Aria Blackwing's Arc

Chapter 14 of 24

Aria climbed out of bed while the light was still gray. Derek stirred behind her and sat up. She fed the owl a strip of meat and checked the raven's splint. Then she turned to him with the day already ordered in her head. "The door won't hold if he comes back with help," she said. "The shutters are thin. The porch board split under his boot." She named each weakness the way she named a bird's injuries. "We fix it today. All of it." Derek was already reaching for his boots. "Bar first. Then the shutters." They worked through the morning. Derek dragged a length of oak from the woodpile and cut it to fit two new brackets across the door. Aria held the wood steady while he drove the pegs. Her hands shook once and then stopped. He noticed and did not say anything, which was the kindness she had learned to expect from him. They nailed cross-battens over the shutters. They replaced the split porch board with fresh pine. Aria wove a lattice of thorn branches under the low windows where a man might crouch. Derek checked the roof line for gaps. The cabin took the changes without losing its shape — the little painted houses under the eaves still watched the yard, the perches inside still held their birds. By afternoon they had used the last of the long nails. The salve jar was low. The oats were low. Aria counted what was left on the shelf and set her jaw. "We need nails," she said. "Rope. A second bar for the back shutter. And I want willow bark before winter." Derek looked at her. "I'll go." She had known he would say it. She had known she would let him. The village was a half-day out and back. He could carry more than she could, and the man who had come to the door had seen her face, not his — not clearly, not at dusk. Derek pulled the sleek knife from under the mattress and slid it into his belt. The bright handle caught the light once and vanished under his coat. He took the herb bundle Aria had already tied without asking her when she had tied it. At the door he stopped. "Keep it barred. Both bars. Don't open it for anyone. Not even a voice you think you know." "I won't." "If I'm not back by dark, stay barred through the night. I'll come at first light." She nodded. He touched her cheek once and stepped out. She heard his boots cross the new pine board and go down into the yard. Aria closed the door. She lifted the first bar into its brackets. She lifted the second. The cabin was tight now, tighter than it had ever been. The owl watched her. The raven scratched in its box. She was alone inside her sanctuary, and Derek was out on the path.