“So what is the reason you’re here?” I demanded.
Nyx looked around the interior of the ship to make sure we couldn’t be overheard. “I have chartered this ship to take a small envoy to the Light Kingdom to collect and escort the princes’ brides back to their new home.”
My brows rose in surprise.
“I wanted to make the journey as comfortable and as speedy as possible, and I was told this captain could offer me both.” He looked around at the sparse comforts aboard.
I scoffed. “Speed, yes. Comforts fit for royal brides, no.”
Nyx smirked and nodded in agreement. “Which is why I’ve ordered the ship cleared and arranged to furnish the quarters suitably for a brief journey.”
“Which explains why it looks like half the palace is being hauled aboard.”
Nyx sighed. “My intention was to provide enough luxury that the duke’s daughters could be assured they are being well cared for by their new kingdom, though not being weighed down by so many trappings this becomes a months’ long state visit.”
As he spoke, some of the crew carried down a gilded dressing table with matching mirrors and chair and a fainting couch with velvet cushions. We watched in tense silence until the crew were out of earshot, then I broke.
“How is that working out for you?” I laughed.
“Not great,” Nyx gritted his teeth. “His Highness insists on setting the right impression for his bride, so minimal is not really happening.”
“So the secrecy is because the heir is traveling?” I asked, trying to get my head around the facts.
“Oh, no,” Nyx chuckles mirthlessly. “His Highness is far too busy with his ‘duties’ to spare the time. Besides he does not want to risk being out of the protection of the capital while there is so much danger across the kingdoms, He’s far too important to thefuture of the kingdoms. So he is sending his brother to escort both brides on his behalf.”
“I see.” I’d never met either prince, but in what little time I had spent in the capital, I’d heard talk of the heir and couldn’t be anything but glad he was staying behind. I knew little of the spare, but they were twins, so how different could they really be? I was sure I would dislike them both equally. “Who else joins this envoy?”
“Zaria and myself will be escorting the prince.”
I looked at Nyx in shock. “That’s it? Only you two to guard a prince and two soon-to-be princesses? With all the unrest in the kingdoms, I would have expected half the legion to be deployed to protect them.” I was relieved, though. Hiding my nature among dragons long-term was nearly impossible, and I was exhausted from playing the avoidance game this long. I could not hide on this ship among a dozen of them. The potion that Kiera gave me to aid the concealment was nasty, and I carried it for emergencies only. If the ship were to be swamped with legion flyers, I could not stay, so this worked, but his plan seemed reckless to me.
“The idea was to go as quietly as possible. If no one knows we are making the journey, there will be no risk.” He glanced around, checking we were still alone. “And I plan to bring Kol. He needs to get out of the palace, and I need to keep him close. It will do him good, and it gives me a right-hand, should anything happen. And now I have you,” he added.
I held up my hands. “I am but a lowly first mate, General. I want nothing but the freedom to choose my own path, and I bring nothing to the ship but my willingness to work.”
Nyx fixed me with his knowing eyes. “I respect that. Every fae deserves the right to decide their future, and I think this suits you well. I’m just glad to know who I have aboard with me should trouble arise. I would ask you to accompany us ashore inthe Light Kingdom as one of my guards, then I will have ample protection for them among wingless fae.”
I studied him, aching to refuse, but if we understood each other, this favor would be returned by him not standing in my way when I left the First Kingdom behind and set my own path.
I nodded, reluctantly. We had an understanding. He appeared to be a good male. At least he seemed to understand my need for freedom, unlike Jaxus. But I would still tread carefully around him, since he had the authority to drag me in and see me conscripted to a life I would rather die than live.
THREE
CALYTRIX
“You can’t leave me!”
“Come with me,” I whispered to my sister, one leg over the wall while the other always tied me to the life I was trying to escape. I seemed to only ever be able to get one foot out the door before I was dragged back by the soul tie to my sister. She was my lifeblood, and it was our strong bond that wouldn’t allow me to leave her behind.
“I can’t,”she said, pleading with her eyes.
“You can. We must. They’ll be here in less than a fortnight. If we don’t leave soon, we’ll never escape our fate.”
“What if we aren’t meant to escape it, but endure it?” She’d never understand, and that was the difference between us. She trusted the Goddess to take care of her and believed the Goddess expected us to take our fate into our own hands.
“No one is coming to save me—us.” I had to do it myself. “You have to see it, Nova. We have been sold on a promise that’s never been fulfilled.”
“But we have peace,”she argued. Her belief in the system was enviable, but I saw the cracks she never looked for.
