The next day Grenta's plot was formed and she called the best woodpeckers in the land to her rooms. She interviewed them all, one at a time, and chose the most likely candidate. She gave him her orders and sent all the rest to return to their normal lives, but one to carry out the orders she had given him.
That day was one of Bright Shimmer's planned flying days, when she flew high over the countryside with her guards searching for birds to bring to safety.
"There!" exclaimed a woodpecker as he swiveled his head to get a better look, "I saw something down there in that thicket!"
Bright Shimmer looked too and replied, "Fan out and search around it. You," she indicated the woodpecker who had spotted something, "Come with me." She swooped down towards the thicket, the light flashing on her golden feathers.
When Bright Shimmer reached the thicket, she flared her wings and started looking for telltale signs of birds. The woodpecker followed quietly behind and looked at her hard for a second.
"I'm supposed to kill you." He said after a moment's pause.
Bright Shimmer looked up, startled, "What?!"
"The new queen ordered me to get you alone, and kill you, and bring one of your feathers to her." He rushed on, "She told me that she would kill me if I didn't, and she showed me that she had put an illusion on herself and that she was actually a vulture. I told her I would so that I could tell you this, you need to run away or she will find some other way to kill you!"
Bright Shimmer looked him in the eyes for a second and then slowly bent down and pulled off a feather. "Here." She proffered the feather.
The woodpecker, looking slightly stressed and slightly startled, took the feather, and, thanking her and entreating her to hide herself, slowly fluttered off. Bright Shimmer watched him go and then quickly slipped away to find somewhere to hide.