The next morning, Aveline went to spend time with the creatures again.
By then, the Archduke had already expanded the enchantments around their enclosure, and the change was almost immediate. The creatures moved more freely within the widened space, and there was something heartening in the way they responded to her presence.
They did not recoil from her. They came closer, calmer now, obedient in that strange, trusting way they seemed to reserve for her alone. When she led them out into the sunlight, they looked almost cheerful, as though the simple act of seeing the sky had eased something long aching inside them.
Aveline watched them with a soft, thoughtful expression.
It was difficult not to be moved by that.
For all their sharp teeth and uncanny bodies, they looked so much like anything else that had ever been caged and forgotten. The sunlight warmed them. Their restlessness quieted.
