Chapter 78: The Claw at the Window

"Shift again, Valen! Shift again!"

Rynan bounced across the nursery carpet with both hands raised. Dinner had ended an hour ago, but nobody had told his energy that.

"I already shifted today," Valen said.

"But you can do it again!"

"I know I can."

"Then do it!"

Valen sighed. He sat cross-legged on the rug with his chin in his hand, trying not to look as pleased as he felt. Being begged by his little brother was the best feeling in the world.

Daerys sat beside him, silver hair sticking up on one side. "Do the roll," he said solemnly. "The one where you fell over."

"I did not fall over."

"You fell over."

"I did NOT."

Soren, who had been coiled quietly in the corner with a stuffed snake, hissed at nobody in particular. Nobody knew if it meant agreement.

Valen stood up and squared his shoulders. He was the crown prince. Crown princes did not turn down their audience.

He closed his eyes, just like his father had shown him. He thought about the warm feeling in his chest. The wind on his face. The meadow.

Nothing.

He frowned and thought harder. He pictured his beast stretching. Waking up. Wanting to run.

Nothing happened. He didn’t so much as grow a whisker.

"Um," Rynan said. "Are you doing it?"

"Yes."

"Are you sure?"

"I’m concentrating!"

"You look like you need to poop."

Daerys made a small, strangled noise like laughter. Valen’s ears turned pink to the tips.

"It’s harder when people are talking," he mumbled, opening his eyes.

He tried a third time. Then a fourth. His fingers curled, his shoulders shook, and he even squeezed his eyes so tightly that colors popped behind them. Not a single hair. His panther was asleep, and it seemed determined to stay that way.

"Maybe you’re tired," Daerys offered kindly.

"Maybe."

"Or your kitty is shy."

"He’s not a kitty. And it’s not shy."

But Valen sat back down, a little deflated. The room felt warm, and Rynan was already trying to teach Soren how to sit in his lap. Soren bit him. Rynan yelped. Daerys snorted. Nobody was in danger of anything.

So why did his chest feel funny?

He couldn’t stop thinking about dinner. About his mother, who had choked on her tea and then gone pale, as if someone had whispered something awful in her ear. She had smiled after that, but it was suspicious.

And then his father had gone and said "I wish to discuss with you," in that stiff, careful voice, and Mama had said "after dinner" like she was agreeing to a duel.

Hmm.

Valen frowned at the carpet. Adults were always doing this. They spoke quietly and looked at each other over his head as if he were made of glass. He didn’t like it. Something was going on, and nobody wanted to tell him.

"Valen," Rynan said. "Valeeeen. Play with us."

"Coming."

He pushed the thought away and joined the pile of brothers.

~

The candles burned low.

By the time the palace clocks struck midnight, the nursery had turned into the aftermath of a small war. Cushions lay everywhere. Rynan had fallen asleep face-down in a fort of pillows, one arm flung over his head. Daerys was curled against the wall. Soren had wound himself into a ball beneath a blanket, his tiny tongue flicking once in his sleep.

Valen was the only one awake.

He lay on his back on the rug, staring at the ceiling. The nursery maid had left an hour ago, and the guards’ footsteps in the corridor had grown fainter. His mother had promised to check on them before bed. She hadn’t come yet.

The fire popped, and he almost jumped.

Silly, he told himself. It’s just a fire.

He rolled onto his side, ready to give up on sleep, when he heard it.

Skrrrrrrrrrrk.

It was a slow, dragging sound, like a knife being pulled across glass. It came from the window.

Valen went completely still.

Skrrrrrrrrrrrrk. 𝘧𝓇ℯℴ𝓂

The curtains were half-drawn, and the tall window behind them showed nothing but black. He couldn’t see the moon. He couldn’t see the garden. It looked as if someone had painted the glass over.

Something was out there.

Valen’s heart began to pound. His fingers curled into the rug.

"Rynan," he breathed. He did not dare speak louder. "Daerys."

Daerys’s eyes opened, half-lidded and sleepy. "Whaaat—"

Skrrrrrrrrk. Tap. Tap.

The sound of a claw. A single claw, tapping on the glass, once, twice, like someone knocking politely.

Daerys’s eyes flew wide open.

Valen put a finger to his lips. "Listen," he whispered. "Get up. Slowly. Slowly, okay? Just get out. Don’t make any noise."

Daerys nodded, shaking. He pushed himself up inch by inch. Beside him, Rynan let out a soft snuffle and rolled over. Valen crawled across the rug, his palms sweating, and shook his brother’s shoulder with a trembling hand.

"Rynan," he mouthed. "Wake up. Please."

Rynan’s golden eyes cracked open. "Wha—"

Valen clamped a hand over his mouth.

That was when the smell reached him.

Rot. Wet, sour, sickly-sweet rot, like meat left in the sun, like an animal that had crawled into a hole to die. It drifted through the crack under the window, and Valen’s stomach heaved.

The scent of the sick panthers.

Behind the curtain, something exhaled.

The glass fogged in a spreading patch, and through it, very faintly, Valen saw a pair of eyes fixed directly on him.

The window creaked.

Then it began to bend inward.

GRRRRRRRRRRRRR.

The growl rolled through the floorboards and up into Valen’s bones.

Valen didn’t think.

He lunged across the room, scooped Soren up in his arms, blanket and stuffed snake and all, and bolted for the door. Soren woke with a shriek and clung to his neck. Behind him, Rynan and Daerys scrambled after him, sobbing, tripping over cushions, their small feet slapping the floor.

"Run!" Valen screamed. "RUN!"

The window exploded.

Glass sprayed across the nursery in a glittering storm. Something huge and dark crashed in after it, claws scraping stone, and the whole room shook. The candles guttered out all at once.

Valen hit the door with his shoulder and flung it open.

The corridor was already alive with noise. Boots pounded. Guards were shouting. Somewhere close, a woman was screaming.

"HE IS HERE!" a voice roared. "HE IS HERE!"

Valen didn’t stop running.