied, spinning as it did. “I is Albie.”

  Albie disappeared once more into the flowerbed and the other korrigans followed. I rose from the grass and started back to the palace steps, treat tray in hand- to see Nyx sitting on the fountain, his works twitching and cinder eyes glinting.

  “Nyx!” I stormed over. “You were watching the whole time, weren’t you?”

  He let out a heckling laugh. “Asking about the owl queen, were you? Or trying to find the grate again? I’ll let you know now, Cervis had it reinforced, so you couldn’t sneak out again.”

  “Good,” I snapped. “I wasn’t trying to sneak out again.”

  “If you wanted to learn more about a particular thing, you could just ask, you know.”

  “I tried that and got told to figure it out on my own. So I am.”

  “You asked Cervis.” The night-fox hopped nimbly down from the fountain. “You never tried asking me.”

  He started trotting up the staircase, and I snorted contemptuously.

  “Like I’d even be able to believe what you said!”

  He turned toward me over his ebony-furred shoulder. “I’ve been nothing but honest with you, Aster- cryptic, perhaps, and admittedly less than civil, but honest all the while.”

  He disappeared up the stairs and I groaned in frustration. What was with this place? I wasn’t supposed to leave the walls, and there was next to no information in the books about what lie outside them, but I was supposed to magically know the dangers. I had a growing feeling it was all connected somehow- the dangers outside, Cervis’ secrets (and that journal), the man in the room at night, the korrigans and Lady Strigga, Nyx… Somewhere, it was all connected.

  Oto had said to watch my surroundings, because if I was a heroine then the others would fill their own roles- but who was what?

  As I entered the palace, I saw Cervis cross a doorway far up in the westernmost tower.

  I was going to read that book that mentioned Lady Strigga- and I was getting my answers.