Valiance hated the cold. It seeped in through his skin like a poison and sapped his strength. The spring transition was ending, and the days had begun to warm. Yet the nights were still bitterly cold. He wanted to burrow into the sand where some residual warmth might linger and sleep, but he slogged on.

  Snow huffed and clicked. She ruffled her feathers and shook herself. Valiance sighed and rolled his eyes.

  They’d waited out the storm, huddled at the apex of a dune. Valiance shook himself and his clothing free of sand once it’d passed, but Snow hadn’t been so lucky. Enough sand embedded itself in her down feathers during the storm to ground her. She’d been temperamental since.

  The night had been warm while they were tracking the brat, but the winds arrived at the head of a cold front. The temperature plummeted during the storm. Now, in the predawn, it was frigid. He’d slowed as it grew colder, and Snow added his sluggishness to her complaints.

  She tugged at her clothing before ruffling and shaking again.

  “Would you stop that?” Valiance snapped. “It’s doing you no good.”

  “It wouldn’t be an issue if you moved faster!” Snow answered. “I feel like I’m wearing sandpaper.”

  “I’m going as fast as I can,” he groused. “My blood’s half frozen.”

  “If you’d listened and turned back when I suggested, we wouldn’t be in this mess.”

  “First of all,” he answered as he drew up as far as he could and half raised his hood in irritation. “I didn’t just do what you wanted because I don’t have to. We’re the same rank!” He jabbed a finger in her direction. “You cannot give me orders, and I won’t follow them if you try.”

  Snow hissed, arching her fingers. In her present temper, she was capable of clawing his eyes out even without nails like talons. She’d almost done as much to one of the servants for staring when she molted last spring. At this point, though, Valiance didn’t care.

  “Don’t threaten me, you overgrown sparrow,” he hissed. “You’ll find I’ve more bite than a serving wench.”

  Snow hissed and snapped at him. She walked ahead and made a show of ignoring him.

  “Second, the storm was heading straight for us,” he called to her back. Her feathers rose again, but she didn’t shake herself this time. He let out a hissing laugh. “If we’d left when you said, we would have been hit by it anyway, and we’d be going back to Tembar empty-handed.”

  “Do you think it makes a difference?” Snow called back.

  Valiance pushed himself to keep pace with her. A glow spread on the horizon, and he urged the sun to hurry its ascent.

  “We are returning with bad news and the chance Jadrick returns with useful information,” she taunted. Snow shivered. “You’d better hope Ralic kills Falcon when he makes the report, or he’ll make us suffer twice as much as he does.”

  The sun finally broke above the horizon, bringing Tembar Castle into view. Valiance thought he’d never seen anything more beautiful in his life.

  “Well, look at it this way, beaky,” he said. “If Falcon gets maimed, we should at least have time for a bath and a nap before he comes to maim us back.”

  The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  “You may perhaps,” Snow answered. “What do you have to clean? And you dry so easily.” She shrugged her wings and sighed.

  Valiance cocked his head to the side as he considered his companion. He’d never thought about what it must be like to clean a thick pelt of feathers.

  “Don’t tell me you’re one of those females who take hours in the bathhouse,” he said.

  She must be as exhausted as he was because she only fluttered her wings in response.

  “Normally, no,” she answered. “But there’s sand in my down feathers deep enough to grate skin. It’s different than cleaning off sweat and dirt, and it’s not the washing that’s the problem.” Snow folded her wings back and crossed her arms over her chest. “Do you have any idea how long it takes down feathers to dry?”

  The morning air was beginning to warm, and Valiance felt his strength begin to return with the heat. As strength returned, his mood improved, and he found himself pitying Snow a smidgen. He supposed having to waterlog yourself and carry the extra weight was uncomfortable. It would make sleeping difficult, that much was certain.

  He put on a bit more speed and caught up to Snow. “You could always have yourself plucked,” he suggested. Her puffing and scandalized squawk made him hiss in delight. “Like a human woman cuts her hair to make it easier to tend,” he explained.

  “I might as well rip my wings off and walk around naked!”

  “I know quite a few fellows who’d pay to see that,” he answered. “The walking about naked, not ripping your wings off. That’s just messy.” He shuddered. “And morbid.”

  “They can keep their money,” she answered. “I’m keeping my clothes and my feathers.”

  Valiance laughed and looked to Tembar, where it loomed in the distance. The sun wasn't yet free of the horizon, so the shift change was at least another two hours away.

  “Come on then,” he said. “With any luck, Falcon will still be in bed, and we can leave our report on his desk. It’ll give you a head start on washing and drying those feathers.”

  “Now you begin to hurry?”

  “I’m starting to thaw,” Valiance answered. A yawn that would have been jaw-cracking if his didn’t unhinge caught him by surprise. “And tired as I am, Falcon interrupted my supper. I want a bath, a snack, and a decent day’s sleep, in that order, before dear Falcon catches up to us.”

  “For once, I agree with you,” said Snow. She ruffled and shook herself again, frustration adding force to the act. She gave a few experimental flaps. “If only I could fly!”

  The sandstorm had been short but fierce. More sand than he could shake free had found its way into Jadrick’s clothing and fur. Hours later, his skin felt raw as he searched for a way into the castle. Jadrick longed for a bath, but he had a job to do if he wanted to remain whole. While turning to Aligh and telling the king everything he knew about Ralic was tempting, he knew how humans viewed rodents. He’d be shot the moment he showed his whiskers.

  Jadrick heard something in the distance and quirked up his ears. There was running water nearby. The castles were built near springs when possible. His whiskers twitched in anticipation. He’d get his bath and into the castle at the same time.

  He followed the sound to find a wide creek running out from under the castle. Jadrick stripped down to his breeches and stepped into the water. He sank in hedonistic pleasure at finding the creek was a large hot spring and used his hands to ruffle his fur. He hummed as the irritating sand washed away and the warm water soothed his abused skin.

  After a few minutes, he turned to the castle and swam as close to the opening as possible despite the trepidation he felt. There wasn’t much space between the stones and the water, but it would be enough for him to gulp in air. A normal human would have difficulty, but this was one instance where his snout would prove useful.

  Taking in a deep breath, Jadrick dove. The current was weak and slow, so he was able to make progress without hindrance. The visibility was poor but workable, and he hoped his luck held. The sheer width of the creek necessitated three massive supports spaced every few meters along the length of the opening. So far, he could see them. But the waters ahead were darker.

  He slowed and tried to raise his head. As he suspected, the rains had swelled the creek's waters to where only a few centimeters remained between the water and the stone foundations above. His lungs were beginning to burn as he turned up his face and broke the water with just his nose and a bit of his snout. He took in a deep breath of the fetid air.

  The smell of mold was overpowering, and Jadrick gagged. A coughing fit caught him, and he tried to resurface in a panic. He felt a sharp pain as his skull cracked against the castle’s foundation before everything went black.