Despite the explanation, I still felt baffled. This went beyond anything I could have ever expected. A few wyverns in a cave was one thing, butthis? This was a fully functioning society that could easily rival Alfemir with the collective power of their numbers.
“Niz, your parents don’t know we’re coming…” Kieran trailed off, her sweet voice filling the air pulling me from my muddled thoughts. Had the others been asking him questions the entire time I was zoned out? “Just how upset will they be?”
“I’m not sure,” Niz admitted. “They will be certainly upset about me revealing who we are and likely even more so about me bringing you here…but there’s nothing we can do about that. I hope they will see reason once we explain what’s happening.”
The fact that he was relying on hope for their understanding caused me to worry. If we didn’t have their help, we would quickly find ourselves at a dead end when it came to our options moving forward.
Before I could further press him on the matter, my attention was drawn by a building we passed that featured a family of four sitting outside of what appeared to be a restaurant, considering the plates in front of them. The man offered me a nod of greeting in passing, though his brows arched toward his hairline, and I tried to offer a friendly smile back, hoping that the friendly gesture bode well for our time here.
After nearly a half an hour of travel, we reached the castle. As we entered the front courtyard, the gates closed behind us and several guards flooded the space. Each of them bowed in passing to Niz as we made our way up the rocky front steps, throughlarge fortress-like doors, and down a long hallway. The walls were covered in alternating torches and fabric flags displaying a black and green wyvern—one that looked a lot like Niz.
When we finally reached a set of double doors at the far end of the hallway, they were opened to reveal a throne room. Unlike the hallway, the floors were marble here and there were two fireplaces on either end of the room to light and warm the space. All of it, though, was merely a distraction from the two individuals that were sitting, waiting clearly, on matching stone thrones—Niz’s parents.
“Nizuss!” An enthusiastic voice echoed through the room as a man with vibrant green hair, only interrupted by a black metal crown, stood from his throne and stepped down from the platform their seats sat upon. He embraced his son, matching him in stature and height, before pulling back and adding, “It’s so good to see you, boy. We were getting worried.”
His warm greeting was as polar opposite as possible to the woman I assumed to be Niz’s mother. With dark hair and black eyes, she gave off a cold vibe that was only enhanced by the way she looked over all of us with an icy aura of judgment and disinterest. Her jaw was tight with tension and she vibrated with what seemed to be fury, refusing to meet Niz’s gaze. I found I felt defensive over her potential treatment of him.
“No need to worry, just had some things to handle,” Niz assured him. Behind us I heard the doors shut with a loud thud, leaving our group with the king and queen, the guards remaining posted outside. With the crown prince by our side, it seemed that they didn’t consider us a threat to their leaders.
His father’s gaze darted toward us before his brow furrowed in concern. “Clearly. What andwhoexactly did you bring?—”
“I should say hello to Mother before explaining,” Niz interrupted him, and his father nodded in understanding before turning back toward the throne and making his way to his seat.Immediately, everyone’s attention turned to the one unknown individual in the room—Niz’s mother.
“Angels…you brought angels into our home.” The woman spat with vehemence, the word angel sounding like a curse from behind her thinned lips. My hand slipped around Kieran’s waist, pulling her close to me. I wanted to be able to move her out of the way if this situation escalated to violence.
“Nora—”
“No, Conan,” she hissed, interrupting the king’s attempt to de-escalate the situation. She shot her husband a scathing look, lips and eyes narrowed, before finally returning her attention to Niz. “Not now, not today.”
“Mother,” Niz greeted calmly with a small bow of his head in deference to his mother. “What I need to talk to both of you about is far greater than any issue regardingjustthe angels?—”
“You knownothingabout the issues with the angels!” His mother snapped, clearly trying to patronize him while interrupting her son. The look in her eyes was chilling, a mix of scathing hatred for those who had oppressed her people and disappointment in her son. “You have brought death to our doorstep by bringing them here.Youhave failed our people—you alone Nizuss.”
My jaw tightened in frustration as Niz continued to stare at her, completely unreactive to her words compared to the rest of the group. I could feel the uneasy tension running through the rest of us, and a sense of defensiveness grew within me at him being talked down to like that.
“Actually, he didn’t do anything alone. We came with him, willingly, despite knowing the problems this could cause.” Bastian called out boldly, stepping forward. His hair was a shocking color of orange that matched his eyes, a violent energy seeming to surround him that clashed with the cherry color. “You would do well to listen to him, and us.”
There was an underlying threat to his words that I recognized and I hoped Niz’s parents would as well.
Unable to help myself, I added, “Niz has explained what happened between the angels and the wyverns to us. It’s a horrific story, but it also isn’t one we can change. What wecanchange is the threat facing us now.”
“And who are you to speak to me?” his mother snapped, dropping her hand to her hip while looking down her nose at me.
“Niz’s friend,” I answered immediately, trying to force civility that I didn’t feel into my tone. “We have been friends since meeting in Alfemir.”
His mother looked back at his son with horror. “Are you telling me that youpurposefullyrevealed yourself to him?”
Fuck. I hadn’t realized she would take it that way.
“No,” Niz hissed, his frustration clear in how he threw up his hands. “I was doing reconnaissance, as planned. This is Ronan, the Beast Tamer I told you about.”
She sneered in disgust. “I see. A Beast Tamer—not the worst of the angelic affinities, but by far the most arrogant.”
Is that what they thought of Beast Tamers? I suppose I couldn’t blame the wyverns for that particular view.
“He didn’t mean to reveal himself to us,” Kieran said in defense, moving out of my arms—which I really didn’t like. Her hand reached out to hold Niz’s own in a comforting move I could tell he appreciated, as an affectionate look filled his gaze as he turned it toward her. “He was hurt—he nearly died in a battle—and only then did he shift to this form.”
My Beauty’s words had the room going quiet as his mother looked over Kieran for a long moment before turning her attention back to Niz, her voice far softer. “You almost died? What have you gotten yourself into?Whoare these individuals, Nizuss?”
