The Living Tower [MOVING JUNE 1]

Chapter One: The Monster in the Tower

And she'd go beyond the Earth, even, on one of the wooden sailing ships carried by spacespeakers to the moon's Iron Citadel. To the beautiful but deadly fae caverns winding for miles beneath the moon's surface. That would be a sight to see.

"I could kill a fairy," Val said to herself. She flexed a hand. No iron weapons or armor needed.

Before Val could move onto the next section, to the depictions of the Mars colonies and elf kingdoms and ancient giant battlefields, a voice spoke behind her.

"The fae are far deadlier than you. They'd eat you alive."

Val threw a glance over her shoulder. Perched on the windowsill on the other side of the room was a collared crow: an entirely black corvid, save for the white markings wrapping around the back of his head and circling down under his chest.

Val frowned. "Did you open the window?"

Baiya cocked his head to the right. "With what hands?"

"I don't know." Val rolled her eyes as she closed the book and rose to her feet. "You could have pulled it open with your foot." He probably wasn't strong enough to actually do that. Probably not smart enough, either.

"It was already open when I arrived," Baiya told her. "Likely the wind."

That didn't make sense, given that the windows opened outward, but Val couldn't care less at the moment.

Baiya fluttered to a nearby shelf, still keeping his distance. "Ellias isn't far behind me. You should finish braiding your hair."

Val turned to face the vanity mirror. Her hair—the same brilliant shade of yellowas her eyes, both remarkably bright compared to her pale skin—was piled on thefloor at her feet. She'd managed to wrangle more than half of it into a braid earlier that morning before getting distracted.

"I ought to chop it off," Val mused as she returned to her chair. "Make that witch climb the side of the tower." She snorted. "Really, who builds a tower without a door?"

Baiya didn't have an answer for her question. Instead, he said, "Don't think too highly of yourself. You know what disobedience will get you."

"Talk all the talk you want. You're both terrified of me." Val grinned at herself in the mirror. At least she could look forward to a haircut tonight. Unless Ellias planned on returning again in the next few days.

She set to work on finishing the braid. Baiya had no response to her comment. Val suspected the witch's familiar was more nervous than usual. He'd been very vocal in his master's presence about not wanting to be left alone with her.

He did have a point, though. Ellias couldn't kill Val, but he was powerful enough to hurt her. The two of them had fallen into an uneasy routine. She let him up into the tower with her magic hair, and he didn't blow the whole thing up with her inside. Maybe she'd survive that. Maybe she wouldn't. She wasn't desperate enough for freedom to find out. Not yet, anyway.

But if she really was such a monster, what was the point in keeping her alive in relative comfort? Was the man so wracked with guilt over what he'd created? Over all the years spent raising her, caring for her, training her?

"You're Yanjenese, aren't you?" Val asked as her hands neared the end of her hair.

Baiya unfolded his wings and refolded them. "What makes you say that?"

"A book on birds." Val gestured toward one of the shelves. "Is that where Ellias goes when he's not here? Yanjen?"

"I—" Baiya was definitely unsettled. "You don't need to worry about Ellias' other affairs."