The Flight of Swans SARAH MCGUIRE CAROLRHODA BOOKS MINNEAPOLIS
To The quieT oneS
Chapter 1 The exile of the princes of Lacharra didn’t begin with swords or spells It began inside the castle kitchen with a quest for cloves It began with me Cooks mistrust anyone with empty hands so I darted to the nearest table and snatched up a bowl of chopped leeks Then I shouldered between scullery maids and undercooks as I moved toward the spice pantry Perhaps I was foolish Maybe Father was just sick after being lost so many weeks in the forest Maybe it was normal for a man newly married to hardly speak to the daughter he’d loved Then I remembered last night Rees the stable master and the stable boy being beaten while Father looked on with empty eyes Something had happened to Father in the forest He never would have allowed a beating for violating such a small edict even if the woman he’d married had issued it Whatever she banned must be important even if it was something as simple as cloves 1
