The Rival Read Free Page A

of his throat, a noise that echoed in the silence of the garden, and disappeared into the trees.
    "Sebastian!" she called again, but he didn't come to her like he usually did.  Something was wrong.  And her internal sense warned her that if she ran down the steps, through the halls, and into the garden, he would be gone.
    So she slipped out of her gown and Shifted.  Her bones compacted and lightened.  Her arms stretched out, the fingers melded into tips, and feathers sprouted all over her body.  Her mouth stretched into a beak, and her vision changed as her eyes moved to the side of her head.
    This was her robin form, one of two dozen Shapes she had never told Solanda about.  Shape-Shifters were supposed to have only one alternate form  —  Solanda could only turn into a small tabby cat  —  but so far Arianna had experienced no limitations. She could Shift into anything she chose, as long as she practiced the form in advance.  She had been playing at her robin form since she was six years old.
    The change happened within a heartbeat.  She hopped to the edge of the window and flew.  The air currents ruffled her feathers and she felt the warm kiss of freedom. She longed to rise with the wind and explore the city of Jahn, looking for food, looking for other birds, but she quelled the instinct, landing instead on the edge of the bird bath. 
    She cocked her head and looked into the trees.  The long cool shadows hid nothing.  She could see the smooth tree trunks, the sloping branches, the carefully tended grass.
    Sebastian wasn't quick enough to hide from her.
    Was he?
    "Sebastian!" she called again.  "If you're not dressed when Dad comes for you, he'll be really mad."
    No answer.  The strangeness made her stretch her wings, then tuck them back against her side.  Sebastian always answered her, and he hated displeasing their father.  Normally just the sound of her voice would have made him appear.
    "Sebastian!"
    She took one small, mad hop, then nearly lost her balance.  She put a spindly leg out to steady herself and tottered over the water for a moment before she remembered her wings.  She opened them and flew into the trees, landing on a maple branch.  A jay landed above her and cawed at her; he thought she was too close to the bath and he wanted to use it.
    Another robin landed on a nearby oak tree.  That was confirmation enough.  She would circle the garden and the courtyard to make certain, but she already knew what she would find.
    Sebastian was gone.
    He had disappeared in less time than it normally took him to move his arm.
    Maybe he had finally come into his powers.
    Maybe all the abilities he was supposed to have as a mixed Fey had been dormant all these years.
    Or maybe something had gone wrong.
    No matter what, he would be terrified.  Change always frightened Sebastian.  He would need her.
    She wouldn't rest until she found him.
     

 
     
     
    THREE
     
    Gift huddled in the hole near the stone fence.  He was breathing through his mouth, as quietly as he could.  Sweat ran off his nose and dripped on the ground, making dark spots in the dirt.  She would fly above him.  He knew she would.  One thing he had learned about Arianna over the years was that she was brilliant.
    And she had seen him.
    She thought he was Sebastian, and he supposed in a way he was.  Gift was the baby born to Jewel and Nicholas, Arianna's older brother, but he had been stolen by his grandfather when he was only days old.  Sebastian was the changeling that had been left in Gift's place.
    Birds returned to the garden.  Their shadows passed along the ground, their cries echoing overhead.  They couldn't see him.  Maybe Arianna wouldn't either.  He could only hope.  He didn't know what she would do when she saw him.  He was wearing Fey clothes, and he wouldn't be able to explain that.  And the clothes were only the beginning.  Even though he and Sebastian looked alike, they were not identical.  In fact, the