The girl’s eyes were closed, but she was only unconscious now, he could see that.
Surprisingly, one long lock of her hair had gone silver, the exact same shade as his own hair, which glowed silver in the moonlight, the mark of the heir to the Twilight Throne.
He pulled the girl out of the road, laying her against a tree trunk to rest. The irony of the situation was not lost on him, she’d found him just this evening in the same situation, and now here he was, returning the favor.
Well, she would live, and that was all he had wanted.Andhe’d managed to get rid of his human blood.
As soon as he went home, Ryu would tell his father to take back his Elven essence. He couldn’t have the decline of the Twilight Prince on his conscience.
Satisfied, he turned away, moving back to the ship. The others would be sitting around the campfire, wondering where he was—
Or not.
Three figures materialized out of the shadows around him, the tallest of them bounding toward him.
“Ryu! Thanks heavens you’re alright. Lady Clara would’ve had my head if she came back to find you injured.”
Erlan ran a hand over him, his gaze catching his torn robes.
“What happened here?”
“Later,” Ryu said tersely, watching the other two elves. They weren’t friends of Azuma, but he would prefer it if he could speak to Erlan privately. “Were you looking for me?”
“We saw a pirate ship land on the coast just half an hour ago. When you didn’t turn up for the night…”
Erlan trailed off, and Ryu sniffed. “Whoever the pirates were, they were no trouble. I came across them attacking this human, so I healed her.” He left out his earlier meeting with the girl; he could tell Erlan about it later.
Another scream cut through the night, and all four of them snapped their heads to the source.
“Pirates, you say?” Ryu said thoughtfully. “They must be raiding the nearby village.”
“Well,” Erlan said grimly, “I say we lend the humans a hand and show these pirates why the Elves are so feared.”
Ryu nodded, and silent as shadows, the four Elves crept towards the human village, their keen senses on high alert as they prepared to face the pirates.
CHAPTER TWO
Ryu stood in the grand hall of the Twilight Court, his gaze sweeping across the room filled with courtiers dressed in elaborate gowns and intricate robes, and told himself he wasn’t nervous.
He wasn’t sure if he believed himself.
Ryu was acutely aware of the pointed looks and the subtle whispers that surrounded him, all fueled by the discrimination that had always been a part of his life; the unspoken disdain for his mixed bloodline.
As the only son to the Twilight Prince and the heir to the Twilight Throne, a kingdom of Darkwalker Elves, his every move was scrutinized, his every word weighed and measured against some invisible ideal.
Lord Sanada Isamu, a tall and imposing figure, approached Ryu, his son at his side. Ryu seethed inwardly as he watched the older Elf approach, wishing that he had another growth spurt left in him. He hated having to look up at Lord Sanada, even if it was by half an inch.
A staunch traditionalist, Lord Sanada disdained any deviation from pure Elven heritage. His cold eyes bore into Ryu’s, radiating condescension.
Unfortunately for all of them, Isamu was a prominent courtier in his father’s court, and as such, not someone that Ryu could afford to cross. In turn, Ryu was the only son of the ruler of the Darkwalker Elves, and so Isamu had to show Ryu deference, whether he liked it or not.
They both inclined his head as politeness indicated, though Ryu had to bite his cheek tosuppress the growl that wanted to climb up his throat.
It was almost an instinctive reaction at this point whenever he saw Azuma, Lord Sanada’s son.
Azuma had inherited his father’s views on the sanctity of pure Elven blood, and he’d not changed as he’d grown older.
Now, he stared at Ryu, issuing an unspoken challenge.
